Pathology News and Research

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Pathology is the study and diagnosis of disease through examination of organs, tissues, bodily fluids, and whole bodies (autopsies). The term also encompasses the related scientific study of disease processes, called General pathology. Medical pathology is divided in two main branches, Anatomical pathology and Clinical pathology. Veterinary pathology is concerned with animal disease whereas Phytopathology is the study of plant diseases.

Important advance in our understanding of colorectal cancer

An international team of medical scientists has made an important advance in our understanding of the second most fatal form of cancer in the industrialized world. Professor Jeremy R. Jass, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Gastrointestinal Pathology at McGill University in Montreal

3 Mar 2005

MRI better than current standard of practice in assessing neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients

More breast cancer patients with large palpable tumors are now undergoing chemotherapy before surgery in an effort to reduce the size of their tumor, and MRI is the best way to predict if the chemotherapy is working, preliminary results of a study show. If the chemotherapy is successful, then the woman may be able to undergo breast-conservation surgery rather than a mastectomy.

3 Mar 2005

Researchers identify first known mutation to occur in lung cancer patients who have never smoked

Dr.Adi Gazdar, professor of pathology in the Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research and senior author of the study in today's issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, explains that the findings may show why certain lung cancer patients respond dramatically to a specific form of targeted therapy while others have little or no response.

2 Mar 2005

Study describes the first known mutation to occur in lung cancer patients who have never smoked

Lung cancer patients who have never smoked are more likely than smokers to harbor one of two genetic mutations that researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have now linked to the disease.

1 Mar 2005

Scientific experts discuss the benefits and safety of vitamin E

Scientific experts in pharmacology, toxicology and nutrition gathered at the University of Southern California (USC) on February 26 for a forum to discuss the benefits and safety of vitamin E.

1 Mar 2005

Construction and excavation of the world's first 'mock' mass grave

The Bournemouth University-based Inforce Foundation has successfully completed one of the world's most unique training programmes which featured the construction and excavation of the world's first 'mock' mass grave.

28 Feb 2005

Early Alzheimer's disease may be precipitated by a neuron traffic jam

Early Alzheimer's disease may be precipitated by a “traffic jam” within neurons that causes swelling and prevents proper transport of proteins and structures in the cells, according to new studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers.

27 Feb 2005

Common epigenetic problem doubles cancer risk

In experiments with mice, a team of scientists from the United States, Sweden and Japan has discovered that having a double dose of one protein is sufficient to change the normal balance of cells within the lining of the colon, thereby doubling the risk that a cancer-causing genetic mutation will trigger a tumor there.

27 Feb 2005

New imaging method that may provide a clearer diagnosis of breast cancer

"This technique involves a new method for interpreting information gathered through MRI," explained Springer. "The technique involves recognizing that certain properties of MRI signals can change during the examination, much like the changing of a camera's shutter speed.

24 Feb 2005

New clues to amyloidoses

Familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP), a hereditary disease characterised by abnormal deposits of insoluble protein in the organs, results from a mutation in a single gene (the transthyretin or TTR gene). Nevertheless, disease incidence and age of onset can vary significantly between patients what have always puzzled scientists.

21 Feb 2005

Hyperactive children three times more likely to be removed from their families

Severely hyperactive children are three times more likely to be removed from their families, because their parents can no longer cope, than children with other mental health or behavioural problems, reveals research in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

20 Feb 2005

"Frank is Dead" in 9-year-old cancer patient

Much to the relief of well-wishers across the globe, internationally renowned skull base surgeon Hrayr Shahinian, M.D., of the Skull Base Institute in Los Angeles, has announced that "Frank is Dead."

16 Feb 2005

Protein may provide a powerful new therapeutic tool for fighting kidney failure

Kidney failure is a significant risk for patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, radiologic testing, antibiotic therapy or in patients suffering from severe infections. More than 80 percent of patients with postoperative acute renal failure die.

16 Feb 2005

Discovery may have implications for the treatment of hemophilia A and B

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers have made a discovery that may have implications for the treatment of liver-based genetic defects such as hemophilia A and B in humans.

15 Feb 2005

Green tea extract has potential as an anti-cancer agent

A new study on bladder cancer cells lines shows that green tea extract has potential as an anti-cancer agent, proving for the first time that it is able to target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone.

15 Feb 2005

Clot-dissolving drugs such as tPA may help detect potentially deadly leg clots

A possible diagnostic use for clot-dissolving drugs such as tPA has been found by Medical College of Georgia researchers working to improve a test that identifies potentially deadly blood clots in the legs.

14 Feb 2005

Gene used in brain development can cause childhood brain cancers

A gene that's normally silenced after contributing to brain development was found to be expressed in cells from medulloblastoma, the most common form of pediatric brain malignancy in children, scientists report in an article published in the February 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

3 Feb 2005

Research reveals a novel key player in the initiation of colon cancer

Gastric and colorectal cancers account for more than 1 million deaths worldwide every year and several research groups have been working to identify the molecular events that result in the initiation and progression of these tumors.

3 Feb 2005

Compound, derived from a rare South American plant, stops the growth of human breast cancer cells

They started with a bare room and an idea. Now, after five years of painstaking, sophisticated tests, scientists at the University of Virginia Health System have discovered that a compound, derived from a rare South American plant, stops the growth of human breast cancer cells in laboratory cultures.

1 Feb 2005

No association between a herpesvirus infection and pulmonary hypertension

Contrary to the results of a recent U.S. study, investigators in Japan found no association between a herpesvirus infection and a potentially life-threatening form of high blood pressure, as reported in the March 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.

30 Jan 2005