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Predicting treatment responses earlier for brain tumor patients

Using metabolic or molecular imaging to measure brain tumor patients' response to treatment is a powerful predictor of survival, notes a first-of-its-kind study presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM, the world's largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals.

5 Jun 2007

Drug lapatinib shows activity against brain metastases

The drug lapatinib shrank tumors and slowed progression of brain metastases in some patients with advanced breast cancer, according to results of a clinical trial presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

5 Jun 2007

Diet may influence survival after treatment for stage III colon cancer

Patients with stage III colon cancer who have undergone surgery and chemotherapy with the goal of cure may have a higher risk of relapsing and dying early if they follow a predominantly Western diet of red meat, fatty foods, refined grains, and desserts, according to research led by investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

5 Jun 2007

Dasatinib shows promise as first treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia

An established second-line drug for chronic myelogenous leukemia has high response rates when given to newly diagnosed patients as their first therapy for the disease, according to early results from a Phase II clinical trial at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

5 Jun 2007

Combining molecular imaging technologies to stop/prevent heart attacks

The use of combined imaging technologies may hold the key to stopping and even preventing heart attacks, according to research reported at the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM, the world's largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals.

5 Jun 2007

Chemotherapy may enhance the effectiveness of the vaccines

Chemotherapy temporarily hinders the body's immune response, creating a concern that it may interfere with the promising new cancer vaccines being used against brain tumors.

5 Jun 2007

Modafinil (Provigil) alleviates post-chemotherapy fogginess

A drug described by some people as a genius pill for enhancing cognitive function provided relief to a small group of Rochester breast cancer survivors who were coping with a side effect known as chemo-brain, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.

5 Jun 2007

Black Americans' beliefs may hamper lung cancer prevention and care

Blacks in the United States are less certain than whites about recommendations to prevent lung cancer and are more fearful of having symptoms evaluated, beliefs that may keep them from seeking timely treatment for the disease, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago.

5 Jun 2007

Benefits of Herceptin are lasting

An updated analysis of two large randomized clinical trials has found that breast cancer patients who received the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin) along with chemotherapy are living longer and with less risk of recurrent disease, compared to patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

5 Jun 2007

Sertraline does not improve symptoms in some cancer patients without major depression

The established antidepressant sertraline does not improve symptoms, wellbeing or survival in patients with advanced cancer who do not have major depression.

5 Jun 2007

AMPAKINE drugs may provide protection from drug-induced respiratory depression

Drug-induced respiratory depression is a life-threatening condition caused by analgesic, hypnotic, and anesthesia medications.

5 Jun 2007

Adding radioimmunotherapy to chemo may help patients with lymphoma

Patients treated for follicular lymphoma, a slow-growing type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, may benefit from chemotherapy followed by radioimmunotherapy, according to a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago and published as Abstract 8005 in the ASCO proceedings.

5 Jun 2007

Molecular imaging provides a better way to visualize heart disease

Technically advanced molecular imaging provides a 3-D way to significantly improve the diagnosis of heart disease, according to researchers at the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM, the world's largest molecular imaging and nuclear medicine society.

5 Jun 2007

Liver cancer drug Nexavar, a major breakthrough

A trial of an experimental drug to treat advanced liver cancer has helped extend patients lives by as much as three months.

4 Jun 2007

Folic acid may lower the risk of stroke

Researchers in the United States say folic acid supplements may reduce the risk of stroke by more than 18 percent.

4 Jun 2007

Shark fin no benefit to cancer victims

In the latest research into the benefits of alternative therapies for cancer, shark cartilage did not help patients with lung cancer live longer but ginseng and flaxseed appeared to offer some benefit to cancer patients.

3 Jun 2007

When HIV and liver disease co-exist

Since successful antiretroviral therapies have made HIV a treatable condition, more HIV patients who are also infected with hepatitis B or C are experiencing the progression of their liver disease.

3 Jun 2007

VA tops private hospitals in infection-control study

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers are more likely than non-VA hospitals to follow recommendations for preventing bloodstream infections associated with central venous catheters, says a survey of more than 500 U.S. health care centers.

3 Jun 2007

Tuberculosis therapy in HIV-infected patients

In a retrospective study of 700 patients with culture-positive tuberculosis (TB), relapse rates were found to be significantly higher in HIV-infected patients compared to HIV-uninfected patients following a rifamycin-based regimen.

3 Jun 2007

New test for diagnosing TB - quicker and easier

A new test for diagnosing TB offers a quick and simple alternative to existing three-day methods, according to research published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

3 Jun 2007