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Cell's cytoskeleton may hold key to overcoming drug resistance in cancer

Researchers have uncovered a new way in which a cell protein protects cancer cells from a wide range of chemotherapeutic drugs, identifying a possible target for improving treatment outcomes for patients.

4 Oct 2007

Bilberry extract for cancer prevention

A Leicester cancer research project, which receives funding from Hope Against Cancer (formerly The Hope Foundation,) is investigating whether an extract from bilberries can prevent or delay the onset of certain cancers.

4 Oct 2007

Osteoarthritis drug Prexige withdrawn from Canadian market

Health authorities in Canada have withdrawn the osteoarthritis drug Prexige from the market amid concerns the drug increases the risk for serious liver-related damage including hepatitis.

4 Oct 2007

New FDA program will fast forward generic drug approvals

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has a plan to fast forward it's approval process for generic drugs.

4 Oct 2007

Individually tailored herbal concoctions possibly harmful

Scientists in Britain are warning that there is no evidence to suggest herbal medicines "tailored" to the individual do actually work; they also say such concoctions may even be harmful.

4 Oct 2007

New targeted approach to pain management

Imagine an epidural or a shot of Novocain that doesn't paralyze your legs or make you numb, yet totally blocks your pain.

4 Oct 2007

Infant mortality rates decline in New York City

New York City's infant mortality rate - widely regarded as a barometer of a population's general health - fell slightly in 2006, the Health Department reported today.

4 Oct 2007

Cancer trial combines multiple drugs to attack blood vessel formation in patients with kidney cancer

In the first clinical trial of its kind, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center will lead a nationwide test of anti-cancer drug combinations that target blood vessel growth in patients with advanced kidney cancer.

4 Oct 2007

Linking two molecular pieces may offer new approaches to treating Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have uncovered a biological link between the protein whose mutation causes early-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) and a gene variant linked to late-onset AD.

4 Oct 2007

Isis Pharmaceuticals awarded $1.5 million NIH grant to improve RNAi-based therapeutics

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that it has been awarded a multi-year Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for up to $1.5 million to design oligonucleotide drugs that can exploit the RNA interference (RNAi) antisense mechanism for disease treatment.

4 Oct 2007

Gene-chip studies provide new leads in treating abnormal lung development in premature newborns

Some 20 to 40 percent of extremely premature infants suffer abnormal lung development leading to bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a chronic lung disease that can cause long-term breathing problems.

4 Oct 2007

FDA tightens potency specifications to ensure thyroid drugs last

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is tightening the potency specifications for levothyroxine sodium, used to treat underactive thyroid glands and other thyroid conditions, to ensure the drug retains its potency over its entire shelf life.

4 Oct 2007

Behind-the-counter drugs could be on sale in U.S. pharmacies

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United states is considering creating a new category of drugs.

3 Oct 2007

Losing a little weight might help avoid drugs to reduce hypertension

Researchers in Italy say losing weight can bring down a person's hypertension; they say even a moderate weight loss can lower high blood pressure to within the normal range.

3 Oct 2007

Oseltamivir, the active substance in Tamiflu, unchanged through sewage treatment

Swedish researchers have discovered that oseltamivir (Tamiflu); an antiviral drug used to prevent and mitigate influenza infections is not removed or degraded during normal sewage treatment.

3 Oct 2007

Potential new drugs for tropical disease leishmaniasis

The fight against the deadly tropical disease Leishmaniasis, also known as black fever, has been boosted by scientists at the University of Durham, whose new screening system has raised the possibility of new, safer drugs.

3 Oct 2007

Missouri-Columbia researchers look at mechanisms of cisplatin drug sensitivity

Resistance to chemotherapy treatments can be the worst news a cancer patient ever receives. A pair of researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia is working steadfastly to learn why some tumors eventually build a tolerance to the common chemotherapy drug cisplatin, in hopes of identifying the particular genes that can be manipulated to make treatment as effective as possible.

3 Oct 2007