A limitation of current cancer care is the difficulty of quickly assessing how well a therapy is working. However, expanding the use of existing positron emission tomography (PET) technology can provide early and accurate assessment of a tumor’s response to a particular therapy allowing physicians to better tailor a patient’s treatment, according to Malik Juweid, M.D., associate professor of radiology at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.

As many as 8-10 million Americans have Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), by age 70, roughly 20 percent of the population has it, and people with PAD face a six-to-seven times higher risk of heart attack or stroke.

PAD, commonly seen in patients with a history of smoking, diabetes, and/or coronary artery disease, is the build up of fatty deposits in the inner linings of the artery walls of the heart and brain. These blockages restrict blood circulation, mainly in arteries leading t

By profiling specific proteins in amniotic fluid for inflammation, researchers at Yale School of Medicine can quickly and accurately detect potentially dangerous infections in pregnant women, and also predict the possibility of premature birth.

The work will be presented at the 26th Annual Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) meeting on February 2 by Catalin S. Buhimschi, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences. Bu

Extrahepatic sites may account for some viral replication

When a diseased liver is removed from a patient with Hepatitis C (HCV), serum viral levels plummet. However, after receiving a healthy liver transplant, virus levels rebound and can surpass pre-transplant levels within a few days, according to a new study published in the February 2006 issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the Internationa

Researchers have unraveled the potential of stem cells in the repair and treatment of damaged tendon tissue. Royal Veterinary College (RVC) spin-out company VetCell Bioscience Ltd, set to star on the BBC 1 fly on the wall series ’SuperVets’ on Thursday 3rd of February, is helping revolutionise veterinary, and now also human, medicine through stem cell technology.

The London Bioscience Innovation Centre based spin-out set up in 2002 by business consultant Greg McGarrell, C

Research carried out by veterinary scientists at the Royal Veterinary College reveals that deer antler regeneration may use stem cells and involves similar mechanisms to those used in limb development. The research could take us towards a ‘holy grail’ in human medicine: the ability to restore organs damaged through trauma, disease, cancer or excision.

Many lower animals such as newts can renew damaged parts of their bodies but antler growth is the only example of mammals being a

Bacterial infections can strike anyone, and they can sometimes be fatal. Because more and more bacteria are becoming resistant to the pre-eminent remedy – antibiotics – the search for new remedies against bacterial infections is in high gear. Research by scientists from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) connected to Ghent University shows that certain mice, by nature, can withstand particular bacterial infections. Elucidation of the biological process that underlies

Two are one too many – this is the motto used by cells of a female organism: These contain two X chromosomes, one of which always becomes inactivated. How does the cell recognize that it contains two of these sex chromosomes and how does it choose which one to turn off? Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), working together with French colleagues, have now been able to elucidate an early step in this complex process.

Forty-five years

Study offers first molecular insight into eosinophilic esophagitis

Researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have discovered the first gene associated with eosinophilic esophagitis, one of a number of eosinophil-related diseases in which the body produces abnormally large amounts of white blood cells that can lead to allergy related illnesses. In eosinophilic esophagitis, the esophagus is overwhelmed with white blood cells and as a result patients of all ag

Insight into the workings of previously inscrutable viruses has been made possible by a team of biologists whose improvements to computer software may one day contribute to the fight against viral disease.

With a few deft lines of computer code, Purdue University’s Wen Jiang and his research group have created a powerful new tool for lab research that should allow scientists to obtain high-resolution images of some of the world’s smallest biological entities — the viruses. To

Climate forecasting systems help predict malaria risk in Africa

The Earth Institute at Columbia University—Malaria is one of the world’s biggest killers, taking the lives of more than 1 million people every year, as well as infecting a staggering 500 million worldwide. Although endemic in several regions of the world, malaria is most acute in Africa, home to an estimated 90 percent of all cases. Early warning systems can assist health programs and services in preventing and con

Rett syndrome is a debilitating neurological disorder occurring primarily in girls. While some existing therapies might ease particular symptoms of the condition, there is no current way to address the syndrome at a molecular level. Now, researchers at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, in collaboration with scientists at Brandeis University, have dramatically reduced certain manifestations of Rett Syndrome in mice, marking a clear path in which to explore possible therapies for peop

UF scientists find weakness in cancer’s armor

Much as the famed starship Enterprise would deploy a deflector shield to evade enemy attack, tumor cells are capable of switching on a molecular force field of their own to fend off treatments aimed at killing them. Now University of Florida researchers have found a chink in their armor.

The cells churn out an enzyme that bonds with a protein, creating a protective barrier that deflects damage from radiation or chemothe

It’s a case of evolutionary detective work. Biology researchers at Lewis & Clark College and the University of Arizona have found evidence for an ancient transfer of a toxin between ancestors of two very dissimilar organisms–spiders and a bacterium. But the mystery remains as how the toxin passed between the two organisms. Their research is published this month in the journal Bioinformatics, 22(3): 264-268, in an article titled “Lateral gene transfer of a dermonecrotic toxin between spide

New published data show that bicalutamide (Casodex) 150mg plus radiotherapy significantly extends survival in men with locally advanced prostate cancer compared to radiotherapy alone

New data published in the February 2006 edition of the British Journal of Urology International (BJUI) confirm that bicalutamide 150mg improves the chance of survival by 35 per cent (hazard ratio = 0.65; 95% CI = 0.44 to 0.95, p = 0.03)1 in men with locally advanced prostate cancer (when the disea

Systematic postoperative surveillance of patients with rectal and colorectal cancer has demonstrated to produce an improvement in the survival of these patients. Nevertheless, it is currently discussed whether a more intensive surveillance strategy would provide significant advantage compared to a less aggressive strategy. The methodology currently used for testing and the frequency tests are applied are highly heterogeneous. So, in order to compare the efficiency of two surveillance strategi