The new National Centre for Statistical Ecology (NCSE), a pioneering project which links research in the universities of Kent, Cambridge and St Andrews, has received a foundation grant of £1,101,447 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
The three partners in the new centre are the primary groups in the UK in the field of wildlife assessment, and all three are recognised internationally for their work on modelling population dynamics. By linking toget
Does a combination of radiation therapy and the inhibition of integrins (key molecules in angiogenesis) improve the chance of cure in cancer?
An increasing number of cancer patients are cured today by radiation therapy – alone or in combination with surgery or chemotherapy. At the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), scientists of the Clinical Cooperation Unit “Radiation Oncology” headed by Professor Dr. Dr. Peter Huber are identifying ways to fu
New sensor systems being developed will help treat cancer and improve the accuracy and reliability of existing radiation treatments. They should help improve patient care and outcomes. The results will go straight to commercialisation when finalised next year.
The INVORAD project developed systems for real-time radiation monitoring for patient dosimetry in Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT). IMRT is a radiation therapy for cancers that improves clinical outcomes by more accur
New findings on different treatment options including new therapies for prostate cancer were presented at the 13th European Cancer Conference (ECCO).
A Dutch study suggested treating prostate cancer patients with higher doses of radiotherapy significantly improved patient outcome and treatment over a five-year period. Another evaluated which patients would benefit from early adjuvant anti-androgen therapy. Data was presented on a new compound to treat androgen independent prostate
New research findings showcased at the 13th European Cancer Conference (ECCO) have highlighted the important therapeutic potential of immunotherapy in the treatment of a number of different cancers e.g. for treatment of renal and skin cancers.
Renal cancer is the 6th leading cause of cancer death with a survival rate of 11% for stage-IV disease. More than a million skin cancer cases occur each year globally, with a 5-year survival rate of 7 to 9% and a 10-year survival rate of 3 to
Researchers at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering have developed a new way to measure microbes’ exposure to ultraviolet light. The tool could bolster efforts to use UV light to improve the quality and safety of tap water in the U.S.
The novel “microsphere dosimeter” technique is the first direct test of how much UV light microorganisms in fluids have been exposed to, said the researchers — a critical step in validating the use of UV light treatment for preventing
A team led by Krzysztof Palczewski, Ph.D., chair of pharmacology at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has taken the first steps in treating an eye disease causing irreversible congenital blindness in millions of people worldwide by successfully testing two new treatments in mice.
Publishing in this month’s open access journal PLoS Medicine, the researchers found that these treatments “provide highly effective and complementary means for restoring retinal
Altering bright light exposure and taking a nonprescription drug
A simple, at-home treatment — a single light box and the over-the-counter drug melatonin — allows travelers to avoid jet lag by resetting their circadian body clock before crossing several time zones, according to new research being published in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. This treatment can also help those with delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS), a persistent
Side effects are common, but mostly mild
Nearly half of 118 children with chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV) treated with a combination of interferon-alpha-2b and an optimized dose of ribavirin achieved sustained viral response, and side effects were generally mild. These results are reported in the November 2005 issue of Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hepatology
Large study pinpoints genetic and environmental factors
A case-control study of more than 2000 people has identified a number of factors that may induce primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) in genetically susceptible individuals. These include a history of urinary tract infections, hormone replacement therapy, tobacco use, and nail polish use. The study is published in the November 2005 issue of Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseas
Nearly one-fourth of all dialysis patients have a close relative on dialysis, researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, and others, report in the current online edition of the American Journal of Nephrology. The researchers suggest screening other relatives for undetected kidney disease.
Barry I. Freedman, M.D., reports that many relatives in these families have silent kidney diseases that can be treated at early stages, leading to slowed progression or prevent
The Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, along with co-sponsors Swiss Re and the United Nations Development Programme, today released a study showing that climate change will significantly affect the health of humans and ecosystems and these impacts will have economic consequences. The study, entitled “Climate Change Futures: Health, Ecological and Economic Dimensions,” surveys existing and future costs associated with climate change and the growing potential
Researchers studying a mouse model of neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1), a genetic condition that causes childhood brain tumors, have found their second new drug target in a year, a protein called methionine aminopeptidase-2 (MetAP2).
An established drug, fumagillin, is already known to suppress the activity of MetAP2. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis showed that fumagillin significantly slowed the rapid proliferation of cultured mouse brain cells tha
Neurons experience large-scale changes across their dendrites during learning, say neuroscientists at The University of Texas at Austin in a new study that highlights the important role that these cell regions may play in the processes of learning and memory.
The research, published online Oct. 23 and in the November issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, shows that ion channels distributed in the dendritic membrane change during a simulated learning task and that this requires the rapid prod
Experiments in female monkeys have for the first time shown that when used in combination, vaginal gels known as microbicides can protect against an HIV-like virus. The research, funded largely by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), suggests that similar combination microbicides could potentially provide a safe, effective and practical way to prevent HIV transmission to women, according to study investigators.
New research shows that idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP), a group of potentially fatal disorders that affects the lungs, may be caused by an interaction between a specific genetic background and cigarette smoking. In a study of 111 families that had at least two relatives with IIP, people who smoked cigarettes were three times more likely than non-smokers to develop the disease. The research was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National Institute
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