Lungs News and Research

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New VariDose device will reduce pharmaceutical R&D costs

A new optical instrument that could vastly reduce the amount of time the pharmaceutical industry spends in R&D, by speeding up the measurement of drug inhaler performance, is being launched by Loughborough University spin out VariDose Limited.

7 Nov 2005

BRAF gene mutations predict sensitivity to a new class of drug

A team of researchers led by scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have discovered that a new class of drugs -- now in early stage clinical trials -- work best in patients with mutations in the BRAF gene.

7 Nov 2005

Smokeless tobacco products are not necessarily a safe alternative to smoking

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one-fourth of Americans are smokers. That's more than 60 million people who are at increased for lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer-related deaths nationwide.

3 Nov 2005

Vaccine that targets nicotine rather than the brain's reaction to it

Since smoking became popular in America in the 1930s, lung cancer rates have continued to climb. Today, it is still the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, with totals more than the other five leading cancers combined.

3 Nov 2005

Stem cells appear to play a role in repairing organs

Not least because undifferentiated cells with features typical of stem cells are being increasingly found in organs like the liver, brain, and muscles, scientists are beginning to assume that these cells play a role in repairing organs.

3 Nov 2005

Women show a better response to lung cancer therapy, resulting in better survival rates

However, in untreated patients, women also had a 21 percent decreased risk of death as compared with men, leading researchers to believe lung cancer in women has a different biologic behavior and natural history than in men.

3 Nov 2005

Neurological and neuromuscular diseases raise risk of complications from flu

As another flu season approaches, patients with neurological and neuromuscular disease are especially vulnerable to respiratory failure caused by influenza.

3 Nov 2005

New targeted cancer drug delivery system

Prostate, breast and other cancer patients may be offered a new, stauncher targeted drug delivery system to treat their diseases in the next decade.

3 Nov 2005

Shortness of breath can be a serious cardiac symptom

Now, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have found that patients with shortness of breath can have a higher risk of dying from cardiac disease than patients without symptoms, and even than patients with typical cardiac pain.

3 Nov 2005

Space ultrasound training program for non-physicians

An ultrasound training program for non-physicians gives astronauts and sports trainers the tools to assess injuries using real-time remote assistance from medical experts.

3 Nov 2005

Study examines cancer risks after cancer diagnosis in family

After a person is diagnosed with cancer, increased surveillance among their family members may result in the earlier detection of asymptomatic familial cancers.

3 Nov 2005

Women who smoke are more concerned about their habit and their ability to quit than men

In a new study presented at CHEST 2005, the 71st annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), the majority of smokers mistakenly believed nicotine causes cancer, leading many to smoke "light" cigarettes because they believed them to be less harmful.

3 Nov 2005

Lung cancer drug approved for treating pancreatic cancer

Genentech and OSI Pharmaceuticals have announced that U.S. regulators have approved their lung cancer drug Tarceva for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

3 Nov 2005

Feeling puffed? could be a sign of serious heart problem

Most people know that chest pain can indicate the presence of heart disease, but less well known apparently is that shortness of breath can also be a symptom of serious cardiac problems

3 Nov 2005

Stereotactic body radiation therapy safe and effective way to treat early stage lung cancer in medically inoperable patients

Lung cancer patients with extenuating health problems may have an alternative to traditional radiation therapy through a lung-sparing procedure pioneered at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

1 Nov 2005

Buccal mucosa may help test for lung cancer

In a new study presented at CHEST 2005, the 71st annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), scientists found that buccal mucosa, or cells scraped from the inner part of the cheek, may contain information that separates patients with lung cancer from high-risk negatives

1 Nov 2005

Cheeks may hold the clue to lung cancer risk

According to Canadian researchers DNA changes in cells taken from the inside of the cheek are associated with a risk for stage I lung cancer.

1 Nov 2005

Two new bird flu deaths suspected in Vietnam, two more sick

According to hospital officials two people showing symptoms of the bird flu virus have died in the past week in Vietnam, where the disease has already killed more than 40 people.

31 Oct 2005

Gene fusion appears to cause prostate cancer

Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School, in collaboration with researchers at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital, have discovered a recurring pattern of scrambled chromosomes and abnormal gene activity that occurs only in prostate cancer.

30 Oct 2005

Risk of ischemic stroke increases with a rise in air pollution

The risk of ischemic stroke - which results when a blood clot travels to the brain - increases with a rise in particulate air pollution, according to a study in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

30 Oct 2005