Lymphatic System News and Research

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Lymph is clear or white fluid that travels through vessels, moves within tissues and work to keep all the parts of the body clean.
After passing through the channels of the lymphatic system they drain into the lymph nodes.
The lymph nodes act as filters along the lymphatic system. These nodes trap germs like bacteria, viruses, toxins as well as cancer cells and ensure that these are removed from the body.

Teen wins right to refuse chemo

A teenager in the U.S. who has Hodgkins' Disease, has won a court battle which aimed to order the boy to undergo a second course of intensive chemotherapy.

20 Aug 2006

Therapeutic gene suspected to cause cancer

One of the few gene therapy studies that had ever been successful was terminated in 2003, because several of the treated children had developed leukemia.

3 May 2006

Clear evidence that elephantiasis can be eliminated

Clear evidence that Lymphatic Filariasis (LF, commonly known as elephantiasis) can be eliminated is reported in The Lancet. LF is one of the world's most disfiguring and disabling parasitic diseases, and the target of one of the largest global public health programs using mass drug administration (MDA).

28 Mar 2006

Egyptian program to eliminate elephantiasis successful

Organizers of a 20-year global effort to eliminate a parasitic infection that is a leading cause of disability have an early victory to savor: a five-year Egyptian elimination campaign has mostly succeeded, according to a new report in the March 25 issue of The Lancet.

28 Mar 2006

Link between rheumatoid arthritis and cancer examined

Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease of the immune system and is thought to be linked to an increased risk of cancers of the lymphatic system.

28 Feb 2006

Study associates chronic, severe inflammation with increased lymphoma risk among RA patients

An inflammatory disease of the immune system, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with increased occurrence of lymphoma--or cancers of the lymphatic system, which plays an integral role in the body's ability to fight infection.

27 Feb 2006

The role of genes in the development of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas

An international consortium of epidemilogists - including Dr. Alexandra Nieters and Professor Nikolaus Becker of the Clinical Epidemiology Division of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) - has conducted the first ever investigation of genetic factors in the development of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) in a study called InterLymph.

15 Dec 2005

Vaccine for a type of blood cancer - follicular lymphoma

A team of researchers has demonstrated the clinical efficacy and benefits of a vaccine for a type of blood cancer, follicular lymphoma, amongst first time relapse patients. Specialists from two University of Navarre centres – the University Hospital and the Research Centre for Applied Medicine (CIMA) - have worked jointly since 2001 on the research.

9 Nov 2005

Can strength-training exercises reduce or prevent lymphedema symptoms in breast cancer?

In a novel research study to begin this week at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor in Epidemiology, will help to determine the extent to which a slowly progressive program of strength-training exercises is safe for breast cancer survivors with and without symptoms of lymphedema.

25 Oct 2005

How cells use very slow biological flows to signal and organize

An EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) team led by professor Melody Swartz has demonstrated for the first time that the presence of very slow biological flows affects the extracellular environment in ways that are critical for tissue formation and cell migration.

25 Oct 2005

New treatment advances for patients with follicular lymphoma

A newly published study recommends that doctors carefully choose their patients' initial therapies because there are significant differences in overall survival rates, according to researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center's James P. Wilmot Cancer Center.

20 Oct 2005

Abnormal leakage of lymph fluid from the ruptured lymphatic vessels stimulates the accumulation of fat

Leaky lymphatic vessels are the leading cause of the adult onset obesity observed in a laboratory model developed by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

26 Sep 2005

Protein thought to promote lymphoma by merely preventing cancer cells from dying appears to actively promote cancer cell growth

A protein previously thought to merely hinder the activity of a key cellular protein linked to cancer cell death, now appears to mimic the cellular signaling of that protein; potentially leading to the development of lymphoma.

22 Aug 2005

New laser therapy that destroys cancer cells but leaves healthy ones unharmed

Scientists at Stanford University have developed a new laser therapy that destroys cancer cells but leaves healthy ones unharmed. The new, non-invasive treatment is described in a study published in the Aug. 1 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

2 Aug 2005

First new treatment for Elephantiasis (lymphatic filariasis)

Scientists at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have proved that a single course of one antibiotic may hold the key to curing the parasitic worm disease Elephantiasis (lymphatic filariasis) that has been one of the most common causes of global disability since Biblical times.

21 Jun 2005

New discoveries in treatment for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Three scientific studies - each highlighting new discoveries in treatment for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma - were announced at the Society of Nuclear Medicine's 52nd Annual Meeting June 18–22 in Toronto.

20 Jun 2005

Half of 580 women diagnosed with breast cancer in one study experienced lymphedema

The good news is that there are nearly two million breast cancer survivors in the United States , and survival rates continue to increase for patients with this disease. But the flip side is that survival can present its own set of little-known complications.

12 Jun 2005

Drinking alcohol may lower risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

People who drink alcohol may have a lower risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) - a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system, suggests a study published online by The Lancet Oncology.

6 Jun 2005

Zevalin safe and effective for non-Hogdkin's lymphoma patients

According to a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) study, patients with advanced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) previously treated with chemotherapy and adult stem cell transplantation can safely tolerate Zevalin (ibritumomab tiuxetan), a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody that targets radiation directly to a tumor.

17 May 2005

First UK cases of previously rare disease reported in gay men

A previously rare disease has been reported for the first time in the UK, Lymphograunuloma venereum (LGV) is a genital/anogenital bacterial infection caused by a particularly invasive strain of Chlamydia trachomatis.

3 Apr 2005