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Encouraging results from KAEL-GemVax GV1001 Phase II trial on NSCLC

KAEL-GemVax, a leading oncology biopharmaceutical company, today announced that results from a Phase II trial (CTN-2006) in Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients vaccinated with the telomerase peptide GV1001 after chemoradiotherapy and an 8-year update from a phase I/II trial have been published in the November issue of Clinical Cancer, the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

15 Nov 2011

Obama adminisration unveils plan to expand health care work force

The initiative, which is part of the White House's "We Can't Wait" agenda, will release funds to hire and train health workers as part of its effort to give the U.S. economy a boost.

15 Nov 2011

Survey of health opinion leaders finds 'unflagging' health overhaul support

In this survey, conducted by the Commonwealth Fund and Modern Healthcare, 89 percent of respondents supported moving forward with the measure's implementation. In related news, the National Committee for Quality Assurance plans this month to begin accrediting accountable care organizations. Meanwhile, in local coverage, North Carolina's health exchange grant remains unspent and a rural California county has its own health reform calculus.

15 Nov 2011

HIV and syphilis on the rise among MSM

Rates of HIV and syphilis are very high and rising among men who have sex with men (MSM) in New York City, reports a study in the November issue of JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

15 Nov 2011

Fact-checking Romney's debate performance

CNN examines comments made by GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney regarding the possible dollar savings that could result by repealing the health law, while the AP revisits his positions regarding the Massachusetts health law he signed while that state's governor. Also in the news, more on Rick Perry's Texas and where the candidates state on health research.

15 Nov 2011

GE Capitol healthcare flexes muscle, reaps benefits

The full breadth of health care reform has yet to be felt, but GE Capital Healthcare Financial Services is reaping the benefits. The Bethesda-based specialty finance firm is witnessing an upturn in business that has it on track to surpass its 2010 lending activity by roughly 15 percent. … Through the first nine months of the year, the company, which provides financing to some 40 sectors of the health care industry, deployed more than $5 billion in loans.

15 Nov 2011

Study identifies five areas of global health on which Canada can focus

A "year-long assessment done by the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences concluded there is a strong rationale for Canada to play a more strategic role in global health, while recognizing the scale of humanitarian needs," and to "focus on five areas where its research is strongest, including indigenous health," the Globe and Mail reports.

15 Nov 2011

Study compares safety of procedures at hospitals with and without cardiac surgery backup

Hospitals that do not have cardiac surgery capability can perform nonemergency angioplasty and stent implantation as safely as hospitals that do offer cardiac surgery. That is the finding of the nation's first large, randomized study to assess whether patients do just as well having nonemergency angioplasty performed at smaller, community hospitals that do not offer cardiac surgery.

15 Nov 2011

VOA News examines Foundation's efforts to treat MDR-TB patients in North Korea

VOA News examines the Eugene Bell Foundation's work in North Korea to detect and treat patients with multiple-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The foundation is treating about 600 patients in North Korea, where "conditions ... are ideal for the spread of TB. The climate is cold. Most citizens live and work in small spaces, and lack proper nutrition to maintain a strong immune system," VOA writes.

15 Nov 2011

NPR: VA is creating medical data 'gold mine'

"Not only do we have all their clinical records -; laboratory, vital signs, pharmacy database -; we have annual assessments that we will do that we can track people, assessments of depression, PTSD, suicide screening, alcohol and substances, traumatic brain injury," says Dr. Jennifer Hoblyn, who specializes in mental illness at the VA of Palo Alto. The VA will remove the names, so the data are anonymous.

15 Nov 2011

Mtb produces specific protein that allows it to defuse and bypass body's security system

Tuberculosis, which kills over 2 million people each year, is caused primarily by infectious bacteria known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis - or Mtb. Mtb targets human immune cells as part of its strategy to avoid detection, effectively neutralizing the body's immune response.

15 Nov 2011

Researchers in Philippines develop machine to quickly detect drug-resistant TB

In this post in the Global Post's "Global Pulse" blog, journalist John Donnelly reports on how a machine developed by researchers at the TB Laboratory at the Lung Center of the Philippines "that can detect multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in record time may revolutionize TB treatment."

15 Nov 2011

Problems in India's public health care system lead to growth of private medicine

Toronto's Star reports on how problems within India's health care system -- such as absent doctors and nurses, a lack of necessary equipment, corruption and one of the lowest health budgets in the world -- has led to the mistrust of the public system and has paved the way for private medicine in the country.

15 Nov 2011

New Handbook offers overview of social work practice in health care

Increased complexity in health care demands a greater body of knowledge for health social workers. The newly released Handbook of Health Social Work, Second Edition is a key resource for social workers, offering a comprehensive and evidence-based overview of social work practice in health care.

15 Nov 2011

Prox1 gene plays a critical role in formation and maintenance of lymphatic system

A century after the valves that link the lymphatic and blood systems were first described, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have detailed how those valves form and identified a gene that is critical to the process.

15 Nov 2011

Malpractice lawsuits linked to surgeon depression and career burnout

According to the results of a new study published in the November 2011 Journal of the American College of Surgeons, malpractice lawsuits against U.S. surgeons occur often and can take a profound personal toll on the surgeon, resulting in emotional exhaustion, stress, and professional dissatisfaction.

15 Nov 2011

Researchers explore how design of chronic and acute pain trials might be improved

For chronic pain sufferers, a day can feel like a year and a year can feel like an eternity. With very few truly new therapies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for this condition since 2005, the outlook is far from bright.

15 Nov 2011

Scientists find new tools to help understand neurodevelopmental disorders

Research released today shows that scientists are finding new tools to help understand neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and fragile X syndrome. These studies show in new detail how the brain's connections, chemicals, and genes interact to affect behavior.

15 Nov 2011

Experts discuss treatment as prevention at USAID-, World Bank-sponsored debate

In this post in the Center for Global Development's "Global Health Policy" blog, Amanda Glassman, director of Global Health Policy and a research fellow at the center, reports on last week's USAID- and World Bank-sponsored debate on treatment as prevention, "where debaters were asked to support or oppose the proposition that countries should spend the majority of flat or declining HIV prevention budgets on 'treatment as prevention,' building off the results of the HPTN 052 study which found a relative reduction of 89 percent in the total number of HIV-1 transmissions resulting from the early initiation of antiretroviral therapy.

15 Nov 2011

Kessler Foundation researchers to improve rehabilitation after stroke

Kessler Foundation received a $250,000 stroke research grant from the Wallerstein Foundation for Geriatric Life Improvement. Anna Barrett, MD, director of Stroke Rehabilitation Research at Kessler Foundation, will apply the funds to finding better ways to treat hidden disabilities that often complicate recovery after stroke.

15 Nov 2011