Therapy News and Research

RSS

Longer looks: Music as a means of treatment for PTSD

On one of the many days Leo Dunson wanted to die, the Iraq veteran put a gun to his temple and pulled the trigger. The loaded weapon misfired. For the troubled former soldier, it was another inexplicable failure, like his divorce or inability to make friends after returning from the war. In a Las Vegas recording studio, Dunson rapped about his life: "What's wrong with me? Got PTSD. These pills ain't working, man, I still can't think."

18 May 2012

Dabrafenib drug shrinks tumors in patients with melanoma brain metastases

An experimental drug targeting a common mutation in melanoma successfully shrank tumors that spread to the brain in nine out of 10 patients in part of an international phase I clinical trial report in the May 18 issue of The Lancet.

18 May 2012

APS announces recipients of prestigious achievement awards

The American Pain Society (APS), www.ampainsoc.org, today announced the recipients of its prestigious achievement awards during the organization's annual scientific meeting. APS rewards excellence in pain management with awards for career achievement, pain scholarship, education and public service, advocacy on behalf of children, outstanding service to APS, early career achievements and journalism.

18 May 2012

Patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer benefit from accelerated MVAC

For some patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer, treatment may begin before they undergo cystectomy, or surgical removal of the bladder. They may be advised by oncologists to receive chemotherapy before surgery. A large randomized clinical trial published in 2003 demonstrated a survival benefit for neoadjuvant, or pre-surgical, MVAC (methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin and cisplatin) using a standard dose and schedule.

18 May 2012

Additional data from Tokai’s galeterone Phase 1 study on CRPC

Tokai Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing new treatments for prostate cancer, today announced that additional data from a Phase 1 safety and proof-of-concept study evaluating lead candidate, galeterone, in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) will be highlighted in a poster presentation titled, "Phase I clinical trial of galeterone, a multifunctional anti-androgen and CYP17 inhibitor in castration resistant prostate cancer," abstract number 4665, on Sunday, June 3, 2012, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

18 May 2012

Medgenics’ EPODURE receives FDA clearance to proceed into clinical trials

Medgenics, Inc., developer of the novel Biopump technology for the sustained production and delivery of therapeutic proteins in patients using their own tissue, today announced receipt of clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed with a Phase IIb clinical trial of EPODURE for the treatment of anemia in patients undergoing renal dialysis.

18 May 2012

Spectrum initiates ZEVALIN and MGd Phase 2 combination study in NHL

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company with fully integrated commercial and drug development operations with a primary focus in hematology and oncology, today announced the initiation of a Phase 2 study evaluating ZEVALIN (ibritumomab tiuxetan) Injection for intravenous use + rituximab in combination with motexafin gadolinium (MGd) in patients with rituximab-refractory low-grade or follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

18 May 2012

Lenalidomide following stem cell transplant can halt progression of blood cancer

Multiple myeloma patients are better equipped to halt progression of this blood cancer if treated with lenalidomide, or Revlimid-, following a stem cell transplant, according to a study co-authored by a physician with the Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute.

17 May 2012

Cardiac ischemia plays an important role in adenovector gene transfection in mammalian hearts

Cardium Therapeutics today announced a late-breaking poster presentation at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) 15th Annual Meeting being held May 16-19, 2012 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA.

17 May 2012

Breast cancer cell surface protein blows cover of potent tumor-generating cells

Breast cancer stem cells wear a cell surface protein that is part nametag and part bull's eye, identifying them as potent tumor-generating cells and flagging their vulnerability to a drug, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report online in Journal of Clinical Investigation.

17 May 2012

Mary Ann Liebert releases BioResearch Open Access journal

The inaugural issue of BioResearch Open Access, a new bimonthly peer-reviewed open access journal, was released today by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The Journal provides a new rapid-publication forum for a broad range of scientific topics including but not limited to molecular and cellular biology, tissue engineering and biomaterials, regenerative medicine, stem cells, gene therapy, systems biology, genetics, biochemistry, virology, microbiology, and neuroscience.

17 May 2012

CHOP researcher leads trial of ALK inhibitor in neuroblastoma, lymphoma

A pill designed to zero in on abnormal genes that drive specific cancers has produced encouraging early results in children with an uncommon but aggressive type of lymphoma, as well as in children with a rare form of neuroblastoma.

17 May 2012

Gene therapy restores movement in children bedridden with AADC

Using gene transfer techniques pioneered by University of Florida faculty, Taiwanese doctors have restored some movement in four children bedridden with a rare, life-threatening neurological disease.

17 May 2012

Apigenin effective against human breast cancer

Apigenin, a natural substance found in grocery store produce aisles, shows promise as a non-toxic treatment for an aggressive form of human breast cancer, following a new study at the University of Missouri.

17 May 2012

Increasing Use of Smart Pumps to help drive down “Never Events”

Increased focus on providing optimum patient care in the most cost efficient way is fuelling demand for intelligent infusion devices termed “Smart Pumps.” A report from InMedica, a division of IMS Research (recently acquired by IHS Inc. (NYSE:IHS)), on the global market for infusion pumps found that, despite market saturation in the developed countries, demand for advanced technology is being maintained; infusion pump suppliers must offer technically advanced products at competitive prices to maintain market share.

17 May 2012

Self-harm study of Miss. youth finds highest rate in African-American males

A study of Mississippi youth who deliberately hurt themselves, and one of the first to examine self-harm across several demographics, found behaviors such as hitting, burning, biting, banging and cutting extend to African-American teens, boys in particular.

17 May 2012

Ibrutinib shows promise against CLL in the elderly

The experimental drug ibrutinib (PCI-32765) shows great promise for the treatment of elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to interim findings from a clinical trial.

17 May 2012

Data from Jennerex JX-594 clinical trials on cancer to be presented at ASCO annual meeting

Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic virus products for cancer, today announced that data relating to the company's oncolytic virus therapy for cancer will be covered in three separate abstracts released today by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

17 May 2012

Radiation oncology researchers revise glioblastoma classification system

Radiation oncology researchers have revised the system used by doctors since the 1990s to determine the prognosis of people with glioblastoma, which is the most devastating of malignant brain tumors.

17 May 2012