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Personalized therapy shows improved response in cancer patients

In a meta-analysis of hundreds of clinical trials involving thousands of patients, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that therapeutic approaches using precision medicine, which emphasizes the use of individual genetics to refine cancer treatment, showed improved response and longer periods of disease remission, even in phase I trials.

7 Jun 2016

Scientists develop non-toxic transplantation procedure using antibodies to target blood stem cells in mice

Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists have taken the first steps toward developing a treatment that would make bone marrow - blood stem cell - transplantation safer and, as a result, more widely available to the millions of people living with blood disorders like sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, and AIDS.

7 Jun 2016

Overtesting for HbA1C levels can increase risk of severe hypoglycemia

With a more-is-better mindset common in society, frequent commercials encouraging checks of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) levels, and ads for new diabetes medications to lower HbA1C in adults with Type 2 diabetes, Mayo Clinic researchers were not too surprised to find overtesting occurring.

7 Jun 2016

Drinking soft drinks to rehydrate worsens dehydration-related kidney injury

Repeated heat-related dehydration has been associated with increased risk of chronic kidney damage in mice. A new study in rats published in the American Journal of Physiology—Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology reports that drinking soft drinks to rehydrate worsened dehydration and kidney injury.

7 Jun 2016

New systems-based strategy may help accelerate TB drug discovery

The rise in multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is becoming a major cause of global health concern for treating tuberculosis, which affects a third of the global population.

7 Jun 2016

Human stem cells restore motor function in chronic stroke patients

Injecting modified, human, adult stem cells directly into the brains of chronic stroke patients proved not only safe but effective in restoring motor function, according to the findings of a small clinical trial led by Stanford University School of Medicine investigators.

7 Jun 2016

Pembrolizumab drug shows significant clinical responses in metastatic head and neck cancer patients

Treating head and neck cancer patients with recurrent or metastatic disease with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab resulted in significant clinical responses in a fifth of the patients from a phase II clinical trial, researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and other institutions reported at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

7 Jun 2016

Unlocking the first gene to cause otosclerosis: an interview with Dr Ralph Holme

Otosclerosis is a common cause of hearing loss, particularly amongst young adults. It normally starts in their 20s or 30s and it affects about 1 in 200 hundred people. In the UK, about 300,000 people are affected by the condition.

7 Jun 2016

Innovative mouse model could provide new strategy to arrest growth of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common of pancreatic cancers, is extraordinarily lethal, with a 5-year survival rate of just 6 percent. Chemotherapy treatments are poorly effective, in part due to a high degree of drug-resistance to currently used regimens.

7 Jun 2016

Taking hormone therapy drugs for additional five years improves outcomes in breast cancer patients

Breast cancer patients significantly benefit by taking hormone therapy drugs called aromatase inhibitors for an additional five years, according to a major study presented at the Plenary Session of the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

7 Jun 2016

Northwestern Medicine scientists link TMEM230 gene mutations to Parkinson's disease development

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a new cause of Parkinson's disease -- mutations in a gene called TMEM230. This appears to be the third gene definitively linked to confirmed cases of the common movement disorder.

7 Jun 2016

Antiinflammatory drug HUMIRA enhances specific TNF function in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Researchers from University College London have discovered that the widely used antiinflammatory drug HUMIRA doesn't just work by inhibiting its target protein, TNF, but by enhancing a particular function of TNF in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

7 Jun 2016

$One-third of osteoporotic women taking oral bisphosphonates have elevated risk for bone fracture$

One-third of osteoporotic women taking oral bisphosphonates have elevated risk for bone fracture

More than 53 million Americans age 50 and older, primarily women, have osteoporosis or are at high risk for the condition due to low bone density. A recent study of oral bisphosphonates, the most commonly prescribed osteoporosis treatment, found that approximately a third of women prescribed these drugs continue to be at elevated risk for bone fracture, an outcome that may have several origins.

7 Jun 2016

Financial pressures prevent access to much-needed care for cancer patients

Financial pressures kept cancer patients from filling prescription medications and attending their doctors' visits, University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers found in a new study.

6 Jun 2016

Personlized exercise pattern may help reduce neuropathic symptoms of chemotherapy

Researchers at the University of Rochester Wilmot Cancer Institute discovered something simple and inexpensive to reduce neuropathy in hands and feet due to chemotherapy--exercise.

6 Jun 2016

Study finds no added benefit of empagliflozin alone or in combination for type 2 diabetes

Empagliflozin has been approved since May 2014 for adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus in whom diet and exercise alone do not provide adequate glycaemic control.

6 Jun 2016

New study finds alternative approaches to target proteins sustaining cancer, Alzheimer's disease

Drugs to treat cancer and Alzheimer's disease usually target the active sites of specific protein molecules sustaining the disease. Traditional drug design views proteins as rigid 3-D objects with active sites consisting of surface-accessible "pockets" with a specific, well-defined structure.

6 Jun 2016

Giving chemotherapy after radiotherapy delays rare brain tumour growth

GIVING chemotherapy after radiotherapy delays further growth of a rare type of brain tumour, increasing the number of patients alive at five years from 44 per cent to 56 per cent.

6 Jun 2016

Joint research reveals key mechanisms of persistent latent infection of HTLV-1

Joint research between scientists from Kumamoto University, Japan and Imperial College London, UK has revealed the mechanisms of persistent latent infection of the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1).

6 Jun 2016

Targeted therapy rucaparib shows promise in treating pancreatic cancer patients with BRCA mutation

The targeted therapy rucaparib, which has demonstrated robust clinical activity in ovarian cancer patients with a BRCA mutation, also showed promise in previously treated pancreatic cancer patients with the mutation, according to results from a phase II clinical study presented by Susan M. Domchek, MD, executive director of the Basser Center for BRCA at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

6 Jun 2016

Drugs News and Research

Personalized therapy shows improved response in cancer patients

Scientists develop non-toxic transplantation procedure using antibodies to target blood stem cells in mice

Overtesting for HbA1C levels can increase risk of severe hypoglycemia

Drinking soft drinks to rehydrate worsens dehydration-related kidney injury

New systems-based strategy may help accelerate TB drug discovery

Human stem cells restore motor function in chronic stroke patients

Pembrolizumab drug shows significant clinical responses in metastatic head and neck cancer patients

Unlocking the first gene to cause otosclerosis: an interview with Dr Ralph Holme

Innovative mouse model could provide new strategy to arrest growth of pancreatic cancer

Taking hormone therapy drugs for additional five years improves outcomes in breast cancer patients

Northwestern Medicine scientists link TMEM230 gene mutations to Parkinson's disease development

Antiinflammatory drug HUMIRA enhances specific TNF function in rheumatoid arthritis patients

One-third of osteoporotic women taking oral bisphosphonates have elevated risk for bone fracture

Financial pressures prevent access to much-needed care for cancer patients

Personlized exercise pattern may help reduce neuropathic symptoms of chemotherapy

Study finds no added benefit of empagliflozin alone or in combination for type 2 diabetes

New study finds alternative approaches to target proteins sustaining cancer, Alzheimer's disease

Giving chemotherapy after radiotherapy delays rare brain tumour growth

Joint research reveals key mechanisms of persistent latent infection of HTLV-1

Targeted therapy rucaparib shows promise in treating pancreatic cancer patients with BRCA mutation

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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