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European E. coli strain never seen before in humans, scientists say

The food safety office of the WHO on Thursday announced that the bacterium responsible for the E. coli outbreak in Europe is a strain never seen before in humans and could mean "the infection could prove unusually difficult to bring under control," Nature News reports.

4 Jun 2011

FSU assistant professor unlocks mysteries of KSHV infection

In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, a once-rare form of cancer known as Kaposi's sarcoma emerged as a frequent harbinger of HIV. Its stigma was best illustrated by Tom Hanks, who portrayed a gay man trying to conceal the cancerous skin lesions from his co-workers in the 1993 movie "Philadelphia."

4 Jun 2011

Researchers discover genomic control system that regulates gut formation in sea-urchin embryos

For all animals, development begins with the embryo. It is here that uniform cells divide and diversify, and blueprints are laid for future structures, like skeletal and digestive systems. Although biologists have known for some time that signaling processes-messages that tell a cell to express certain genes so as to become certain parts of these structures-exist at this stage, there has not been a clear framework explanation of how it all comes together.

4 Jun 2011

Research roundup: More spending can lead to better care; Calif. exchange lessons; high-volume hospitals

Medical Spending And The Health Of The Elderly -- Does more medical spending lead to better health care for people over age 64? To answer that question, "researchers from George Mason University and the Urban Institute used data of 17,438 elderly who entered the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey in the fall of each year from 1991 to 1999, and conducted multiple interviews over three years," according to one description of the study.

4 Jun 2011

Mount Sinai to participate in Medtronic CoreValve U.S. Clinical Trial

Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida announced its participation in the Medtronic CoreValve U.S. Clinical Trial, which will evaluate a new, non-surgical alternative to open-heart surgery for patients with severe aortic stenosis. Mount Sinai is now among a select number of leading hospitals across the U.S. to participate in this trial.

From Medtronic 4 Jun 2011

Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society to raise funds towards conquering cancer

A landmark partnership announced today between Canada's two largest cancer charities, The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society, will raise significant amounts of money towards conquering cancer through the national expansion of Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer.

4 Jun 2011

Battelle, Perma-Fix sign exclusive option agreement to make medical isotopes

Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. today announced it has signed an exclusive option agreement with Battelle, which operates Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, to license technology from PNNL for use with Perma-Fix's proprietary process to safely and cost-effectively produce Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which is used to make Technetium 99m (Tc-99m).

4 Jun 2011

Medical oncologists confirm benefits of crizotinib in ALK positive lung cancer

A drug that targets a specific type of lung cancer shows a dramatic response in more than half of the people who take it. The drug, called crizotinib, has been in clinical trials since 2006, and the results from the largest group of patients to take it within the first of these clinical trials are being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

4 Jun 2011

Medisafe 1 Technologies to submit three patent applications for medical devices

Medisafe 1 Technologies Corp., a developer of patented technologies that physically prevent unauthorized administration of prescription medications, announced today that the company is in the process of submitting three patent applications for medical safety devices.

4 Jun 2011

Ipilimumab and bevacizumab drugs effective in treating metatastic melanoma

A duo of drugs, each targeting a prime survival strategy of tumors, can be safely administered and are potentially more effective than either drug alone for advanced, inoperable melanomas, according to a phase 1 clinical trial led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators.

4 Jun 2011

Acos, medical loss ratio among health law elements drawing scrutiny

Hospitals and doctors are pushing back against an Obama administration initiative that urges them to create new organizations to coordinate the care of groups of Medicare patients.

4 Jun 2011

Nuvera announces results of blinded study on breast cancer assay for taxane chemotherapy response

Nuvera Biosciences, a molecular diagnostics company that develops gene-based diagnostic assays for personalized medicine in cancer, announced the results of a blinded validation study on its breast cancer assay for taxane chemotherapy response.

4 Jun 2011

NIH approves BioTime's two human embryonic stem cell lines for clinical use

BioTime, Inc., a biotechnology company that develops and markets products in the field of regenerative medicine, today announced that two human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines, ESI-014 and ESI-017, developed by a BioTime subsidiary have been approved by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for inclusion in the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry.

4 Jun 2011

News highlights: Study finds reform didn't slow ER visits in Mass.; 2 ACOs take shape in Calif.; Md. hospitals report problems

Health care reform in Massachusetts only had a small impact on the number of trips residents took to the emergency room, according to a new study.

4 Jun 2011

Physiotherapy Associates inaugurates new Cedar Park facility

Physiotherapy Associates, the nation's foremost provider of outpatient rehabilitation services, recently opened a new physical therapy clinic in Cedar Park, TX. The Strickland Physical Therapy Associates clinic offers a comprehensive range of physical therapy services, including: manual therapy, foot and ankle, neck and back, and sports medicine.

4 Jun 2011

Walgreen acquires drugstore.com

Walgreen Co. today announced that it has completed its acquisition of drugstore.com. The transaction includes all websites directly owned and operated by drugstore.com, as well as its corporate office and customer service and distribution center operations.

3 Jun 2011

U.S. should delay and reform Pakistan aid, report says

U.S. aid efforts in Pakistan have become "muddled" and should be delayed until reforms are implemented, a report (.pdf) compiled by a Center for Global Development (CGD) task force, said on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reports (Tandon, 6/1).

3 Jun 2011

Cancer vaccine shows improved response rate in patients

A vaccine for one of the most lethal cancers, advanced melanoma, has improved response rate and progression-free survival for patients when combined with the immunotherapy drug Interleukin-2, according to research led by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Indiana University Health Goshen Center for Cancer Care.

3 Jun 2011

National Cancer Survivors Day to be held on June 5th 2011

The 24th National Cancer Survivors Day will be held on June 5th this year. "This annual event is a national recognition that we have made significant progress in the fight against cancer," said Dr. Patricia Robinson, director of Loyola University Health System's Cancer Survivorship Program. Robinson sees cancer survivors at Loyola's main campus in Maywood and at the Loyola Center for Health at Wheaton.

3 Jun 2011

Delayed treatment could prove effective in certain medical conditions

In today's fast-paced world, waiting — whether it's at the doctor's office, in line at the grocery store or for an Internet connection — is rarely considered a good thing.

3 Jun 2011