Lungs News and Research

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Ingredient in cough medicine could treat prostate cancer

A study published today in the December issue of the European medical journal Anticancer Research demonstrates that an ingredient used in a common cough suppressant may be useful in treating advanced prostate cancer.

22 Dec 2008

World-first technique used to repair an injured donor lung

For the first time in the world, transplant surgeons at Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network used a new technique to repair an injured donor lung that was unsuitable for transplant, and then successfully transplanted it into a patient.

21 Dec 2008

AstraZeneca and MAP Pharmaceuticals announce collaboration on Unit Dose Budesonide

AstraZeneca and MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc. have announced an exclusive worldwide agreement to develop and commercialize Unit Dose Budesonide (UDB), MAP Pharmaceuticals' proprietary nebulized formulation of budesonide.

21 Dec 2008

Researchers identify gene linked to inherited form of fatal lung disease

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have determined that a mutation in a gene known for its role in defending the lungs against invading pathogens is responsible for some inherited cases of a lethal lung disease affecting older adults. The same mutation may also be associated with lung cancer, the researchers said.

21 Dec 2008

Two common biomarkers help predict stroke risk

Two common biomarkers have now been shown to improve the ability to predict who will suffer from a stroke.

18 Dec 2008

Stem cells may 'ignite' bowel cancer development

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered for the first time that stem cells could be the root cause of bowel cancer, according to a study published in Nature.

18 Dec 2008

Stem cells and leukemia battle for marrow microenvironment

Learning how leukemia takes over privileged "niches" within the bone marrow is helping researchers develop treatment strategies that could protect healthy blood-forming stem cells and improve the outcomes of bone marrow transplantation for leukemia and other types of cancer.

18 Dec 2008

Researchers look at processes asbestos fibers use to trigger cancer in human cells

Ohio State University scientists believe they are the first in the world to study the molecular underpinnings of cancer by probing individual bonds between an asbestos fiber and human cells.

18 Dec 2008

Merck KGaA acquires manufacturing rights for Stimuvax from Oncothyreon

Oncothyreon Inc. announced today that Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany has licensed the right to manufacture Stimuvax and, through its affiliate EMD Serono Canada Inc., purchased current inventory and certain assets utilized for the manufacture of Stimuvax from Oncothyreon for consideration which includes net payments to Oncothyreon totaling approximately U.S. $13 million.

18 Dec 2008

Levels of two proteins impact survival in ovarian cancer

Levels of two proteins in a woman's ovarian cancer are strongly associated with her likelihood of survival, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Dec. 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

17 Dec 2008

Surgeons perform first simultaneous double-lung, kidney transplant in Illinois, Wisconsin

Eric McCabe of Wausau, Wis., had no earth-shaking plans for the future as he began his recovery from the rare double-lung and kidney transplant surgery he had at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill.

17 Dec 2008

More can be done to prevent lung disease in Southeast-Asian babies

A simple, effective and low-cost method of preventing lung disease - and therefore death - in newborn children is not being practiced widely enough in South-East Asian hospitals, according to a major international study involving the University of Adelaide, Australia.

17 Dec 2008

Research looks at link between normal and cancer stem cells

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have answered a central question in cancer biology: whether normal stem cells can give rise to tumors.

17 Dec 2008

Exercise on doctors orders!

Researchers in New Zealand say though exercise is known to be one of the essential components which improve and enhance the quality of life, it is unfortunately underused.

17 Dec 2008

Pre-existing diabetes for persons diagnosed with cancer associated with increased risk of death

Patients with diabetes at the time of a cancer diagnosis have an increased risk of death compared to patients without diabetes, according to a meta-analysis of studies reported in the December 17 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

16 Dec 2008

Researchers develop natural, nontoxic method for biodegrading carbon nanotubes

University of Pittsburgh researchers have developed the first natural, nontoxic method for biodegrading carbon nanotubes, a finding that could help diminish the environmental and health concerns that mar the otherwise bright prospects of the super-strong materials commonly used in products, from electronics to plastics.

16 Dec 2008

Evolutionary roots of ancient bacteria may open new line of attack on cystic fibrosis

The redox-active pigments responsible for the blue-green stain of the mucus that clogs the lungs of children and adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) are primarily signaling molecules that allow large clusters of the opportunistic infection agent, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to organize themselves into structured communities.

16 Dec 2008

USA's largest ever prostate cancer screening program shows high compliance and consistent results

Just under five per cent of the men who took part in the prostate cancer element of the USA's largest ever cancer screening trial were diagnosed with the disease and the majority of those were picked up by screening programmes, according to research published in the December issue of the urology journal BJU International .

15 Dec 2008

Gene subnetworks provide new prognostic markers for breast cancer

The metastasis or spread of breast cancer to other tissues in the body can be predicted more accurately by examining subnetworks of gene expression patterns in a patient's tumor, than by conventional gene expression microarrays, according to a presentation at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 48th Annual Meeting, Dec. 13-17, 2008 in San Francisco.

15 Dec 2008

Breast cancer genome shows instability of cancer

A newly published genome sequence of a breast cancer cell line reveals a heavily rearranged genetic blueprint involving breaks and fusions of genes and a broken DNA repair machinery, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online in the journal Genome Research.

15 Dec 2008