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Immunomodulators show promise against multiple myeloma

Research on the same protein that was a primary mediator of the birth defects caused by thalidomide now holds hope in the battle against multiple myeloma, says the study's senior investigator, Keith Stewart, M.B., Ch.B. of Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Dr. Stewart presented the results at the 53rd annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego.

12 Dec 2011

BioInvent announces new BI-505 preclinical data on multiple myeloma

BioInvent International AB announced today that new preclinical data has been presented on its BI-505 programme that demonstrates anti-cancer activity in multiple myeloma and beneficial effect on bone density.

12 Dec 2011

Suppressing STARD9 protein could be a novel strategy to fight cancers

Suppressing a newly identified and characterized protein involved in regulating cell division could be a novel strategy to fight certain cancers because it stops the malignant cells from dividing and causes them to die quickly, according to a study by researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

12 Dec 2011

Onyx receives FDA Standard Review designation for carfilzomib NDA to treat RRMM

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Standard Review designation to the New Drug Application (NDA) for carfilzomib for the potential treatment of patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.

12 Dec 2011

HER2 proteins do not predict breast cancer patient's outcome after Herceptin treatment

Precisely quantifying the amount of three different HER growth proteins, along with several other proteins believed linked to breast cancer, did not predict a patient's outcome after treatment for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer with Herceptin, say Mayo Clinic researchers.

12 Dec 2011

Many postmenopausal women quit breast cancer drugs early because of side effects

Why do so many postmenopausal women who are treated for estrogen-sensitive breast cancer quit using drugs that help prevent the disease from recurring? The first study to actually ask the women themselves -- as well as the largest, most scientifically rigorous study to examine the question -- reports 36 percent of women quit early because of the medications' side effects, which are more severe and widespread than previously known.

12 Dec 2011

Study describes miR-124 can prevent and treat liver cancer

Cancer of the liver - rare in the United States but the third-leading cause of cancer death worldwide - can result from environmental exposures or infections like chronic hepatitis, but the link is poorly understood.

12 Dec 2011

Positive data from Aeterna Zentaris AEZS-131 preclinical study on TNBC

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. today announced positive preclinical data in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) for its highly selective Erk 1/2 inhibitor anticancer compound, AEZS-131.

11 Dec 2011

FDA panel supports birth control Yaz but advises labeling changes

Medical experts at the panel of Food and Drug Administration have voted 15-11 that Bayer's Yaz, and Yasmin and similar medications used as birth control pills remain a beneficial option for women, despite an increasing number of studies suggesting the drugs are more likely to cause dangerous blood clots than older birth control pills.

11 Dec 2011

Signal Genetics to launch second generation Myeloma product, MyPRS Plus

Signal Genetics announced today, at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, that the Company is launching its next generation Multiple Myeloma product, MyPRS Plus, effective January 1, 2012.

9 Dec 2011

Obama defends limit on morning-after pill

The New York Times, Washington Post and others analyze the president's support of his health secretary's decision to limit access to the Plan B pill.

9 Dec 2011

New pediatric formula for Chagas disease treatment developed in Brazil

"A new pediatric formulation developed in Brazil holds out hope for a cure for over 90 percent of newborn babies infected with Chagas disease, a parasitic infection endemic in 21 Latin American countries, where it kills more people every year than malaria," Inter Press Service reports.

9 Dec 2011

FDA panel: Some birth control pills should carry stronger warning labels

An FDA panel decided Thursday that two popular birth control pills should come with stronger warning labels about the possibility of blood clots.

9 Dec 2011

The contraceptive pill could reduce risk of ovarian and uterine cancer in nuns

Professor Roger Short, from the University of Melbourne, and Dr Kara Britt, from Monash University, argue in a comment piece in The Lancet, that since the contraceptive pill reduces overall mortality and mortality specifically linked to ovarian and uterine cancer, nuns should be given the pill for health, rather than contraceptive, reasons.

9 Dec 2011

Trastuzumab improves long-term outcomes in obese patients with HER2-positive breast cancer

A large, multicenter, randomized study has shown that obese patients with HER2-positive breast cancer have larger tumors, increased lymph node involvement and, when not treated with trastuzumab, poorer long-term outcomes than normal-weight patients.

9 Dec 2011

ZEN bust-enhancing supplements may increase risk of breast cancer

Women who use bust-enhancing dietary supplements containing the mycoestrogen zearalenone (ZEN), a naturally occurring toxin that widely contaminates agricultural products, could be increasing their risk of breast cancer. That is the warning from breast health experts in a paper published online ahead of print publication in the January issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

9 Dec 2011

First Edition: December 9, 2011

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations include artilces about a new GOP tax plan that includes a Medicare pay fix for doctors and President Obama's support of a decision to keep the "Morning After Pill" from minors.

9 Dec 2011

Sebelius overrules FDA on 'morning after' pill's OTC availability

The decision to keep the contraceptive pill "Plan B" behind the counter could shield the Obama administration from a bruising battle with conservatives but comes at the expense of liberal groups who are "shocked" at the decision.

9 Dec 2011

Experimental sublingual vaccine shows promise against influenza infection

Scientists from the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) have discovered that an antigen common to most influenza viruses, and commonly referred to as matrix protein 2 (M2), when administered under the tongue could protect mice against experimental infection caused by various influenza viruses, including the highly pathogenic avian H5 virus and the pandemic H1 ("swine flu") virus.

9 Dec 2011

Dramatic rise in substance abuse treatment admission rates from 1999-2009

A new report shows that while the overall rate of substance abuse treatment admissions among those aged 12 and older in the United States has remained nearly the same from 1999 to 2009, there has been a dramatic rise (430 percent) in the rate of treatment admissions for the abuse of prescription pain relievers during this period.

9 Dec 2011