Health News
Date: Jun-20-2012
The development of a highly accurate, blood-based pancreatic adenocarcinoma screen that would be accurate enough to test the general population for this deadly disease may not be far out of reach, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Pancreatic Cancer: Progress and Challenges conference, being held here June 18-21, 2012. Matthew Firpo, Ph.D...
Date: Jun-20-2012
The addition of high doses of erlotinib to the treatment regimen of bevacizumab and capecitabine with radiotherapy seems to benefit patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer, according to results of a phase I study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Pancreatic Cancer: Progress and Challenges conference, being held here June 18-21. "The combination of erlotinib, bevacizumab, capecitabine and radiation was safe, well tolerated and showed promising activity in patients with unresectable, locally advanced pancreatic cancer," said Christopher H. Crane, M.D...
Date: Jun-20-2012
A group of Spanish researchers has discovered a new function of the neurotransmitter dopamine in controlling sleep regulation. Dopamine acts in the pineal gland, which is central to dictating the 'circadian rhythm' in humans - the series of biological processes that enables brain activity to adapt to the time of the day (that is, light and dark cycles)...
Date: Jun-20-2012
Combining a new targeted therapy with standard chemotherapy may help defeat pancreatic cancer, according to results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Pancreatic Cancer: Progress and Challenges conference, being held here June 18-21. "We believe that GDC-0449 has the potential to change the approach to treating pancreatic cancer," said Edward J. Kim, M.D., Ph.D., a medical oncologist at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. GDC-0449 targets the Hedgehog signaling pathway...
Date: Jun-20-2012
Heart transplant patients are notorious for developing an aggressive form of coronary artery disease that can often result in heart failure, death or the need for repeat transplantation. The condition can also have a negative impact on future cardiac procedures, such as stenting. Transplant patients are among those at highest risk of adverse outcomes when receiving a stent to address a blockage in an artery...
Date: Jun-20-2012
An unwavering work ethic is a hallmark of many health professionals. But a new survey finds that when a doctor is sick, staunch dedication can have unintended consequences. A poll of 150 attendees of an American College of Physicians meeting in 2010 revealed that more than half of resident physicians had worked with flu-like symptoms at least once in the last year. One in six reported working sick on three or more occasions during the year, according to the survey conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital...
Date: Jun-20-2012
A single-dose vaccine capable of providing immunity against the effects of cocaine offers a novel and groundbreaking strategy for treating cocaine addiction is described in an article published Instant Online in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online at the Human Gene Therapy website.* "This is a very novel approach for addressing the huge medical problem of cocaine addiction," says James M...
Date: Jun-20-2012
UCLA biochemists have mapped the structure of a key protein-RNA complex that is required for the assembly of telomerase, an enzyme important in both cancer and aging. The researchers found that a region at the end of the p65 protein that includes a flexible tail is responsible for bending telomerase's RNA backbone in order to create a scaffold for the assembly of other protein building blocks...
Date: Jun-20-2012
Just in time for summer, the American Chemical Society's (ACS') award-winning Bytesize Science video series is offering a new episode on the chemistry of the sunscreen products that millions of people will slather on their skin during the warm months ahead. The video, produced by the ACS Office of Public Affairs, is here: The video explains that sun exposure can lead not only to sunburn and skin cancer, but premature aging that leaves the skin crinkled and wrinkled with unsightly "age spots." Fortunately, using sunscreen properly can help protect the skin all summer long...
Date: Jun-20-2012
Severe pain is a major symptom of pancreatic cancer. The results of a new study show that four different factors involved in the growth and maintenance of nerves are elevated in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer. This is a step forward in understanding the relationship between the development of pain and the progression of pancreatic cancer. "When other researchers have looked at samples of pancreatic cancer, they have described perineural tumor invasion in as many as 90 to 100 percent of cases," said Rachelle E. Stopczynski, a M.D./Ph.D. student at the University of Pittsburgh in Pa...