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Novel drug boosts platelets in ITP

Attacking a platelet-depleting autoimmune disease in a whole new way, an experimental drug is helping patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) once again produce healthy amounts of platelets -- with no major side effects.

14 Nov 2006

Optical amplification of photothermal therapy with gold nanoparticles and nanoclusters

Gold nanoparticles, through their unique ability to convert light into heat, show great promise as miniature heaters capable of cooking cancer cells to death.

13 Nov 2006

Safety of t-PA clot-busting therapy questioned

Across the world, emergency medical teams often administer a powerful clot-busting drug called tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) to help patients stricken by heart attack.

13 Nov 2006

Researchers use gene therapy to reduce the development of epileptic seizures

For the first time, researchers have inhibited the development of epilepsy after a brain insult in animals. By using gene therapy to modify signaling pathways in the brain, neurology researchers found that they could significantly reduce the development of epileptic seizures in rats.

8 Nov 2006

Cost-effectiveness of lipid screening in Hodgkin's disease survivors

Hodgkin's lymphoma survivors who have lipid screening every five years to detect high cholesterol will live a half year longer than patients who don't have the screening and the intervention is cost-effective, according to a study presented November 8, 2006, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 48th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

8 Nov 2006

Phase I clinical trial of experimental gene therapy to treat HIV shows encouraging results

The results of a Phase I clinical trial of an experimental gene therapy aimed at treating HIV indicate that the therapy is safe and effective and also might sustain viral loads, according to a study published on Monday in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the AP/Washington Post reports.

8 Nov 2006

Toyota builds employee health clinic in new factory to reduce health care costs

In an effort to contain health care spending, Toyota Motor will construct a $9 million medical clinic for employees and their families at its new San Antonio truck factory, the Detroit News reports.

8 Nov 2006

External-beam radiation therapy safe for breast cancer

External-beam radiation therapy for early-stage breast cancer can be delivered safely and in a shorter course that eliminates as much as two weeks from conventional treatment.

8 Nov 2006

Shaped-beam radiosurgery treats tiniest lung tumors

Patients with metastatic cancer tumors in their lungs are much more likely to live disease-free if they have an experimental treatment involving shaped-beam radiosurgery rather that conventional treatment, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.

8 Nov 2006

New research could affect future treatment options for prostate cancer

Two new studies on the treatment of prostate cancer could well affect future treatment options for patients.

8 Nov 2006

Brits to trial stem cell treatment for heart attack victims

In an experimental treatment which aims to prevent heart failure and death following a heart attack, doctors in Britain will trial a treatment which uses a patients own stem cells.

8 Nov 2006

Nanoparticle probes with surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic tags for cellular cancer targeting

Cancer biologists are always on the lookout for new methods of studying the effects that drug therapy has on malignant cells.

6 Nov 2006

Nanoparticles for two-photon photodynamic therapy in living cells

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) uses a combination of ultraviolet or visible light and a light-sensitive chemical, or photosensitizer, to kill cancer cells using reactive oxygen.

6 Nov 2006

Chronic fatigue syndrome a public health epidemic says CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States says more than a million Americans suffer from Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

6 Nov 2006

The lifetime cost of current HIV care in the United States

"The Lifetime Cost of Current HIV Care in the United States," a major study appearing in the November 2006 issue of Medical Care, projects the cost of treatment for HIV-infected adults using current standards of care.

1 Nov 2006

Symptoms of schizophrenia eased by music therapy

According to British researchers, some of the symptoms of schizophrenia may be eased with music therapy.

1 Nov 2006

Breast cancer patients may benefit from new accelerated treatment

Women with early-stage breast cancer may benefit from a new, accelerated approach to radiation therapy making their course of treatment shorter, according to a new study released today in the International Journal for Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics, the official journal of ASTRO.

31 Oct 2006