The new cancer medication sorafenib looks promising. Sorafenib is used for advanced liver and kidney cancer and also appears to be effective against cancer stem cells in pancreatic cancer. The team led by Professor Dr. Ingrid Herr, Head of the Department of Molecular Oncosurgery, a group of the Department of Surgery at Heidelberg University Hospital, (Managing Director: Professor Dr. Markus W. Büchler) in cooperation with the German Cancer Research Center, tested the new substance in mice and pancreatic cancer cells.
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DETROIT – Armed with the right information, physicians can play a stronger role in ensuring asthma patients don't waver in taking drugs proven to prevent asthma attacks, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
The study finds patients are more likely to routinely take inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) for asthma control when physicians kept close watch over their medication use and reviewed detailed electronic prescription information, including how often patients fill their prescriptions and the estimated number of days each prescription would last.
Using an electron microscope, scientists at EMBL captured this snapshot of the beginnings of an organ which plays a central role in how zebrafish perceive the world around them.
A new type of baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) has been developed which can efficiently ferment pentose sugars, as found in agricultural waste and hardwoods. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Biotechnology for Biofuels describe the creation of the new S. cerevisiae strain, TMB3130, which demonstrated significantly improved aerobic growth rate and final biomass concentration on sugar media composed of two pentoses, xylose and arabinose.
Scientists from the University of Leeds have discovered the mechanisms of a protein known to play an active part in the inherited kidney disorder, Dent's disease. The findings provide a new focus for future therapies for the disease, for which there is currently no cure.
STANFORD, Calif. -- Oncogenes are like friends who've gone off the deep end. Normally steady, reliable members of the cellular workforce, these genes become very bad influences when mutated or expressed at high levels -- urging a cell to divide uncontrollably and become cancerous.
Community-based HIV testing programs generally use only HIV antibody testing, but nucleic acid testing (NAT) can detect the presence of HIV earlier. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine studied more than 3,000 patients who sought HIV testing in community-based clinics in or near San Diego to examine the yield of testing with a rapid test plus NAT and to see whether patients would be willing to access their results by phone or computer.
Fresh discoveries about the parasite that causes sleeping sickness could lead to new avenues of research into treatments for the disease.
Scientists studying the parasite – which is spread by the tsetse fly and infects the blood of people and animals – have shed light on how it is able to survive when taken up by a feeding fly.
Sleeping sickness is a potentially fatal condition which affects up to 70,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa, and millions more are at risk from the disease.
Scientists have long known that certain types of bacteria boost the immune system. Now, Loyola University Health System researchers have discovered how bacteria perform this essential task.
Senior author Katherine L. Knight, PhD. and colleagues report their discovery in a featured article in the June 15, 2010, issue of the Journal of Immunology, now available online. Knight is professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
New research from NYU Langone Medical Center shows that a simple, inexpensive and noninvasive carotid artery ultrasound of the neck can be used as a preliminary diagnostic tool for coronary artery disease (CAD). This may be an alternative to the standard, expensive and more invasive coronary angiography. The ultrasound test can also be used to rule out the diagnosis of CAD in patients presenting with reduced heart pump function. The new study appears in the June 2010 issue of the American Heart Journal.
Boston, MA—In a new study, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have found that eating five or more servings of white rice per week was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. In contrast, eating two or more servings of brown rice per week was associated with a lower risk of the disease. The researchers estimated that replacing 50 grams of white rice (just one third of a typical daily serving) with the same amount of brown rice would lower risk of type 2 diabetes by 16%.
Clinical guidelines recommend screening low-risk women for cervical cancer every three years after age 30, but most primary care clinicians report that they would advise testing for the disease more frequently, according to a report in the June 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Adding a test for human papillomavirus (HPV) to screening protocols does not increase clinicians' reported adherence to guidelines, but may make them less likely to extend screening intervals.
Findings from a survey of free clinics suggest that an estimated 1.8 million individuals make approximately 3.5 million medical and dental visits to free clinics annually, according to a report in the June 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.