Pancreas News and Research

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The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as an exocrine gland, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that pass to the small intestine. These enzymes help in the further breakdown of the carbohydrates, protein, and fat in the chyme.

FDA panel rejects new pancreatic enzyme replacement drug

Eli Lilly & Co did not win the support of the U.S. advisory panel on Wednesday for its one-of-its kind drug not made from pig enzymes to help certain pancreatic patients digest food. A Food and Drug Administration panel of outside experts in a 7-4 vote said they were not convinced the experimental medicine, known chemically as liprotamase, worked well enough for patients to absorb enough needed nutrients. One member of the panel abstained.

12 Jan 2011

Scientists find way to prevent early stage pancreatic cancer in research models

Cancer researchers at The Peggy and Charles Stephenson Oklahoma Cancer Center have found a way to stop early stage pancreatic cancer in research models - a result that has far-reaching implications in chemoprevention for high-risk patients.

12 Jan 2011

Study to identify early warning biomarkers for presence of breast and prostate cancers

Using biological samples taken from patients and state-of-the-art biochemical techniques, a Florida State University researcher is working to identify a variety of "biomarkers" that might provide earlier warnings of the presence of breast and prostate cancers.

11 Jan 2011

Study finds combined treatments safe and effective for severe acute pancreatitis

The use of combined treatments for severe acute pancreatitis is safe and effective in managing the disease, resulting in shorter hospitalizations and fewer radiological procedures than standard therapy, according to a study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. In a related study, doctors found that patients with infected pancreatic necrosis were able to avoid surgery through primary conservative treatment, which is in-patient medical treatment.

7 Jan 2011

Star Scientific plans to submit new, moist-snuff product for FDA evaluation

Star Scientific Inc.'s plan to submit a new, moist-snuff product for evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration as a "modified risk" tobacco product shows the vital importance of the new law giving the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products and any health claims used to market them.

5 Jan 2011

New study confirms pancreas disease infects horizontally from population to population in seawater phase

Researchers and the salmon industry have been debating whether fingerling from freshwater farms can be a source of the virus that causes pancreas disease: salmonid alfavirus. The results of a new doctoral study show that this is not the case: pancreas disease transmits horizontally in the seawater phase and infection in fresh water has little bearing on how the disease spreads.

29 Dec 2010

NCI grants U-M Cancer Center $10.7M for study of colorectal and pancreatic cancer

The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a five-year $10.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study colorectal and pancreatic cancer.

23 Dec 2010

People with type 1 diabetes could grow their own insulin-producing cells, say researchers

At the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology last week in Philadelphia, researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., announced that it may be possible for people with type 1 diabetes to grow their own insulin-producing cells, a breakthrough that could lead to a cure for the disease.

22 Dec 2010

Scientists discover potential strategy for pancreatic cancer therapy

By determining what goes missing in human cells when the gene that is most commonly mutated in pancreatic cancer gets turned on, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered a potential strategy for therapy.

15 Dec 2010

HUP launches Penn Hand Transplant Program

The Penn Transplant Institute, the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Division of Plastic Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) have collaborated to form the Penn Hand Transplant Program.

15 Dec 2010

Scientists create functioning human intestinal tissue from pluripotent stem cells

For the first time, scientists have created functioning human intestinal tissue in the laboratory from pluripotent stem cells.

13 Dec 2010

Men with type 1 diabetes could grow their own insulin-producing cells from testicular tissue, says GUMC

Men with type 1 diabetes may be able to grow their own insulin-producing cells from their testicular tissue, say Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) researchers who presented their findings today at the American Society of Cell Biology 50th annual meeting in Philadelphia.

13 Dec 2010

OPTN arranges first paired donation of living donor kidneys

Kathy Niedzwiecki of Pelham, NH, and Ken Crowder of St. Louis are experiencing renewed life and health thanks to the generosity of two living kidney donors.

10 Dec 2010

New software predicts key information about nasal insulin treatment regimens in type 1 diabetes

A La Jolla Institute team, led by leading type 1 diabetes researcher Matthias von Herrath, M.D., has demonstrated the effectiveness of a recently developed computer model in predicting key information about nasal insulin treatment regimens in type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. Development of the software, the Type 1 Diabetes PhysioLab- Platform, was funded through the peer-reviewed grant program of the American Diabetes Association.

9 Dec 2010

Low dose of aspirin reduces occurrence of several common cancers: Study

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has contributed to a study showing that a low dose of aspirin reduces the occurrence of several common cancers. The study is published in today's Lancet.

7 Dec 2010

CSC's Leading Edge Forum: Disruptive technologies to reshape delivery of healthcare

CSC's Leading Edge Forum today released a report that identifies a new wave of disruptive technologies that will reshape the delivery of healthcare. These new technologies will help control costs while improving health by ushering in an era of wellness, self-monitoring, increased and earlier detection of disease, and more effective treatments.

7 Dec 2010

Merck plans to acquire SmartCells

Today pharmaceutical company, Merck & Co., Inc. announced it will acquire SmartCells, Inc., a private biotech developing a glucose-responsive insulin whose proof-of-concept preclinical trials were partially funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

4 Dec 2010

Scientists discover M3-protein can help maintain blood sugar levels

Medical scientists at the University of Leicester have identified for the first time a new way in which our body controls the levels of sugar in our blood following a meal.

30 Nov 2010

Jefferson Hospital offers shortest wait times for patients seeking kidney transplant: SRTR

A recent listing of Philadelphia adult kidney transplant programs by The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) has listed the transplant program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital as having the shortest wait times for patients seeking a transplant among programs that have a three-year survival rate of greater than 90 percent.

29 Nov 2010

New technique to identify cancer biomarkers

The University of Liège has presented TARGETOME, the most recent of its spin-offs, which is also the first to spring from its applied geno-proteomics centre, GIGA.

18 Nov 2010