Pain News and Research

Latest Pain News and Research

First Edition: June 7, 2012

Today's headlines include a report that some lawmakers on Capitol Hill are meeting to attempt to find ways to deal with an upcoming deadline -- Jan. 1 -- which is also known as the "fiscal cliff."

7 Jun 2012

Young adults, adolescents with mental health disorders more likely to become long-term opioid users

Long-term use and abuse of opioid painkillers, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, has markedly increased in the United States in the last two decades. Of note, prescription opioids constitute 86.9 percent of prescription drug misuse among high school students. And last week in a two-day U.S. Food and Drug Administration public meeting, officials questioned the use of long-term opioids for chronic pain due to a lack of evidence for the effectiveness and concerns about the potential risk for addiction.

7 Jun 2012

CBO: Ballooning health care costs will continue as a key driver in nation's debt

A new Congressional Budget Office report offers a bleak view of the future if current tax and spending policies are not adjusted.

7 Jun 2012

Savient announces results from KRYSTEXXA Phase III trials on gout-related kidney disease

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that new data presented in an oral session at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) 2012 congress showed that patients with refractory chronic gout (RCG) who also suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD) responded to treatment with KRYSTEXXA (pegloticase) regardless of baseline CKD stage.

7 Jun 2012

Study suggests link between fungi and ulcerative colitis

Cedars-Sinai researchers say their examination of the fungi in the intestines suggests an important link between these microbes and inflammatory diseases such as ulcerative colitis.

7 Jun 2012

ADACTA trial: Tocilizumab more effective than adalimumab in treating RA

Data presented today at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, demonstrates that tocilizumab monotherapy is more effective than adalimumab monotherapy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) based on change from baseline in DAS28 (-3.3 vs. -1.8, p<0.0001) at week 24.

7 Jun 2012

Pioneering new test can quickly diagnose coeliac disease

Coeliac disease affects millions of people worldwide, but many sufferers are not aware they have the condition or may have been misdiagnosed with other illnesses. A pioneering new test developed with EU-funding should soon be available in hospitals, offering an accurate, quick, cost-effective diagnosis and monitoring solution.

6 Jun 2012

STELARA effectively reduces signs and symptoms of active psoriatic arthritis

Patients with active psoriatic arthritis receiving the interleukin (IL)-12/23 inhibitor STELARA (ustekinumab) experienced significant improvements in signs and symptoms of the disease, according to new findings presented today from a Janssen Research & Development, LLC, (Janssen)-sponsored investigational study.

6 Jun 2012

Abbott announces results from HUMIRA Phase 3 study on axSpA

Abbott today announced results from the open-label extension of the Phase 3 ABILITY-1 investigational study of HUMIRA (adalimumab), which assessed the improvement in signs and symptoms of disease for patients with active axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) who have no X-ray evidence of structural damage.

6 Jun 2012

UCSF's ACT program helps amputees reach their athletic goals

Carlos Gonzalez stands out from an athletic group gathered on a grassy field at the UCSF Mission Bay campus. The gregarious 32-year-old sports a stylish fauxhawk and walks with a confident yet understated swagger. He's training to become a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter.

6 Jun 2012

Firefly surgical technology sheds new light on kidney cancers

A surgical technology called Firefly is shedding new light on kidney cancers and helping doctors at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital remove tumors more safely and more efficiently while sparing the rest of the healthy kidney.

6 Jun 2012

BioLineRx receives two U.S. patent allowances for BL-1021 to treat neuropathic pain

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today that two Notices of Allowance have been issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for BL-1021, an orally available small molecule for treating neuropathic pain.

6 Jun 2012

NTNU’s EIR software to be showcased at 7th World Research Congress of the EAPC

What happens when doctors cannot cure a disease? What is the best way to make patients comfortable and have the best quality of life possible in the time they have left? Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have developed software that can be used with an iPad or other tablet to help record patient pain levels to help doctors in developing further treatment.

6 Jun 2012

Bayer announces updated data from radium-223 dichloride Phase III trial on CRPC

Bayer HealthCare today announced updated data from the pivotal Phase III ALSYMPCA (ALpharadin in SYMptomatic Prostate CAncer) trial for its investigational drug radium-223 dichloride in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and symptomatic bone metastases.

6 Jun 2012

Abbott commences elagolix Phase 3 trial in endometriosis

Abbott, in cooperation with Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc., today announced the initiation of a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of elagolix in female patients with endometriosis.

6 Jun 2012

Positive updated interim data from Exelixis’ cabozantinib phase 2 trial on CRPC

Exelixis, Inc. today reported positive updated interim data from an ongoing phase 2 trial of cabozantinib in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and bone metastases.

6 Jun 2012

Lilly announces final results from ALIMTA Phase III study on NSCLC

Final results from PARAMOUNT, a Phase III study of ALIMTA (pemetrexed for injection) in the continuation maintenance setting, demonstrated improved overall survival in patients with advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with ALIMTA continuation maintenance, according to data announced today by Eli Lilly and Company.

5 Jun 2012

Statisticians devise new predictive algorithm for future medical conditions

Analyzing medical records from thousands of patients, statisticians have devised a statistical model for predicting what other medical problems a patient might encounter.

5 Jun 2012

Preoperative breast cancer pain involves an inflammatory process

Researchers from the University of California San Francisco studied a sample of women scheduled for breast cancer surgery and sought to determine the occurrence rate for preoperative breast pain, describe characteristics of the pain, evaluate the demographic and clinical variation in the women with preoperative pain, and assess the role of in pro-and anti inflammatory cytokine genes.

5 Jun 2012

Cannabinoid therapy helps provide effective analgesia for cancer patients with pain

An investigational cannabinoid therapy helped provide effective analgesia when used as an adjuvant medication for cancer patients with pain that responded poorly to opioids, according to results of a multicenter trial reported in The Journal of Pain, published by the American Pain Society.

5 Jun 2012