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Drug combination could improve survival of lung transplant patients

Lung transplantation can prolong the lives of patients with end-stage lung disease, but the median survival rate after lung transplant is less than six years, which has improved only slightly in recent decades.

28 Aug 2019

In India’s burgeoning pain market, U.S. drugmakers stand to gain

Pain, like death, is a universal phenomenon. The sour grimace on the woman's face, registering her bodily complaints to Dr. G.P. Dureja in his East Delhi office, would be recognized anywhere. Slouched shoulders, pinched forehead. She wore a willowy black kurta and cast a disapproving glance at the five pain physicians-in-training huddled behind Dureja, founder of Delhi Pain Management Centre and one of India's pioneering pain physicians.

28 Aug 2019

Scientists discover potential novel target for treating deadly brain cancer

Scientists at USC and UC San Diego have discovered a potential novel target for treating glioblastoma, the deadly brain cancer that took the life of Sen. John McCain and kills 15,000 Americans a year.

28 Aug 2019

Researchers find a weak spot in cancer cells

Cancer cells form tumors. This statement, simple as it seems, hides a complex failure of normal immune responses that should eliminate tumor cells from the body before they ever form viable cancer masses.

28 Aug 2019

Scientists reveal cancer cells' immune weak spot

Scientists have found a vulnerability in cancer cells that could make them more susceptible to being destroyed by the immune system, according to a new report in eLife.

27 Aug 2019

New drug combination shows promise for treating non-small cell lung cancer patients

Patients with non-small cell lung cancer now have more improved treatment options compared to standard of care with the addition of several new agents called immune-checkpoint inhibitors.

27 Aug 2019

Researchers study biological risk potential of nanoparticles

Nanoparticles are smaller than five nanometres - a nanometre being one millionth of a millimetre - which corresponds approximately to the size of macromolecules. Such tiny particles are very easily absorbed in body cells.

27 Aug 2019

Nab-Paclitaxel drug combo reduces risk of breast cancer recurrence

A recent large German study has shown that a new combination therapy for breast cancer treatment leads to a lowered risk of the disease coming back. A commentary on this landmark clinical trial has been published in the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology by the researchers Masey Ross and Charles Geyer Jr. from the VCU Massey Cancer Center. The commentary was titled, “Nab-Paclitaxel: A New Standard of Care in Neoadjuvant Therapy of High-Risk Early Breast Cancer?”

27 Aug 2019

Australian overdose deaths - sinister new trend

The incidence of unintentional overdose leading to death is still going up in Australia, says Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2019. Most of the drugs involved are very powerful. They include prescription opioids and benzodiazepines as well as illegal substances like heroin and crystal methamphetamine or “ice”.

27 Aug 2019

Excess body fat linked to greater risk of developing depression

Carrying ten kilograms of excess body fat increases the risk of depression by seventeen per cent. The more fat, the greater the probability of developing depression. This is the main conclusion of a new study carried out by researchers from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.

27 Aug 2019

U of T scientists create antibodies with enormous potential for regenerative medicine

Our body makes antibodies to fight infections. But the synthetic versions of these molecules could hold the key to stimulating the body's ability to regenerate.

27 Aug 2019

Pharma cash rolls into Congress to defend an embattled industry

In the heat of the most ferocious battle over drug prices in years, pharmaceutical companies are showering U.S. senators with campaign cash as sweeping legislation heads toward the floor.

27 Aug 2019

Many drug manufacturers fail to complete the FDA approval process, research reveals

The Food and Drug Administration's Accelerated Approval Program was created in 1992 to significantly accelerate the ability to bring certain new drugs to market.

27 Aug 2019

Front-line primary care providers given tools to play larger role in tackling opioid abuse

Buprenorphine and naltrexone can help break a person's addiction to life-threatening opioid use disorder, but they can be hard for front-line, primary care providers to prescribe, according to researchers at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center.

27 Aug 2019

Retina-on-a-chip may provide useful alternative to existing models for studying eye disease

The development of a retina-on-a-chip, which combines living human cells with an artificial tissue-like system, has been described today in the open-access journal eLife.

27 Aug 2019

Mysterious vaping lung injuries may have flown under regulatory radar

It was the arrival of the second man in his early 20s gasping for air that alarmed Dr. Dixie Harris. Young patients rarely get so sick, so fast, with a severe lung illness, and this was her second case in a matter of days.

27 Aug 2019

Failure of glial cells in the brain triggers epileptic seizures, study finds

Epileptic seizures can happen to anyone. But how do they occur and what initiates such a rapid response?

27 Aug 2019

Discovery of protein that may be key to treating tropical diseases

Neglected tropical diseases form a group of infectious parasitic diseases that affect a large percentage of the world population, mostly in emerging nations. Sleeping sickness affects millions in sub-Saharan Africa and is caused by the protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma brucei, which is transmitted by the tsetse fly.

27 Aug 2019

Polycystic kidney disease may be preventable

Kidney failure is a lifelong burden in hundreds of thousands of people who need to be treated either by dialysis or a kidney transplant. Both procedures significantly increase the cost of healthcare and reduce the quality of life.

26 Aug 2019

Out-of-pocket drug costs soar for Medicare patients with multiple sclerosis

Over the course of a decade, out-of-pocket costs for multiple sclerosis drugs rose more than sevenfold for Medicare Part D beneficiaries, according to a JAMA Neurology study published today by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh.

26 Aug 2019