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Radiation after surgery keeps high-risk prostate cancer at bay

An analysis of data involving more than 2,000 patients from 17 U.S. institutions demonstrates that men with high-risk prostate cancer who receive radiation therapy after a prostatectomy were less likely to have a recurrence of disease.

31 Oct 2007

Quality of life most important for survival in advanced non-small cell lung patients

Healthcare providers have observed it for years -- patients who appear to have a better quality of life while battling their cancer live longer.

31 Oct 2007

The role of growth factor in vertebrae formation

The Stowers Institute's Pourquié Lab has demonstrated the role of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) in the embryonic process of somitogenesis, an event required for vertebrae formation, in a paper posted to the Web site of the journal Development.

31 Oct 2007

Step toward mapping the human decision-making process

The brain, the human supercomputer, might work more like an assembly line when recognizing objects, with a hierarchy of brain regions separately absorbing and processing information before a person realizes what they are seeing, according to new research conducted at the University of Pittsburgh and published in the Oct. 31 edition of the Journal of Neuroscience.

31 Oct 2007

Family ties determine who gets heart disease

The genetic family ties that bind brothers and sisters also link their risk for developing clogged arteries and having potentially fatal heart attacks, scientists at Johns Hopkins report.

31 Oct 2007

No benefit from biomedical knowledge for millions

Millions of Dutch people will not benefit from the biomedical knowledge which is being acquired.

31 Oct 2007

Fiber composites for bone implants

Stainless steel will be replaced by fiber composites. This is the future for bone implants, according to a team of EU researchers who will be meeting at a conference hosted by the University College of Boras, Sweden, on November 5-6.

31 Oct 2007

New brain marker predicts cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer's disease

Duke University Medical Center researchers have used imaging technology to identify a new marker that may help identify those at greatest risk for cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer's disease.

31 Oct 2007

New brain cells listen before they talk

Newly created neurons in adults rely on signals from distant brain regions to regulate their maturation and survival before they can communicate with existing neighboring cells - a finding that has important implications for the use of adult neural stem cells to replace brain cells lost by trauma or neurodegeneration, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in The Journal of Neuroscience.

31 Oct 2007

Neurons in primate cortex associate numerical meaning with visual signs

Humans share with animals a language-independent system for representing numerical quantity, but number symbols have to be acquired throughout childhood.

31 Oct 2007

Somalia experiencing huge increase in cases of visceral leishmaniasis

The international humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontières has witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of patients with the parasitic disease visceral leishmaniasis ("kala azar") admitted to its treatment center in Somalia.

31 Oct 2007

Light beams used as tweezers to manipulate cells

In a feat that seems like something out of a microscopic version of Star Trek, MIT researchers have found a way to use a "tractor beam" of light to pick up, hold, and move around individual cells and other objects on the surface of a microchip.

31 Oct 2007

Myths and misunderstandings about bipolar disorder

Portrayals of bipolar disorder seem to be cropping up everywhere -- in the news, in movies, and on television.

31 Oct 2007

Novel approach to discovering drugs for Chagas disease

Mexican researchers highlight a novel approach to discovering drugs for Chagas disease in a laboratory study reported in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

31 Oct 2007

Men, don't skip your prostate cancer treatment appointments!

Men with “low risk” prostate cancer who miss more than two radiation treatments in an eight week treatment face an increased chance of their cancer recurring.

31 Oct 2007

How tumors respond to EGFR inhibitors

Three papers published this month in the open access general medical journal PLoS Medicine investigate how tumors respond to a an important class of drugs used in cancer chemotherapy, known as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors.

31 Oct 2007

Sensitivity to smells explained

Some people are oblivious to the odor in the locker room after a game, while others wrinkle their noses at the slightest whiff of sweat.

31 Oct 2007

Mass drug treatment for elephantiasis is affordable compared with other public health programs

Once-yearly administration of two anti-parasitic drugs to control lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) costs just $0.06 to $2.23 per person treated, making it comparatively inexpensive, according to a major new international study of treatment costs.

31 Oct 2007

Key findings for all veterans seen in depression and suicide study

The largest and most up-to-date study of suicides among depressed veterans provides important new data that may help guide screening and treatment for all veterans.

31 Oct 2007

Stereotactic radiation is effective as surgery against nerve tumor

Specifically aimed, "stereotactic" radiation may be as good as surgery - and in some cases, even better - in treating benign but potentially devastating brain tumors called non-acoustic schwannomas, according to a study by rradiation oncologists at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

31 Oct 2007