Pancreatitis News and Research

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Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large gland behind the stomach and close to the duodenum—the first part of the small intestine. The pancreas secretes digestive juices, or enzymes, into the duodenum through a tube called the pancreatic duct. Pancreatic enzymes join with bile—a liquid produced in the liver and stored in the gallbladder—to digest food. The pancreas also releases the hormones insulin and glucagon into the bloodstream. These hormones help the body regulate the glucose it takes from food for energy.

Normally, digestive enzymes secreted by the pancreas do not become active until they reach the small intestine. But when the pancreas is inflamed, the enzymes inside it attack and damage the tissues that produce them.

Pancreatitis can be acute or chronic. Either form is serious and can lead to complications. In severe cases, bleeding, infection, and permanent tissue damage may occur.

A simple blood test may reveal the earliest signs of pancreatic cancer

Reporting on a small preliminary study, Johns Hopkins researchers say a simple blood test based on detection of tiny epigenetic alterations may reveal the earliest signs of pancreatic cancer, a disease that is nearly always fatal because it isn't usually discovered until it has spread to other parts of the body.

23 Oct 2013

EvergreenHealth named one of America's 100 Best Hospitals in three specialty areas

EvergreenHealth today announced it has earned several distinctions for 2014 across many of the health care system's specialties from Healthgrades, the nation's leading independent provider of information to help consumers make informed decisions about a physician or hospital.

23 Oct 2013

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided drainage improves outcomes in patients with pseudocysts

Researchers report that in patients with pseudocysts with viscous debris-laden fluid, endoscopic ultrasound-guided drainage by using a combination of a nasocystic drain and transmural stents improves clinical outcomes and lowers the stent occlusion rate compared with those who underwent drainage via stents alone.

22 Oct 2013

ARIAD discontinues Phase 3 EPIC trial of Iclusig in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it is discontinuing the Phase 3 EPIC (Evaluation of Ponatinib versus Imatinib in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia) trial of Iclusig (ponatinib) in patients with newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia.

18 Oct 2013

Intravenous feeding can cause liver damage, say researchers

Researchers know that feeding some patients intravenously can save their lives - but also can cause liver damage. Now scientists at the University of Colorado and Children's Hospital Colorado have figured out the likely culprit, one of the ingredients in intravenous food, behind the liver problems.

10 Oct 2013

ARIAD announces changes in Iclusig product labeling to reflect updated safety information

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced results of its review of updated clinical data from the pivotal PACE trial of Iclusig® (ponatinib) and actions that it is taking following consultations with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

9 Oct 2013

Six prominent surgeons awarded Honorary Fellowship at Clinical Congress of ACS

Last night Honorary Fellowship in the American College of Surgeons (ACS) was awarded to six prominent surgeons from Germany, England, Thailand, Mexico, and Malaysia during the Convocation ceremony that preceded the official opening of the 2013 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

7 Oct 2013

Amgen presents data from several romosozumab and Prolia at ASBMR 2013 Annual Meeting

Amgen today announced that it will present data from several romosozumab and Prolia® (denosumab) studies at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) 2013 Annual Meeting in Baltimore from Oct. 4-7, 2013.

5 Oct 2013

Study shows direct causative link between obesity and risk of pancreatic cancer in mice

Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) have found that mice made obese by being given high-calorie, high-fat diets (HFCD) developed abnormally high numbers of lesions known as pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias (PanINs), which are known to be precursors to pancreas cancer.

1 Oct 2013

Targeted radiation therapy may offer safe treatment option for elderly pancreatic cancer patients

A highly targeted cancer radiation therapy may offer a safe and effective treatment option for elderly pancreatic cancer patients unable to undergo surgery or combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

25 Sep 2013

Boehringer Ingelheim, Lilly present post-hoc analysis data from linagliptin clinical trials at EASD 2013

Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company today announced results from two post-hoc, pooled analyses of data from placebo-controlled clinical trials, which examined the safety of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor linagliptin in adults with type 2 diabetes.

24 Sep 2013

Updated guidelines for management of acute pancreatitis

Updated guidelines on the management of acute pancreatitis, a condition that causes acute inflammation of the pancreas, appear in the September issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

5 Sep 2013

Scientists provide proof of principle for drug-based treatment of acute pancreatitis

Scientists have for the first time provided proof of principle for a drug-based treatment of acute pancreatitis - a disease which is often alcohol-related and for which currently there is no treatment.

4 Sep 2013

Anti-diabetic drug alogliptin meets primary endpoint in EXAMINE trial

Patients with type 2 diabetes and high cardiovascular risk due to recent acute coronary syndromes had similar rates of cardiovascular events when treated with the anti-diabetic agent alogliptin compared to placebo according to results of the Examination of Cardiovascular Outcomes with Alogliptin versus Standard of Care trial presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.

2 Sep 2013

Researchers reveal process by which pancreatic inflammation morphs into pancreatic cancer

Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have revealed the process by which chronic inflammation of the pancreas, pancreatitis, morphs into pancreatic cancer. They say their findings point to ways to identify pancreatitis patients at risk of pancreatic cancer and to potential drug therapies that might reverse the process.

6 Aug 2013

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals' Iclusig gets EC marketing authorization for CML and Ph+ ALL treatment

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the European Commission has granted a marketing authorization for Iclusig (ponatinib) as an orphan medicinal product for two indications.

2 Jul 2013

Patients with type2 diabetes, renal impairment have less hypoglycemia with JANUVIA compared to sulfonylurea

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced results from a post-hoc pooled analysis showing patients with type 2 diabetes and mild renal impairment treated with JANUVIA- (sitagliptin) 100 mg once-daily achieved similar blood sugar reductions as those treated with the sulfonylureas glipizide or glimepiride, with significantly fewer events of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), and with weight loss instead of weight gain.

24 Jun 2013

Linagliptin significantly reduces blood glucose levels in T2D patients with moderate to severe renal impairment

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company today announced results from a new study in which linagliptin demonstrated statistically significant reductions in blood glucose levels (HbA1c) after 12 weeks (the study's primary endpoint) in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) with moderate to severe renal impairment, compared with placebo. Most patients had T2D for more than ten years (76 percent) and were on insulin (86 percent).

24 Jun 2013

Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca announce top line results of Phase 4 SAVOR-TIMI-53 clinical trial of Onglyza

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) today announced top line results of the Phase 4 SAVOR-TIMI-53 (Saxagliptin Assessment of Vascular Outcomes Recorded in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus) clinical trial of Onglyza ® (saxagliptin).

20 Jun 2013

Eli Lilly, BIPI support ADA's call for independent review of incretin-based therapies

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company support the American Diabetes Association call for an independent review of the safety data of incretin-based therapies.

17 Jun 2013