Medical Science News

RSS

Later-stage cancers thrive by finding detours around drug roadblocks

Later-stage cancers thrive by finding detours around roadblocks that cancer drugs put in their path, but a Purdue University biochemist is creating maps that will help drugmakers close more routes and develop better drugs.

28 Mar 2012

AMP confident in lawsuit to invalidate patents on two breast cancer genes

Now that the Supreme Court has remanded Association for Molecular Pathology et al. v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., et al. (AMP v. Myriad) to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for further consideration, AMP is optimistic that it will ultimately prevail in its lawsuit to invalidate patents on two genes that are known to cause breast cancer.

28 Mar 2012

Researchers identify DNA methylation in patients with schizophrenia

In a new study, researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have identified epigenetic changes - known as DNA methylation - in the blood of patients with schizophrenia.

28 Mar 2012

ACCR designates Georgetown student as early-career scientist

David A. Solomon, who will graduate from Georgetown University School of Medicine this year with M.D. and Ph.D. degrees, has been designated one of four outstanding early-career scientists by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) -- a highly prestigious honor. Solomon will present his work at a special symposium, Future Leaders in Basic Cancer Research, on April 2nd at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 in Chicago.

28 Mar 2012

Study: Some breast cancer tumours may not respond to taxane chemotherapy

Some breast cancer tumours may be resistant to a common chemotherapy treatment, suggests recent medical research at the University of Alberta.

28 Mar 2012

Study examines link between lab-tested drugs and defective protein that causes CF

Cystic fibrosis is the most common fatal genetic disease affecting Canadian children and young adults, more than two children each and every week are diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF). New research at Ryerson University, in partnership with The Hospital for Sick Children, is examining the interaction between lab-tested drugs and the defective protein that causes CF to understand how and why the drugs work and to create stronger, more powerful second generation drugs to treat CF.

28 Mar 2012

Hyperinsulinemia itself not a cause of atherosclerosis

A number of studies have shown that excess insulin circulating in the bloodstream is a major independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, a new study from Joslin Diabetes Center finds that this condition, called hyperinsulinemia, is itself not a cause of atherosclerosis.

28 Mar 2012

UofL researcher receives patent for novel biochemical discovery

University of Louisville researchers are a step closer to eliminating periodontal disease through their work to develop synthetic molecules that prevent a bacteria responsible for the disease from spreading throughout the mouth.

28 Mar 2012

Direct Molecular Recognition technique can quantitate multiple DNA species

Researchers at UCLA and New York University have developed a method to detect sequence differences in individual DNA molecules by taking nanoscopic pictures of the molecules themselves.

28 Mar 2012

Pulsed photoacoustic techniques can diagnose different cancer cell types

Researchers have developed multiple techniques and procedures to detect cancer cells during the earliest stages of the disease or after treatment. But one of the major limitations of these technologies is their inability to detect the presence of only a few cancer cells.

28 Mar 2012

Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle-induced hyperthermia can kill cancer cells

Using nanoparticles and alternating magnetic fields, University of Georgia scientists have found that head and neck cancerous tumor cells in mice can be killed in half an hour without harming healthy cells.

28 Mar 2012

Placentophagia may offer benefits to human mothers

A paper by neuroscientists at the University at Buffalo and Buffalo State College suggests that ingestion of components of afterbirth or placenta -- placentophagia -- may offer benefits to human mothers and perhaps to non-mothers and males.

28 Mar 2012

Data supports links between AD and diabetes: New study

Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and the only cause of death among the top 10 in America without a way to prevent, cure or even slow its progression, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Today, 5.4 million Americans are living with the disease, and another American develops it every 69 seconds.

28 Mar 2012

Researchers identify genetic causes in nearly 1 in 5 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy

Researchers have identified genetic causes in nearly 1 in 5 patients who suffer a type of heart failure called dilated cardiomyopathy.

28 Mar 2012

Researchers use game theory to understand dynamics of cancer tumor evolution under stress

In search of a different perspective on the physics of cancer, Princeton University and University of California, San Francisco researchers teamed up to use game theory to look for simplicity within the complexity of the dynamics of cooperator and cheater cells under metabolic stress conditions and high spatial heterogeneity. In the context of cancer, cooperator cells obey the general rules of communal survival, while cheater cells do not.

28 Mar 2012

Non-HDL-C levels appear to increase risk of heart attack or stroke in statin-treated patients

Levels of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) among statin-treated patients appears to be associated with the risk of developing a major cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke, as are levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and apolipoprotein B, according to a meta-analysis of data from previously published studies appearing in the March 28 issue of JAMA.

28 Mar 2012

New pre-clinical data on Rexahn's RX-3117 study to be presented at AACR meeting

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company commercializing potential best in class oncology and CNS therapeutics, today announced that it will present new pre-clinical data on its oncology compound RX-3117 during a poster session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 103rd Annual Meeting being held in Chicago, Illinois, March 31 - April 4, 2012, at the McCormick Place Convention Center.

28 Mar 2012

Simple genetic test could help predict aggressiveness of rhabdomyosarcoma tumours

A study led by Dr Janet Shipley from The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London in collaboration with Dr Mauro Delorenzi from the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics in Lausanne has shown that a simple genetic test could help predict the aggressiveness of rhabdomyosarcoma tumours in children

28 Mar 2012

New gene transfer technique can treat beta-thalassemia, sickle cell anemia

A team of researchers led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College has designed what appears to be a powerful gene therapy strategy that can treat both beta-thalassemia disease and sickle cell anemia. They have also developed a test to predict patient response before treatment.

28 Mar 2012

Cigarette smoke responsible for spread of cancer cells

Cigarette smoke cannot only cause cancer, but it's also responsible for the spread of it, according to research by UC Merced biochemistry Professor Henry Jay Forman.

28 Mar 2012