Personalized Medicine News and Research

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Personalized medicine research strikes early for heart genes

A landmark paper identifying genetic signatures that predict which patients will respond to a life-saving drug for treating congestive heart failure has been published by a research team co-led by Stephen B. Liggett, MD, of the University of South Florida.

18 Oct 2012

DNA method leads to more effective treatment of neuroblastoma in children

After leukaemia and brain tumours, neuroblastoma is the most common form of cancer to affect children. A thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has studied a DNA method which is now used for all cases of neuroblastoma in Sweden, and which has led to more effective treatment at individual level.

15 Oct 2012

Johns Hopkins, Iverson enter licensing agreement for molecular diagnostics

Iverson Genetic Diagnostics, Inc. announced today an exclusive licensing agreement with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine under which Iverson receives global exclusive commercialization rights for molecular diagnostics that are designed to help physicians to assess cardiovascular risk in men and women and infertility risk in women.

12 Oct 2012

LLS symposium to review latest advances in blood cancer research

A cadre of leading researchers in hematology, oncology, cell biology, and biotechnology are conducting presentations and discussions at this symposium to review the latest advances in blood cancer research.

12 Oct 2012

UCSF project to explore mystery behind advanced prostate cancer

Many men survive prostate cancer, but thousands of others -- whose cancer spreads -- inevitably develop resistance to even the most promising treatments, leaving them with few medical options and a dwindling span of life.

10 Oct 2012

Genetic basis of uterine fibroids uncovered

A mutation located near the fatty acid synthase gene is associated with an increased predisposition for uterine leiomyomata or fibroids, suggest US study findings.

8 Oct 2012

Progress toward preventing initial and recurrent episodes of C. diff infection

Surgeons are making progress toward preventing initial and recurrent episodes of clostridium difficile colitis (C. difficile or C. diff), a vicious bacterial infection that is estimated to affect about 336,000 people each year, typically patients on antibiotics.

6 Oct 2012

Researchers identify genetic risk allele for uterine fibroids

Uterine fibroids are the most common type of pelvic tumors in women and are the leading cause of hysterectomy in the United States. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) are the first to discover a genetic risk allele (an alternative form of a gene) for uterine fibroids in white women using an unbiased, genome-wide approach.

5 Oct 2012

RNA clue to MS disease course

Researchers say that the RNA profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells can identify two distinct subsets of patients with multiple sclerosis.

4 Oct 2012

Roundup: Individual mandate back on Fla. ballot; More Mass. doctors embrace new payment methods; Ga. hospital tax fight rages on

In a bid to remake Florida's judiciary, Republicans are asking voters to oust three state Supreme Court justices and give the Legislature greater power over Supreme Court appointments. ... In Florida, the issue is not same-sex marriage but another politically divisive matter: President Obama's health care law. In a 2010 ruling, the Florida Supreme Court removed from the ballot a nonbinding amendment allowing Floridians to refuse to buy mandatory health insurance.

4 Oct 2012

First Edition: October 3, 2012

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jordan Rau reports: "Medicare's new readmission penalties for hospitals just got a bit tougher. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has discovered errors in its initial calculations in August. As a result, 1,422 hospitals with comparatively high readmission rates will lose slightly more money than they were expecting, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of the revised penalties. Fifty-five hospitals will lose less than were previously told."

3 Oct 2012

NF1 gene mutations cause noninheritable or spontaneous breast cancers

Cancerous tumors contain hundreds of mutations, and finding these mutations that result in uncontrollable cell growth is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. As difficult as this task is, it's exactly what a team of scientists from Cornell University, the University of North Carolina, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York have done for one type of breast cancer.

3 Oct 2012

Biomarkers can increase success rate of clinical trials for breast cancer drugs by almost 50%

Using biological markers--genetic characteristics that are associated with some patients with breast cancer--can increase the success rate of clinical trials for breast cancer drugs by almost 50 per cent, says new research from the University of Toronto Mississauga.

3 Oct 2012

Study opens new door to more personalized treatment of advanced breast cancer

For the first time, researchers have conducted a large trial in which they tested the entire genome of individual breast cancers to help personalize treatment. They released their findings at the ESMO 2012 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Vienna.

1 Oct 2012

Rehabilitation robots help identify and customize post-stroke therapy

When it comes to stroke rehabilitation, it takes a dedicated team to help a person regain as much independence as possible: physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, recreation therapists, caregivers and others. Now, a University of Calgary research team has added a robot to help identify and customize post-stroke therapy.

1 Oct 2012

First report to study clonal population of maxillary sinus carcinoma

Knowing how tumors evolve can lead to new treatments that could help prevent cancer from recurring, according to a study published today by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Scottsdale Healthcare.

29 Sep 2012

Conditionally reprogrammed cells help identify effective therapy for HPV-positive RRP

Using a newly discovered cell technology, Georgetown University Medical Center researchers were able to identify an effective therapy for a patient with a rare type of lung tumor. The single case study, reported in the September 27 issue of New England Journal of Medicine, provides a snapshot of the new technology's promising potential; however, researchers strongly caution that it could be years before validation studies are completed and regulatory approval received for its broader use.

28 Sep 2012

Longer looks: In-depth in the ER; Brains are saved as high school football season begins

Eric Morgan, in his 20s and planning to get married, arrives at Highland Hospital's emergency room, shaken that he has been diagnosed with a testicular tumor that is likely cancer. Surgeons at a private hospital have turned him away for lack of insurance but tell him it's "urgent" he get care.

28 Sep 2012

Researchers discover path to identify why genetic variants increase breast cancer risk

Cancer researchers studying 44 known genetic variants associated with breast cancer have found the way to identify why they increase cancer risk, opening the door to future therapeutic applications based on personalized medicine.

25 Sep 2012

Isolating and concentrating cells from whole blood: an interview with Victor Ugaz

There are several reasons for this. One is because analysis involving different kinds of blood cells may require you to be able to separate red blood cells from white blood cells, or plasma from whole blood etc.

21 Sep 2012