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ChipDX validates genetic signature for early-stage colon cancer

ChipDX LLC, a New York-based online molecular diagnostics and personalized medicine company, discovered and validated a genetic signature for early-stage colon cancer and is developing an online screening application to enable clinicians to more accurately identify risk of recurrence. In the study, published in the December issue of the British Journal of Cancer, ChipDX demonstrates how the 163-gene signature stratifies colon cancer patients into high- and low-risk groups for recurrence with greater accuracy than current methods.

8 Dec 2010

SEEK reports Phase I safety trail for investigational flu vaccine

SEEK, a leading UK privately-owned drug-discovery group, today presented data on the successful conclusion of a Phase I safety and tolerability study for its investigational Universal Influenza Vaccine, FLU-v, at the World Influenza Congress in Amsterdam (7-9 December).

8 Dec 2010

Case Western Reserve School of Medicine researchers receive NIH grant for four research endeavors

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine faculty members are reaping the rewards of funding from the National Institutes of Health, in the form of grants and contracts. The funding totals more than $6.4 million for four different research endeavors.

8 Dec 2010

FDA grants QLT's QLT091001 orphan drug designation for treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa

QLT Inc. today announced that QLT091001, the Company's oral synthetic retinoid, has been granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This follows the FDA grant of orphan drug designation for QLT091001 for the treatment of Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA) also on December 7, 2010.

8 Dec 2010

Breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen anxious to have CYP2D6 genetic test

While the medical community continues to debate the benefits of CYP2D6 genetic testing for women on the breast cancer treatment tamoxifen, patients using the medication are anxious to have the tests. According to a new survey of more than 700 women with breast cancer currently taking tamoxifen, almost 80 percent of respondents would choose to have a genetic test that determines CYP2D6 genotype, yet only 14 percent of these women have been tested. CYP2D6 is an enzyme that influences how well the body processes tamoxifen into its more active form.

7 Dec 2010

Long-term prognosis still excellent for children with seizures

Mayo Clinic researchers studied more than 200 children with epilepsy and found that even if the cause of focal-onset seizures cannot be identified and they do not fit into a known epilepsy syndrome, long-term prognosis is still excellent. This study was presented at the American Epilepsy Society's annual meeting in San Antonio on Dec. 4.

7 Dec 2010

Clinicians should specify subtypes of depression and combine antidepressants and psychotherapy

It is unlikely that different types of depression can be combined to one single disease called Major Depression. When testing the efficacy of antidepressants or psychotherapy, clinicians should make an attempt to specify the subtypes of depression and to combine antidepressants and psychotherapy in a sequential approach.

7 Dec 2010

Expansion of newborn screening throws some families on a journey of great uncertainty

Mandatory genetic screening of newborns for rare diseases is creating unexpected upheaval for families whose infants test positive for risk factors but show no immediate signs of the diseases, a new UCLA study warns.

7 Dec 2010

Medication and blood transfusion reduce risk of recurrent strokes in young patients with sickle cell anemia

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators discuss results of research into managing iron overload associated with stroke prevention in young sickle cell patients and the search for genetic predictors of stroke risk.

7 Dec 2010

Interleukin-1 plays major role in wound healing

Anesthesiologists are playing a leading role in research into the molecular factors affecting inflammation, pain, and healing of surgical incisions, as illustrated by papers published in the December issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

7 Dec 2010

Virally structured nano-electrodes boost energy capacity ten-fold

Viruses have a bad rep—and rightly so. The ability of a virus to quickly and precisely replicate itself makes it a destructive scourge to animals and plants alike. Now an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering and College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, brought together by Professor Reza Ghodssi, is turning the tables, harnessing and exploiting the "self-renewing" and "self-assembling" properties of viruses for a higher purpose: to build a new generation of small, powerful and highly efficient batteries and fuel cells.

7 Dec 2010

New analysis shows that common diseases are not lined to genetic factors

The case for a substantial role of genes in susceptibility to the major human diseases is now scientifically refuted argues a groundbreaking new analysis published by the public interest science organization, The Bioscience Resource Project.

