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.

Long-term use of statins reduces colorectal cancer risk

A systematic review of the medical literature supports the hypothesis that statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs used to prevent cardiac problems, are associated with reduced risk of colon and rectal cancers.

19 Oct 2010

Statins reduce risk of colon and rectal cancers: Study

A systematic review of the medical literature supports the hypothesis that statins, cholesterol‐lowering drugs used to prevent cardiac problems, are associated with reduced risk of colon and rectal cancers. A comprehensive analysis by investigators at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, included 22 scientific studies with more than 2.5 million combined participants.

18 Oct 2010

New development of genetic tool to speed discovery of novel genes involved in cancer

Researchers have developed a genetic tool in mice to speed the discovery of novel genes involved in cancer. The system - called PiggyBac - has already been used by the team to identify novel candidate cancer-causing genes.

15 Oct 2010

Scientists identify mutant protein in type 2 diabetes

University of Michigan scientists have identified events inside insulin-producing pancreatic cells that set the stage for a neonatal form of non-autoimmune type 1 diabetes, and may play a role in type 2 diabetes as well. The results point to a potential target for drugs to protect normally functioning proteins essential for producing insulin.

13 Oct 2010

Phase 3 study shows everolimus delays tumor progression in hard-to-treat neuroendocrine tumors

The results of a large Phase-III clinical trial have shown that the drug everolimus delays tumor progression in patients with a hard-to-treat group of rare cancers that affect particular hormone-producing cells.

11 Oct 2010

UT Southwestern initiates study on hormone leptin for people with type 1 diabetes

A clinical trial at UT Southwestern Medical Center aims to determine whether adding the hormone leptin to standard insulin therapy might help rein in the tumultuous blood-sugar levels of people with type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes.

11 Oct 2010

Exelixis enters two new collaboration agreements with Bristol-Myers Squibb

Exelixis, Inc. announced today that it has entered into two new collaboration agreements with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Under the first agreement, Exelixis will grant to Bristol-Myers Squibb an exclusive license to its small-molecule TGR5 agonist program including backups.

11 Oct 2010

Surgeons create novel matrix to control insulin dependent diabetes

Surgeons from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, are reporting on a whole new strategy for controlling insulin dependent diabetes without daily injections of insulin. The surgeons have bio-engineered a novel matrix that serves as a scaffold for seeding supportive stem cells as well as pancreatic islets (the cells that produce insulin in the pancreas).

7 Oct 2010

American Cancer Society awards 94 national research, training grants to 70 institutions nationwide

The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has awarded 94 national research and training grants totaling $46,633,000 to 70 institutions nationwide in the first of two grants cycles for 2011.

7 Oct 2010

Research on T cell may lead to new treatment options for type 1 diabetes

A research team from the University of British Columbia and the Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI) at BC Children's Hospital has identified the role of a type of T cell in type 1 diabetes that may lead to new treatment options for young patients.

5 Oct 2010

Human growth hormone can treat cystic fibrosis symptoms

Human growth hormone can be used successfully to treat some symptoms of cystic fibrosis, but its impact on the disease itself remains unknown, according to a new report funded by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

5 Oct 2010

BCBC awards grant for cell therapy research in type 1 diabetes

Maike Sander, MD, associate professor of pediatrics and cellular & molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has been awarded nearly $5 million by the Beta Cell Biology Consortium (BCBC) to lead an interdisciplinary team in cell therapy research for type 1 diabetes.

4 Oct 2010

UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center wins $11.5M grant for pancreatic cancer research

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota, has won an $11.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to explore groundbreaking pancreatic cancer research, prevention and treatment.

1 Oct 2010

Researchers identify gene activator that allows stem cells to transform any type of cell

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc. was energized Monday by news that researchers in North Carolina may have identified the gene activator that allows stem cells to reproduce and become any type of cell in the body.

29 Sep 2010

BCBC awards $5 million for cell therapy research in type 1 diabetes

28 Sep 2010

Progenika receives CE Mark approval to market LPLchip in Europe

Progenika Biopharma S.A., a pioneer in the field of personalized medicine, announced today that it has obtained the CE Mark allowing the sale in Europe of its LPLchip(R), the first DNA chip to detect mutations in the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene.

27 Sep 2010

Type 1 diabetes, early recognition, telltale signs

Though they may present in a similar fashion, type 1 diabetes mellitus is vastly different from type 2, and Ralph Schmeltz, MD, incoming president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, says it’s important to recognize and diagnose it early.

23 Sep 2010

First intestine transplant in Michigan performed on 50-year-old Port Austin patient

The first intestine (bowel) transplant in Michigan was performed on a 50-year-old patient from Port Austin by physicians at Henry Ford Hospital.

23 Sep 2010

Pancreas releases new NANETS guidelines on rare group of cancers

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a group of rare cancers that pose unique challenges in diagnosis and treatment. In a recent issue of Pancreas, official journal of the American Pancreatic Association, presents the newly developed consensus guidelines of the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS).

22 Sep 2010

Improper biological clocks tend to develop diabetes, obesity: Research

Biologists have found that a key protein that regulates the biological clocks of mammals also regulates glucose production in the liver and that altering the levels of this protein can improve the health of diabetic mice.

20 Sep 2010