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N-acetylcysteine improves graft survival following liver transplantation

Researchers from Italy have found that the antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), when injected prior to harvesting of the liver, significantly improves graft survival following transplantation.

26 Feb 2013

Insight into cellular operations that give extraordinary staying power to S. mansoni

From the point of view of its ultimate (human) host, the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni has a gruesome way of life. It hatches in feces-tainted water, grows into a larva in the body of a snail and then burrows through human skin to take up residence in the veins. Once there, it grows into an adult, mates and, if it's female, starts laying eggs. It can remain in the body for decades.

26 Feb 2013

HDAC-mediated mechanisms play critical role in regulating lung repair and regeneration

Lung diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are on the rise, according to the American Lung Association and the National Institutes of Health.

26 Feb 2013

Bayer receives FDA approval for Stivarga to treat advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approved use of Stivarga (regorafenib) to treat patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) that cannot be surgically removed and no longer respond to other FDA-approved treatments for this disease.

26 Feb 2013

Antioxidant boosts liver transplant outcomes

Infusion of N-acetylcysteine in liver donors can significantly improve the outcome of transplantation, research shows.

25 Feb 2013

Researchers discover new way to accelerate mass spectrometer that identifies proteins

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found a new way to accelerate a workhorse instrument that identifies proteins. The high-speed technique could help diagnose cancer sooner and point to new drugs for treating a wide range of conditions.

25 Feb 2013

Genentech receives FDA approval for Kadcyla to treat HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine), a new therapy for patients with HER2-positive, late-stage (metastatic) breast cancer.

23 Feb 2013

Janssen submits simeprevir regulatory application in Japan to treat HCV

Medivir AB today announced that its partner Janssen now has submitted a regulatory application to the Japanese Ministry of Health & Welfare authorities seeking approval for simeprevir, administered with pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) for the treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C patients who are treatment naïve, prior non responders or relapsed following treatment with Peg-IFN with or without RBV.

22 Feb 2013

Disruption in the body's circadian rhythm can increase risk of diabetes, heart disease

Disruption in the body's circadian rhythm can lead not only to obesity, but can also increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

22 Feb 2013

EASL unveils new publication - The burden of liver disease in Europe

Major progress has been made in the past 30 years in the knowledge and management of liver disease, yet approximately 29 million Europeans still suffer from a chronic liver condition. The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) today unveiled its new publication The burden of liver disease in Europe: a review of available epidemiological data.

22 Feb 2013

Donated liver survival rate improved by antioxidant

Researchers from Italy have found that the antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), when injected prior to harvesting of the liver, significantly improves graft survival following transplantation. Results published in the February issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), suggest that the NAC effect on early graft function and survival is higher when suboptimal organs are used.

21 Feb 2013

Daclatasvir has two primary modes of action against HCV

A study by researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and a multinational team reveals how daclatasvir, a direct-acting antiviral agent in development for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV), targets one of its proteins and causes the fastest viral decline ever seen with anti-HCV drugs - within 12 hours of treatment.

21 Feb 2013

‘Liver first’ approach first choice for metastatic rectal cancer

Using the “liver first” approach to treat locally advanced rectal cancer and synchronous liver metastases allows nearly three-quarters of patients to receive optimal neoadjuvant therapy and resection for both their primary tumor and metastases, researchers report.

20 Feb 2013

Internationally-recognized cancer clinician named first K. Hasumi Professor of Medical Oncology

Internationally-recognized cancer clinician and researcher Takami Sato, M.D., Ph.D., who serves as the Director of the Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Program in the Department of Medical Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University, has been named the first K. Hasumi Professor of Medical Oncology.

20 Feb 2013

Scientists demonstrate advantages of wavelength-modulated Raman spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy has enabled incredible advances in numerous scientific fields and is a powerful tool for tissue classification and disease recognition, although there have been considerable challenges to using the method in a clinical setting. Scientists have now demonstrated the advantages of wavelength-modulated Raman spectroscopy, opening the door to wider biomedical and clinical applications such as real-time assessment of tissues during surgery.

20 Feb 2013

Study may help design better DAA drug cocktails to treat HCV

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects about 4 million in the United States and is the primary cause of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Current therapy against HCV is suboptimal. Daclatasvir, a direct acting antiviral (DAA) agent in development for the treatment of HCV, targets one of the HCV proteins (i.e., NS5A) and causes the fastest viral decline (within 12 hours of treatment) ever seen with anti-HCV drugs.

20 Feb 2013

Cholesterol metabolism regulated by bacteria in the small intestine

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, show that cholesterol metabolism is regulated by bacteria in the small intestine. These findings may be important for the development of new drugs for cardiovascular disease.

19 Feb 2013

Researchers design molecules that can stop colon cancer progression

A Basque research consortium has managed to halt the progress of colon cancer and its metastasis in the liver in an experimental model with mice. This advance, that may open a new path for the future treatment of such pathologies, has been achieved by creating molecules which interfere with the adhesion of tumour cells to other cells of the organism. In this way, the molecules halt both the growth of the tumour and the dissemination of the tumour to and its proliferation in other organs.

19 Feb 2013

Early PBC prognosis advocated

Biochemical response to ursodeoxycholic acid at 6 months is a better predictor for primary biliary cirrhosis prognosis than the current standard of 1 year, study results suggest.

18 Feb 2013

Study describes pharmacological action of TZDs directly on pancreas

A scientific study published on the journal Diabetes, edited by the American Diabetes Association, describes for the first time the pharmacological action of thiazolidinediones (TZDs) —anti-diabetic drugs— directly on pancreas, the organ which produces insulin.

18 Feb 2013