Personalized Medicine News and Research

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Acute schizophrenia shows increased NMDA-R antibody prevalence

Patients with acute schizophrenia have an increased prevalence of N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor antibodies that is distinct from that seen in NMDA-R encephalitis, scientists have found.

31 Jan 2013

Phenformin decreases size of lung tumors and increases survival in mice

Ever since discovering a decade ago that a gene altered in lung cancer regulated an enzyme used in therapies against diabetes, Reuben Shaw has wondered if drugs originally designed to treat metabolic diseases could also work against cancer.

30 Jan 2013

Impulsiveness linked to severe clinical features in bipolar disorder

Researchers have confirmed that trait-impulsiveness is associated with bipolar disorder and provide additional evidence of it being linked to a more severe clinical expression of the disease.

25 Jan 2013

New apatamer can boost therapeutic effect of cell-based vaccines

A small compound called an aptamer that specifically targets and stimulates a human immune cell can greatly increase the effectiveness of an immunotherapeutic drug designed to destroy malignant or virus-infected cells. The development of a novel apatamer that recognizes activated T-lymphocytes and can boost the therapeutic effect of cell-based vaccines is described in an article in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers.

23 Jan 2013

SV Bio, Mayo Clinic partner on whole genome diagnostics and interpretation

Mayo Clinic and Silicon Valley Biosystems (SV Bio) today announced a strategic collaboration for whole genome diagnostics and interpretation at the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine and Mayo Medical Laboratories.

23 Jan 2013

Study refocuses on how neuroblastoma tumors evolve in response to medicine and other factors

An extensive genomic study of the childhood cancer neuroblastoma reinforces the challenges in treating the most aggressive forms of this disease. Contrary to expectations, the scientists found relatively few recurrent gene mutations—mutations that would suggest new targets for neuroblastoma treatment. Instead, say the researchers, they have now refocused on how neuroblastoma tumors evolve in response to medicine and other factors.

21 Jan 2013

Astellas announces FDA acceptance of Tarceva sNDA for EGFR activating mutation-positive NSCLC

Astellas Pharma US, Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc., today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Tarceva (erlotinib) for first-line use in people with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activating mutations.

17 Jan 2013

Trovagene, MD Anderson partner to detect transrenal BRAF mutations in metastatic cancers

Trovagene, Inc., a developer of transrenal molecular diagnostics, announced that it has entered into a clinical collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to detect transrenal BRAF mutations in the urine of patients with advanced or metastatic cancers.

3 Jan 2013

18F-FDG PET/CT may become important distant staging modality in patients with breast cancer

New research published in the January issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine shows that 18F-fludeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) imaging offers significant prognostic stratification information at initial staging for patients with locally advanced breast cancer. When compared to conventional imaging, 18F-FDG PET/CT more accurately showed lesions in the chest, abdomen and bones in a single session, changing management for more than 50 percent of the patients in the study.

3 Jan 2013

Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, Bristol-Myers Squibb announce partnership

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) today announced that Bristol-Myers Squibb has joined the MMRF pre-competitive consortium (PCC) to discover and accelerate new approaches to treating multiple myeloma through the organization's Personalized Medicine Initiative (PMI).

15 Dec 2012

New assay test shows positive results for patients with recurrent or metastatic breast cancer

When breast cancer advances, the patient doesn't have the luxury of time. Finding the right type of chemotherapy as quickly as possible is a critical factor for the patient's success and, until now, predicting the patient's sensitivity to chemotherapy has often been a shot in the dark.

10 Dec 2012

New survival results from Genentech’s Perjeta Phase III combination study on HER2-positive mBC

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced updated survival results from the Phase III CLEOPATRA study, which showed that the combination of Perjeta (pertuzumab), Herceptin (trastuzumab) and docetaxel chemotherapy significantly extended the lives (overall survival) of people with previously untreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (mBC), compared to Herceptin, chemotherapy and placebo.

10 Dec 2012

Genomic tests increase accuracy of breast cancer diagnosis

The latest generation of genomic tests for breast cancer can improve physicians' ability to diagnose the disease and more precisely tailor each patient's treatment, according to a study being presented at the 2012 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). The study examined the first commercially available genomic tests to determine the molecular subtype of a breast cancer tumor.

7 Dec 2012

Engineers develop simple and inexpensive way to create 3-D brain tissues in lab dishes

Borrowing from microfabrication techniques used in the semiconductor industry, MIT and Harvard Medical School (HMS) engineers have developed a simple and inexpensive way to create three-dimensional brain tissues in a lab dish.

30 Nov 2012

Study identifies gene signature associated with resistance to cancer therapies

Agendia, an innovative molecular cancer diagnostics company and leader in personalized medicine, today announced the publication in the November 21st issue of the prestigious scientific journal "Cell" of a study that identifies a gene signature that is associated with resistance to a broad range of cancer therapies in multiple cancer types.

28 Nov 2012

New combinations of medical imaging technologies hold promise for personalized medicine

New combinations of medical imaging technologies hold promise for improved early disease screening, cancer staging, therapeutic assessment, and other aspects of personalized medicine, according to Ge Wang, director of Virginia Tech's Center for Biomedical Imaging, in a recent paper that appeared in the refereed journal PLoS One.

27 Nov 2012

New report analyzes annual trends for biomarker FDA approvals since 2008

"Approval Trends for Biomarker-Based IVD Tests: Realizing the Promise of Personalized Medicine," a new report published by Amplion Research analyzes annual trends for FDA approvals since 2008 with some interesting findings.

27 Nov 2012

USPTO issues Notice of Allowance to Sanovas’ nested balloon catheter

Sanovas, Inc., a life science technology company focused on developing and commercializing the next-generation of micro-invasive diagnostics, devices and drug delivery technologies, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for the company's nested balloon catheter for localized drug delivery, a component of Sanovas' Vas Zeppelin Smart Catheter technology portfolio.

20 Nov 2012

HCV medications' side effects can now be replicated and observed in Petri dishes and test tubes

The adverse side effects of certain hepatitis C medications can now be replicated and observed in Petri dishes and test tubes, thanks to a research team led by Craig Cameron, the Paul Berg Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State University.

17 Nov 2012

ACS Prized Science video features advances in personalized medicine

Personalized medicine - the promise of customizing treatments that will work best for each individual patient - could get a boost from advances in understanding how the proteins that help determine health and disease take the three-dimensional shapes needed to work in the body. That's the message of the latest episode of the 2012 edition of a popular video series from the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society.

8 Nov 2012