Lymph Node News and Research

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Lymph is clear or white fluid that travels through vessels, moves within tissues and work to keep all the parts of the body clean. After passing through the channels of the lymphatic system they drain into the lymph nodes. The lymph nodes act as filters along the lymphatic system. These nodes trap germs like bacteria, viruses, toxins as well as cancer cells and ensure that these are removed from the body.

Discovery of protein fragment that helps predict breast cancer outcome

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have identified a protein fragment in some human breast cancers that may help predict a patient's chances of survival.

16 Jan 2006

“Optimal” radiation therapy best bet for surviving breast cancer

Although radiation therapy following a mastectomy is known to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurring, the effect of radiation therapy on survival has long been controversial.

11 Jan 2006

Sydney researchers explain how stress makes you sick

Garvan Institute scientists have discovered how a hormone, known as neuropeptide Y (NPY), can prevent our immune system functioning properly, paving the way for two new major opportunities for therapeutic intervention.

10 Jan 2006

Hopkins discovery provides molecular marker to assess risk for patients with papillary thyroid cancer

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have found that a mutation in the gene that triggers production of a tumor growth protein is linked to poorer outcomes for patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).

6 Jan 2006

New breast cancer drug Femara will save lives

Following the results of a worldwide study, U.S. regulators have given approval for the use of the drug Femara for women with early breast cancer directly after they have had surgery.

29 Dec 2005

Breast cancer survival rate boosted by radiotherapy

According to a new study breast cancer patients who have radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery have a lower risk of a recurrence of the disease and a better chance of beating the illness.

19 Dec 2005

Garvan scientists explain stress and sickness

7 Dec 2005

Intervention in immune regulation can prevent onset of type-1 diabetes

Some forms of diabetes could feasibly be prevented. Scientists at the German Research Centre for Biotechnology (GBF) in Braunschweig recently were able to do just that in experiments with mice.

6 Dec 2005

MRI to detect magnetic probes of tiny iron oxide particles successfully tracks implanted cells in cancer patients

By using MRI to detect magnetic probes of tiny iron oxide particles, an international research team for the first time has successfully tracked immune-stimulating cells implanted into cancer patients for treatment purposes.

28 Nov 2005

$Radiotherapy for certain cancers increases the risk of pelvic fractures$

Radiotherapy for certain cancers increases the risk of pelvic fractures

A new study suggests that older women who receive pelvic radiation treatment for cervical, anal or rectal cancer may have an increased risk of pelvic fracture.

24 Nov 2005

Study reveals how T cells analyze and react to the signals of infection at the immunological synapse

The immune system is highly complex. The cast of characters alone required to marshal an immune response to a foreign invader can number in the millions as the body's soldiers, T cells, are called into action.

20 Nov 2005

New therapies for prostate cancer

A Dutch study suggested treating prostate cancer patients with higher doses of radiotherapy significantly improved patient outcome and treatment over a five-year period.

3 Nov 2005

Can strength-training exercises reduce or prevent lymphedema symptoms in breast cancer?

In a novel research study to begin this week at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor in Epidemiology, will help to determine the extent to which a slowly progressive program of strength-training exercises is safe for breast cancer survivors with and without symptoms of lymphedema.

25 Oct 2005

Herceptin results "quite remarkable"

The targeted drug trastuzumab, or Herceptin, previously shown to prolong survival in advanced breast cancer, dramatically reduced the chances of recurrence in patients with early-stage disease when given for one year following standard chemotherapy.

19 Oct 2005

Majority of women with breast cancer do not need chemotherapy

Researchers are now saying that chemotherapy with drugs called aromatase inhibitors is unnecessary after lumpectomy, radiation and 5 years of Tamoxifen, for the vast majority of women with breast cancer.

19 Oct 2005

Patients with head and neck cancer may be spared the risk and expense of surgery by undergoing a CT scan

Researchers with the UF Shands Cancer Center have identified criteria doctors can use to evaluate CT scans four weeks after patients undergo initial treatment. If these criteria are met, there is a 94 percent likelihood a patient's lymph nodes are cancer free, said Stanley L. Liauw, M.D., a resident in radiation oncology.

18 Oct 2005

Evidence is mounting to link toxoplasmosis with schizophrenia

Keep pet cats inside, stop feeding strays, cook meat sufficiently and reconsider the way the veterinary profession and public health agencies think - and teach - about the zoonotic pathogen Toxoplasma gondii.

18 Oct 2005

Researchers shed light on a key molecular switch in T helper cells

Defects in immune system cells called T helper cells may lead to diseases characterized by a faulty inflammatory response such as autoimmunity and asthma. Understanding the molecular steps involved in how T helper cells mature may help researchers develop treatments for these diseases.

17 Oct 2005

Performing a sentinel node biopsy prior to mastectomy and reconstruction gives best results

Altering the standard step-by-step procedure that takes women facing a mastectomy from diagnosis to surgery to reconstruction can improve the process and help in determining if immediate reconstruction is the best course of action, according to new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

10 Oct 2005

Minimally invasive needle breast biopsies and sentinel node biopsies should be performed more routinely than they currently are

Physicians should strive to replace traditional, invasive procedures for diagnosing breast cancer with proven, less-invasive diagnostic methods, according to an international panel of breast cancer experts convened at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

9 Oct 2005