Medical Science News

RSS

New computer-based system can distinguish similar secondary tumours

A new computer-based system discussed in the International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management can distinguish between apparently similar secondary tumours and allow a cancer specialist to trace the metastases back to the site of the original cancer in the patient's body.

5 Apr 2011

Cancer cells exploit 'stress response' mechanism used by normal cells to cope with harsh, demanding conditions

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say a "stress response" mechanism used by normal cells to cope with harsh or demanding conditions is exploited by cancer cells, which transmit the same stress signal to surrounding cells, triggering an inflammatory response in them that can aid tumor growth.

5 Apr 2011

Researchers develop new cancer treatment

Scientists from the School of Pharmacy at Queen's University Belfast and Almac Discovery Ltd have developed a new treatment for cancer which rather than attacking tumours directly, prevents the growth of new blood vessels in tumours, starving them of oxygen and nutrients, thereby preventing their growth.

5 Apr 2011

GERONTOSHIELD project receives 2.6 Million Euro fund for ageing research

Our society gets older, people live longer. The price we pay: infectious diseases can easier overcome the immune system. Like all organs, the immune system does not function flawlessly in old age. A new collaboration of university and non-university research institutes and two companies is investigating why our immune defence is getting weaker when we become old.

5 Apr 2011

Agilent launches SureCycler 8800 thermal cycler

Agilent Technologies, Inc. today introduced the Agilent SureCycler 8800, a full-featured thermal cycler that eliminates the need to choose between popular features of other major PCR instruments.

5 Apr 2011

AACR President-elect to host press conference on cancer risk factors and genetics

As cancer continues to affect one in two men and one in three women, researchers are increasing their knowledge on the known risk factors for cancer both environmentally and genetically.

5 Apr 2011

Known cancer-linked gene involved in subset of advanced prostate tumors

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a genetic anomaly that may drive the aggressive spread of a rare subset of prostate cancers.

5 Apr 2011

Food addicts appear to have high neural activity in brain

Persons with an addictive-like eating behavior appear to have greater neural activity in certain regions of the brain similar to substance dependence, including elevated activation in reward circuitry in response to food cues, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the August print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

5 Apr 2011

Women with ovarian cancer having BRCA2 gene mutations are more likely to survive

Women with ovarian cancer who have the BRCA2 gene mutation are more likely to survive the malignancy than women with the BRCA1 mutation, or women without either mutation.

5 Apr 2011

Injection of stem cells may improve effectiveness of cardiac bypass surgery

In a new research study under way at the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, surgeons are adding a patient's own stem cells to the heart during cardiac bypass surgery. The goal of this research study is to determine whether the stem cell infusion will generate new blood vessels and improve heart function more than what is seen through bypass surgery alone.

5 Apr 2011

Heavy beer drinkers with specific genetic variant at increased risk of non-cardia gastric cancer

Heavy beer drinkers who have a specific genetic variant in the cluster of three genes that metabolize alcohol are at significantly higher risk of developing non-cardia gastric cancer, according to research presented at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held here April 2-6.

5 Apr 2011

Lilly presents results of JAK2, Hedgehog inhibitor preclinical cancer studies at 102nd AACR

Eli Lilly and Company announced results today from two preclinical studies of molecules that target genetic mutations and disable specific signaling pathways that can lead to cancer. The studies evaluated two unique molecules – a JAK2 inhibitor and a Hedgehog inhibitor – with results presented during the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 102nd Annual Meeting in Orlando, Fla.

5 Apr 2011

Vitamin D can reduce estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer

In mice models of breast cancer, researchers at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of Georgetown University Medical Center, found that vitamin D significantly reduced development of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer both in lean and obese mice, but had no beneficial effect in estrogen receptor-negative cancer.

5 Apr 2011

Scientists reveal unknown role of cilia protein IFT88 in mitosis

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have described a previously unknown role for the cilia protein IFT88 in mitosis, the process by which a dividing cell separates its chromosomes containing the cell's DNA into two identical sets of new daughter cells.

5 Apr 2011

Genetic factors can explain people's susceptibility to urinary incontinence

Much of the risk of developing incontinence before middle age is determined by our genes. Genetic factors can explain half of people's susceptibility to urinary incontinence, a study of twins at the University of Gothenburg and Karolinska Institutet reveals.

5 Apr 2011

VisualSonics demonstrates Vevo LAZR imaging system at AACR conference

VisualSonics Inc., a leader in real time, in vivo, high-resolution micro-imaging systems and a wholly-owned subsidiary of SonoSite Inc., is demonstrating the recently announced Vevo LAZR Photoacoustics Imaging system at the American Association of Cancer Research's annual conference.

5 Apr 2011

Scientists discover new compounds that may help fight against parasitic diseases

Trypanosomatid parasites cause diseases like African sleeping sickness, Chagas' disease and leishmaniasis. Leishmaniasis affects about 12 million people worldwide, mostly in developing countries. Current drug treatments are inadequate due to drug toxicity and resistance.

5 Apr 2011

Study suggests causal link between HSV1 and Alzheimer's disease

Laboratories at the University of New Mexico (UNM), Brown University, and House Ear Institute (HEI) have developed a new technique to observe herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) infections growing inside cells. HSV1, the cause of the common cold sore, persists in a latent form inside nerve cells.

5 Apr 2011

Inserm Transfert, MedImmune collaborate to advance medical science research

MedImmune, the global biologics business of AstraZeneca, and Inserm Transfert, the private subsidiary of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, today announced a three-year strategic collaboration to advance research across a range of therapeutic areas including oncology, respiratory, inflammation, and autoimmune diseases.

5 Apr 2011

New insight into Parkinson's disease

As Parkinson's Awareness Month gets underway, a Canadian-led international study is providing important new insight into Parkinson's disease and paving the way for new avenues for clinical trials.

5 Apr 2011