Health News

Ovarian cancer biomarker discovered

Date: Jan-13-2014
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have identified a microRNA biomarker that shows promise in predicting treatment response in the most common form of ovarian cancer - a breakthrough that has the potential to improve outcomes for patients with the disease.A CWRU research team led by Analisa DiFeo, an assistant professor of General Medical Science-Oncology at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, found that the biomarker miR-181a is a molecular driver of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

'Personalized advantage index' a new decision-making tool

Date: Jan-13-2014
One of the primary social motivations for scientific research is the ability to make better decisions based on the results. But whether it is deciding what material to use in making a solar panel, what antibiotic to use on an infection or when to launch a satellite, most decisions involve weighing multiple factors, all of which interact with one another in determining the best course of action.

Women at increased risk of birth problems after assisted conception

Date: Jan-13-2014
A University of Adelaide study has shown that the risk of serious complications such as stillbirth, preterm birth, low birth weight and neonatal death is around twice as high for babies conceived by assisted reproductive therapies compared with naturally conceived babies.In the most comprehensive study of its kind in the world, researchers from the University's Robinson Institute have compared the outcomes of more than 300,000 births in South Australia over a 17-year period. This included more than 4300 births from assisted reproduction.

Racial differences in cosmetic outcomes after breast-conserving therapy

Date: Jan-13-2014
As perceived by both patients and doctors, the cosmetic results after "lumpectomy" for breast cancer differ for African-American versus Caucasian women, suggests a pilot study in the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open®, the official open-access medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).Despite similar results on objective assessments, "It appears that there is a difference in the perception of cosmetic outcomes between Caucasian and African-American patients," according to the study led by ASPS Member Surgeon Dr. Robert D.

Score that combines genetic and epigenetic changes might help guide acute myeloid leukemia therapy

Date: Jan-13-2014
Currently, doctors use chromosome markers and gene mutations to determine the best treatment for a patient with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). But a new study suggests that a score based on seven mutated genes and the epigenetic changes that the researchers discovered were present might help guide treatment by identifying novel subsets of patients.The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, come from a study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James).

Immune tolerance to grafts of muscle, bone and skin could free transplant recipients from lifelong immunosuppression

Date: Jan-13-2014
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have made an important step towards greater availability of hand transplants, face transplants and other transplants involving multiple types of tissue. In their report in the American Journal of Transplantation, the team describes how a procedure developed at the MGH to induce immune tolerance to organ transplants also induces tolerance to a model limb transplant in miniature swine.

As numbers of centenarians rise, women continue to outlive men

Date: Jan-13-2014
The number of centenarians in Ontario increased by more than 70 per cent over the last 15 years with women making up more than 85 per cent of people 100 or older, according to new research by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and Women's College Hospital.The findings, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, are among the first to examine centenarians in a large geographic population and the healthcare services they receive."Our study highlights that older people are living longer, and women make up a significant proportion of centenarians.

Does The Affordable Care Act cause psychological distress among US adults?

Date: Jan-13-2014
The Affordable Care Act, dubbed 'ObamaCare', has proven to be one of the most controversial legislative acts of the Obama presidency. New research, published in Stress & Health explores the psychological relationship between patients and health insurance coverage, finding that adults with private or no health insurance coverage experience lower levels of psychological distress than those with public coverage. In contrast, average absolute levels of distress were high among those with no coverage, compared to those with private coverage.

Risk factors identified for non-fatal overdoses among Russians who are HIV positive and inject drugs

Date: Jan-13-2014
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) have identified that injection frequency and taking anti-retroviral therapy for HIV are risk factors for nonfatal drug overdoses among Russians who are HIV positive and inject drugs. Alexander Walley, MD, MSc, an attending physician in general internal medicine at BMC and an assistant professor of medicine at BUSM, is the study's lead author.Published in the journal AIDS Care, the study was done in collaboration with the Pavlov State Medical University in Russia.

Potential new blood test to locate gene defects associated with cancer

Date: Jan-13-2014
Some surprising research findings from scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center suggest it's possible a simple blood test could be developed to determine whether gene mutations associated with pancreatic cancer exist without the need of locating and testing tumor tissue. This appears possible following the discovery that tiny particles the size of viruses called 'exosomes,' which are shed by cancer cells into the blood, contain the entire genetic blueprint of cancer cells.