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Researchers show how MRSA transmission can be tracked in hospital settings

For the first time, researchers have shown how transmission of MRSA from one person to another can be precisely tracked in a hospital setting. The team have developed a remarkable new method that can 'zoom' from large-scale inter-continental transmission events to the much finer detail of person-to-person infection of MRSA within a single hospital.

22 Jan 2010

Researchers discover genetic variations that predict clinical outcomes in patients with stomach cancer

Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have, for the first time, identified specific genetic variations that predict clinical outcomes in patients with gastric (stomach) cancer.

22 Jan 2010

Study identifying new form of adult onset muscular dystrophy published

A study published in today's online edition the American Journal of Human Genetics, allowed the first identification of a new form of adult onset muscular dystrophy.

22 Jan 2010

Amgen announces results of two Phase 3 studies evaluating Vectibix for mCRC

Amgen today announced that detailed results from two pivotal Phase 3 studies evaluating Vectibix® (panitumumab) in combination with chemotherapy for the first and second-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) (the PRIME '203' and '181' trials, respectively) will be presented at the 2010 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Florida from Jan. 22-24, 2010.

21 Jan 2010

ChromoCure's aneuploidy theory of cancer further validated

ChromoCure, Inc. -- The Company announces that its long-held theory of cancer, aneuploidy, has been further validated by a study published in the January 15, 2010 issue of Cancer Research (Volume 70, Issue 2).

21 Jan 2010

Discovery of new class of compounds may help fight hepatitis C

Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have discovered a novel class of compounds that, in experiments in vitro, inhibit replication of the virus responsible for hepatitis C. If these compounds prove effective in infected humans as well, they may dramatically accelerate efforts to confront this virus’s propensity to rapidly acquire drug resistance, while possibly skirting some of the troubling side effects common among therapies in current use and in late-stage development.

21 Jan 2010

Dosing in First-in-Man Phase I study of 4SC AG's 4SC-203 commenced

4SC AG, a drug discovery and development company, today announced the start of dosing in a First-in-Man Phase I study in healthy volunteers evaluating 4SC-203, a novel multi-target kinase inhibitor, with particular specificity against selected kinases, including FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3), FLT3 mutants and vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGF-R).

21 Jan 2010

Scientists explore new ways to counteract viral infections

For the first time the research world has managed to measure the energy that is used when a virus infects a cell. The aim is to find a way to reduce the amount of energy inside the virus and thereby ultimately find a medicine that can counteract infections.

20 Jan 2010

Carlos Slim Health Institute launches major research project in genomic medicine

Mexican business leader Carlos Slim Hel- today announced the launch of a major research project in genomic medicine that will help accelerate progress in public health in Mexico and around the world.

20 Jan 2010

Researchers show how gliomas can evade drugs aimed at blocking EGFR

Researchers at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores UCSD Cancer Center have shown one way in which gliomas, a deadly type of brain tumor, can evade drugs aimed at blocking a key cell signaling protein, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR),that is crucial for tumor growth.

20 Jan 2010

PTC Therapeutics initiates additional clinical trial of ataluren in boys and young men with nmDBMD

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (PTC) today announced the initiation of an additional clinical trial of ataluren (PTC124®) in boys and young men with nonsense mutation Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy (nmDBMD) who have permanently lost the ability to walk independently.

20 Jan 2010

Combination treatment strategies may benefit patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Even when their tumors are shrinking in response to therapy, some non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients have a scattering of cancer cells that are undeterred by the drug, causing the tumor to resume its growth, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center scientists report in the January issue of Cancer Cell.

20 Jan 2010

Repeated exposure to tobacco smoke makes lung cancer much worse

Repeated exposure to tobacco smoke makes lung cancer much worse, and one reason is that it steps up inflammation in the lung. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that mice with early lung cancer lesions that were repeatedly exposed to tobacco smoke developed larger tumors - and developed tumors more quickly - than unexposed animals.

19 Jan 2010

New functions in an enzyme can develop through point mutation

A new study by a research team at Uppsala University shows how new functions can develop in an enzyme. This can explain, for example, how resistance to toxins can occur so simply. The findings are now being published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

19 Jan 2010

AstraZeneca and Dako Denmark A/S enter into collaboration agreement

AstraZeneca and Dako Denmark A/S announced today that they have entered into a collaboration agreement to develop companion diagnostic tests for multiple AstraZeneca oncology projects, including biologics and small molecules, in various stages of discovery and development.

18 Jan 2010

Breast cancer and ovarian cancer tests not appropriate for all women, say experts

A genetic mutation can significantly increases a woman's risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer. But does that mean everyone should be tested?

18 Jan 2010

Mutagenic drugs designed to kill viruses may make them stronger, says research

As the flu season continues in full-swing, most people can appreciate the need for drugs that stop viruses after they take hold in the body. Despite this serious need for new drugs, a team of researchers from the University of Texas at Austin raise serious concerns about an emerging strategy for stopping viral infections.

18 Jan 2010

Stress induces signals that cause cells to develop into tumors

Stress induces signals that cause cells to develop into tumors, Yale researchers have discovered. The research, published online Jan. 13 in the journal Nature, describes a novel way cancer takes hold in the body and suggests new ways to attack the deadly disease.

18 Jan 2010

Link between dystrophin gene and age of cardiac disease onset in BMD patients identified

Investigators in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital have identified a link between specific modifications of the dystrophin gene and the age of cardiac disease onset in patients with Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD). This information could help clinicians provide early cardiac intervention for BMD patients based on genetic testing results performed on a blood sample. These findings are a result of analysis of the largest number of BMD patients to date and are published in the December issue of the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics.

18 Jan 2010

Joubert Syndrome - an inherited neurological disease found among Ashkenazi Jews

Two scientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) are part of an international team that has discovered a genetic mutation that causes Joubert Syndrome. JBTS, as it is commonly called, is a devastating inherited neurological disease that is very rare in the general population but found relatively more often among Ashkenazi Jews.

18 Jan 2010