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.

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

Xlumena receives CE Mark approval to market AXIOS Stent and Delivery System

Xlumena, Inc. announces that it has received CE Mark approval to market its AXIOS Stent and Delivery System for biliary tract drainage.

18 Jul 2012

Alcohol has toxic effect on critical care services

Alcohol may account for more than one in 10 emergency department admissions, a study from the UK suggests.

10 Jul 2012

Acute pancreatitis: An interview with Viktor Oskarsson

Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease of the pancreas. The most common symptom is acute abdominal pain, which is often accompanied with nausea and vomiting.

4 Jul 2012

Early pain relief surgery improves long-term chronic pancreatitis outcomes

Surgery for pain relief in chronic pancreatitis should be considered at an earlier stage than current practice, suggest the results of a Dutch study.

28 Jun 2012

Acute pancreatitis may be staved off by diet rich in vegetables

A diet rich in vegetables could help stave off the development of the serious condition acute pancreatitis, suggests a large study published online in the journal Gut.

28 Jun 2012

FDA issues CRL to Repligen's RG1068 NDA for treatment of pancreatitis

Repligen Corporation today announced that it has received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the Company's New Drug Application (NDA) for RG1068.

23 Jun 2012

Updated data from ARIAD’s ponatinib pivotal trial on CML or Ph+ ALL

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced updated clinical data from the pivotal PACE trial of its investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor, ponatinib, in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) or Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (Ph+ ALL), who are resistant or intolerant to dasatinib or nilotinib or who have the T315I mutation.

18 Jun 2012

Amylin, Alkermes announce results from BYDUREON clinical study on type 2 diabetes

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Alkermes plc today announced results from the long-term extension of the DURATION-1 study, which showed that BYDUREON (exenatide extended-release for injectable suspension), the first and only once-weekly treatment for type 2 diabetes, was associated with clinically significant and sustained improvements in glycemic control during four years of treatment in adults with type 2 diabetes.

11 Jun 2012

IL-6 protein plays a pivotal role in the duration of acute pancreatitis

Scientists from the Universities of Illinois and California have found that the inflammatory protein interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays a pivotal role in the duration of acute pancreatitis in animal models with this condition.

1 Jun 2012

Clinical data from Boston Scientific endoscopy studies to be presented at DDW

Boston Scientific Corporation announces that seven abstracts and additional clinical data analyses will be presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW), May 19 – 22 in San Diego.

19 May 2012

Data from Purdue Pharma’s Butrans clinical trials to be presented at APS annual meeting

Purdue Pharma L.P. will present an analysis of data from completed clinical trials for Butrans® (buprenorphine) Transdermal System CIII at the American Pain Society's (APS) 31st Annual Scientific Meeting.

19 May 2012

Janssen’s NUCYNTA ER tablets more effective in providing pain management in adults with DPN

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the results of an investigational Phase 3 study suggesting NUCYNTA ER (tapentadol) extended-release tablets were significantly more effective than placebo in providing pain management among adults with chronic moderate to severe, painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

18 May 2012

Isis commences ISIS-APOCIIIRx Phase 2 study in hypertriglyceridemia

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the initiation of a Phase 2 study evaluating ISIS-APOCIIIRx in patients with hypertriglyceridemia.

5 May 2012

Indomethacin given after digestive diagnostic procedure may prevent pancreatitis: Study

There is a high risk of pancreatitis after a diagnostic procedure - ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography). ERCP is a procedure that is commonly utilized to treat or diagnose problems of the bile and pancreatic ducts. During an ERCP procedure, a lighted scope is inserted through the mouth while X-ray pictures are taken to check the tubes that drain the liver, pancreas and gallbladder.

15 Apr 2012

First clinical trial to clearly demonstrate effective prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis

A study in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine shows a serious complication of ERCP, a procedure commonly used to diagnose and treat problems of the bile and pancreatic ducts, may be eliminated with a single dose medication.

12 Apr 2012