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Australian scientists have developed a tool that acts as a pregnancy test for the detection of anthrax

Once a deadly disease associated with animals, anthrax is now used as a bioterrorist weapon. While infection can be controlled with antibiotics, in a bioterrorism attack people will not know they have been infected until symptoms develop, at which stage drugs are useless.

7 Jun 2004

Drug Tarceva improves survival chance for patients with advanced lung cancer

Roche OSI Pharmaceuticals and Genentech today announced that their investigational drug Tarceva(TM) (erlotinib) achieved a significant 42.5% improvement in median survival compared to placebo in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

5 Jun 2004

Summer advice for allergy and asthma sufferers

Summer's arrival means getting outside for some fun in the sun. Whether hiking, camping or gardening, allergy and asthma sufferers can manage symptoms by taking the proper precautions, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI).

5 Jun 2004

Cancer rates falling in the US

The nation's leading cancer organizations report that Americans' risk of getting and dying from cancer continues to decline and survival rates for many cancers continue to improve.

3 Jun 2004

Drug helps patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

A drug designed to cut off a tumor’s blood supply, when paired with a chemotherapy combination, resulted in significant improvement in survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the first time in decades that survival times have been extended in patients with this devastating form of advanced cancer.

3 Jun 2004

Cigarettes damage women’s lungs more than men’s lungs

Noting that lung cancer is women’s number one cancer killer, Loyola medical oncologist Dr. Kathy S. Albain will speak on the molecular differences in lung cancer between men and women, June 4, at the annual meeting of Women Against Lung Cancer.

3 Jun 2004

Drug to extend lives of colorectal cancer patients

A drug designed to cut off a tumor's blood supply, when paired with a chemotherapy combination, resulted in significant improvement in survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the first time in decades that survival times have been extended in patients with this devastating form of advanced cancer.

2 Jun 2004

Avastin study shows significant improvement in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Genentech, Inc. and Roche have announced that the New England Journal of Medicine published the first Phase III study of an anti-angiogenesis cancer therapy, showing that the addition of Avastin™ (bevacizumab) to the IFL chemotherapy regimen (5-FU/Leucovorin/ CPT-11) significantly extended survival in patients with first-line (previously untreated) metastatic colorectal cancer.

2 Jun 2004

Bone marrow stem cells exposed to damaged liver tissue quickly convert into healthy liver cells

Bone marrow stem cells, when exposed to damaged liver tissue, can quickly convert into healthy liver cells and help repair the damaged organ, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

2 Jun 2004

Study may help oncologists tailor chemotherapy to patients based on their genetic make-up

Genetic variations in an individual’s ability to repair DNA damage may help predict survival in lung cancer patients treated with the common chemotherapy drugs cisplatin or carboplatin, a new study shows.

2 Jun 2004

Improving blood pressure control of people 80 years and older

Improved blood pressure control of people 80 years and older, especially women, must be made a national priority, a Northwestern University researcher urged at the American Society of Hypertension’s 19th Annual Scientific Meeting in May.

2 Jun 2004

Research may help to reduce infection and multiple organ failure after injury

While physicians are able to treat patients who suffer blood loss after major injuries, a large number of these patients go on to develop infections or multiple organ failure, in which the functioning of the body vital organ systems, such as the lungs, heart, kidneys of liver, go awry.

2 Jun 2004

Men and women at equal lung cancer risk from smoking

The most detailed analysis to date of lung cancer risk among women does not support the theory that women are more susceptible than men to developing lung cancer after comparable amounts of smoking.

2 Jun 2004

Pipe smoking as dangerous as cigar smoking

An American Cancer Society study finds pipe smoking confers a similar risk of cancer and other disease as cigar smoking. The study, the largest and most precise to date of the risks of pipe smoking, appears in the June 2 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

2 Jun 2004

Cigarette smoke transforms healthy saliva into a deadly cocktail

Cigarette smoke transforms healthy saliva into a deadly cocktail that can accelerate mouth cancer, according to new research in the British Journal of Cancer.

2 Jun 2004

Women with chest pain who have low hemoglobin levels are more likely to die or suffer a heart attack

Women with chest pain who have low hemoglobin levels are more likely to die or suffer a heart attack, heart failure, stroke or other cardiovascular event than women with normal hemoglobin levels, according to a new study in the June 2, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

2 Jun 2004

Chronic diseases are the largest cause of death in the world

The rising global burden of chronic diseases needs a coordinated effort from policy makers, advocates and health professionals, according to a special communication in the June 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), a theme issue on Global Health.

1 Jun 2004

Microbes in your gut could be cause of allergies

Allergies making your life miserable? Tired of popping antihistamines like candy? Can't go anywhere without your inhaler? The real problem may not be your stuffed-up head. It could be the microbes in your gut.

1 Jun 2004

Higher rate of cancer in meat industry

A study of over 6600 meat industry workers around New Zealand has found a significantly high rate of cancers, particularly lung cancer, which may be caused by exposure to cancer causing agents carried by animals.

31 May 2004

Smoking a lot more harmful than previously thought

The U.S. Surgeon General has released a new comprehensive report on smoking and health, revealing for the first time that smoking causes diseases in nearly every organ of the body. Published 40 years after the surgeon general's first report on smoking -- which concluded that smoking was a definite cause of three serious diseases -- this newest report finds that cigarette smoking is conclusively linked to diseases such as leukemia, cataracts, pneumonia and cancers of the cervix, kidney, pancreas and stomach.

30 May 2004