Lungs News and Research

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Foxm1 gene mutation may cause immature lungs in newborns

Scientists have identified a gene critical to lung maturation in newborns and the production of surfactant, which lines lung tissues and prevents the lungs from collapsing.

24 Nov 2008

Medarex starts phase 1b clinical trial with MDX-1106 for the treatment of cancer

Medarex, Inc. has announced it has initiated a Phase 1b clinical trial for MDX-1106 (ONO-4538: development code of Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.), a fully human anti-PD-1 antibody for the treatment of cancer.

24 Nov 2008

Hospital admissions for lung cancer stable

Hospital admissions for lung cancer remained relatively stable - at roughly 150,000 a year between 1995 and 2006 - despite a steady decline in the number of Americans diagnosed with the disease, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

24 Nov 2008

New hope for lung disease pulmonary alveolar proteinosis

A tale of two sisters has helped researchers solve a medical mystery and discover a familial genetic mutation that causes an inherited form of the lung disease Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP).

24 Nov 2008

Gasping a good sign in sudden cardiac arrest

People who witness an individual collapse suddenly and unexpectedly should perform uninterrupted chest compressions even if the patient gasps or breathes in a funny way, research from the Resuscitation Research Group at The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center shows.

24 Nov 2008

Exercise helps manage anger in overweight children

Regular exercise seems to reduce anger expression in overweight but otherwise healthy children, researchers said.

24 Nov 2008

Ultrasound helps provide rapid treatment of DVT

Scientists in the United States have discovered that ultrasound waves help dissolve blood clots in deep vein thrombosis (DVT) faster than clot-busting drugs.

24 Nov 2008

Mechanisms of cardiovascular disease and cancer give clues to new therapies

Cardiovascular conditions leading to heart attacks and strokes are treated quite separately from common cancers of the prostate, breast or lung, but now turn out to involve some of the same critical mechanisms at the molecular level.

21 Nov 2008

Lung cancer facts

Lung cancer kills more than four times as many Americans as breast cancer. But while pink ribbons trumpet Breast Cancer Awareness Month throughout October, little attention is paid to lung cancer in November, which is that disease's awareness month.

21 Nov 2008

Long-term use of a macrolide antibiotic reduce COPD exacerbations, raise questions

Long-term use of a macrolide antibiotic may reduce the frequency of exacerbations in patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by as much as 35 percent, according to a London-based study.

21 Nov 2008

Reminder, signs of a heart attack can be subtle

You know the drill: join the family for feasting on a high-fat, carbohydrate-filled meal followed by a generous slice of pumpkin pie

21 Nov 2008

Effective anti-tobacco public service announcements should either scare or disgust viewers

Now's the perfect time to increase anti-smoking campaigns - Nov. 20 is the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout.

20 Nov 2008

Gefitinib just as effective as chemotherapy for lung cancer

Gefitinib, also known as Iressa, the once-promising targeted therapy for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, has proven as effective as chemotherapy as a second-line therapy for the disease with far fewer side effects, according to an international Phase III clinical trial, led by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

20 Nov 2008

Carbon nanotubes detect lung cancer markers in the breath

Using an array of nanotube devices, each coated with a different organic material, researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology have developed diagnostic system that may be able to diagnose lung cancer simply by sampling a patient's breath. The results of this study, which was led by Hossam Haick, Ph.D., appear in the journal Nano Letters.

20 Nov 2008

Nanoparticle targets melanoma with siRNA

Research has shown that a particular receptor for the blood protein thrombin is overexpressed by highly metastatic melanoma cells.

20 Nov 2008

Survival of head and neck cancer patients is greatly affected by coexisting ailments

Current estimates for head and neck cancer survival are largely inaccurate because they widely disregard many of the most common diseases such patients have in addition to their primary cancer, says Jay Piccirillo, M.D., a head and neck specialist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the Siteman Cancer Center and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

19 Nov 2008

Gentium S.p.A. updates on phase 3 trial of Defibrotide for severe veno-occlusive disease

Gentium S.p.A. announced today interim results from an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) review of the Company's Phase 3 treatment trial of Defibrotide for Severe Veno-Occlusive Disease (VOD).

19 Nov 2008

First trachea transplant and first tissue transplant without immunosuppression

After 4 years of going from consultation to consultation, Claudia Castillo finally found a solution to her respiratory problems.

19 Nov 2008

REOLYSIN shown to benefit some sarcoma patients

New data shows that some sarcoma patients are benefiting from treatment with REOLYSIN, developed from a harmless virus called the reovirus that most people are exposed to at some point in their lives.

19 Nov 2008

Amgen, Takeda and Millennium update on phase 3 trial of Motesanib in non-small cell lung cancer

Amgen and Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, a subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited , today announced that enrollment in the Phase 3 MONET1 trial evaluating motesanib (AMG 706) in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin for the first-line treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been temporarily suspended following a planned safety data review of 600 patients by the study's independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC). Motesanib is part of a broad co-development program between Amgen and Takeda.

19 Nov 2008