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Xenon gas shown to be safe in surgery and could help stop nervedamaging illnesses

Scientists have successfully conducted the first clinical trial giving xenon gas to patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting in order to safeguard against postoperative brain damage that can occur following this procedure.

27 Feb 2006

Study finds gene variant is no strong risk factor for osteoporosis

Variations in a number of different genes and environmental factors affect an individual’s risk for osteoporosis. Several gene variants have been linked to osteoporosis, but few have stood the test of time.

24 Feb 2006

M. D. Anderson Cancer Center to investigate CTCE-9908 chemokine CXCR4 antagonist

Chemokine Therapeutics has announced that it has entered into an agreement with The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center of Houston, Texas to study the Company's lead anti-cancer compound, CTCE-9908, a chemokine CXCR4 antagonist.

21 Feb 2006

Lifetime calorie restraint to prevent obesity is the most powerful way to reduce age-related health problems

University of South Florida researcher Barbara Hansen, PhD, will likely never be invited to talk about weight loss on Oprah. Her message is mundanely common sense, not faddish - she doesn't drop phrases like "low carb," or "low fat," or "geared to your body type" or "put your body into fat-burning mode."

20 Feb 2006

Bathroom scale model of weight loss most effective

According to a researcher in the U.S. losing and keeping off weight requires a lifelong commitment and effort.

19 Feb 2006

Brain scans may detect neurological decline in normal people

Brain scans may detect neurological changes in people who exhibit no outward signs of cognitive decline but who later develop dementia or mental impairment, according to the results of a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

16 Feb 2006

Monotherapy phase I clinical trials of novel cytotoxics, targeted therapeutics, antimetastatic agents/angiogenesis inhibitors, and immunotherapeutics/vaccines

Numerous novel oncology agents are currently in phase I monotherapy trials. New Medicine's Oncology KnowledgeBASE (nm|OK) has updated the records of 92 such agents with preclinical or clinical results reported during the 2005 meetings of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)

7 Feb 2006

New tool for genetic research

In an article appearing online today in the journal Nature Methods, researchers at the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fidirale de Lausanne) unveil a powerful new tool that will facilitate genetic research and open up new avenues for the clinical treatment of genetic disease.

23 Jan 2006

Injection of EU funds for a microdose project

A new EU-funded project kicked off this month which aims to bridge the gap between the laboratory and the clinic. The EU Microdose AMS Partnership Programme (EUMAPP) aims to boost Europe’s expertise in micodosing and its application of AMS, or accelerator mass spectrometry, to developing new candidate drugs for treating diseases the world over.

23 Jan 2006

Drug discovery companies turn to low-cost Asian countries to evade stringent regulations

The Indian and Chinese drug discovery outsourcing market is riding a crest with companies from outside Asia increasingly seeking to outsource drug discovery to these countries for greater cost savings. Other major factors driving this shift to Indian and Chinese companies are the better access to expertise, productivity gains, process improvements, variable costs, avoidance of capital outlays and opportunities for companies to focus on specific niches.

16 Jan 2006

Administering stem cells to patients with myocardial infarction leads to a reduction of the size of the infarct

This week, doctors at the Catholic University of Leuven, connected with the University Hospital - Gasthuisberg, the Stem Cell Institute Leuven (SCIL), and the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), are publishing a major breakthrough in the treatment of patients with acute myocardial infarction.

9 Jan 2006

New drug shows promise in fighting Tuberculosis (TB)

Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have determined how a promising drug candidate attacks the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB). Published online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the finding may help scientists optimize the drug candidate, PA-824, which targets Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb).

28 Dec 2005

New drug shows promise in fighting Tuberculosis (TB)

28 Dec 2005

Children could be saved from neuroblastoma using antibody therapy

Combination of T cell, antibody to neuroblastoma cells and molecule that spurs T cell growth is designed to treat low initial tumor levels or small cancer cell populations that survive initial treatment, according to St. Jude.

22 Dec 2005

Common garden plant may hold cure for leukemia

Scientists in the U.S. believe they have identified a new pathway in the progression of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).

12 Dec 2005

Study suggests a way to eliminate glioblastoma

Scientists have devised a strategy to treat tumors by selectively targeting and killing the malignant cells. A new preclinical study, published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine, has applied the approach to combat glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

7 Dec 2005

Phenoxodiol - docetaxel combination for women with recurrent ovarian cancer

A clinical study of ovarian cancer initiated by investigators at Yale School of Medicine will combine the anti-cancer drug phenoxodiol with docetaxel for women with recurrent ovarian cancer.

5 Dec 2005

Compound from Salinispora (marine bacteria) kills blood cancer cells

An anti-cancer compound derived from bacteria dwelling in ocean-bottom sediments appears in laboratory tests to be a potent killer of drug-resistant multiple myeloma cells, and potentially with less toxicity than current treatments, report Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers in the November issue of Cancer Cell.

21 Nov 2005

Plant extract forskolin may lead to leukemia treatment

Scientists here have identified a new pathway in the progression of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). They also discovered that an extract from the root of a common ornamental plant can suppress the process.

20 Nov 2005

Introgen's INGN 241 combined with Celebrex kills breast cancer cells

Introgen Therapeutics, Inc. today reported the publication of preclinical data demonstrating that INGN 241 works synergistically with celecoxib (Celebrex) marketed by Pfizer to inhibit the growth and increase apoptosis (cell death) of breast cancer cells.

8 Nov 2005