Health News

Irreversible Electroporation Kills Hard-To-Treat Tumors At The Cellular Level

Date: Apr-17-2013
A new, minimally invasive treatment that tears microscopic holes in tumors without harming healthy tissue is a promising treatment for challenging cancers, suggests a preliminary study presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans. "Irreversible electroporation (or IRE) is a new way to attack cancer, using microsecond electrical pulses to kill cancer at the cellular level without damaging healthy tissue nearby...

Life-Saving Stenting Of Blocked Bowel Arteries

Date: Apr-17-2013
Stenting reopens completely blocked bowel arteries, preventing damage and even death from a condition that causes individuals severe pain and leads to excessive weight loss, notes research presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans, La. "Stenting blocked mesenteric arteries saves lives," said Daniel A. Leung, M.D., program director of vascular interventional radiology for the Christiana Care Health System based in Wilmington, Del...

Genes Found That Influence Obesity In People Of African Ancestry

Date: Apr-17-2013
The largest genetic search for "obesity genes" in people of African ancestry has led to the discovery of three new regions of the human genome that influence obesity in these populations and others. University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences Department of Epidemiology and Population Health researcher Kira Taylor, PhD, and her team published their findings in Nature Genetics. The study involved more than 70,000 men and women of African ancestry, making it one of the largest genome-wide association studies...

PSA Screening May Be Personalized To Improve Specificity, Reduce Biopsies

Date: Apr-17-2013
Genetic variants have been identified which can increase serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) concentrations and prostate cancer risk. A new study published in The Journal of Urology® reports that correcting PSA levels for these genetic variants can have significant consequences, including avoiding unnecessary biopsies for some men and eliminating false complacency for others. In this study of 964 healthy Caucasian men, correcting individual PSA levels for these genetic variants led to an 18...

Stent Grafts For Dialysis Patients Keep Access Sites Open Significantly Longer Than Angioplasty Alone

Date: Apr-17-2013
Kidney failure patients on dialysis derive long-term benefit from the minimally invasive placement of a stent that improves the function of dialysis access grafts, according to 12-month trial results presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans. "Results of the study exceeded our expectations, and that is a boon for dialysis patients," said Ziv J Haskal, M.D., FSIR, lead author and professor of vascular and interventional radiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore...

Prostatic Artery Embolization, A Nonsurgical Treatment Turns Back The Clock, Shrinks Enlarged Prostate

Date: Apr-17-2013
Men with a common condition that causes frequent nighttime trips to the bathroom can get relief with a minimally invasive treatment that shrinks the prostate, suggests a study presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans. The early findings hail from the first prospective U.S. trial of prostatic artery embolization (PAE), which reduces blood flow to the prostate, thus shrinking it...

Body Sculpting With Lasers: Liposuction Melts Fat, Results In Tighter Skin

Date: Apr-17-2013
A new, minimally invasive treatment that uses lasers to melt fat could replace the "tummy tuck," suggests research on more than 2,000 people presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans. Without the risks of a surgical procedure (such as the tummy tuck) and when used in combination with standard liposuction, the fat-melting action of laser lipolysis, a minimally invasive treatment, has the added benefit of producing new collagen (collagen is the main protein that gives the skin its tone and texture)...

Gene Identified That Mediates Cisplatin Resistance In Ovarian Cancer

Date: Apr-17-2013
Platinum compounds, such as cisplatin and carboplatin, induce DNA cross-linking, prohibiting DNA synthesis and repair in rapidly dividing cells. They are first line therapeutics in the treatment of many solid tumors, but cancer cells frequently develop resistance to these drugs. Mechanisms of resistance typically include reduced platinum uptake and increased platinum export. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Anil Sood and colleagues at M.D...

Leg Amputation Prevented By Drug-Coated Stents In Patients With Severely Blocked Leg Arteries

Date: Apr-17-2013
Drug-eluting stents can keep clogged leg arteries open, preventing amputation of the leg, suggests research presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans. "Peripheral arterial disease (or PAD) is becoming increasingly prevalent due to our aging population and the obesity and diabetes epidemics," said Robert A. Lookstein, M.D., FSIR, lead researcher and chief of interventional radiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, N.Y. "Many PAD patients are not candidates for surgery and are seeking minimally invasive options...

The Molecular Pathology Of Giant Axonal Neuropathy Untangled

Date: Apr-17-2013
Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) is a rare genetic disorder that causes central and peripheral nervous system dysfunction. GAN is known to be caused by mutations in the gigaxonin gene and is characterized by tangling and aggregation of neural projections, but the mechanistic link between the genetic mutation and the effects on neurons is unclear. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Robert Goldman and colleagues at Northwestern University uncover how mutations in gigaxonin contribute to neural aggregation...