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.

New minimally invasive surgery - flexible transgastric peritoneoscopy, or FTP

Surgeries performed with specialized medical devices requiring only small incisions, called laparoscopic surgery, have many advantages over traditional open surgery, including less pain, fewer complications and quicker recoveries.

7 Jul 2004

Enzymes from king crab are an effective treatment for scalds, sores, and trophic ulcers

Chemist Galina Rudenskaya from the Moscow State University and her colleagues from small enterprise TRINITA have made an important discovery in medicine, thanks to funding extended by the RFBR and FASIE.

2 Jul 2004

Four most common cancers accounted for over half of the 225,000 new cases of malignant cancer registered in England in 2001

The four most common cancers - breast, lung, colorectal and prostate - accounted for over half of the 225,000 new cases of malignant cancer (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) registered in England in 2001.

30 Jun 2004

We want to figure out how to grow new kidneys in humans

Growing new organs to take the place of damaged or diseased ones is moving from science fiction to reality, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

22 Jun 2004

UK Rates of acute pancreatitis have doubled over the past 30 years

Rates of acute pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) have doubled over the past 30 years, particularly among younger age groups, finds a study in this week's BMJ.

17 Jun 2004

Drug commonly used for diabetes might be effective in treating multiple sclerosis

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are launching a clinical trial to determine whether a drug commonly used for diabetes might be effective in treating multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects 350,000 Americans.

10 Jun 2004

Investigational drug, LAF237 improved glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes

Research presented today showed that the investigational drug, LAF237, the first in a new class, improved glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. In this study, LAF237, which is administered as a tablet to be taken orally, was added to the standard diabetes treatment metformin in patients whose diabetes was not adequately controlled by metformin alone.

7 Jun 2004

Drug Tarceva improves survival chance for patients with advanced lung cancer

Roche OSI Pharmaceuticals and Genentech today announced that their investigational drug Tarceva(TM) (erlotinib) achieved a significant 42.5% improvement in median survival compared to placebo in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

5 Jun 2004

Cancer rates falling in the US

The nation's leading cancer organizations report that Americans' risk of getting and dying from cancer continues to decline and survival rates for many cancers continue to improve.

3 Jun 2004

Smoking a lot more harmful than previously thought

The U.S. Surgeon General has released a new comprehensive report on smoking and health, revealing for the first time that smoking causes diseases in nearly every organ of the body. Published 40 years after the surgeon general's first report on smoking -- which concluded that smoking was a definite cause of three serious diseases -- this newest report finds that cigarette smoking is conclusively linked to diseases such as leukemia, cataracts, pneumonia and cancers of the cervix, kidney, pancreas and stomach.

30 May 2004

Smoking causes diseases in nearly every organ of the body

U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona today released a new comprehensive report on smoking and health, revealing for the first time that smoking causes diseases in nearly every organ of the body.

27 May 2004

₤16.5 million investment in stem cell research

A ₤16.5 million investment in stem cell research was announced today, 27th May, promising to speed the development of new treatments and cures from the laboratory to the clinic. In total, 57 multidisciplinary research grants have been awarded as part of the new monies allocated via the 2002 Government Spending Review to the UK Research Councils.

27 May 2004

International adult stem cell 'retraining' project starts in Birmingham

An exciting research project to utilise the body's own stem cells to regenerate areas of tissue damage is uniting scientists in Birmingham, London and Ontario, Canada. The University of Birmingham is leading a three year study with long term aims of helping stroke, Parkinsons and diabetes patients.

27 May 2004

Evidence that abnormally short telomeres play a role in the early development of cancer

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have evidence that abnormally short telomeres - the end-caps on chromosomes that normally preserve genetic integrity -appear to play a role in the early development of many types of cancer.

27 May 2004

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics awards $21 million to Vertex

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has announced that it has expanded its drug discovery and development collaboration with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. (CFFT), the nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

24 May 2004

Some people more at risk of obesity due to genetic makeup

Some people may have a higher risk of obesity because they are genetically predisposed to overeat or lead a sedentary lifestyle, a leading Cancer Research UK scientist will told conference delegates last week.

24 May 2004

Centre for Life opens with the UK’s first two human embryonic stem cell lines

The UK’s first two human embryonic stem cell lines, developed separately by researchers at King’s College London and the Centre for Life in Newcastle, are to be deposited in the UK Stem Cell Bank. The deposit coincides with the official opening of the Bank by Health Minister, Lord Warner, today (Wednesday 19 May 2004).

19 May 2004

FDA approves software that determines drug dosages of insulin

The FDA has approved a software suite developed by Dimensional Dosing Systems, Inc. for determining optimum drug dosages of insulin and many other drugs as well as combinations of drugs.

14 May 2004

New studies put spotlight on replicative capacity of beta cells

Researchers at Harvard University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) have discovered that insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas that are attacked in type 1 diabetes are replenished through duplication of existing cells rather than through differentiation of adult stem cells.

5 May 2004

New figures suggest Scotland is in the middle of a mumps epidemic

New figures raise public fears of a mumps epidemic by showing there were 370 confirmed cases of mumps in the first four months of 2001. This figure is almost an 800% increase on the total of recorded mumps cases for the whole of 2003.

3 May 2004