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.

NICE decides to recommend Bristol-Myers Squibb’s YERVOY for treatment of advanced melanoma

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is pleased to announce that today the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has decided to recommend YERVOY (ipilimumab), which is approved in the European Union for the treatment of previously-treated metastatic (advanced) melanoma, within the Final Appraisal Determination (FAD).

3 Nov 2012

Five prominent surgeons receive Honorary Fellowship from ACS

Last night Honorary Fellowship in the American College of Surgeons (ACS) was awarded to five prominent surgeons from Japan, the Philippines, Mexico, England, and Belgium during Convocation ceremonies that preceded the official opening of the 2012 ACS Annual Clinical Congress.

1 Oct 2012

Amgen receives FDA approval for Prolia to treat bone loss in men with osteoporosis

Amgen today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new indication for Prolia (denosumab) as a treatment to increase bone mass in men with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture.

21 Sep 2012

Gum disease bacteria linked to pancreatic cancer risk

People with high levels of antibodies to bacteria linked to periodontal disease have an increased risk for pancreatic cancer, while the risk is reduced in those with increased antibodies to oral commensal bacteria, say researchers.

20 Sep 2012

KRAS gene mutation recruits second player to trigger pancreatic cancer

More than a cancer-causing gene is needed to trigger pancreatic cancer, a study led by Mayo Clinic has found. A second factor creates a "perfect storm" that allows tumors to form, the researchers say. The study, published in the Sept. 10 issue of Cancer Cell, overturns the current belief that a mutation in the KRAS oncogene is enough to initiate pancreatic cancer and unrestrained cell growth.

11 Sep 2012

Endocrine Society issues practice guideline for diagnosis and treatment of hypertriglyceridemia

The Endocrine Society today issued a Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) for the diagnosis and treatment of hypertriglyceridemia. Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood and are associated with cardiovascular risk. The CPG, entitled "Evaluation and Treatment of Hypertriglyceridemia: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline" appears in the September 2012 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of The Endocrine Society.

10 Sep 2012

NFAT protein plays a part in development of acute pancreatitis

It is likely that the protein is also highly significant for other inflammatory diseases. The research results have been published in the American journal Gastroenterology.

1 Sep 2012

Well-known protein plays central role in development of acute pancreatitis

There is now a clear target for the treatment of acute pancreatitis, according to researchers at Lund University in Sweden, who have discovered that a well-known protein plays a central role in the development of the disease. It is likely that the protein is also highly significant for other inflammatory diseases.

31 Aug 2012

Statins reduce pancreatitis risk

Statins reduce the risk for pancreatitis in patients with normal or mildly elevated triglyceride levels, say the authors of a large meta-analysis.

24 Aug 2012

Article describes immune-related adverse events with newly approved melanoma drug

An internationally recognized melanoma researcher at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of Kiel in Germany, including Axel Hauschild, M.D. and Katharina C. K-hler, M.D., have published an article in the current issue of The Journal of Clinical Oncology that describes immune-related adverse events for patients receiving either tremelimumab or ipilimumab, the latter a drug approved last year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating metastatic melanoma and other cancers.

23 Aug 2012

NIH awards $100,000 STTR Phase I Grant to Transgenomic for pancreatic cancer research

Transgenomic, Inc. today announced it has been awarded a $100,000 Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) Phase I Grant by the National Institutes of Health's National Center For Advancing Translational Sciences.

23 Aug 2012

Researchers urge shakeup to laparoscopic cholecystectomy timing

The tradition of delaying laparoscopic cholecystectomy after hospital admission for mild gallstone pancreatitis may be unnecessary, say the authors of a US study.

9 Aug 2012

LPL deficiency treatment poised to be first gene therapy in Europe

For the first time, the European Medicines Agency has recommended gene therapy for approval in Europe.

26 Jul 2012

uniQure receives positive recommendation from EMA CHMP for Glybera

uniQure announced today that the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion that recommends marketing authorization of Glybera (alipogene tiparvovec) as a treatment for lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD) under exceptional circumstances.

21 Jul 2012