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Researchers recommend mechanism to identify hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

An abrupt, fatal heart attack in a young athlete on the playing field is a tragedy destined to repeat itself over and over until more is understood about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a genetic disorder that is the most common cause of sudden death in young people but which affects people of all ages. So says a task force of cardiologists and cardiac biologists, headed by Thomas L. Force, M.D., James C. Wilson Professor of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, in the September 14th online edition of the journal Circulation.

15 Sep 2010

Smoking cessation offers favorable economic benefits to California

15 Sep 2010

Actress joins UTHealth to establish 'John Ritter Research Program in Aortic and Vascular Diseases'

Actress, writer and aortic health advocate Amy Yasbeck has joined with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) to establish the John Ritter Research Program in Aortic and Vascular Diseases (JRRP) to combat the devastating disease that took the life of her husband, legendary comic actor John Ritter.

15 Sep 2010

Helping smokers quit also benefits states economically

A new study released today by the American Lung Association, and conducted by researchers at Penn State University, finds that helping smokers quit not only saves lives but also offers favorable economic benefits to states. The study, titled Smoking Cessation: the Economic Benefits, provides a nationwide cost-benefit analysis that compares the costs to society of smoking with the economic benefits of states providing cessation (quit-smoking) coverage.

15 Sep 2010

Survey reveals inadequate provision for women with secondary breast cancer

57% of breast care nurses who took part in a UK survey for the charity Breast Cancer Care feel that there is inadequate provision for women with secondary breast cancer, a progressive incurable disease that kills half a million women worldwide every year after the cancer spreads to other organs. Many said that they felt ill equipped to care for women with secondary breast cancer and that their time was dominated by meeting the needs of women with primary breast cancer.

15 Sep 2010

Stanford Cancer Center to use TrueBeam radiation therapy technology for cancer patients

On Thursday, Sept. 16, the Stanford Cancer Center will become the first treatment center on the West Coast and the fifth in the world to offer cancer patients the TrueBeam, a machine that represents an exponential leap forward in the speed, power and precision of radiation therapy.

15 Sep 2010

Study to assess impact of radiation exposure on multiple cancer risk

It is well known that exposure to radiation has multiple harmful effects - including causing cancer - but until now, it has been unclear to what extent such exposure increases a person's risk of developing more than one cancer. The first large-scale study of the relationship between radiation dose and risk of multiple cancers among atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan reveals a similar risk in the development of first and second subsequent cancers.

15 Sep 2010

Bone marrow-derived mononuclear cell therapy benefits patients after severe heart attack

The first randomized, placebo-controlled U.S. clinical trial to assess the use of bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells (BMC) in patients after a ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI; severe heart attack) demonstrated a strong safety profile for this cell therapy, based on phase 1 results published in the September issue of the American Heart Journal.

15 Sep 2010

microRNA 451 enhances treatment response in stomach cancer patients: Research

"The high presence of microRNA 451 enhances the response to treatment with chemo-radiotherapy and increases the survival of patients with stomach cancer", explained Dr. Jesús García-Foncillas, chief researcher of the Pharmacogenomics Laboratory at the Applied Medical Research Centre (CIMA) and Director of Oncology at the University Hospital of Navarra. This was one of the results presented at the IV Congress of the Spanish Society for Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomic, recently held at CIMA.

15 Sep 2010

Pregnant women should get immunized against flu

There will be only one flu shot needed this year and pregnant women should make sure they're at the front of the line to get it.

15 Sep 2010

Researchers identify risk gene for schizophrenia

An international team of researchers has identified a risk gene for schizophrenia, including a potentially causative mutation, using genome-wide association data-mining techniques and independent replications.

15 Sep 2010

Molecule microRNA-21 enhances growth and survival of existing lung cancer

A tiny molecule that spurs the progression of non-small-cell lung cancer could become a player in fighting the disease, say researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center, who published a study on how the molecule behaves in mice in the Sept. 14 issue of Cancer Cell.

14 Sep 2010

Pharmacyclics reports $9.3 million increase in total revenue for 2010 fiscal year

Pharmacyclics, Inc. today reported financial results for its fiscal year and fourth quarter which ended June 30, 2010.

14 Sep 2010

Biosystems International announces merger with MicroBioChips

Biosystems International (BSI), a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery of novel monoclonal antibody based diagnostics, announces its merger with the company MicroBioChips (MBC) by contribution of assets.

13 Sep 2010

Ticagrelor exhibits potential for prevention of heart attacks

New findings from a major drug trial have brought experts a step closer to developing a drug which could prevent thousands of British deaths from heart attacks.

13 Sep 2010

Synta expands STA-9090 Phase 2 clinical trial in NSCLC

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing small molecule drugs to treat severe medical conditions, today announced that it was expanding its Phase 2 clinical trial of STA-9090 in patients with Stage IIIB and Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from up to 69 patients to up to 146 patients based on encouraging activity observed in the first stage of the two stage clinical trial.

13 Sep 2010

InterMune's development program for pirfenidone, IPF to be presented at Annual Congress of ERS

InterMune, Inc. today announced that four oral presentations related to the company's development program for pirfenidone and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis will be presented at the Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society, to be held September 18-22 in Barcelona, Spain.

13 Sep 2010

Cyclacel reaches SPA agreement with FDA for sapacitabine Phase 3 trial in AML

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing oral therapies that target the various phases of cell cycle control for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases, today announced that it has reached agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) on the design of a pivotal Phase 3 trial for the Company's sapacitabine oral capsules as a front-line treatment in elderly patients aged 70 years or older with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are not candidates for intensive induction chemotherapy.

13 Sep 2010

Genotoxic effects of exposure to disinfection by-products in indoor swimming pools

Swimming in indoor chlorinated pools may induce genotoxicity (DNA damage that may lead to cancer) as well as respiratory effects, but the positive health effects of swimming can be maintained by reducing pool levels of the chemicals behind these potential health risks, according to a new study published in a set of three articles online September 12 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP).

13 Sep 2010

PCRI to host educational event on prostate cancer therapy

Dean Ornish MD, recognized for establishing the impact of diet on prostate cancer (and heart disease), along with over a dozen internationally recognized prostate cancer experts will meet with over 800 prostate cancer survivors and their significant others at the Los Angeles Marriott near LAX on September 11th and 12th to discuss the latest thinking on prostate cancer treatment.

13 Sep 2010