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Bioengineers develop first structure to grow small human blood vessels

Mice and monkeys don't develop diseases in the same way that humans do. Nevertheless, after medical researchers have studied human cells in a Petri dish, they have little choice but to move on to study mice and primates. University of Washington bioengineers have developed the first structure to grow small human blood vessels, creating a 3-D test bed that offers a better way to study disease, test drugs and perhaps someday grow human tissues for transplant.

29 May 2012

Giant cells protect fungus Cryptococcus neoformans during infection

Giant cells called "titan cells" protect the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans during infection, according to two University of Minnesota researchers. Kirsten Nielsen, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of microbiology, and recent Ph.D. recipient Laura Okagaki believe their discovery could help develop new ways to fight infections caused by Cryptococcus.

28 May 2012

Tulane to initiate XM-ONE clinical trial in kidney transplantation

Tulane University Hospital, New Orleans, LA, USA will in May start a prospective trial in Kidney Transplantation investigating the potential of cross match XM-ONE as part of the risk assessment of their patients.

28 May 2012

Researchers develop new technique that converts stem cells into brain cells

A new technique that converts stem cells into brain cells has been developed by researchers at Lund University. The method is simpler, quicker and safer than previous research has shown and opens the doors to a shorter route to clinical cell transplants.

28 May 2012

ESRD patients with diabetes may benefit from Baxter’s low-glucose PD regimen

Baxter International Inc. today announced results from two large, international multicenter trials demonstrating that a low glucose peritoneal dialysis (PD) regimen favorably impacted metabolic measures important for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with diabetes, including blood glucose (sugar) control and selected lipids.

From Baxter International Inc. 28 May 2012

UCLA Face Transplantation Program seeks candidates for clinical trial

The UCLA Health System has launched the UCLA Face Transplantation Program, the first surgical program of its kind in the western United States and one of only a handful in the nation.

25 May 2012

Gene therapy can effectively treat ADA-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency

Severe combined immunodeficiency is defect in the immune system that results in a loss of the adaptive immune cells known as B cells and T cells. Mutations in several different genes can lead to the development of severe combined immunodeficiency, including mutation of the adenosine deaminase (ADA) gene. Traditional treatment options, such as enzyme replacement therapy, are of limited efficacy, but bone marrow transplant from a compatible donor leads to a better response.

25 May 2012

Aetna's IOE Transplant Network to add UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside Hospital

Aetna announced today that UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside Hospital has been designated as a participating facility in Aetna's Institutes of Excellence Transplant Network.

25 May 2012

First study to examine how patients and families are soliciting living kidney donors on Facebook

Loyola University Medical Center researchers are reporting one of the first studies to examine how patients and families are soliciting living kidney donors on Facebook.

24 May 2012

Azithromycin can be effective treatment option for patients with BOS

Researchers in the United Kingdom have determined that azithromycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic that also has anti-inflammatory properties, can be an effective treatment option for patients suffering from bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), a life-threatening complication that occurs in the majority of patients following lung transplantation.

24 May 2012

Health Canada accepts Seattle Genetics’ ADCETRIS NDS for review

Seattle Genetics, Inc. announced today that the validation period is complete and Health Canada has accepted for review its New Drug Submission (NDS) for the use of ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) in relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

24 May 2012

LabCorp, XDx partner to develop and commercialize SLE flare predictor test

XDx, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp)whereby each party will collaborate in marker discovery, and LabCorp will develop and commercialize a diagnostic test to predict flares of systemic lupus erythematosus.

24 May 2012

FMCNA announces new educational resources to enhance RightStart

Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA), the nation's leading network of dialysis facilities, announced today new educational resources to enhance RightStart™, its innovative program designed to educate and empower new dialysis patients.

24 May 2012

HeartWare receives expanded European label for Ventricular Assist System

HeartWare International, Inc., a leading innovator of less invasive, miniaturized circulatory support technologies revolutionizing the treatment of advanced heart failure, today announced that it has received an expanded European label for long-term use of the HeartWare Ventricular Assist System in all patients at risk of death from refractory, end-stage heart failure.

23 May 2012

“Networks” succeed in finding kidney donors: John Hopkins program reports

Johns Hopkins researchers say a program they developed that uses personal advocates and community networks to find organ donors for friends and loved ones who need kidney transplants resulted in success for nearly half of the participants in its trial run.

22 May 2012

$Children with pelvic and thigh fractures rarely develop dangerous blood clots$

Children with pelvic and thigh fractures rarely develop dangerous blood clots

Children with pelvic and thigh fractures develop dangerous blood clots so rarely that anti-clotting therapy should be given only to those with underlying conditions that increase clotting risk, according to a study from Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

21 May 2012

Statin therapy prevents cancer and reduces death risk in heart transplant recipients

Statins prevent cancer and reduce death from all causes in heart transplant recipients. The findings were independent of cholesterol levels.

21 May 2012

Three-drug combo harmful for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

A combination of three drugs used worldwide as the standard of care for a serious lung disease puts patients in danger of death or hospitalization, and should not be used together to treat the disease, called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, according to the surprising results of a rigorous independent study.

21 May 2012

Placental stem cells with key therapeutic properties can be harvested from chorion

Scientists at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) led by Vladimir Serikov, MD, PhD, and Frans Kuypers, PhD, report in the current Epub issue of Stem Cells Translational Medicine that placental stem cells with important therapeutic properties can be harvested in large quantities from the fetal side of human term placentas.

19 May 2012

Mount Sinai cancer researchers to present several landmark studies at ASCO meeting

Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers will present several landmark studies, including data on treatment trends in late-stage cancer, a promising multiple myeloma vaccine, and predictive models of soft tissue sarcomas, prostate and bladder cancer, at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting June 1-5, 2012 in Chicago.

19 May 2012