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Study paves way for the creation of a stem cell library

The study, led by the University of Edinburgh's MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, paves the way for the creation of a stem cell library that can be used for in vitro hepatic disease models.

21 Oct 2009

Markers that cause primary liver cancer identified

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or primary liver cancer forms in the epithelial tissue of the liver and is most commonly caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV). In the U.S., the National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that 15,000 men and 6,000 women are diagnosed with HCC each year.

21 Oct 2009

Celsion completes patient enrollment in its global Phase III ThermoDox trial

Celsion Corporation announced today that it has completed a critical regulatory step in the countries of China and Japan to rapidly enroll patients in its global Phase III ThermoDox trial for the treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), also known as primary liver cancer.

21 Oct 2009

Delcath Systems completes its pivotal Phase III Metastatic Melanoma Trial enrollment

Delcath Systems, Inc., a medical technology company testing its proprietary treatment method for primary and metastatic cancers to the liver, announced today that its pivotal Phase III Metastatic Melanoma Trial has met its goal of 92 patients and is fully enrolled.

21 Oct 2009

APP Pharmaceuticals to launch Chlorothiazide Sodium for Injection

APP Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fresenius Kabi Pharmaceuticals Holding, Inc., announced today that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market Chlorothiazide Sodium for Injection, USP. APP expects to launch Chlorothiazide Sodium for Injection, USP in the fourth quarter of 2009.

21 Oct 2009

UF scientists shed new light on old medical procedure

You might not know what it's called, but if you've had general anesthesia before surgery, especially after an accident, it is likely you have received Sellick's maneuver. That's when fingers are pressed against a patient's throat to prevent regurgitation and spilling of stomach contents into the airway and lungs while anesthesia is being administered.

21 Oct 2009

Wellstat Therapeutics and Sanofi-Aventis to develop, manufacture and commercialize PN2034

Wellstat Therapeutics Corporation and sanofi-aventis announced today a global licensing agreement to develop, manufacture and commercialize PN2034, a first-in-class oral insulin sensitizer for the treatment of Type II diabetes.

21 Oct 2009

Patients with chronic hepatitis C can benefit by drinking coffee

Patients with chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease who drink three or more cups of coffee per day have a 53% lower risk of liver disease progression than non-coffee drinkers according to a new study led by Neal Freedman, Ph.D., MPH, from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

20 Oct 2009

Clonality analyses may lead to further understanding of hepatocarcinogenesis

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) is a lesion found in an otherwise normal liver, and is considered to be parenchyma overgrowth responsive to increased blood flow secondary to vascular malformations.

20 Oct 2009

Regulatory differences between mother and daughter cells shed new light on cell division

When mother and daughter cells are created each time a cell divides, they are not exactly alike. They have the same set of genes, but differ in the way they regulate them. New research now reveals that these regulatory differences between mother and daughter cells are directly linked to how they prepare for their next split.

20 Oct 2009

UT student receives fellowship grant for pre-eclampsia research

Roxanna Irani, a M.D./Ph.D. student at The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston (GSBS), has received a $10,000 fellowship for her efforts to better understand a condition known as pre-eclampsia that threatens the lives of expectant women and their unborn children.

20 Oct 2009

Jennerex' JX-594 granted European Orphan Drug Designation for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

Jennerex, Inc. (San Francisco, CA and Ottawa, Ontario), a clinical stage biotherapeutics company developing a proprietary breakthrough product class of targeted oncolytic virus therapeutics, today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to Jennerex's product JX-594 for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer. JX-594 is expected to enter a Phase 3 pivotal trial in the second half of 2010.

20 Oct 2009

Amylin Pharmaceuticals to present new data from its obesity program at Obesity 2009

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that new data from its obesity program will be presented at Obesity 2009, the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of The Obesity Society, to be held in Washington, D.C. October 24-28. Phase 2 data from the pramlintide/metreleptin combination treatment clinical program will be the subject of a late-breaking oral presentation.

20 Oct 2009

FDA approves new oral medication for renal cell carcinoma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Votrient (pazopanib), the sixth drug to be approved for kidney cancer since 2005.

20 Oct 2009

Philippines and Malaysian regulatory agencies approve Celsion’s Phase III Thermodox trial

Celsion Corporation announced today that it has received approval from the regulatory agencis in the Philippines and Malaysia for its Pivotal Phase III primary liver cancer Clinical Trial Application.

19 Oct 2009

Schering-Plough to present data on boceprevir at the AASLD 2009 Annual Meeting

Schering-Plough announced that data on boceprevir, an investigational hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor, will be reported in an oral presentation at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Annual Meeting in Boston, Oct. 30-Nov. 3.

19 Oct 2009

Metabolic master switch sets the biological clock in body tissues

Our body's activity levels fall and rise to the beat of our internal drums-the 24-hour cycles that govern fundamental physiological functions, from sleeping and feeding patterns to the energy available to our cells. Whereas the master clock in the brain is set by light, the pacemakers in peripheral organs are set by food availability. The underlying molecular mechanism was unknown.

19 Oct 2009

Angiochem announces results of Phase 1 /2 clinical trials of ANG1005

Angiochem, Inc. a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing drugs that are uniquely capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier to treat brain diseases, announced today that its lead drug candidate, ANG1005, has demonstrated a favorable safety and efficacy profile in more than 100 patients with brain cancer from two separate Phase 1 /2 clinical studies in patients with progressive gliomas, including recurrent glioblastoma, and in patients with progressive brain metastases.

19 Oct 2009

Institute Curie Hospital in France adds another TomoTherapy radiation therapy system

TomoTherapy Incorporated announced today that the Institute Curie Hospital in France has purchased a second TomoTherapy® radiation therapy system, to support the increasing demand for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). The Institute Curie Hospital has been treating cancer patients with TomoTherapy technology since March 2007, when it became the first hospital in France to adopt the technology.

19 Oct 2009

Research study reveals SFSGD in EGD individuals with GRBWR below 0.8%

Small-for-size graft dysfunction (SFSGD) following living-related liver transplantation (LRLT) is characterized by early graft dysfunction (EGD) when the graft-to-recipient body weight ratio (GRBWR) is below 0.8%.

19 Oct 2009