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Study assesses formularies across Medicare drug plans

Medicare's new private stand-alone drug plans vary significantly - in terms of covered drugs, out-of-pocket costs for specific medications, and restrictions placed on the use of certain drugs - according to a new analysis released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

11 Apr 2006

Benefit of chemotherapy in breast cancer depends on estrogen status of tumors

When it comes to chemotherapy treatment for women whose breast cancer has spread to their lymph nodes, the estrogen status of their tumors matters, says a team of researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

11 Apr 2006

Researchers identify the role of a protein in hemoglobin gene silencing

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have identified the role of a protein in hemoglobin gene silencing that may one day be a potential target for the treatment of genetic blood disorders like sickle-cell anemia and beta-thalassemia on the molecular level.

11 Apr 2006

New model of p53 regulation has important implications for the development of anticancer drugs

Genetically engineered mice convinced scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies that it was time to overhaul widely held beliefs about how a powerful tumor suppressor called p53 is controlled in cells. Their new model of p53 regulation has important implications for the development of anticancer drugs.

11 Apr 2006

U.S. watchdog says Xenical should be withdrawn

A consumer watchdog group in the U.S., Public Citizen, has petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to withdraw the prescription diet drug Xenical (orlistat) from the market; the group also want the FDA to refuse approval for the weight-loss pill to be made widely available over the counter.

11 Apr 2006

Biodegradable drug containing nano-particles effective in killing human breast tumors

Research studies, based at the University of Pennsylvania, demonstrate that biodegradable nano-particles containing two potent cancer-fighting drugs are effective in killing human breast tumors.

11 Apr 2006

Lack of response to herceptin may be reversed with PI3K inhibiting agents

Breast cancer patients with HER2-positive tumors who don't respond to Herceptin (trastuzumab) may benefit from cocktail therapy that includes Herceptin along with one or more PI3K inhibiting agents, say researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

11 Apr 2006

Assessment of health-related quality of life in children with cancer: consistency and agreement between parent and child reports

Researchers and physicians can confidently assess quality of life factors in pediatric patients from either the child or parents, according to a new study.

10 Apr 2006

Risk of invasive breast carcinoma among women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ and lobular carcinoma in situ

A new study of women with early stage, localized breast cancer identifies new patterns and risk factors for invasive disease that may influence how patients are treated.

10 Apr 2006

Discovery of new human retrovirus

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers and their colleagues have discovered a new retrovirus in humans that is closely related to a cancer-causing virus found in mice. Their findings describe the first documented cases of human infection with a retrovirus that is native to rodents.

10 Apr 2006

Proteins could help predict whether moles will progress into melanoma

For the first time, researchers studying patients with abnormal moles have identified proteins that could help predict whether such moles will progress into melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

7 Apr 2006

Newly discovered testosterone effect may act on prostate cancer

A newly-discovered mode of action of testosterone is showing great promise in the fight against prostate cancer, with tests showing a 60% reduction in tumor size in mice.

6 Apr 2006

A genomic signature of 254 genes predicting clinical outcome in Primary Cutaneous Melanoma identified

EORTC Melanoma Group researchers have identified a genomic signature predicting clinical outcome in Primary Cutaneous Melanoma, after patients having undergone standard treatment.

6 Apr 2006

MIT look at how cells make life-or-death decisions

The biological processes underlying diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer are fundamentally linked, and should be linked in how they are treated with drugs, a series of MIT studies indicates.

6 Apr 2006

Researchers aim to develop instrument to help physicians estimate risk for developing lung cancer

Physicians have little to help them predict development of lung cancer in their patients - even a history of heavy smoking doesn't really help, since only a small fraction of lifetime smokers develops the cancer.

6 Apr 2006

Inflammation cuts both ways

Inflammation cuts both ways. When invaded by an infectious agent, for example, the body calls on the forces of inflammation to fight and defeat the intruder.

6 Apr 2006

Vegetables slow growth of prostate cancer in mice

Chemicals in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, watercress, cabbage and cauliflower, appear to stop human prostate cancer cells from growing in mice by affecting the expression of proteins, says a University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute study

6 Apr 2006