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Vitamin E may increase heart attack risk - does not prevent cancer

A study by Canadian researchers Eva Lonn, M.D., of the Population Health Research Institute and McMaster University, Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues, has found from examining experimental and epidemiological data, that patients who took vitamin E supplements for 7 years did not significantly reduce their risk of cancer or cardiovascular events and some in fact had an increased risk of heart failure.

15 Mar 2005

Drug combo gives lung cancer patients longer life

Preliminary results from a large randomized clinical trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), by a network of researchers led by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Genentech, Inc., have shown that patients with previously untreated advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer who received bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with standard chemotherapy lived longer than patients who received the same chemotherapy without bevacizumab.

15 Mar 2005

No association between acrylamide intake in foods and risk of breast cancer

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, have found no association between acrylamide intake in foods and risk of breast cancer among Swedish women. The findings appear in the March 16, 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

15 Mar 2005

Aspirin use appears to reduce the incidence of colon polyps

The association between regular aspirin use and a reduced risk of precancerous colon polyps may be strongest in those with particular genetic variants.

15 Mar 2005

Antidepressants not the culprit in depression linked to heart attacks

The increased risk of heart attack associated with taking antidepressants may be caused by the depression itself rather than the drugs themselves, suggests new research reported in the current issue in the British Medical Journal. At least one in 10 older people are prescribed antidepressants.

15 Mar 2005

T’ai Chi has many benefits for frail older adults

It’s no longer an ancient Chinese secret. A University of Missouri-Columbia researcher is putting a new spin on an old exercise and the outcome has many benefits for frail older adults.

15 Mar 2005

Innovative computer modeling technique predicts how protein molecule behavior in response to environmental conditions

In a development that could have great significance for efforts to understand how the basic molecular machinery of life works, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) have successfully applied an innovative computer modeling technique to predicting how protein molecules will behave in response to different environmental conditions.

15 Mar 2005

Discovery of key molecule that controls the growth, spread and survival of pancreatic cancer cells

Pancreatic cancer kills 30,000 Americans every year. Not only is there no cure, but there are no effective treatments. That may change if a new finding by Mayo Clinic researchers continues to show promise.

15 Mar 2005

Fasting every other day, while cutting few calories, may reduce cancer risk

New research at the University of California, Berkeley, raises such a possibility. It shows that healthy mice given only 5 percent fewer calories than mice allowed to eat freely experienced a significant reduction in cell proliferation in several tissues, considered an indicator for cancer risk.

15 Mar 2005

Link between a critical cancer pathway and an Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) protein

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a link between a critical cancer pathway and an Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) protein known to be expressed in a number of EBV-associated cancers.

15 Mar 2005

New immunotherapeutic approach against anthrax

The anthrax attacks in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 in the USA have illustrated the high potential of anthrax for misuse in bio-terrorism. Dissemination of anthrax by letters led to the death of 5 people and chemotherapeutic treatment of 30,000 individuals.

15 Mar 2005

Researchers investigate the interaction of proteins responsible for Saethre-Chotzen Syndrome

A study in the April issue of Nature Genetics establishes a model that may take scientists closer to understanding how cells in the human body determine their own fate.

15 Mar 2005

Selenium, vitamin E and the tomato nutrient lycopene have been shown to reduce prostate cancer

Greater levels of selenium, vitamin E and the tomato nutrient lycopene have been shown to reduce prostate cancer in one out of every four Caucasian males - those who inherit a specific genetic variation that's particularly sensitive to oxidative stress.

15 Mar 2005

Timing is everything when it comes to killing prostate cancer cells

"The window of opportunity is narrow for vaccination, designed to reinvigorate the immune system's attack on cancer cells, and it occurs right after hormonal therapy begins to wipe out the tumor and immune cells outnumber cancerous ones," according to Charles Drake, M.D., Ph.D.

15 Mar 2005

Neuronal death and processing of Tau protein in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)

In a research report recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, published by IOS Press, a research group from the International School for Advanced Studies (ISAS\SISSA) in Trieste (Luisa Fasulo, Gabriele Ugolini e Antonino Cattaneo) showed that a processed form of tau protein induces neuronal death by apoptosis (programmed cell death) when expressed in cultured rat hippocampal neurons.

15 Mar 2005

Process behind cellular export of iron may help to explain human hemochromatosis

The first direct evidence that a single protein is critical in the cellular export of iron may help to explain human hemochromatosis, researchers report in the March issue of Cell Metabolism.

15 Mar 2005

Doctors may soon be able to diagnose multiple sclerosis (MS) with a simple blood test

New research by Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues suggests that one day, doctors may be able to diagnose multiple sclerosis (MS) with a simple blood test. The findings are reported in the current issue of the Journal of Molecular Neuroscience.

15 Mar 2005

New insight into key mechanism by which cells limit cholesterol

The finding suggests a novel approach to the development of cholesterol-lowering drugs that may boost the effect of statins, one of the most prescribed cholesterol inhibitors, according to researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

15 Mar 2005

Novel Australian anti-cancer therapy has begun safety testing in human subjects

An international medical conference here heard that an Australian developed anti-cancer therapy based on the use of a common cold virus to control cancer cell growth has begun safety testing in human subjects.

15 Mar 2005