Transplant News and Research

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Viewpoints: N.Y. malpractice 'solution'?; tap Texas rainy-day fund?; Ariz. transplant dilemma solution?

Almost every other product Americans encounter is subject to laws that guarantee that the producer suffers when its product is subpar. There's no reason medical guidelines should be any different. With the proper incentives, these private regulators could help President Obama carry out the health care reform he signed into law a year ago.

30 Mar 2011

Roundup: Ariz. may restore transplant coverage; Fla. faces class action suit over disabled waiting list

Kentucky health officials are considering restrictions on the number of cancer-fighting drugs Medicaid patients may receive without prior approval, a move designed to contain costs in the health care program for the poor and disabled. The possibility of creating a non-preferred list of oral oncology drugs — pills that replace intravenous chemotherapy drugs — that Medicaid won't pay for without prior approval has raised questions from patient advocates and those who treat cancer patients.

30 Mar 2011

Smoking cessation after liver transplantation reduces incidence of malignancy

Spanish researchers have found that liver transplant recipients who quit smoking have a lower incidence of smoking-related malignancies (SRM) than patients who keep smoking. In fact, SRMs were identified in 13.5% of deceased patients and smoking was associated with a higher risk of malignancy in this study. Full findings are published in the April issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

29 Mar 2011

Study: Donor's DNA level in heart transplant recipient's blood can reveal organ rejection

Heart transplant recipients and their physicians are likely more concerned with the function of the donated organ than with the donor's DNA sequences that tag along in the new, healthy tissue.

29 Mar 2011

Emory surgeons perform first hand transplant in college student

Transplant and reconstructive surgeons from Emory University Hospital announced today at a news conference that they have successfully performed a rare complete hand transplant on 21-year-old Linda Lu, a college student from Orlando, Fla. This is a first for the Atlanta Hospital.

29 Mar 2011

Abbott launches Cataract Suite for micro-implantation procedure

Abbott announced today that it has introduced a Micro-Implantation Cataract Suite designed to help improve cataract procedure outcomes and safety.

29 Mar 2011

Lupus nephritis ESRD study finds increase in incidence rates among children, African Americans

New research documenting changes in the incidence and outcomes of end-stage renal disease in the U.S. between 1995 and 2006, found a significant increase in incidence rates among patients 5 to 39 years of age and in African Americans.

28 Mar 2011

FDA approves humanitarian device exemption for Elana Surgical Kit in cerebral bypass

Dutch medical device manufacturer, Elana bv, announced today that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a humanitarian device exemption (HDE), enabling a lifesaving cerebral bypass. Elana bv is a corporate spin-off from the University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands.

25 Mar 2011

Isotechnika fourth quarter consolidated net loss increases to $2.42 million

Isotechnika Pharma Inc. has released its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2010 and provided a review of the Company's operational and financial progress for 2010 and to the current date.

25 Mar 2011

CPRIT awards Bellicum $5.7 million to advance CaspaCIDe therapy for late stage cancer

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the Company received notice of a $5.7 million company commercialization award from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas ("CPRIT"). Bellicum was the only company recommended for funding in this second round of the commercialization award program.

25 Mar 2011

Tengion 2010 adjusted net loss decreases to $25.8 million

Tengion, Inc. today provided a business update and reported its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2010.

25 Mar 2011

Sequencing mouse cancer genome reveals mutations driving cancer in humans

Scientists who pioneered sequencing the genomes of cancer patients to find novel genetic changes at the root of the disease now have turned their attention to a laboratory workhorse — a mouse.

24 Mar 2011

First continuous-flow total artificial heart transplant performed at THI

Doctors at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital have successfully implanted the first continuous-flow total artificial heart in a desperately ill patient facing imminent death.

24 Mar 2011

NephRx receives new U.S. patent for NX002 to treat IBD

NephRx Corporation today announced issuance of a new U.S. patent for use of its novel growth factor peptide NX002 as a potential treatment for inflammatory bowel disease.

24 Mar 2011

Simultaneous face and hand transplant announced in the UK

Following the first full face transplant in the U.S., one of the leading surgeons in the U.K. has announced that he’s preparing to carry out a the world’s second simultaneous face and hand transplant.

23 Mar 2011

Australia’s first transplanted hand starts moving

Peter Walsh, 65, a grandfather, with no hands or feet has been wriggling his new fingers after becoming the first Australian recipient of a hand transplant. He underwent a landmark nine-hour operation at St Vincent's Hospital this week after years of painstaking planning by Melbourne specialists.

23 Mar 2011

NephRx receives new U.S. patent for NX002 to treat oral mucositis

NephRx Corporation today announced issuance of a new U.S. patent for its novel peptide NX002, which currently is in preclinical development for the treatment of oral mucositis.

23 Mar 2011

FDA approves Nordion's TheraSphere IDE for Phase III trial to treat HCC

Nordion Inc., a leading provider of products and services to the global health science market, today announced that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to conduct a Phase III clinical trial for TheraSphere® under an Investigational Device Exemption.

23 Mar 2011

Study: Stem cell transplant may benefit patients with rapidly progressive MS

A long term study reports about the effectiveness of replacing bone marrow, purposely destroyed by chemotherapy, with autologous stem cell rescue for people with aggressive forms of multiple sclerosis.

22 Mar 2011

First full face transplant in the U.S. on its way to success

In a first of its kind, Dallas Wiens, a 25 year old construction worker who had suffered severe burns to his head two and a half years ago and lost his face, was given a new face by transplant. Until now he had a face void of features, except for a lipless mouth and a goatee beard. Even his eye sockets were smoothed over with skin taken from other parts of his body. This was after 22 surgical procedures.

21 Mar 2011