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Combination of Avastin and Metformin may effectively reduce melanoma growth

COMBINING the experimental drug Avastin (bevacizumab) with the diabetes drug Metformin almost doubles its ability to reduce skin cancer growth, according to a study in Cancer Discovery.

2 Apr 2012

Study confirms link between breast cancer and autoimmune arthritis

New research shows it may be no accident when doctors observe how patients suffering from both breast cancer and arthritis seem to have more aggressive cancer. However, the new-found interaction between the two diseases may also suggest a possible treatment.

2 Apr 2012

Vaccines for measles may not increase risk of febrile seizures in 4-6 year olds

Vaccines for measles were not associated with an increased risk of febrile seizures among 4-6 year olds during the six weeks after vaccination, according to a study by the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center that appears in the current issue of Pediatrics.

2 Apr 2012

MEK1 mutation does not necessarily make BRAF mutant melanomas resistant to inhibitors

A second mutation found in the tumors of patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma does not contribute to resistance to BRAF inhibitor drugs, a finding that runs counter to what scientists expected to be true.

2 Apr 2012

Aurora-A protein plays an important role in head and neck cancer

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia have found that a protein associated with other cancers appears to also be important in head and neck cancer, and may consequently serve as a good target for new treatments. The findings will be reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 on Sunday, April 1.

2 Apr 2012

Scientists link two genes involved in serotonin production to PTSD

Why do some persons succumb to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while others who suffered the same ordeal do not? A new UCLA study may shed light on the answer.

2 Apr 2012

States' efforts to change health system take on new significance

Variations in the way states have moved to implement the 2010 federal health-care law have taken on greater significance after last week's Supreme Court hearings, whose tone heightened speculation that the statute would be overturned.

2 Apr 2012

Galeterone safe, effective for patients with CRPC

Patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer had limited side effects and in many cases a drop in prostate-specific antigen expression with galeterone (TOK-001), a small-molecule oral drug, according to phase I data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

2 Apr 2012

Melanoma on the rise among young adults

Even as the rates of some cancers are falling, Mayo Clinic is seeing an alarming trend: the dramatic rise of skin cancer, especially among people under 40. According to a study by Mayo Clinic researchers published in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the incidence of melanoma has escalated, and young women are the hardest hit.

2 Apr 2012

Metformin prevents primary liver cancer in animal models

Metformin, a drug widely used to treat Type II diabetes, may help to prevent primary liver cancer, researchers at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center report in the April 2012 issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

2 Apr 2012

New paradigm for immunotherapy against cancer

Scientists may have discovered a new paradigm for immunotherapy against cancer by priming antibodies and T cells with cancer stem cells, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

2 Apr 2012

Childhood onset temporal lobe epilepsy has a significant impact on brain aging

New research confirms that childhood onset temporal lobe epilepsy has a significant impact on brain aging. Study findings published in Epilepsia, a peer-reviewed journal of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), show age-accelerated ventricular expansion outside the normal range in this patient population.

2 Apr 2012

Teva launches generic Avalide and Avapro Tablets

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that it has commenced commercial launch of both Irbesartan and Irbesartan-Hydrochlorothiazide Tablets, the Company's generic versions of Sanofi Aventis' high blood pressure treatments, Avapro and Avalide Tablets.

2 Apr 2012

Post-Supreme Court, political debate on health law heats up

Just a few days after the Supreme Court's marathon consideration of the health law, news coverage centered around political ramifications.

2 Apr 2012

Combination of cixutumumab and temsirolimus shrinks tumors in patients with Ewing's sarcoma

A pair of targeted therapies shrank tumors in some patients with treatment-resistant Ewing's sarcoma or desmoplastic small-round-cell tumors, according to research led by investigators from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012.

2 Apr 2012

Platelet activating factor plays a crucial role in development of graft-versus-host disease

A new discovery in mice may lead to new treatments that could make bone marrow transplants more likely to succeed and to be significantly less dangerous.

2 Apr 2012

Hypoxia in tumors can predict prostate cancer recurrence in men

Low oxygen levels in tumors can be used to predict cancer recurrence in men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer even before they receive radiation therapy.

2 Apr 2012

Study provides new information on why A-T disease attacks the brain

Rutgers scientists think they have found a way to prevent and possibly reverse the most debilitating symptoms of a rare, progressive childhood degenerative disease that leaves children with slurred speech, unable to walk, and in a wheelchair before they reach adolescence.

2 Apr 2012

Biden, Schumer expect court to uphold health law

Biden attacked Romney and the GOP broadly for only staking out a position against what the Obama administration has done, and not offering an alternative. Biden used the healthcare reform law as an example. "What is the Romney answer? There's nothing. All they argue is cut, get rid of that," he said. Biden said that there are "millions of people" benefiting from the law already, and that he was confident the Supreme Court would uphold it when it rules in June.

2 Apr 2012

ERS, ECDC publish European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care

Today, the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) publish their jointly developed European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care.

2 Apr 2012