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Pretreatment fasting glucose could block breast cancer progression

An increasing understanding of molecular pathways that regulate breast and colorectal cancer development and progression has produced new therapeutic agents, including the biologic agents trastuzumab, bevacizumab, and cetuximab. Identifying the indicators that are likely to predict which patients will achieve the best response to these agents represents a major challenge for contemporary oncologists.

7 Dec 2011

Health Alliance, Bayer sign outcomes-based contract to support MS patients

Bayer HealthCare and Health Alliance Medical Plans have entered into an outcomes-based contract for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) who are taking Betaseron (interferon beta-1b) to reduce the frequency of clinical exacerbations.

7 Dec 2011

Scientists understand how nervous system becomes wired during early development

Thanks to a new study of the retina, scientists at UC Santa Barbara have developed a greater understanding of how the nervous system becomes wired during early development.

7 Dec 2011

FDA modifies requirements of Amgen's Nplate REMS Program

Amgen today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has modified the requirements of the Nplate (romiplostim) Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Program.

7 Dec 2011

INT-777 shows promise against metabolic syndrome

Heart disease is a major cause of death in industrialised countries, and is strongly associated with obesity and diabetes. Many scientists believe that what links these conditions is a chronic, low-grade inflammation.

7 Dec 2011

Report shows how mutant gene influences lipid metabolism

People who carry a malfunctioning copy of a particular gene are especially good at clearing fat from their systems. The report in the December Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, shows how the mutant gene influences metabolism in this way.

7 Dec 2011

Fatty livers burn more fat, not less

When our livers become loaded with fat, it isn't because they are slacking. A new study of human patients in the December Cell Metabolism shows that fatty livers actually burn more fat, not less. All that "hard work" may be at the root of the organ damage that comes with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a condition associated with insulin resistance that affects about one in three in the U.S. population.

6 Dec 2011

Infants can differentiate between credible and un-credible sources

Babies love to imitate. Ask any parent and they'll report how infants mimic sounds, facial expressions and actions they observe. Now new research from Concordia University, published in the journal Infant Behavior and Development, has found that infants can even differentiate between credible and un-credible sources. Simply put, most babies won't follow along if they have been previously tricked by an adult.

6 Dec 2011

Study reveals previously unseen details of SBP8a anthrax bacteriophage

A new study has shown previously unseen details of an anthrax bacteriophage - a virus that infects anthrax bacteria - revealing for the first time how it infects its host, and providing an initial blueprint for how the phage might someday be modified into a tool for the detection and destruction of anthrax and other potential bioterror agents.

6 Dec 2011

Therakos commences enrollment in photopheresis Phase IIb clinical study for chronic GvHD

Therakos, Inc., a pioneer in the innovative treatment of extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) for immune modulation therapy, today announced that the first patient has been enrolled in its Phase IIb clinical study evaluating the use of the company's photopheresis technology in the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD).

6 Dec 2011

PDUFA goal date of NDA for Protalix's taliglucerase alfa extended

Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc., announced today that it received notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the FDA has extended the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date of the New Drug Application (NDA) for taliglucerase alfa to May 1, 2012, a three-month extension from the previous PDUFA date of February 1, 2012.

6 Dec 2011

Biosensors can detect oxidant production in living organism

Arterial calcification and coronary heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, cancer and even the aging process itself are suspected to be partially caused or accelerated by oxidative stress. Oxidative stress arises in tissues when there is an excess of what are called reactive oxygen species.

6 Dec 2011

GE Healthcare, UCSF collaborate for cord blood project

UCSF and the Cell Technologies business of GE Healthcare Life Sciences have begun a unique collaboration aimed at overcoming the lack of blood-forming stem cells available to patients suffering from life-threatening diseases such as lymphoma, myeloma, leukemia or sickle cell anemia.

6 Dec 2011

Researchers reveal how podocytes may regenerate themselves during normal kidney function

Damage to podocytes -- a specialized type of epithelial cell in the kidney -- occurs in more than 90 percent of all chronic kidney disease. Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have uncovered an unexpected pathway that reveals for the first time how these cells may regenerate and renew themselves during normal kidney function.

6 Dec 2011

Autism linked with disorganized structure of brain's white matter

It's still unclear what's different in the brains of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), but evidence from genetic and cell studies points to abnormalities in how brain cells (neurons) connect to each other. A study at Children's Hospital Boston now provides visual evidence associating autism with a disorganized structure of brain connections, as well as defects in myelin -- the fatty, insulating coating that helps nerve fibers conduct signals and that makes up the brain's white matter.

6 Dec 2011

FDA assigns CTIs' pixantrone NDA new PDUFA action date

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Division of Oncology Products 1 has notified CTI that CTI's October 2011 resubmitted New Drug Application is considered a complete, Class 2 response to the FDA's April 2010 complete response letter.

6 Dec 2011

Dust storms have adverse effect on hospital EDs for COPD

A new study published in the journal Respirology reveals that dust storms have an adverse effect on emergency hospital admission for chronic lung disease, often known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

6 Dec 2011

New research suggests that teenage texting of nude photos not so popular

Only 1 percent of kids aged 10 to 17 have shared images of themselves or others that involve explicit nudity, a nationally representative study found. Roughly the same number said they'd shared suggestive but less graphic photos; while 7 percent said they'd received either type of picture.

6 Dec 2011

DFG to establish eight new CRCs as of 1 January 2012

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish eight Collaborative Research Centres (CRC) as of 1 January 2012. This was agreed by the responsible Grants Committee at its autumn meeting in Bonn.

5 Dec 2011

Stem cells for the damaged heart

Stem cell research got its latest boost. For the first time, stem cells were injected into the hearts of humans who had suffered serious heart damage, and patients improved dramatically. The scientists found that the stem cells grew into new heart cells to replace the damaged tissue.

5 Dec 2011