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Pharmacist suggests education as foremost strategy to control opioid abuse

Technologies that make it harder for people to abuse opioids - like doctoring pills so that they produce unpleasant side effects if broken, crushed or injected -- likely will have limited effectiveness in stemming the global epidemic of opioid abuse, according to Adam Kaye, a professor of pharmacy at University of the Pacific.

28 May 2016

Overcoming barriers to move beyond race-based treatment decisions

Prescribing certain medications on the basis of a patient's race has long come under fire from those uneasy with using race as a surrogate for biology when treating disease.

28 May 2016

Certain HLA genes may increase ovarian cancer risk in women

Researchers in the Center for Immunotherapy at Roswell Park Cancer Institute have evaluated the human leukocyte antigen (HLA), a group of genes that help regulate the body's immune system, for underlying differences in ovarian cancer patients' response to therapy.

28 May 2016

Vismodegib drug shows no addded benefit in advanced or symptomatic metastatic BCC patients

Vismodegib (trade name: Erivedge) has already been approved since 2013 for the treatment of patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or symptomatic metastatic BCC and has already undergone an early benefit assessment according to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products.

28 May 2016

Combining VCA with organ transplants improves patient outcomes

Simultaneous transplantation of a "composite" skull and scalp flap plus a kidney and pancreas—all from the same donor—provided excellent outcomes for a patient with a non-healing scalp defect and declining organ kidney and pancreas function, according to a report in the June issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

28 May 2016

Brivaracetam drug shows no added benefit for epilepsy

Brivaracetam (trade name: Briviact) has been approved since January 2016 as add-on therapy for adolescents from the age of 16 years and adults with epileptic seizures. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care now examined in an early benefit assessment whether this drug offers an added benefit for patients in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapy.

28 May 2016

Study identifies potential new treatment for subset of gastric cancer patients

Testing cancers for 'addiction' to a gene that boosts cell growth can pick out patients who may respond to a targeted drug under development, a major new study reports.

28 May 2016

Increasing specific microRNA levels can restore chemotherapy sensitivity in pancreatic cancer cells

By increasing the level of a specific microRNA (miRNA) molecule, researchers have for the first time restored chemotherapy sensitivity in vitro to a line of human pancreatic cancer cells that had developed resistance to a common treatment drug.

27 May 2016

Healthy lifestyle may help women reduce chances of developing breast cancer

Women with a high risk of developing breast cancer based on family history and genetic risk can still reduce the chance they will develop the disease in their lifetimes by following a healthy lifestyle, new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests.

27 May 2016

Research sheds light on how subtle genetic differences in DMD patients produce variation in symptoms

Johns Hopkins researchers report they have inadvertently found a way to make human muscle cells bearing genetic mutations from people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

27 May 2016

Scientists debate role of AAV in causing hepatocellular carcinoma

Liver cancer can be triggered by mutations in cancer driver genes resulting from the insertion of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors used to deliver therapeutic genes, although this tumor-inducing role of AAV remains highly controversial.

27 May 2016

Metabolic characteristics of CRPC may open new avenues for treatment

Advanced prostate cancer is usually treated by removing androgen, the male hormone that helps it grow. Although initially effective, this treatment often leads to the tumor becoming castration resistant- a lethal condition.

27 May 2016

Gene expression patterns of normal tissue may predict survival rates of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer patients

Breast tissue surrounding tumors could be used to gauge future survival outcomes for women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, a study led by University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers has found.

27 May 2016

External stimulation guides brain circuit’s early development

A healthy brain has just the right ratio of cells that enhance signals (excitatory neurons) and cells that tone down signals (inhibitory neurons). These two sets of neurons start out looking exactly the same, so what determines their roles?

27 May 2016

Diabetes societies endorse 'metabolic surgery'

An "unprecedented" number of societies have endorsed guidelines recommending metabolic surgery for patients with diabetes - and not just for patients with severe obesity.

27 May 2016

Study reveals brain mechanism involved in switching between habitual behavior and decision-making

Not all habits are bad. Some are even necessary. It's a good thing, for example, that we can find our way home on "autopilot" or wash our hands without having to ponder every step. But inability to switch from acting habitually to acting in a deliberate way can underlie addiction and obsessive compulsive disorders.

27 May 2016