Diffusion MRI is good early predictor of whether cancer will progress

A special type of MRI scan that measures the movement of water molecules through the brain can help doctors determine halfway through treatment whether it will successfully shrink the tumor or a patient’s cancer will continue to grow, a new study shows. The test identifies after only three weeks of treatment – more than two months earlier than traditional tests — who is responding to the chemotherapy or

Research with female monkeys at the Tulane National Primate Research Center has for the first time shown that three different anti-viral agents in a vaginal gel protect the animals against an HIV-like virus. The research suggests that a microbicide using compounds that inhibit the processes by which HIV attaches to and enters target cells could potentially provide a safe, effective and practical way to prevent HIV transmission in women, according to study investigators. The study, published online O

Pediatric researchers at Yale School of Medicine have identified a gene on human chromosome 6 called DCDC2, which is linked to dyslexia, a reading disability affecting millions of children and adults.

The researchers also found that a genetic alteration in DCDC2 leads to a disruption in the formation of brain circuits that make it possible to read. This genetic alteration is transmitted within families.

“These promising results now have the potential to lead to impro

Picky female frogs in a tiny rainforest outpost of Australia have driven the evolution of a new species in 8,000 years or less, according to scientists from the University of Queensland, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.

“That’s lightning-fast,” said co-author Craig Moritz, professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley and director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. “To find a recently evolved species like this is excep

The discovery, by scientists at Monash University and the Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, of how communication between cancer cells is controlled has promised new treatment options for malignant tumours.

Senior research fellow Dr Martin Lackmann from Monash’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is part of the team that has discovered the structure of the molecular switch that controls communication between tumour cells. The “switch” involves a cell-su

The brain is a “time machine,” assert Duke neuroscientists Catalin Buhusi and Warren Meck. And understanding how the brain tracks time is essential to understanding all its functions. The brain’s internal clocks coordinate a vast array of activities from communicating, to orchestrating movement, to getting food, they said.

In a review article in the October 2005 Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Buhusi and Meck discuss the current state of understanding of one of the brain&

For years biomedical researchers have known that high density lipoproteins, commonly called HDLs or “good cholesterol,” are responsible for protecting humans from certain parasites, but couldn’t explain how. Now MBL scientists have discovered that human HDLs work this bug-repelling magic by serving as a platform for the assembly and delivery of two naturally occurring proteins that combine to create a super-toxic antimicrobial.

The research, published in the September 30 issue of th

Increasing the activity of two enzymes better known for their role in oxidative stress metabolism turns normally relaxed mice into “Nervous Nellies,” according to research conducted at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and reported in the early online edition of Nature.

Locally overexpressing either glyoxalase 1 or glutathione reductase 1 in mouse brains significantly increased anxiety in usually relaxed mice and made already jittery mice even more anxiety-ridden. Inhib

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have identified a second promising treatment target for glioblastoma multiforme, one of the most deadly types of brain tumors. The research results are reported in the October issue of Molecular Cancer Research.

“We’ve found that a particular protein may play a major role in the progression of these tumors, suggesting an attractive new treatment approach,” said Waldemar Debinski, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Brain T

In the high-tech 21st century, the most rudimentary natural products continue to reveal exciting ant-cancer properties to scientists, offering people relatively simple ways to help protect themselves from the disease.

Five studies presented today during the American Association for Cancer Research’s 4th annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting in Baltimore, Md., add to the arsenal of research that shows adding certain vegetables and herbs to the diet can p

Five principles guide decisions that improve patient safety and lower costs, say Group Health experts

With the cost of prescription drugs rising faster than any other part of health care, more insurers and health systems have begun adopting restrictive policies for coverage of newer drugs. How can consumers and health care organizations be sure that such policies don’t lean too far in either direction–either restricting necessary treatment or wasting consumers’ premiums

Early diagnosis and treatment of heart disease may lead to longer life in Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy patients, say experts at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston in a report that appeared online in the journal Circulation.

Cardiac disease, particularly dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure, is the major cause of mortality in patients with muscular dystrophy and is present in most boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and a

Looking in a mirror at a reflection of their healthy hand could help people with persistent pain ease their symptoms and eventually overcome their problem, say scientists in the latest edition of the journal Clinical Medicine.

The treatment, being developed by researchers from the University of Bath and the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (RNHRD), is based on a new theory about how people experience pain even when doctors can find no direct cause.

This ‘c

Surgeons at the MUHC have successfully implanted a new kind of mechanical heart in two patients, the first time this new technology has been used in Canada. This new mechanical heart will allow some patients’ damaged hearts to recover their normal function, and will reduce the need for heart transplants. This “bridge-to-recovery” technology promises to revolutionize the management of heart failure. The MUHC is one of only a handful of Canadian hospitals capable of installing the new mechanical

Discovery could lead to prostate-cancer-specific diagnostic test and more effective treatment

Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School, in collaboration with researchers at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, have discovered a recurring pattern of scrambled chromosomes and abnormal gene activity that occurs only in prostate cancer.

In a paper being published in the Oct. 28 issue of Science, the research team indicates that these chromosomal rea

Undiscovered protein may help identify those whose disease will progress rapidly

Researchers have discovered a combination of tests that can more accurately predict who will develop type 1 diabetes. In the process, they’ve also uncovered signs of a new protein that may forecast a more rapidly developing form of the disease. Together, these findings could help researchers screen patients for clinical trials that eventually may lead to a vaccine or cure for type 1 diabetes.