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Mesothelin appears to play important role in promoting pancreatic cancer growth - clues to new treatments

New understanding of a protein that spurs the growth of pancreatic cancer could lead to a new vaccine against the deadly disease, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in a report appearing in the current edition of the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.

17 Feb 2008

Major milestone in the culturing of human blood stem cells

Patients with leukemia, certain autoimmune diseases and genetic defects such as sickle-cell anemia can be treated with blood stem cells either from a donor's bone marrow or from cord blood - but the supply of effective stem cells often runs short.

17 Feb 2008

Potential new strategy for treating lupus

Immune cells that would normally die in healthy people accumulate in bodies of patients who have lupus and contribute to the disease, according to new Saint Louis University research published in the Feb. 15 issue of Immunity.

17 Feb 2008

New spine center at UT Southwestern

UT Southwestern Medical Center has launched a multidisciplinary Spine Center that features top physicians from diverse fields who work together to treat one of the most common problems plaguing our aging society: back pain.

14 Feb 2008

Post-traumatic stress disorder leads to long-term health problems

Geisinger research finds that veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are as likely to have long-term health problems as people with chronic disease risk factors such as an elevated white blood cell counts and biological signs and symptoms.

14 Feb 2008

$Australian stem cell fracture treatment shows great results$

Australian stem cell fracture treatment shows great results

A trial at an Australian hospital using adult stem cells to repair bone fractures has had excellent results.

13 Feb 2008

Warning about deaths and serious reactions linked to blood thinning drug heparin

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States says the production of a popular blood thinning drug has been halted temporarily after more than 300 reports of health problems associated with the drug.

13 Feb 2008

New Jefferson trial to test radiation-emitting beads against advanced liver cancer

Liver cancer specialists at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia are beginning an 18-month study of a new treatment for liver cancer.

13 Feb 2008

Does psychotherapy help older people with depression?

The jury is still out on whether psychotherapy can help older people with depression, according to a new review of recent research.

13 Feb 2008

HPV-positive head and neck cancer patients fare better than HPV-negative patients

Head and neck cancer patients with HPV-positive tumors tend to survive longer and are more responsive to treatment compared with patients with HPV-negative tumors, according to a study published online February 12 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

13 Feb 2008

Fake antimalarial drugs analysis highlights threat to global health

A unique collaboration between scientists, public health workers and police has led to the arrest by the Chinese authorities of alleged traders of fake anti-malarial drugs in southern China and the seizure of a large quantity of drugs.

13 Feb 2008

Expenditures rising for back and neck problems, but health outcomes do not appear to be improving

Although expenses related to back and neck problems have increased substantially in the last decade, outcomes such as functional disability and work limitations do not appear to be improving, according to a study in the February 13 issue of JAMA.

13 Feb 2008

Depression in seniors

Depression is sometimes viewed as a normal part of aging.

13 Feb 2008

Toxic blue-green algae may provide new anti-cancer drugs

A collaborative team of researchers spearheaded by Dennis Carson M.D., professor of medicine and director of the Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has identified a potent new anti-cancer drug isolated from a toxic blue-green algae found in the South Pacific.

12 Feb 2008

Gene therapy protocol at UCSD activates immune system in patients with leukemia

A research team at the Moores Cancer Center at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) reports that patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who were treated with a gene therapy protocol began making antibodies that reacted against their own leukemia cells.

12 Feb 2008

Doctors uncertain about approaches to care for heart failure patients

Less than one fourth of physicians specializing in geriatrics, internal or family medicine or cardiology believe they can accurately predict the whether patients with heart failure are at risk of dying, new Saint Louis University research found.

12 Feb 2008

Discovery of possible target for prevention and treatment of pneumonia

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have identified a key protein target that may be a crucial factor in the development of a vaccine to prevent and new therapies to treat pneumonia, the leading killer of children worldwide.

12 Feb 2008

Researchers find new U.S. trend in antibiotic resistance

A research team from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, examining bacterial isolates obtained in hospital and non-hospital clinical settings between 2000 and 2006, has identified drug-resistant strains of E. coli and Klebsiella bacteria in more than 50 blood, urine and respiratory samples.

11 Feb 2008

Moss protein plays role in Alzheimer's disease

Preventing Alzheimer's from developing is a goal of Raphael Kopan, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and pharmacology at the Washington University School of Medicine.

11 Feb 2008