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Panel examines global food security ahead of LA Francophonie summit; Global Fund, UNAIDS call for greater cooperation among French-speaking countries

World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy highlighted concerns about the global food situation on Friday during a roundtable discussion on the sidelines of the International Organisation of La Francophonie summit, Agence France-Presse reports.

26 Oct 2010

John Theurer Cancer Center unveils new $130M, 155,000-square-foot comprehensive facility

The John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center unveiled a new $130-million, 155,000-square-foot comprehensive cancer facility that will enhance the cancer center's ability to deliver multidisciplinary extraordinary care, best-in-class clinical quality, and cutting-edge research. The doors will open for patients in January 2011.

26 Oct 2010

Combination of radiation and hormone therapy improves survival rate among prostate cancer patients

Prostate cancer patients who are treated with a combination of hormone therapy and radiation have a substantially improved chance of survival compared to patients who do not receive radiation, according to interim results of the largest randomized study of its kind presented at the plenary session, November 1, 2010, at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

26 Oct 2010

Cholera epidemic in Haiti persists despite slow down in fatalities

"A multinational medical response has slowed deaths in a Haitian cholera epidemic that has killed more than 250 people so far, but the outbreak is likely to widen, a senior U.N. official said on Sunday," Reuters reports. The U.N., Haitian government and aid partners "have launched a major effort to try to contain the epidemic" of more than 3,000 cases in the country so far (Delva, 10/25). The New York Times reports that the death rate, according to the Haitian government, has "declined - from 10.6 percent of known cases three days earlier to 8.2 percent now."

26 Oct 2010

Salk discovers potential new target for MS

Scientists are closer to solving one of the many mysteries of multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases, thanks to a recent study conducted at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The research revealed a previously unknown connection between two ion channels, which, when misaligned, can cause the many bizarre symptoms that characterize the condition.

26 Oct 2010

New York Times profiles USAID Administrator Shah

The New York Times profiles USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah and examines the challenges that come with leading the development agency at this point in time.

26 Oct 2010

SNP array's snapshot of Anopheles gambiae genome can help eliminate malaria

The development and first use of a high-density SNP array for the malaria vector mosquito have established 400,000 genetic markers capable of revealing new insights into how the insect adapts to outsmart insecticides and other preventive measures, according to findings published in the current edition of the journal Science.

26 Oct 2010

Chemoradiotherapy can reduce bladder cancer recurrence

A major bladder cancer trial, funded by Cancer Research UK, has shown that adding two commonly used chemotherapy drugs to traditional radiotherapy can reduce the chance of a patient's tumour coming back by a third.

26 Oct 2010

Smokers with anxiety disorders less likely to quit smoking

Researchers may have pinpointed a reason many smokers struggle to quit. According to new research published in the journal Addiction, smokers with a history of anxiety disorders are less likely to quit smoking. The study, conducted by the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI), offered free coaching and medications to smokers in Madison and Milwaukee.

26 Oct 2010

To reach MDGs, citizens must demand more from political leaders, former U.N. Secretary-General tells U.N. Foundation board meeting

At a U.N. Foundation board meeting in Ghana to discuss Millennium Development Goal progress, which concluded on Saturday, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan "called on the citizenry to demand the attainment of these set goals from their political leaders," the Accra Mail reports. "It is only through this that we can put pressure on the politician to work towards achieving these goals," he said, according to the newspaper.

26 Oct 2010

Pathogenic listeria tricks intestinal cells to cause sickness

Pathogenic listeria tricks intestinal cells into helping it pass through those cells to make people ill, and, if that doesn't work, the bacteria simply goes around the cells, according to a Purdue University study.

26 Oct 2010

Medicare plan choices attract attention as open enrollment approaches

Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services say they have taken steps to streamline this year's plan options for private Medicare plans, including Part D, the prescription drug plan including eliminating some plans they consider duplicative.

26 Oct 2010

Panasonic completes investment in CardioNexus

Panasonic Corporation of North America has completed an investment in CardioNexus Corporation, a portfolio company of Houston's Fairway Medical Technologies which works closely with the Texas Medical Center. The move is part of Panasonic's plans to establish itself as a global leader in Personalized Preventive Medicine. The investment follows on an earlier Panasonic initiative to establish a presence in the world's largest medical complex, the Texas Medical Center based in Houston.

From PHC Europe B.V. 26 Oct 2010

New feature on SciVerse ScienceDirect presents proteins in three dimensions

Elsevier, a world-leading publisher of scientific, medical and technical products and services, introduces Protein Viewer, a new, interactive feature on SciVerse ScienceDirect for the Journal of Molecular Biology (JMB). With Protein Viewer, readers of JMB now have the power to expand and rotate molecules within the actual article. SciVerse ScienceDirect merges features of the World Protein Database and Jmol, and embeds them into the article, making its use more convenient and user-friendly.

26 Oct 2010

PhRMA representatives meet with officials in India to discuss compulsory licensing

During a visit with government officials, industry leaders and NGOs in India last week, representatives from Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a U.S. lobbying group that represents the country's pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology companies, addressed "the Indian government's proposal to allow local drugmakers to make low-cost version of patented drugs so that they can be made available to patients," the Economic Times reports.

26 Oct 2010

Maven Semantic updates Lymphocyte Cell Biology research database

Maven Semantic announces updates to their Lymphocyte Cell Biology research database. The new database is now available to marketing, business development, competitor intelligence, KOL, medical affairs and related departments in the life sciences sector.

26 Oct 2010

Aspirin reduces risk of death from prostate cancer

Men with prostate cancer who take anticoagulants like aspirin in addition to radiation therapy or surgery may be able to cut their risk of dying of the disease by more than half, according to a large study presented on November 3, 2010, at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in San Diego. The study involved more than 5,000 men with localized cancer whose disease had not spread beyond the prostate gland.

26 Oct 2010

Health politics: Obama challenges GOP on health law; insurers backing republicans; Democrat Manchin opposes law

In an interview with President Barack Obama, The National Journal asked about the GOP agenda, including repealing the health law. What is clear to me is that in the abstract, everybody on the Republican side is for repeal, Obama said.

26 Oct 2010

ARIAD's oral ridaforolimus improves PFS in patients with metastatic endometrial cancer

Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced interim results of a randomized, open‐label, active-control multicenter Phase 2 study of oral ridaforolimus, an investigational mTOR inhibitor, in patients with metastatic or recurrent endometrial cancer. Based on this interim analysis, the study demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the primary endpoint of median progression-free survival (PFS) in patients receiving single-agent ridaforolimus compared to patients receiving standard-of-care treatment.

26 Oct 2010

Future geriatric care should focus on systems, not technology, say nurses

The most important advances in geriatric care, say gerontological nurse researchers and practitioners, are not new technologies and procedures but changes in thinking about older patients.

26 Oct 2010