7 Dec 2010

CSC's Leading Edge Forum: Disruptive technologies to reshape delivery of healthcare

CSC's Leading Edge Forum today released a report that identifies a new wave of disruptive technologies that will reshape the delivery of healthcare. These new technologies will help control costs while improving health by ushering in an era of wellness, self-monitoring, increased and earlier detection of disease, and more effective treatments.

7 Dec 2010

No overall cancer risk in people who donate stem cells

American Society of Hematology reveals that there is no increase in overall cancer risk in people who donate stem cells and that the utilization of a double cord blood stem cell transplant is associated with better overall outcomes when used early in the treatment of acute leukemias.

7 Dec 2010

High blood pressure may be caused by racial and geographic differences

High blood pressure may help to explain why deaths from heart disease and stroke vary according to geography, race and sex, researchers reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

7 Dec 2010

Screening for CCDC40 gene mutations may help determine risk for congenital heart defects

A gene that can cause congenital heart defects has been identified by a team of scientists, including a group from Princeton University. The discovery could lead to new treatments for those affected by the conditions brought on by the birth defect.

7 Dec 2010

Elsevier announces title change for Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics journal

Elsevier, the world's leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information, announced today that its highly respected Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics journal is changing its title to Cancer Genetics and has named Dr. Jaclyn A. Biegel as editor-in-chief.

6 Dec 2010

Research on BCR-ABL inhibitors for treating ALL, CML presented at ASH Annual Meeting

Over the past decade, significant advances have been made in the treatment of leukemia through the ongoing development of gene-based targeted therapies. Research that will be presented today at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology provides greater understanding of the optimal use of several BCR-ABL inhibitors for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and chronic myeloid leukemia, and how a new gene target functions for several myeloid malignancies.

6 Dec 2010

Research highlighting treatment for pediatric SCD, malaria presented at ASH 2010

Red blood cells have the very important role of carrying oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body; therefore, disorders that affect RBCs can have a significant impact on quality of life. Sickle cell disease and malaria are two common RBC diseases that affect a significant portion of the U.S. and global populations. Sickle cell disease, a genetic blood disorder that causes deformed and dysfunctional red blood cells, affects an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 Americans, while malaria affects approximately 1,500 Americans annually and 190 to 311 million people worldwide.

6 Dec 2010

Study compares efficacy of two treatments for iron overload caused by chronic transfusion therapy

Monthly blood transfusions combined with daily medication to remove the resulting excess iron remains the best approach for reducing the risk of recurrent strokes in young patients with sickle cell anemia, according to a preliminary analysis of a multicenter trial that includes St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

6 Dec 2010

Genetic News and Research

ChipDX validates genetic signature for early-stage colon cancer

SEEK reports Phase I safety trail for investigational flu vaccine

Case Western Reserve School of Medicine researchers receive NIH grant for four research endeavors

FDA grants QLT's QLT091001 orphan drug designation for treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa

Breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen anxious to have CYP2D6 genetic test

Long-term prognosis still excellent for children with seizures

Clinicians should specify subtypes of depression and combine antidepressants and psychotherapy

Expansion of newborn screening throws some families on a journey of great uncertainty

Medication and blood transfusion reduce risk of recurrent strokes in young patients with sickle cell anemia

Interleukin-1 plays major role in wound healing

Virally structured nano-electrodes boost energy capacity ten-fold

New analysis shows that common diseases are not lined to genetic factors

CSC's Leading Edge Forum: Disruptive technologies to reshape delivery of healthcare

No overall cancer risk in people who donate stem cells

High blood pressure may be caused by racial and geographic differences

Screening for CCDC40 gene mutations may help determine risk for congenital heart defects

Elsevier announces title change for Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics journal

Research on BCR-ABL inhibitors for treating ALL, CML presented at ASH Annual Meeting

Research highlighting treatment for pediatric SCD, malaria presented at ASH 2010

Study compares efficacy of two treatments for iron overload caused by chronic transfusion therapy

eBook: Using iPSCs models for human disease research and drug discovery eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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