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Novel assay accurately detects trisomy 21 or 18 from maternal blood samples

Current screening strategies for Down syndrome, caused by fetal trisomy 21 (T21), and Edwards syndrome, caused by fetal trisomy 18 (T18), have false positive rates of 2 to 3%, and false negative rates of 5% or higher. Positive screening results must be confirmed by amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling, which carry a fetal loss rate of approximately 1 in 300 procedures. Now an international, multicenter cohort study finds that a genetic test to screen for trisomy 21 or 18 from a maternal blood sample is almost 100% accurate.

6 Jun 2012

T-DM1 better than standard therapy in controlling breast cancer

A new cancer treatment that links chemotherapy with an agent that homes in on specific breast cancer cells was significantly better than the current drug regimen at keeping patients' advanced tumors from progressing, according to results from a Phase III clinical trial led by Kimberly Blackwell, M.D., of the Duke Cancer Institute.

5 Jun 2012

Scientists identify rhythmic brain cell firing patterns in the motor cortex

A new model for understanding how nerve cells in the brain control movement may help unlock the secrets of the motor cortex, a critical region that has long resisted scientists' efforts to understand it, researchers report June 3 in Nature.

5 Jun 2012

Strong link between functional brain impairment and post-stroke depression

Researchers studying stroke patients have found a strong association between impairments in a network of the brain involved in emotional regulation and the severity of post-stroke depression. Results of the study are published online in the journal Radiology.

5 Jun 2012

Investigational diabetes drug appears to improve insulin sensitivity without side effects

Drugs for type 2 diabetes can contribute to weight gain, bone fractures and cardiovascular problems, but in mice, an investigational drug appears to improve insulin sensitivity without those troublesome side effects, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown.

5 Jun 2012

Study detects significant changes in the EEG brain activity patterns during chemotherapy

A Cleveland Clinic study has detected significant changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG) brain activity patterns of patients receiving chemotherapy.

5 Jun 2012

Preoperative breast cancer pain involves an inflammatory process

Researchers from the University of California San Francisco studied a sample of women scheduled for breast cancer surgery and sought to determine the occurrence rate for preoperative breast pain, describe characteristics of the pain, evaluate the demographic and clinical variation in the women with preoperative pain, and assess the role of in pro-and anti inflammatory cytokine genes.

5 Jun 2012

Scientists discover neural mechanism for conscious perception

When people close their eyes, they can form mental images of things that exist only in their minds. Neuroscientists studying this phenomenon at medical schools in the Texas Medical Center believe that there may be a way to use these mental images to help some of the estimated 39 million people worldwide who are blind.

5 Jun 2012

Sapio announces availability of Exemplar Biomarker Discovery LIMS

Sapio Sciences is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Exemplar Biomarker Discovery LIMS.

5 Jun 2012

Researchers identify predictive biomarker for Parkinson's disease

Because there is currently no laboratory test that can diagnose Parkinson's disease, it is practically impossible to detect those individuals who are in the earliest stages of the disease. As a result, Parkinson's disease can only be diagnosed by a clinical neurological examination based on findings suggestive of the disease.

5 Jun 2012

ASS234 molecule inhibits aggregation of the Alzheimer's protein

Researchers at Universitat Aut-noma de Barcelona (UAB), the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the University of Barcelona (UB) have developed a multitarget molecule, ASS234, which according to the results of in vitro studies conducted, inhibits the aggregation of the --amyloid protein, involved in Alzheimer's disease.

5 Jun 2012

Researchers uncover brain signaling pathway responsible for renal excretory function

Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers recently uncovered a brain signaling pathway responsible for regulating the renal excretion of sodium. The findings appear in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

5 Jun 2012

Researchers uncover cellular basis for age-related breast cancer vulnerability

It is well-known that the risks of breast cancer increase dramatically for women over the age of 50, but what takes place at the cellular level to cause this increase has been a mystery. Some answers and the possibility of preventative measures in the future are provided in a new study by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

5 Jun 2012

Chatham, Baxter partner to develop and commercialize hemophilia B gene therapy treatment

Baxter International Inc. today announced that it has entered into an exclusive global agreement with Chatham Therapeutics, LLC, an affiliate of Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (AskBio), for the development and commercialization of potential treatments for hemophilia B utilizing Chatham's gene therapy technology.

From Baxter International Inc. 5 Jun 2012

New region on the X chromosome plays a role in migraine

New hope has arrived for migraine sufferers following a Griffith University study with the people of Norfolk Island. Led by Professor Lyn Griffiths from the University's Griffith Health Institute, the team has identified a new region on the X chromosome as playing a role in migraine.

5 Jun 2012

Australian medical researchers hope to block Hendra virus in humans

Australian medical researchers are on the brink of an effective human treatment for the deadly Hendra virus, and potentially the closely related Nipah virus, which has killed more than two hundred people in South East Asia.

5 Jun 2012

Androgen receptor an additional hormonal target in many breast cancers

Many breast cancers depend on hormones including estrogen or progesterone for their survival and proliferation. Eight years of lab work at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and elsewhere suggest that the androgen (AR) receptor is an additional hormonal target in many breast cancers. Block AR+ breast cancer's ability to access androgen and you block the cancer's ability to survive.

5 Jun 2012

$Ambit, Astellas commence quizartinib Phase 2b trial in relapsed/refractory AML$

Ambit, Astellas commence quizartinib Phase 2b trial in relapsed/refractory AML

Astellas Pharma Inc. and Ambit Biosciences Corporation today announced the initiation of a Phase 2b open-label clinical trial of quizartinib as monotherapy in patients with relapsed and refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with FLT3-ITD mutations.

5 Jun 2012

High levels of antibody molecule linked to increased rates of death from all diseases

Mayo Clinic researchers have identified an immune system deficiency whose presence shows someone is up to four times likelier to die than a person without it. The glitch involves an antibody molecule called a free light chain; people whose immune systems produce too much of the molecule are far more likely to die of a life-threatening illness such as cancer, diabetes and cardiac and respiratory disease than those whose bodies make normal levels. The study is published in the June issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

4 Jun 2012

Variation in microRNAs may explain survival differences in breast cancer

Researchers and doctors at the North Shore-LIJ Health System and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered a potential explanation for why breast cancer is not experienced the same way with African American and Caucasian patients.

4 Jun 2012