Men who have a yearly blood test to examine their prostate specific antigen levels are nearly three times less likely to die from prostate cancer than those who don’t have annual screenings, according to a study presented October 19, 2005, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s 47th Annual Meeting in Denver.
The study shows that over an estimated 10-year period, men who have an annual prostate specific antigen (PSA) test will have a 3.6 percent chance of dyi

Concurrent NCCTG and NSABP studies find trastuzumab best for women with HER2

In a joint paper, co-authored by Mayo Clinic’s Edith Perez, M.D., and Edward Romond, M.D., of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), researchers report complete and combined results of two trials comparing adjuvant chemotherapy with or without concurrent trastuzumab treatment in women with surgically removed HER2-positive breast cancer. The studies showed trastuzumab (Herceptin®

Encouraging results for women with aggressive Her2-positive disease

The targeted drug trastuzumab, or Herceptin, previously shown to prolong survival in advanced breast cancer, dramatically reduced the chances of recurrence in patients with early-stage disease when given for one year following standard chemotherapy.

These are the encouraging findings in an interim report from HERA, an ongoing large, international clinical trial of Herceptin, being published today in t

Research at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical has shown that Gamma Knife Stereotactic Radiosurgery (GKRS) is an effective treatment for trigeminal neuralgia, a common condition characterized by excruciating facial pain.

“This has proven to be a safe, effective treatment for trigeminal neuralgia patients, without the potential facial paralysis and long-term recovery experienced with conventional surgery,” said Volker Stieber, M.D., co

Improved public health system best means of stemming effects from future disasters

A Johns Hopkins emergency physician who spent the past five weeks working on public health issues in the Gulf Coast region following hurricane Katrina warns that the disaster’s potential for wreaking havoc and damage to people’s health may continue for months after the hurricane has passed.

In an editorial published this month in The New England Journal of Medicine, Thomas Kirsch,

’Move it or Lose it’ starts three-year lifestyle campaign to fight osteoporosis

Exercise can help reduce the risk of osteoporosis and related fractures, a new report explains. “One of the best ways to build and maintain healthy bones is through exercise,” noted Professor Helmut Minne, IOF Board member and author of Move it or Lose it: How exercise helps to build and maintain strong bones, prevent falls and fractures and speed rehabilitation.

The report was issued a

International experts in lung cancer research will meet in Liverpool next week to discuss the development of early detection systems for the disease.

Lung Cancer is responsible for 22 per cent of cancer deaths but attracts just four per cent of British research funds. Smoking is the leading risk factor for the disease, causing eight out of 10 UK lung cancer deaths.

Experts from around the world will meet at the University of Liverpool’s Cancer Research Centre, to dis

Over the next two years TEKNIKER Technology Centre is to develop a wheelchair with advanced specifications, thanks to the patronage of the Social Work department of the Kutxa Savings Bank.

The characteristics of the new wheelchair have been carefully chosen after consultation with Bidaideak, Elkartu and Gene and other associations for the disabled. Thus, the prototype provides a range of features identified as basic, such as the economic cost of the product (it should not cost more t

The scientific magazine Brain Research has recently published the results of research work by scientists from the University of Navarra. The work describes the presence and location of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) in the brain of the rat and characterises the neurones expressed therein, above all within the cerebral cortex of this rodent. The authors are José Luis Velayos and Francisco José Moleres, research scientists at the Department of Anatomy at the University of Navarra.

A way to detect fragments of broken brain cells that leak into the bloodstream may help doctors more quickly and precisely treat people with severe head injuries or brain diseases, say researchers at the University of Florida’s McKnight Brain Institute.

UF scientists have discovered they can use an approach similar to one commonly used in HIV or pregnancy testing to find bits of axons – nerve fibers that help brain cells communicate – in the blood and spinal fluid of laborator

Brain tumors called ependymomas that occur in different parts of the central nervous system appear to arise from subpopulations of stem cells called radial glia cells (RGCs), according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The discovery explains why some identical-looking ependymomas are actually distinctly different diseases, the researchers said.

This new information, in combination with the techniques used to conduct the study, holds promise for designi

Variation in dopamine receptor gene is associated with hypertension, could help explain why people have different risk, especially as they age

A new genetic discovery made by a University of Michigan team may help explain why some people develop high blood pressure and others don’t — and why some people’s blood pressure increases as they age.

It also gives new insight into how the kidneys govern the balance of salt in the body, a crucial task for regulating blo

Findings may lead to new treatments for asthma and other inflammatory-related diseases

Defects in immune system cells called T helper cells may lead to diseases characterized by a faulty inflammatory response such as autoimmunity and asthma. Understanding the molecular steps involved in how T helper cells mature may help researchers develop treatments for these diseases.

Helper T cells differentiate into two different types of cells –Th1 or Th2 – which are responsible

Therapeutic use for umbilical cord blood may broaden

A team of bioengineers led by the University of Toronto has discovered a way to increase the yield of stem cells from umbilical cord blood, to an extent which could broaden therapeutic use of these cells.

In a paper published in the October issue of Experimental Hematology, researchers working in the University of Toronto’s Stem Cell Bioengineering Laboratory have identified an important component blocking the growth

Huda Zoghbi, of Baylor College of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Juan Young, also of Baylor and colleagues report in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, posted the week of October 17, 2005, that the Rett Syndrome gene, MECP2, regulates RNA splicing. This work was funded in part by the Rett Syndrome Research Foundation (RSRF).

Rett Syndrome (RTT) is a severe neurological disorder diagnosed almost exclusively in girls.

Research from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute

The humble yeast has revealed the molecular workings of an anti-cancer drug that stops the growth and spread of tumours in humans by starving their blood supply.

Until now, University of New South Wales scientists who developed the drug (GSAO) knew that it was lethal against endothelial cells but not why it had no direct impact on tumours themselves.

The new study reveals that endothelial cells lack th