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Treatment for breast cancer differs between African-American women and white women

The study found that, among patients with breast cancer that had spread to the lymph nodes, African-Americans were less likely to have adjuvant cancer therapy than white women. In this clinical group, white women were almost five times more likely to take Tamoxifen, a widely-used cancer therapy medication, and over three times more likely to have chemotherapy.

9 Oct 2007

Beneficial bacteria in the appendix aid digestion after infection

Long denigrated as vestigial or useless, the appendix now appears to have a reason to be – as a “safe house” for the beneficial bacteria living in the human gut.

9 Oct 2007

What does the appendix do? finally an answer!

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center say that the function of the frequently discarded appendix, an organ often credited with little importance and often dismissed as having no significant function, does it seems have a role to play after all.

8 Oct 2007

Small papillary thyroid cancers are NOT clinically insignificant

Patients with micropapillary thyroid cancer - small tumors equal to or less than 1 centimeter—and tumors even smaller, less than 1 millimeter (mm - are more common and not without a risk as previously thought, according to a new study presented at the 78th Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) in New York.

8 Oct 2007

New guide on pancreatic cancer

A new guide on pancreatic cancer, co-authored by the chair of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, offers a better understanding to patients and caregivers of the unique challenges associated with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

8 Oct 2007

Pay-for-performance project to improve cardiovascular care

Thousands of heart patients in the Greater New York region will receive top quality, comprehensive cardiac care in an innovative cardiovascular program in which physicians at a major academic medical center will receive incentive payments based on 60 performance measures for outpatient and inpatient care.

8 Oct 2007

UF researchers test stem cell therapy for heart patients

University of Florida doctors on Wednesday (Oct. 3) treated their first patient enrolled in a new study designed to test whether injecting stem cells into the heart helps restore blood flow to the organ by prompting new blood vessels to grow.

4 Oct 2007

Good dental care, not antibiotics best for preventing dental-related heart problems

Since the 1950s, the American Heart Association (AHA) has urged a sizable group of people to take antibiotics before having dental work or other procedures that might flood the bloodstream with bacteria.

4 Oct 2007

Innovative health technology at Imperial College London

The benefits of applying technological know how to patient care were demonstrated by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Imperial College London.

4 Oct 2007

Remote surgery between U.S. and Argentina

Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, InTouch Health, and Hospital Privado Del Sur in Argentina, announce the success of one of the world's first surgeries using the Remote Presence Robot, RP-7.

4 Oct 2007

Bilberry extract for cancer prevention

A Leicester cancer research project, which receives funding from Hope Against Cancer (formerly The Hope Foundation,) is investigating whether an extract from bilberries can prevent or delay the onset of certain cancers.

4 Oct 2007

New targeted approach to pain management

Imagine an epidural or a shot of Novocain that doesn't paralyze your legs or make you numb, yet totally blocks your pain.

4 Oct 2007

Re-educating immune system cells slows tumour growth

Immune system cells recruited by cancers to help them grow and spread could be 're-educated' to attack the tumours instead of aiding them, Cancer Research UK scientists announced at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Conference in Birmingham today (Wednesday).

4 Oct 2007

Heart disease of the left main coronary artery is often an inherited condition that clusters in families

Moreover, they discovered that initially healthy siblings of a person with the condition were 2.5 times more likely to go on to develop some form of heart disease than were siblings of a patient with heart disease that did not relate to the left main coronary artery.

4 Oct 2007

FDA tightens potency specifications to ensure thyroid drugs last

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is tightening the potency specifications for levothyroxine sodium, used to treat underactive thyroid glands and other thyroid conditions, to ensure the drug retains its potency over its entire shelf life.

4 Oct 2007

Americans strongly desire a well-coordinated trauma system

Americans may be sharply divided in their views on many aspects of health care in the United States, but they are in strong agreement when it comes to one of the most important but overlooked elements - a nationwide trauma system.

4 Oct 2007

Prostate cancer treatment may encourage spread of cancer cells

According to a new study by researchers in the U.S. the popular prostate cancer treatment, androgen deprivation therapy, may in fact encourage the spread of cancer cells throughout the body.

3 Oct 2007

Day surgery for brain tumours on the NHS in Britain

A new brain surgery procedure could mean in the future that people in Britain with brain tumours may be offered day surgery under local anaesthetic on the National Health Service (NHS).

3 Oct 2007

Additional biopsy-scoring data may help determine prostate cancer prognosis

Men with certain scores and patterns based on prostate cancer biopsy were found to be at higher risk of PSA-failure, suggesting that this measurement could help predict the risk of prostate cancer recurrence, according to preliminary research published in the October 3 issue of JAMA.

3 Oct 2007

Ovarian Cancer Biomarker Research Act of 2007 introduced

The Ovarian Cancer Biomarker Research Act of 2007 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, Sept. 27 and the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO), the leader of four organizations integral in drafting this legislation, is issuing a "call to action" for ovarian cancer survivors, their families, and their physicians.

3 Oct 2007