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MRI measurement of breast tumor volume predicts whether a patient's cancer will return

The study, performed at the University of California-San Francisco, of 58 breast cancer patients found that the best way to predict a patient's recurrence-free survival is to review the initial MR examination (before the patient has chemotherapy) and the final MR examination (after chemotherapy has been completed).

16 Jun 2005

U.S. scientists have successfully engineered blood vessels from human vascular cells in the lab

Tissue engineering has made considerable progress in the past decade, but advances have stopped short of clinical application for most tissues. For elderly patients tissue-engineered arteries could provide grafts for bypass surgery.

16 Jun 2005

Aortic disease difficult to diagnose

Aortic disease kills nearly 15,000 people in the United States each year, but the rarity and complexity of this deadly disorder make accurately diagnosing it difficult for doctors in the health-care trenches, University of Florida researchers have found.

15 Jun 2005

Diabetes patients may benefit most from minor surgery plus antibiotics

A small sore on a toe may not seem like a major medical threat. But for the millions of people who have diabetes and other conditions, it can be the first step on a road that leads to the amputation of a foot -- or even a leg.

15 Jun 2005

FDA approves Xeloda (capecitabine) oral chemotherapy

Roche announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Xeloda (capecitabine) -- an innovative oral chemotherapy -- for the adjuvant (post-surgery) treatment of patients with Dukes' C colon cancer.

15 Jun 2005

Brain surgery for epilepsy means patients still free of fits 30 years later

A study has shown that thirty years after undergoing temporal lobectomy for epilepsy, half of patients are still free from seizures.

15 Jun 2005

Arteries bio-engineered from elderly cells

Researchers from Duke University's Medical Center and Pratt School of Engineering have demonstrated that they can grow new human blood vessels from cells taken from patients who especially need such assistance – older adults with cardiovascular disease.

14 Jun 2005

New genetic test may detect risk of malignant hyperthermia (MH) from anesthesia

A rare but potentially life-threatening inherited condition called malignant hyperthermia (MH) may strike surgical patients who receive common drugs for general anesthesia.

14 Jun 2005

Holographic movies show promise for medical applications

In a small research laboratory at UT Southwestern Medical Center, a grainy, red movie of circling fighter jets emerges from a table-top black box, while nearby, a video of a rotating human heart hangs suspended in a tank of gooey gel.

14 Jun 2005

New genetic test may detect risk of rare complication from anesthesia

A rare but potentially life- threatening inherited condition called malignant hyperthermia (MH) may strike surgical patients who receive common drugs for general anesthesia.

14 Jun 2005

Fewer diabetics end up in hospital

According to new research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Americans with diabetes are less likely than they were a decade ago, to need hospitalization for serious complications such as kidney failure.

14 Jun 2005

Chemokine Therapeutics granted new U.S patent

Chemokine Therapeutics has announced that it has been granted U.S. Patent No. 6,875,738 relating to the use of its anti-cancer compound, CTCE-9908, in the treatment of cancer and inhibition of angiogenesis. CTCE-9908 is designed to block CXCR4, a receptor found on the surface of cancer cells.

14 Jun 2005

Study examines reasons for unsatisfactory outcomes following deep brain stimulation surgery

A study of follow-up care for patients with unsatisfactory outcomes from deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery for movement disorders offers insights into reasons for problems and proposes strategies for improved outcomes. The study will appear in the August print issue of Archives of Neurology.

13 Jun 2005

For men diagnosed with prostate cancer, there is no risk of recurrence if external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is delayed by several months

A study published in the July 15, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, finds delays of EBRT had no harmful impact on clinical outcome or biochemical marker levels in low-, intermediate- and high-risk patients.

13 Jun 2005

Prognosis is good for people who have epilepsy surgery

A new study shows that the prognosis is good for people who have epilepsy surgery, even 30 years after the surgery. The study is published in the June 14 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

13 Jun 2005

Short-term use of CPAP therapy may protect against cardiovascular disease

A common sleep therapy used to treat patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may actually have a protective effect against death related to cardiovascular disease.

13 Jun 2005

Many breast cancer patients experience longterm arm and hand swelling after treatment

More than 55 percent of 580 breast cancer patients in a study, experienced swelling in the arms or hands , a condition known as lymphedema, after surgical removal of either the breast or the tumor.

13 Jun 2005

Tight glucose control lowers CVD by about 50 percent in diabetes

A significantly lower risk of heart disease can now be added to the list of proven long-term benefits of tight glucose control in people with type 1 diabetes.

12 Jun 2005

Half of 580 women diagnosed with breast cancer in one study experienced lymphedema

The good news is that there are nearly two million breast cancer survivors in the United States , and survival rates continue to increase for patients with this disease. But the flip side is that survival can present its own set of little-known complications.

12 Jun 2005

Hospital patients to be checked for MRSA infection before admission

According to a survey of hospital chief executives, released by the NHS Confederation, even though surgery is statistically more risky, patients are now more scared of catching an infection than of going under the knife.

12 Jun 2005