Lungs News and Research

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Role of melatonin for the treatment of cancer increasing in improtance

Researchers say that the results are so compelling that cancer funding agencies should be eager to support clinical trials to evaluate its therapeutic role in a variety of cancers.

7 Dec 2005

Cancer cell resistance to chemotherapy drugs - mechanism discovered

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology researchers have discovered new mechanisms developed by cancer cells to become resistant to various chemotherapy drugs.

6 Dec 2005

Fibroblast research could lead to alternatives to implanted electronic pacemakers

In guinea pig experiments, Johns Hopkins scientists fused common connective tissue cells taken from lungs with heart muscle cells to create a safe and effective biological pacemaker whose cells can fire on their own and naturally regulate the muscle's rhythmic beat.

5 Dec 2005

Liver transplants may not be suitable for all cystic fibrosis patients

A new study on patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) who have had abnormal bleeding from ruptured blood vessels in the esophagus (variceal hemorrhage) as a result of liver disease found that transplant may not be indicated if there are no other indications of advanced liver disease.

5 Dec 2005

Findings may help in development of new anti-inflammatory compounds

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers studying the enzyme that triggers inflammation have found that it may be a target for a new class of anti-inflammatory drugs to treat arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis, lung and colon cancers and Alzheimer's disease.

2 Dec 2005

Significant relationships between household endotoxin and diagnosed asthma

Exposure to household endotoxin levels poses a significant risk for asthma, according to the first nationwide sampling of house dust.

2 Dec 2005

Breast CT may be better than mammography at detecting breast lesions

Breast CT, an investigational technology for early breast cancer detection, may be better than mammography at detecting breast lesions and is much more comfortable for women, researchers from the University of California, Davis reported at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.

2 Dec 2005

New anthrax antibody

A new anthrax antibody engineered by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin protects and defends against inhalation anthrax without the use of antibiotics and other more expensive antibodies.

2 Dec 2005

Swedish researchers knock out anthrax bacterium

Researchers at Stockholm University have found a substance that quickly knocks out the anthrax bacterium. The bacterium has been used in terrorist attacks in the U.S. and Japan, for example.

30 Nov 2005

Risk of severe asthma episodes predicted from fluctuation analysis of airway function

A startling new study published in the science journal Nature this week (Nature Vol 438, issue 7068, pp 667-670) reveals that inhalers used by asthmatics for symptomatic relief of their condition might actually increase the likelihood of an acute attack.

30 Nov 2005

University of Nottingham academic awarded prestigious professorship for research into lung disease

An academic at The University of Nottingham has been awarded a unique professorship by a leading national charity in recognition of his research, which aims to improve the medical care of patients with lung disease and respiratory infections.

30 Nov 2005

Hard to quit smoking even after cancer is diagnosed

According to a new study many people with cancer continue to smoke after their diagnosis, even though they are told that smoking can significantly compromise the outcome of any treatment.

29 Nov 2005

One-half of cancer patients continue to smoke after diagnosis

A pair of articles from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center makes the case that patients would receive better care if physicians and researchers would address the issue of tobacco use after a cancer diagnosis and monitor tobacco use during clinical trials that test new agents.

28 Nov 2005

Chemical found in plants helps prevent lung cancer

According to the results of an animal study, it is suggested that treatment with a chemical found in various plants, may help prevent lung cancer caused by cigarette smoking.

28 Nov 2005

Spear Therapeutics raise $8.5 Million to fund cancer drug development

Cancer Research Technology (CRT), Bloomsbury Bioseed Fund (BBSF), De Montfort University (DMU) and the Gray Cancer Institute announce today that U.S. venture capital firm Advent International has invested $8.5 million in Spear Therapeutics Ltd.

28 Nov 2005

Fullerenes can help fend off damage to normal tissue from radiation

Using transparent zebrafish embryos, researchers at Jefferson Medical College have shown that a microscopic nanoparticle can help fend off damage to normal tissue from radiation.

28 Nov 2005

Megestrol acetate may combat weight loss during radiation treatments

A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues shows that a drug originally used to treat breast cancer may help combat the severe weight loss that can plague patients undergoing radiation treatment for lung and head and neck cancer.

28 Nov 2005

Age alone influences risks for people in their eighties after heart surgery

Patients aged 80 and older have a higher risk of death and disease than younger patients after undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery or valve surgery, and age alone influences these outcomes, according to a study in the November issue of Archives of Surgery.

26 Nov 2005

African-Americans fare better in the short term following coronary interventions

Racial disparities in cardiovascular outcomes are well-established, however new findings from University of Pittsburgh researchers indicate that African-Americans fare better in the short term following coronary interventions.

26 Nov 2005

Cellular clues to vitamin A resistance in lung cancer

Vitamin A deficiency has been associated with the development of lung cancer in laboratory studies. However, clinical trials of natural and synthetic derivatives of vitamin A, called retinoids, for the prevention of lung cancer have been largely unsuccessful in the general population.

26 Nov 2005