Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found a way of identifying families at high risk of pancreatic cancer.
The team has developed a novel means of testing for pancreatic cancer that will enable doctors to treat the killer disease at its earliest stages. They are also now able to show how the risk of cancer for these patients changes with age.
The Liverpool-based study group known as EUROPAC (European Registry Of Hereditary Pancreatitis And Familial Pancreat
Preliminary results from a large, clinical trial of digital vs. film mammography show no difference in detecting breast cancer for the general population of women in the trial. However, those women with dense breasts, who are pre- or perimenopausal (women who had a last menstrual period within 12 months of their mammograms), or who are younger than age 50 may benefit from having a digital rather than a film mammogram. The results were reported September 16, 2005 in a special online publication
Tool quantifies level of consciousness, severity of brain injury
Mayo Clinic neurologists have created the first new, reliable and easy-to-use clinical tool in 30 years for measuring coma depth, a proposed replacement for the Glasgow Coma Scale. The new scoring system, called the FOUR (Full Outline of UnResponsiveness) Score, will be described in the October issue of Annals of Neurology, to be published online Friday, Sept. 9.
When using the FOUR Score, evaluators a
3D MRI can detect pancreatic cancer when it is smaller and patients have a greater likelihood of survival, a new study shows.
The study included 57 patients who had clinical symptoms of pancreatic cancer. All had contrast enhanced 3D gradient-echo MRI examinations. Radiologists correctly identified pancreatic cancer in 24 patients, said Richard Semelka, MD, professor of radiology, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and an author of the study. Eight of the cancers fo
A temporary under-the-skin sensor could monitor a variety of health indicators for soldiers, athletes, diabetics, infants, and critically ill patients without wires and at a distance, according to a team of Penn State chemical engineers.
“We were asked to develop micro sensors for metabolic monitoring of troops,” says Dr. Michael Pishko, professor of chemical engineering and materials science and engineering. “These implantable sensors are intended to monitor the physiology of t
Although minimally invasive prostate removal aided by a robot can lead to less blood loss, shorter hospital stays and fewer complications, there is no evidence that the procedure improves cure rates, according to a new technology assessment.
In addition, robotic surgery, in high demand among patients, can lose money for hospitals because of its expense and special training required, according to the new review of studies by ECRI.
ECRI is a nonprofit health services res
Non-invasive imaging may help predict type 1 diabetes and response to treatment in humans: Joslin recruiting for new Imaging in Diabetes Clinical Trial
A key obstacle to early detection of type 1 diabetes – as well as to rapid assessment of the effectiveness of therapeutic intervention – has been the lack of direct, non-invasive technologies to visualize inflammation in the pancreas, an early manifestation of disease. Instead, clinicians have had to await overt symptoms before
Johns Hopkins researchers have, for what is believed to be the first time, used a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique called diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI), a technique that images the movement, or diffusion, of water molecules in tissues, to successfully determine the effectiveness of high-intensity focused ultrasound for treating uterine fibroids. Uterine fibroids are noncancerous tumors that line the uterine wall and can cause intense pain and bleeding. The study appears in the July edi
A Penn State researcher is part of the team that developed techniques that have generated insights into dietary divergences between some of our human ancestors, allowing scientists to better understand the evolutionary path that led to the modern-day diets that humans consume. “Our new techniques are allowing us to get beyond simple dichotomies and helping us understand the processes by which dietary evolution is working,” said Peter Ungar, professor of anthropology at the University of Arka
UCB today announced positive results for the two pivotal Phase III trials (PRECISE 1 and 2) of certolizumab pegol (CDP870) in the induction and maintenance of clinical response in moderate to severe active Crohn’TMs disease. The PRECiSE trials assessed the safety and efficacy of CIMZIATM compared to placebo over a 26 week period, in a total of 1330 patients with active Crohn’TMs disease.
Data from PRECiSE 1 and 2 will be presented in more detail at the major forthcoming gastroent
Scientists from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) associated with the University of Antwerp have achieved a new breakthrough in their research on the origins of Alzheimer’s disease. Their alternative approach opens up new prospects for developing a treatment which can slow the disease’s progress. The researchers have shown that ´the plaques´ which form in the brain of patients are linked to damage to nearby blood vessels. Leakage appears to occur between the blood vesse
Measuring the biochemical changes in breast tumors with magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy enables radiologists to more accurately distinguish benign tumors from cancerous ones, according to a study appearing in the August issue of the journal Radiology.
“Adding spectroscopy to breast MR examinations will not only reduce concern over possible missed cancers and unnecessary biopsy procedures, it may also improve the efficiency and quality of patient care,” said co-author Si
Cholesterol-lowering statin therapy may improve survival in patients with diastolic heart failure (DHF) according to a paper published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association by cardiologists at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Currently, there are no treatments shown to improve survival in these patients, who make up about 40 percent of all heart failure cases. Systolic heart failure patients have hearts that don’t pump out enough blood. I
A portable, versatile and low-cost molecular detection tool being developed by a team of European researchers promises to revolutionise the diagnosis of diseases such as cancer and open up new applications in sectors as diverse as environmental protection, chemical analysis and food safety.
Working in the field of micro- and nano-technologies, the IST programme-funded BioFinger project is due to begin testing its state-of-the-art system over the summer amid expectations for a c
Gene scanning techniques developed by Professor Ian Day and colleagues at the University of Southampton are set to have a major impact on healthcare in the future.
One of two gene mutation scanning techniques devised by Professor Day and his team in the Human Genetics Division of the University’s School of Medicine has been successfully applied to search for rare genetic mutations in the population at large.
Their method, called meltMADGE, which combines thermal ramp el
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