DNA regulator stops cancer cells in their tracks
11/20/2013
Understanding how and why cancer cells move away from their original location is important to find ways to stop the spread of the disease. New findings, published in the Nature journal Oncogene, reveal how a protein, called 'PRH', is normally able to prevent cells from unnecessary migration. It is likely that this protein is less effective in cancer cells allowing the cells to venture away.
Link discovered between red cell distribution width levels and depression in heart patients
11/20/2013
Researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute have discovered a link between elevated red cell distribution width levels and depression in patients being treated for heart disease. This new discovery can help physicians provide earlier diagnosis and treatment for possible depression in heart patients.
Anti-clotting medication dabigatran successfully reversed by newly developed antidote
11/20/2013
For the first time, an antidote developed specifically for dabigatran successfully reversed the effects of the anti-clotting medication in healthy volunteers, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013.New oral anti-clotting medications such as dabigatran (Pradaxa) are easier to take than warfarin.
Smoking increases risk of death for nasopharyngeal carcinoma survivors
11/19/2013
Survivors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma who are former or current smokers are more likely to have their disease progress, relapse, orspread, and are more likely to die of their disease, compared with survivors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma who have never smoked, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
New figures released by the British Lung Foundation (BLF) show that around 185,000 children between the ages of 11-15 in England are exposed to potentially toxic concentrations of second-hand smoke in their family car every day or most days.[1] That's the equivalent of more than 6,100 classrooms full of children [2] or the entire population of Bournemouth.
New technology, developed in Belfast, will soon enable pathologists to automate the process of marking tissue samples with unprecedented accuracy. TissueMark, developed by digital pathology specialists PathXL, analyses the detailed structural patterns in tissue samples and marks the boundaries of potentially cancerous sections for more detailed analysis.
Experts weigh cancer screening strategy based on life expectancy
11/19/2013
Calculating comorbidity-adjusted life expectancy may help physicians determine whether to continue or stop cancer screening in elderly patients, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine. The benefits of early cancer detection decline sharply with age because older patients are more likely to die of comorbid conditions or other causes.
Studies on the use of breast MRI
11/19/2013
Study finds use of breast MRI in women increasingThe overall use of breast magnetic resonance imaging has increased, with the procedure most commonly used for diagnostic evaluations and screenings, according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.
Drug may enhance the effectiveness of bone marrow transplants for select pediatric leukemia patients
11/19/2013
Combining the drug gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO) with conventional chemotherapy may improve the outcome of bone marrow transplantation for some children battling high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The results appear in the current edition of the journal Cancer.
Protein coding 'junk genes' may be linked to cancer
11/19/2013
By using a new analysis method, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) in Sweden have found close to one hundred novel human gene regions that code for proteins. A number of these regions are so-called pseudogenes, which may be linked to cancer.