Medical News

RSS

Study finds difference in survival rates among white and black women with advanced breast cancer

Despite modest overall improvements in breast cancer survival rates for women with advanced disease over the last two decades, the rates for black women have not improved and the difference in life expectancy between white and black women continues to widen, according to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

5 Jun 2007

Revlimid may change the way physicians treat multiple myeloma

Findings from a Phase III study by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG 4A03) were presented yesterday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago and demonstrate the benefits of using Revlimid (lenalidomide) with reduced doses of the steroid dexamethasone.

5 Jun 2007

New precise method for studying the DNA binding of small molecules

Northeastern University professor Mark C. Williams and colleague Ioana Vladescu have discovered a novel method for studying the DNA binding of small molecules with unprecedented accuracy.

5 Jun 2007

Link between khat use and mental illness

Researchers investigating the evidence for a potential causal link between khat use and mental illness - in the first ever systematic review of the topic - have called for improved research on the stimulant plant, and its possible association with psychiatric disorders.

5 Jun 2007

Arsenic trioxide shows survival benefit for leukemia patients

Through participation in a government-sponsored multi-year study, researchers at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest University have helped confirm that arsenic trioxide ,marketed as Trisenox, significantly improves patient survival when coupled with standard chemotherapy treatment in newly diagnosed patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia, or APL.

5 Jun 2007

Bone-targeting radioisotope radium-223 for prostate cancer treatment

The bone-targeting radioisotope radium-223 has delivered promising results in a randomised trial to test its efficacy in treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC).

5 Jun 2007

Exposure to pesticides and traumatic head injury are associated with Parkinson's disease

The work, which is published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, was carried out under the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5) Geoparkinson project, which aimed to investigate how genetic and environmental factors interact to cause Parkinson's disease and related conditions.

5 Jun 2007

Protein S-100 linked to melanoma recurrence

Higher levels of a protein called S-100 in patients with melanoma may correlate with a higher risk of having the disease return, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), who presented their findings today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.

5 Jun 2007

78 percent of living right liver donors experienced post-operative complications

More than 78 percent of living right liver donors experienced post-operative complications, according to a new study that uses a replicable complication classification system. Most of the complications were minor, though some were more serious.

5 Jun 2007

Study shows combination improves survival of metastatic melanoma patients

Two chemotherapy drugs combined with an agent that prevents the growth of blood vessels significantly delayed the spread of tumors in patients with metastatic melanoma, according to study findings presented at the 2007 American Association of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

5 Jun 2007

PET plus CT - best test for ovarian cancer

An advanced molecular imaging technique influenced the management of women with ovarian cancer, detected more sites of disease and identified women whose disease was likely to progress, according to an Australian study released during the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM, the world's largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals.

5 Jun 2007

PET/CT best for monitoring Crohn's disease

The molecular imaging power of PET/CT is invaluable in noninvasively monitoring Crohn's disease,a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract that mainly affects young people, according to a study released by Belgian scientists at the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM.

5 Jun 2007

PET accurately identifies esophageal cancer patients' positive responses to chemotherapy

Early metabolic imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) accurately identifies patients responding to chemotherapy for esophageal cancer, noted German researchers at the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM, the world's largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals.

5 Jun 2007

Obese patients are at higher risk for pancreatic surgery perioperative complications

Obesity may contribute to a greater likelihood of post-operative complications for patients having pancreatic surgery, a surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has found.

5 Jun 2007

Key source of chronic pain appears to be an old memory trace stuck in the prefrontal cortex

Why do so many people continue to suffer from life-altering, chronic pain long after their injuries have actually healed"

5 Jun 2007

Findings from study of immunotherapy vaccine in prostate cancer patients

Data from an ongoing study designed to explore the biologic and clinical activity of cancer immunotherapy sipuleucel-T, or Provenge, in patients with early stage recurrent prostate cancer who have a rising serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level, but who have not yet developed metastatic disease will be presented by Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers.

5 Jun 2007

Gabapentin reduces hot flashes in men receiving androgen deprivation therapy

North Central Cancer Treatment Group ( http://ncctg/ ) researchers based at Mayo Clinic ( http://www.mayo.edu/ ) in Rochester, Minn., have discovered that low doses of a drug used to prevent epileptic seizures and to treat nerve pain caused by shingles substantially reduces hot flashes in patients who are undergoing anti-hormonal treatment, or androgen-deprivation therapy, for prostate cancer.

5 Jun 2007