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UIC develops new technique to anchor teeth back in jaw using stem cells

A new approach to anchor teeth back in the jaw using stem cells has been developed and successfully tested in the laboratory for the first time by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

30 Sep 2010

Study shows immunotherapy improves survival rate in children with neuroblastoma

Using immunotherapy biologic agents that stimulate the body's immune system pediatric oncologists have achieved the first substantial increase in over a decade in cure rates for the childhood cancer neuroblastoma. A newly released study shows that the new treatment improved two-year survival rates by 20 percent, compared to standard treatment for an aggressive form of neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system.

30 Sep 2010

Trial demonstrates improved outcomes in unsedated colonoscopy by water method

The October issue of GIE Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), features the results of two randomized controlled trials of unsedated colonoscopy comparing water infusion versus air insufflation to distend the colon.

30 Sep 2010

Researchers discover treatment improves overall survival in pregnant women with breast cancer

Long associated with a worse outcome, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that women treated for breast cancer while pregnant, in fact, have improved disease free survival and a trend for improved overall survival compared to non-pregnant women treated for the disease.

30 Sep 2010

New form of immunotherapy increases survival in children with neuroblastoma

Administering a new form of immunotherapy to children with neuroblastoma, a nervous system cancer, increased the percentage of those who were alive and free of disease progression after two years, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and fellow institutions. The percentage rose from 46 percent for children receiving a standard therapy to 66 percent for children receiving immunotherapy plus standard therapy, according to the study published in the Sept. 30, 2010 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

30 Sep 2010

Researchers report chemotherapy affects gray matter in breast cancer patients

Researchers at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center have published the first report using imaging to show that changes in brain tissue can occur in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

30 Sep 2010

Feeding infants before examination for retinopathy of prematurity reduces stress

Premature infants are often examined for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). This exam can be quite stressful for the neonate, causing changes in heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation, and increased crying. In a recent study published in the Journal of AAPOS, the Official Publication of the American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, researchers found that feeding infants one hour before the examination unexpectedly reduced stress but did not increase vomiting or gastric aspirates.

30 Sep 2010

Research shows dexamethasone treatment effective for bacterial meningitis

New research shows that an intravenous (IV) treatment may cut a person's risk of dying from bacterial meningitis. The research is published in the September 29, 2010, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The treatment is called dexamethasone.

30 Sep 2010

Radical prostatectomy increases survival rate in prostate cancer patients: Study

In the largest, most modern, single-institution study of its kind, Mayo Clinic urologists mined a long-term data registry for survival rates of patients who underwent radical prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer. The findings are being presented at the North Central Section of the American Urological Association's 84th Annual Meeting in Chicago.

30 Sep 2010

Researchers develop genetic screening method to identify drug-resistant HCV strains

In recent human trials for a promising new class of drug designed to target the hepatitis C virus (HCV) without shutting down the immune system, some of the HCV strains being treated exhibited signs of drug resistance.

30 Sep 2010

Mammogram for women over 40: Debate continues

A report this Wednesday showed that routine screenings for breast cancer called mammograms cut the breast cancer death rate by 26 percent for women in their 40s. The results have been received in a mixed way by experts.

30 Sep 2010

SCT transplantation benefits in Hodgkin's lymphoma is unclear

It remains an unresolved question whether adult patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a certain type of lymph node cancer, benefit from allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) with an unrelated donor. This is due to the fact that studies are lacking that compare this therapy with autologous transplantation or conventional chemotherapy without SCT.

30 Sep 2010

UNC scientists receive grant to develop targeted delivery system for pancreatic cancer

A team of UNC scientists has received a five-year $2,308,800 grant from the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Nanotechnology Platform Partnerships to address the critical need for early diagnosis of and more effective treatments for pancreatic cancer.

30 Sep 2010

Cedars-Sinai physicians to lead St. Jude Medical's transcatheter aortic valve implantation clinical trial

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced that physicians from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute will lead the company's transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) clinical trial. The study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the St. Jude Medical transcatheter aortic valve for patients who experience severe aortic stenosis and who may be at an elevated risk for open-heart surgery.

29 Sep 2010

Circulating tumor cells may be promising alternative for tumor biopsies

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) may be a promising alternative, noninvasive source of tumor materials for biomarker assessment, according to data presented at the Fourth AACR International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development.

29 Sep 2010

Study analyses CT for screening of coronary artery calcification in radiation-induced cancer cases

A study based on computer modeling of radiation risk suggests that widespread screening for the buildup of calcium in the arteries using computed tomography scans would lead to an estimated 42 additional radiation-induced cancer cases per 100,000 men and 62 cases per 100,000 women, according to a report in the July 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

29 Sep 2010

New genetic screening program to reduce risk associated with Plavix

Beginning this month, all patients undergoing cardiac catheterization at Vanderbilt University Medical Center will be tested for a genetic variation that can affect their response to Plavix, the most commonly prescribed clot-preventing drug for heart patients and one of the most commonly prescribed drugs worldwide.

29 Sep 2010

New predictive test to identify aggressive prostate cancer

S. Mark Redwood, M.D., chief of the Department of Urology at Sinai Hospital, is using a state-of-the-art predictive prostate cancer test called Prostate Px+ to better understand the aggressiveness of each individual patient's cancer and how best to treat it.

29 Sep 2010

Early initiation of ART may prevent immune system damage in HIV patients: Study

HIV-infected individuals who begin antiretroviral therapy (ART) soon after acquiring the virus may have stronger immune responses to other pathogens than HIV-infected individuals who begin ART later, a new study from the National Institutes of Health has found. This finding suggests that early initiation of ART may prevent irreversible immune system damage and adds to the body of evidence showing significant health benefits from early ART.

29 Sep 2010

Researchers discover new diagnostic test for prostate cancer

Researchers in England say they have discovered a set of biomarkers that can distinguish prostate cancer from benign prostate disease and healthy tissue with 90 percent accuracy.

From Oxford Gene Technology 29 Sep 2010