Health News

Advanced-stage ovarian cancer treated with targeted nanomedicine

Date: Dec-10-2013
Researchers at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, have used a targeted nanomedicine approach to deliver small molecule drugs and successfully treat mice with deadly advanced-stage ovarian cancer.Writing about their work in a recent print issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research, the team explains how an out-of-control protein called CD44 aids tumor growth and development of drug resistance in advanced-stage ovarian cancer.Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecological cancer in the United States.

New trial to help healthy women avoid unnecessary breast operations, UK

Date: Dec-10-2013
Researchers at the University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust are launching a breast screening study aimed at improving the treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) by only operating on women who need surgery - rather than all of those who show signs of abnormal cells. Many unnecessary operations including mastectomies are being performed on women who show signs of DCIS rather than cancer. DCIS means there are abnormal cells in the milk ducts.

Merck Serono announces results of the Phase III start trial investigating Tecemotide in non-small cell lung cancer

Date: Dec-10-2013
Merck Serono, the biopharmaceutical division of Merck, has announced that The Lancet Oncology has published results from the Phase III trial of its investigational MUC1 antigen specific cancer immunotherapy tecemotide (also known as L-BLP25) in patients with unresectable, locally advanced Stage III non- small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), known as the START* trial.Data included in the publication1, and first presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 20132, showed that the primary endpoint of overall survival (OS) was not met. Median OS was 25.

EASL publishes revised clinical practice guidelines to optimise the management of hepatitis C virus infection

Date: Dec-10-2013
The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) publishes their revised Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) on the management of hepatitis C virus infection (HCV).1 The EASL guidelines, which supersede the previous version published in 2011, are designed to help physicians and other healthcare providers optimise their management of patients with acute and chronic HCV.It is estimated that approximately 160 million individuals, i.e. 2.35% of the world's population, are chronically infected with HCV. In the European Union alone, between 7.3 and 8.

FDA approves first drug treatment for Peyronie's disease

Date: Dec-10-2013
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new use for Xiaflex (collagenase clostridium histolyticum) as the first FDA-approved medicine to treat men with bothersome curvature of the penis, a condition known as Peyronie's disease.Xiaflex is the first FDA-approved non-surgical treatment option for men with this condition, who have a plaque (lump) in the penis that results in a curvature deformity of at least 30 degrees upon erection.Peyronie's disease is caused by scar tissue that develops under the skin of the penis.

Frequently asked questions: Statins and cardiovascular disease

Date: Dec-10-2013
With the statins group of cholesterol-lowering medicines continuing to make headlines this week, independent organisation NPS MedicineWise has reviewed the latest clinical evidence and published a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on its website addressing people's key concerns. The questions and answers range from how a statin medicine can help and who should be prescribed them, to the side effects statins can cause and what the evidence is behind their use.

Norfolk Islanders' genes yield Bounty of insight into heart disease: study

Date: Dec-10-2013
Genetic studies of descendants of the Bounty mutineers have identified places on the human genome that contain expressed genes associated with cardiovascular disease.The findings by the international team of researchers led by QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation Executive Director Professor Lyn Griffiths, could shed more light on the genes which affect our risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and help scientists to develop targeted therapies.

Shire reports top-line results on OPUS-2, a Phase 3 study investigating the use of Lifitegrast in adults with dry eye disease

Date: Dec-10-2013
Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPG), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, has announced top-line results from OPUS-2, a Phase 3 efficacy and safety study of 5.0% lifitegrast ophthalmic solution. OPUS-2 compared lifitegrast to placebo administered twice daily for 84 days (12 weeks) in dry eye patients with history of active artificial tear use within 30 days prior to screening.

Ultrasound microscopy: An aid for surgeons to make the invisible, visible

Date: Dec-10-2013
Ultrasound microscopy: An aid for surgeons to make the invisible, visible. Professor Naohiro Hozumi of Toyohashi Tech is developing the technology to monitor living tissue and cell specimens for medical purposes. Details in the latest issue of the Toyohashi Tech e-NewsletterAn ultrasonic microscope emits a high frequency sound at an object, and the reflected sound captured by its lens is converted into two dimensional image of the object under scrutiny.

Researchers find that propagated sensation along the meridian exists objectively

Date: Dec-10-2013
As the propagated sensation along the meridian is a subjective feeling, there is no direct evidence for its presence. According to a study published in Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 28, 2013), participants with notable propagated sensation along the meridian were given electro-acupuncture at the Jianyu (LI15) acupoint of the large intestine meridian. When participants stated that the sensation reached the back of their hand, regular nervous system action discharge was examined using a physiological recording electrode placed on the superficial branch of the radial nerve.