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Everolimus plus tamoxifen delays disease progression in HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer

A new study shows that the addition of everolimus (Afinitor® tablets) to the hormonal therapy tamoxifen in patients with hormone-receptor positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HR+/HER2-) metastatic breast cancer who have been previously treated with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) delays disease progression compared to tamoxifen alone. These results were presented today at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Texas.

10 Dec 2010

Fibrin microthreads support mesenchymal stem cell growth

A research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute has demonstrated the feasibility of a novel technology that a surgeon could use to deliver stem cells to targeted areas of the body to repair diseased or damaged tissue, including cardiac muscle damaged by a heart attack. The technique involves bundling biopolymer microthreads into biological sutures and seeding the sutures with stem cells. The team has shown that the adult bone-marrow-derived stem cells will multiply while attached to the threads and retain their ability to differentiate and grow into other cell types.

10 Dec 2010

Talecris initiates clinical trial to evaluate 2 doses of PROLASTIN-C for emphysema due to AAT deficiency

Talecris Biotherapeutics, Inc. announced today the initiation of a clinical trial evaluating the safety and the pharmacokinetic profile of two doses of PROLASTIN®-C (Alpha(1)-Proteinase Inhibitor [Human]) (A1PI), a therapy indicated for chronic augmentation and maintenance in adults with emphysema due to alpha(1)-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency. AAT deficiency is a rare, genetic disorder in which low levels of the alpha(1) protein circulating in the lungs can increase an individual's risk of developing emphysema.

10 Dec 2010

Low phosphate diets may increase dialysis patients' risk of premature death

Doctors often ask kidney disease patients on dialysis to limit the amount of phosphate they consume in their diets, but this does not help prolong their lives, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

10 Dec 2010

New molecular tools show promise for cleansing brain of amyloid plaques

New molecular tools developed at the University of Michigan show promise for "cleansing" the brain of amyloid plaques, implicated in Alzheimer's disease.

10 Dec 2010

Researchers target MIC-1 protein to halt growth of melanoma tumors

Halting the growth of melanoma tumors by targeting the MIC-1 protein that promotes blood vessel development in tumors may lead to better treatment of this invasive and deadly cancer, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers in The Foreman Foundation Research Laboratory.

10 Dec 2010

Clinical, preclinical results of ISF35 in CLL patients presented at ASH 2010

Memgen, LLC announced the presentation of clinical and preclinical results for its lead product, ISF35, during the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Orlando, Florida. The research and clinical development of ISF35 announced today was led by Januario Castro, MD, and Thomas Kipps, MD, PhD, both at the University of California, San Diego.

10 Dec 2010

Some key molecular events in immune system contribute to inflammatory bowel disease: Scientists

Scientists at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have discovered some of the key molecular events in the immune system that contribute to inflammatory bowel disease. The results, which help researchers move one step further in their efforts to develop new drugs to treat inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases, are reported in the November 2010 edition of the journal Mucosal Immunology from the Nature Publishing Group.

10 Dec 2010

VCP gene causes some instances of familial ALS: Researchers

Using a new gene sequencing method, a team of researchers led by scientists from Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health has discovered a gene that appears to cause some instances of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The finding could lead to novel ways to treat the more common form of this fatal neurodegenerative disease, which kills the vast majority of the nearly 6,000 Americans diagnosed with ALS every year.

10 Dec 2010

Vibrio cholerae evolves two new mechanisms to cause similar disease

New clinical strains of cholera appear to have evolved a distinctly different mechanism to cause the same disease according to research published in the current issue of the online journal mBio-.

9 Dec 2010

Scientists determine 500 three-dimensional protein structures from bacterial and protozoan pathogens

Scientists at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have reached a major milestone in the effort to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases on the planet.

9 Dec 2010

Firefly enzyme offers new medical imaging agent for blood clot detection

The enzyme that makes fireflies glow is lighting up the scientific path toward a long-sought new medical imaging agent to better monitor treatment with heparin, the blood thinner that millions of people take to prevent or treat blood clots, scientists are reporting. Their study appears in the ACS' monthly journal Bioconjugate Chemistry.

9 Dec 2010

EFSA publishes positive opinion on disease risk reduction health claim for oat beta-glucan

A scientific panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its positive opinion on a disease risk reduction health claim dossier for oat beta-glucan on 8. December 2010, following an application from CreaNutrition AG submitted pursuant to Article 14 of the EC regulation on nutrition and health claims.

9 Dec 2010

Researchers discover central switch that regulates movement of cancer cells

Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered a central switch that controls whether cells move or remain stationary. The misregulation of this switch may play a role in the increased movement of tumor cells and in the aggressiveness of tumors themselves.

9 Dec 2010

Researchers develop statistical model to predict severity of seasonal influenza

Researchers have developed a statistical model for projecting how many people will get sick from seasonal influenza based on analyses of flu viruses circulating that season. The research, conducted by scientists at the National Institutes of Health, appears today in the open-access publication PLoS Currents: Influenza.

9 Dec 2010

p53 activation offers a novel strategy for cancer therapy

A pioneering clinical trial is testing the effectiveness in leukemia of a small molecule that shuts down MDM2, a protein that can disable the well-known tumor suppressor p53.

9 Dec 2010

New objective criteria for evaluating hemostatic efficacy in treatment of VWD

Octapharma USA researchers presented new stringent, objective criteria used in the evaluation of hemostatic efficacy in the treatment of von Willebrand disease and reported on their application of these criteria in clinical trials during the recently completed National Hemophilia Foundation Annual Meeting.

9 Dec 2010

New technique jumpstarts growth of nerve fibers to reverse stroke damage

A new technique that jumpstarts the growth of nerve fibers could reverse much of the damage caused by strokes, researchers report in the Jan. 7, 2011 issue of the journal Stroke.

9 Dec 2010

Anchor Therapeutics announces publication describing pepducin technology as novel approach to target GPCR

Anchor Therapeutics today announced the publication of new research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. The paper describes the identification and characterization of a pepducin-based allosteric agonist that targets CXCR4, a chemokine G protein-coupled receptor found on hematopoietic stem cells and other bone marrow-derived cells.

9 Dec 2010

Low-cost protein gets big results in people with elevated blood pressure

Beverages supplemented by whey-based protein can significantly reduce elevated blood pressure, reducing the risk of stroke and heart disease, a Washington State University study has found.

8 Dec 2010