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Tumor cells manipulate unfolded protein response

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that tumor cells use stress signals to subvert responding immune cells, exploiting them to actually boost conditions beneficial to cancer growth.

19 Dec 2012

Obama, Boehner trade 'fiscal cliff' offers, express optimism about possible deal

President Barack Obama's latest offer does not include a Republican proposal to increase the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports on how health care spending is driving the nation's debt, while USA Today details a new poll showing the public favors the president in the fiscal talks.

19 Dec 2012

Documented prevalence of autism on the rise in New Jersey

Newly published research led by Walter Zahorodny, PhD, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), shows that over a four year period in the past decade, the documented prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) rose substantially in a sampling of four New Jersey counties.

19 Dec 2012

Meeting participants discuss HHS framework for funding H5N1 avian influenza research

CIDRAP News reports on a two-day meeting at the National Institutes of Health during which "researchers, biosecurity experts, and others" discussed the "crafting of a framework for funding H5N1 avian influenza gain-of-function studies." The meeting "is the latest chapter in an intense scientific controversy that was triggered by the publication of two recent studies involving lab-engineered H5N1 strains that showed signs of being transmissible in mammals," according to the news service.

19 Dec 2012

Mayo Clinic residents attribute traffic incidents to fatigue and distress

It appears that long, arduous hours in the hospital are causing more than stress and fatigue among doctors-in-training -- they're crashing, or nearly crashing, their cars after work, according to new Mayo Clinic research. Nearly half of the roughly 300 Mayo Clinic residents polled during the course of their residencies reported nearly getting into a motor vehicle crash during their training, and about 11 percent were actually involved in a traffic accident.

19 Dec 2012

Study finds coverage to help kick smoking can be tricky

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: Most people who smoke want to quit, and the 2010 health-care law is supposed to make it easier for them by requiring many insurance plans to cover smoking-cessation treatments with no out-of-pocket cost to members.

19 Dec 2012

Studies examine pediatric TBIs treated at Wuhan Children's Hospital from 2002-2011

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) among children in China are a growing public health concern. Two new studies by researchers of the International Program at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital and the Wuhan Children's Hospital in China examined pediatric TBIs that were treated at Wuhan Children's Hospital from 2002 to 2011.

19 Dec 2012

More surgeons opting for hospital jobs

General surgeons and surgical subspecialists are opting for hospital employment over private practice, according to a database study published online December 17 in the Archives of Surgery.

19 Dec 2012

Intensive lifestyle intervention may increase likelihood of partial remission of type 2 diabetes

Among overweight adults, participation in an intensive lifestyle intervention (that included counseling sessions and targets to reduce caloric intake and increase physical activity) was associated with a greater likelihood of partial remission of type 2 diabetes, however the absolute remission rates were modest, according to a study in the December 19 issue of JAMA.

19 Dec 2012

Reflections on selection of Ambassador Goosby to head U.S. Office of Global Health Diplomacy

Noting U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator "Ambassador Eric Goosby has been selected to head the U.S. Department of State's new Office of Global Health Diplomacy, officially turning the page in the ongoing saga of the program formally known as the Global Health Initiative (GHI)," Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), writes in the center's "Global Health Policy" blog that the appointment "stirred many of the same questions and concerns that arose from the GHI death notice and left me wondering: is this news a Christmas miracle or a lump of coal for U.S. global health programs?"

19 Dec 2012

Targeting km23-1 protein may slow the spread of cancer cells

The spread of cancer cells may be slowed by targeting the protein km23-1, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.

19 Dec 2012

Small ceramic indoor cookstoves do not reduce pneumonia incidence among children, study shows

"Small ceramic indoor stoves, such as those sold by women in AIDS self-help groups in Africa, do save fuel and cut down on eye-irritating smoke, a new study has found -- but they do not save children from pneumonia," the New York Times reports.

19 Dec 2012

Infectex initiates enrollment in SQ109 Phase IIb-III trial for MDR-TB

Infectex, a Russian biotech company in Maxwell Biotech Venture Fund's portfolio, announced today enrollment of the first patients in its Phase IIb-III clinical trial of SQ109 for MDR-TB. Infectex was founded in 2011 to develop and commercialize innovative products for the treatment of TB.

19 Dec 2012

Views on Conn. shootings: Mental illness doesn't generally lead to violence; Need for more treatment options; Helping the survivors

It's possible that preventing people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other serious mental illnesses from getting guns might decrease the risk of mass killings. Even the Supreme Court, which in 2008 strongly affirmed a broad right to bear arms, at the same time endorsed prohibitions on gun ownership "by felons and the mentally ill." But mass killings are very rare events, and because people with mentally illness contribute so little to overall violence, these measures would have little impact on everyday firearm-related killings.

19 Dec 2012

Clopidogrel pretreatment for PCI does not reduce risk of overall mortality

Among patients scheduled for a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries), pretreatment with the antiplatelet agent clopidogrel was not associated with a lower risk of overall mortality but was associated with a significantly lower risk of major coronary events, according to a review and meta-analysis of previous studies published in the December 19 issue of JAMA.

19 Dec 2012

Budding yeast an acceptable model system to study KP1019 anti-cancer drug

Researchers have found that the budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is an acceptable model system to study KP1019, an anti-cancer drug that uses ruthenium, a rare metal, a new study found. Researchers had previously been interested in studying KP1019 because it is believed to cause cancer cell death and is not known to have negative secondary side effects for healthy tissues.

19 Dec 2012

Metallic probe can detect fibrils from misfolded proteins in real time

Rice University scientists have discovered a new way to look inside living cells and see the insoluble fibrillar deposits associated with Parkinson's disease.

19 Dec 2012

Study: Purines fend off damage during anesthesia

Anesthesia is quite safe these days. But sometimes putting a patient under to fix one problem, such as heart damage, can harm a different organ, such as a kidney.

19 Dec 2012

EMD Serono's L-BLP25 Phase III NSCLC trial does not meet primary endpoint

EMD Serono, a subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, announced today that the Phase III STARTa trial of its investigational product L-BLP25 (formerly referred to as Stimuvax) in patients with unresectable, locally advanced stage IIIA or IIIB non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) did not meet its primary endpoint to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in overall survival (OS).

19 Dec 2012

British Pharmacological Society celebrates the start of annual meeting

The British Pharmacological Society (BPS) today celebrated the start of its annual meeting, which will cover the latest research in drug discovery over the next three days, including a special focus on discoveries in cancer treatment.

19 Dec 2012