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UK's first prostate cancer patient treated using RapidArc radiotherapy

65-year-old grandfather of six, Graham McCormack has become the first cancer patient in the UK to be treated using RapidArc radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical Systems.

10 Dec 2008

As many as 300 children could be at risk of TB from hospital doctor

After a doctor at Adelaide's Women's and Children's Hospital tested positive for tuberculosis (TB), authorities say as many as 300 babies have been identified who may have come into contact with the doctor and could be at risk.

10 Dec 2008

Researchers study virus with unusual properties

A team of researchers from Penn State University and the University of Chicago has uncovered clues that may explain how and why a particular virus, called N4, injects an unusual substance -- an RNA polymerase protein -- into an E. coli bacterial cell.

8 Dec 2008

Participants in clinical trials value personalized, accurate information about study results

Participants in clinical trials report being satisfied with personalized, accurate communication of results by study investigators soon after the study findings are released publicly, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Neurology.

8 Dec 2008

Biologists spy close-up view of poliovirus linked to host cell receptor

Researchers from Purdue and Stony Brook universities have determined the precise atomic-scale structure of the poliovirus attached to key receptor molecules in human host cells and also have taken a vital snapshot of processes leading to infection.

8 Dec 2008

Novel approach to disseminate trial results to study volunteers

While an estimated 2.3 million people in the U.S. take part in clinical trials every year, there currently exists no formal requirement to inform them of study results; an oversight that leaves participants confused, frustrated, and, in some cases, lacking information that may be important to their health.

8 Dec 2008

New approaches to prevent blood clots

The largest study ever to examine the preventive use of blood-thinning medication to help prevent deadly blood clots in patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy presented December 7 during the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Francisco, CA.

8 Dec 2008

Radiologists diagnose and treat self-embedding disorder in teens

Minimally invasive, image-guided treatment is a safe and precise method for removal of self-inflicted foreign objects from the body, according to the first report on "self-embedding disorder," or self-injury and self-inflicted foreign body insertion in adolescents.

3 Dec 2008

Positron emission mammography effective in detecting breast cancer

A study has found that positron emission mammography (PEM), a new technique for imaging the breast, is not affected by either breast density or a woman's hormonal status, two factors that limit the effectiveness of standard mammography and MRI at detecting cancer.

3 Dec 2008

Virtual colonoscopy has potential to screen for colorectal cancer and osteoporosis at same time

New research reveals that computed tomography (CT) colonography, also known as virtual colonoscopy, has the potential to screen for two diseases at once-colorectal cancer and osteoporosis, both of which commonly affect adults over age 50.

3 Dec 2008

Exposure to folic acid antagonists during pregnancy has risks

Exposure to folic acid antagonists during pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of placenta-mediated adverse outcomes such as preeclampsia, placental abruption, fetal growth restriction or fetal death reports a retrospective cohort study published in CMAJ.

1 Dec 2008

Scientists discover possible mechanism for chirality in biological molecules

The basic molecules that make up all living things have a predetermined chirality or "handedness," similar to the way people are right- or left-handed.

1 Dec 2008

Advanced CT scans 100 percent accurate in checking for clogged arteries

In a development that researchers say is likely to quell concerns about the value of costly computed tomography (CT) scans to diagnose coronary artery blockages, an international team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins reports solid evidence that the newer, more powerful 64-CT scans can easily and correctly identify people with major blood vessel disease and is nearly as accurate as invasive coronary angiography.

26 Nov 2008

Double-balloon enteroscopy offers cost-effective approach for obscure GI bleeding

A cost-effectiveness analysis conducted by researchers at Stanford University Hospital in Calif., shows that an initial double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) is a cost-effective approach for patients with obscure gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding.

24 Nov 2008

Brookhaven scientists receive patent for improved cancer therapy device

Four physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have been awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,432,516 B2 for the design of a "medical synchrotron" capable of delivering precision doses of proton radiation to cancerous tumors with minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

24 Nov 2008

New system helps the repair of hip joint using arthroscopy

Smith & Nephew's Endoscopy Division has announced the launch of the CROSSTRAC Hip Guide System, which enables surgeons to accurately establish pathways to diagnose and repair the hip joint using arthroscopy, or minimally invasive, repair procedures.

20 Nov 2008

Nanoparticle reports on drug delivery to breast tumors, predicts response to therapy

One of the hallmarks of many nanoparticle-based anticancer therapeutics and imaging agents is that they accumulate in tumors thanks to the fact that they are small enough to escape from the bloodstream through the leaky blood vessels that surround tumors.

20 Nov 2008

Scientists gain new insights into regulation of calpains

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have gained new insights into regulation of one of the body's enzyme workhorses called calpains.

19 Nov 2008

Call for greater scrutiny of relationship between medical journalists and health care industry

The BMJ paper outlines three areas where journalists might become entangled in conflict-of-interest issues: during educational activities that may be drug company sponsored, when accepting sponsored awards, or in the day-to-day practice of reporting the news by relying too heavily on industry supplied sources.

19 Nov 2008

Enzyme discovery may lead to better heart and stroke treatments

A Queen's University study sheds new light on the way one of our cell enzymes, implicated in causing tissue damage after heart attacks and strokes, is normally kept under control.

19 Nov 2008