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Change in gene may be underlying molecular defect in some colorectal cancers

Inactivation of a DNA repair gene may be an early step in the development of sporadic colorectal tumors, and detection of the molecular basis for this inactivation may ultimately be useful in risk assessment for colorectal cancer, according to a new study in the September 21 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

20 Sep 2005

Significant death risk linked to airborne particles

Experts may be significantly underestimating air pollution's role in causing early death, according to a team of American and Canadian researchers, who studied two decades' worth of data on residents of the Los Angeles metro area.

20 Sep 2005

Periodontal disease develops much earlier than dentists and other health professionals thought

Periodontal disease -- a progressive, eventually painful and disruptive condition in which bacteria attack gums and the hidden roots of teeth -- develops much earlier than dentists and other health professionals thought, a major new study concludes.

20 Sep 2005

New treatment approach for severe asthma

Researchers have uncovered a potentially new treatment approach for severe asthma, by blocking a powerful immune system chemical, present in large amounts in patients with the severe form of the disease, a small study in Thorax reveals.

20 Sep 2005

Link between tissue tension and tumor formation

Most investigations into cancer have focused on chemical signals, but a new research study provides rare insight into how mechanical force can regulate cellular behavior.

20 Sep 2005

Largest ever study of smoking in the Asia Pacific region

The largest ever study of smoking in the Asia Pacific Region, and one of the largest smoking studies ever conducted anywhere in the world, has dispelled a long-held myth that smokers in Asian populations are less susceptible than Western populations to the risks of smoking, such as coronary heart disease and stroke.

20 Sep 2005

Low-dose aspirin might prevent the cardiovascular damage known to arise from use of the painkiller rofecoxib (Vioxx)

Their findings that a chemical imbalance might underlie such damage could also lead to the development of anti-inflammatory drugs without the adverse side effects, the researchers said.

20 Sep 2005

85 percent of embryos transferred during in vitro fertilization fail to become live births

Published in the August issue of Fertility and Sterility, the study reviewed seven years of U.S. statistics from all the fertility clinics that report data on reproductive techniques.

20 Sep 2005

PUMA protein offers critical insights for developing new anti-cancer drugs

The discovery of how the activities of the protein p53 initiate signals that trigger cell suicide offers critical insights for developing new anti-cancer drugs, according to investigators from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

20 Sep 2005

Liverpool scientists have found a way of identifying families at high risk of pancreatic cancer

The team has developed a novel means of testing for pancreatic cancer that will enable doctors to treat the killer disease at its earliest stages. They are also now able to show how the risk of cancer for these patients changes with age.

20 Sep 2005

Survey of general surgeons suggests that the amount of education and training they receive in palliative care is limited

Previous studies have indicated that surgeons receive little training in palliative surgical intervention, the objective of which is to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life rather than cure disease or extend survival, according to background information in the article.

20 Sep 2005

People who take risks more satisfied with their lives

Tall people are more prepared to take risks than small people, women are more careful than men, and the willingness to take risks markedly decreases with age: these are the findings arrived at by researchers from the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), the University of Bonn and the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin.

19 Sep 2005

PSA remains the best measure of the likelihood of prostate cancer recurrence after surgery

Despite recent claims by some urologists that measuring the blood protein prostate-specific antigen (PSA) may not be effective in predicting risk of prostate cancer, a Johns Hopkins study of more than 2,000 men confirms that PSA remains the best measure of the likelihood of cancer recurrence after surgery.

19 Sep 2005

Oral contraceptives appear to reduce risk of developing multiple sclerosis

Over a three-year period, the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) was reduced in women taking oral contraceptives, according to a study in the September issue of Archives of Neurology.

19 Sep 2005

More than two thirds of meta-analyses available to critical care physicians have major methodological flaws

Research published in Critical Care concludes that the overall quality of meta-analyses in this field is poor, but has improved over time, possibly due to the publication of the Quality of Reporting of Meta-analyses statement (QUOROM) in 1999.

19 Sep 2005

Injury prevention could save Maryland at least $700 million per year

In 2003, the total estimated cost of injuries in Maryland due to lost productivity and premature mortality was $1.9 billion dollars.

19 Sep 2005

Study points to importance of MYC gene in cancer progression

The cancer gene MYC is among the most commonly overexpressed oncogenes in human cancers. Most human cancers demonstrate high levels of MYC or its biological partners, including those of the breast, ovaries, lung, prostate, and skin, as well as leukemias and lymphomas.

19 Sep 2005

Acute-leukemia sign may signal need for different therapy

A type of chromosome change that was thought to predict a good response to treatment in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) might actually signal the need for a different therapy to achieve the best outcome.

19 Sep 2005

Study suggests chronic infections may create autoimmune response

New research finds the human immune system has foregone evolutionary changes that would allow it to produce better antibodies in less time because the improved antibodies would be far more likely to attack the body's own tissues.

19 Sep 2005

Cost-cutting strategy employed by HMOs for 15 years is simply not working

With rising concern over the cost of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit program – going into effect January, 2006 and estimated to cost $593 billion over the next decade – a new UCSF study reveals that a key cost-cutting strategy employed by HMOs for 15 years is simply not working.

19 Sep 2005