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EORTC, EASL publish first joint CPGs on management of hepatocellular carcinoma

The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) today publish their first joint Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) on the management of hepatocellular carcinoma.

16 Mar 2012

Combination therapy may improve life span and motor function of infants with Batten disease

Infants with Batten disease, a rare but fatal neurological disorder, appear healthy at birth. But within a few short years, the illness takes a heavy toll, leaving children blind, speechless and paralyzed. Most die by age 5.

16 Mar 2012

Doctors can use genetic profiling to more accurately predict patients with AML

Researchers have identified a set of genetic abnormalities in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) that doctors can use to more accurately predict patients' prognoses and select treatments that are most likely to benefit them.

15 Mar 2012

New study suggests another benefit to antimicrobial stewardship

Curbing unnecessary use of antibiotics is our best defense against the spread of drug-resistant infections. A new study suggests another benefit to antimicrobial stewardship: a potential cost savings of millions of dollars now wasted on therapies that don't help patients.

15 Mar 2012

New rule ensuring equal access for ESRD patients receives DPC praise

Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC), the nation's largest patient-led organization representing dialysis patients, applauded the Administration for taking steps to solidify a key provision that will ensure end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients have equal access to private coverage as Affordable Care Act reforms are implemented.

14 Mar 2012

Researchers double time to store donated cartilage

For years, doctors have been able to treat defects in joint cartilage by grafting cartilage donated from cadavers into patients' bad joints. Using current methods, donated cartilage can be stored for 28 days for a transplant before the tissue becomes too degraded to transplant into a patient. Now, researchers from the University of Missouri have found a way to store donated cartilage more than twice as long.

14 Mar 2012

Living-donor parathyroid gland transplant allows young woman to forgo 60 pills per day

Surgeons at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System performed a rare living-donor parathyroid gland transplant to help a 22-year-old woman maintain normal calcium levels without the need for high-dose supplementation.

13 Mar 2012

New recovery protocol treats heart failure patients with LVADs

Some patients with advanced heart failure caused by cardiomyopathy, the deterioration of function of the heart muscle, are benefitting from a new recovery protocol at the University of Louisville and Jewish Hospital, a part of KentuckyOne Health.

13 Mar 2012

Study describes horrific experiences of poor organ trafficking victims

A Michigan State University anthropologist who spent more than a year infiltrating the black market for human kidneys has published the first in-depth study describing the often horrific experiences of poor people who were victims of organ trafficking.

13 Mar 2012

Researchers identify molecule that helps decrease acute GVHD severity

Researchers have identified a molecule that helps control the severity of graft-versus-host disease, a life-threatening complication for many leukemia patients who receive a bone-marrow transplant.

12 Mar 2012

Gastrointestinal progenitor cells could be coaxed into making insulin

A study by Columbia researchers suggests that cells in the patient's intestine could be coaxed into making insulin, circumventing the need for a stem cell transplant. Until now, stem cell transplants have been seen by many researchers as the ideal way to replace cells lost in type I diabetes and to free patients from insulin injections.

12 Mar 2012

Kansas considers Medicaid changes; California advocates worry about their own overhaul

The Kansas legislature is considering changes to the state's Medicaid program including exempting long-term care services from some planned reforms.

10 Mar 2012

3SBio fourth quarter total net revenues increase 38.2% to RMB139.9M

3SBio Inc., a leading China-based biotechnology company focused on researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing biopharmaceutical products, announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2011.

9 Mar 2012

Not all patients with CKD are destined for kidney failure

Not all patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are destined for kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

9 Mar 2012

Some bone marrow cells could prevent rejection of transplanted kidney in recipients: Study

Researchers transplanted certain cells from the kidney donor’s bone marrow along with the new organ. Five of eight transplant recipients who tried the method so far were off immune-suppressing medication up to 2½ years later, the researchers reported Wednesday. The preliminary results were considered important enough to be published in the journal Science Translational Medicine even though the study still is under way, because the technique worked for patients who didn’t have well-matched or related donors.

8 Mar 2012

Diaverum takes an active role in 2012 World Kidney day

Diaverum, one of the world's leading renal care service providers, is taking an active role in today's World Kidney day. Through activities such as open door days at dialysis clinics, free kidney screening and blood pressure tests, Diaverum is increasing awareness for renal diseases and informing about possible prevention measures.

8 Mar 2012

Bellicum raises $20M in Series B financing

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has raised $20 million in a Series B financing. The funding will be used to advance its lead CaspaCIDe and DeCIDe programs through Phase 2 clinical development.

8 Mar 2012

Bevacizumab drug improves cardiac output in patients with HHT

In a small study that included 25 patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (a genetic disorder that leads to abnormalities of blood vessels) and severe liver involvement with this disease, patients who received the drug bevacizumab had improved cardiac output and a reduction in the duration and number of episodes of nose bleeds, a potentially life-threatening complication for patients with this disorder, according to a study in the March 7 issue of JAMA.

6 Mar 2012

Scientists successfully cultivate stem cells on human corneas

A new cornea may be the only way to prevent a patient going blind - but there is a shortage of donated corneas and the queue for transplantation is long. Scientists at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have for the first time successfully cultivated stem cells on human corneas, which may in the long term remove the need for donators.

5 Mar 2012

Sun-dried tomatoes may be contaminated with hepatitis A virus: Officials warn

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said two confirmed cases of the infection had been found to have an identical strain to three cases reported in England and confirmed at HPA Colindale in 2010. Both people had recently eaten sun-dried tomatoes.

5 Mar 2012