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The use of hormone therapy was associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women who carry BRCA mutations, according to a case-control study published online September 23 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – New research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine shows that use of the most commonly prescribed once-a-day treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for longer than one month increases the risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack or stroke by more than 50 percent.

An analysis of emergency medical services–treated cardiac arrest outcomes in 10 areas in North America finds a five-fold difference in survival rates, according to a study in the September 24 issue of JAMA.

Researchers have validated criteria that are used to identify patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who have little or no chance of survival after resuscitation, according to a study in the September 24 issue of JAMA.

The use of inhaled anticholinergic agents (medications that help reduce bronchospasm) by patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with a significantly increased risk of heart attack, stroke of cardiovascular death, according to a meta-analysis of randomized trials published in the September 24 issue of JAMA.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When someone's heart suddenly stops beating – a condition called cardiac arrest -- there's a lot that bystanders and ambulance crews can do to get it started again. But if the victim doesn't respond, when should such efforts stop?

And when should emergency crews rapidly transport a patient to a hospital with lights and sirens on, potentially endangering the lives of paramedics and other motorists and pedestrians — even though the care provided by the emergency crew is the same as what can be provided in the emergency department?

When cardiac arrest patients cannot successfully be resuscitated by emergency medical services in the field, lifesaving attempts to race them to a nearby hospital via ambulance often prove to be futile. In additions, the effort potentially increases danger to other drivers, pedestrians and the EMS professionals themselves, according to findings reported in the Sept. 24, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A new predictive measurement, called a PEPI score, could bring good news to many women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer — a low PEPI (preoperative endocrine prognostic index) score could show that they have little risk of relapse and can safely avoid chemotherapy after surgery.

For others, a high PEPI score could warn that the risk of relapse after breast surgery is large and indicates that careful follow-up and aggressive therapy may be needed, say researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and collaborating institutions in Europe.

HOUSTON - Counting the copies of a specific gene in cells gathered from a urine sample may provide a simple, noninvasive way to detect bladder cancer, a team led by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

When the telltale gene, Aurora kinase A, is numerous and overexpressed in urothelial cells, errors during cell division follow, the team also found. The new cells have too few or too many chromosomes, instead of the normal pairs of 23 chromosomes.

Madison, Wisc. - September 23, 2008 – A new study finds that environmental restoration research using large experimental tests has been limited. The study, published in Restoration Ecology, maintains that for restoration to progress as a science and a practice, more research should be done on whole ecosystems with large experiments.

PORTLAND, Ore. A new study jointly conducted by Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine and the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute may one day help not only our canine friends with cancer, but also people with the human form of the disease.

Forging this unique relationship is OSU veterinary oncologist and researcher Stuart Helfand, D.V.M., and Brian Druker, M.D., director of the OHSU Cancer Institute.

Cleveland, Ohio – September 23, 2008 - A recent study shows that a loss of antioxidants in the endothelial cells that line blood vessels in the lungs contributes to the loss of vasodilator effects and, ultimately, to the development of pulmonary hypertension. The findings appear in Clinical and Translational Science.

PHILADELPHIA -- Researchers in Hong Kong report that testing patient blood for DNA from Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) during treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma effectively predicts clinical outcome. A biomarker test like this, when perfected, could identify patients whose treatment could be intensified after a month or so of standard therapy as well as those who might benefit from lighter treatment.

PHILADELPHIA – Researchers have identified TEM1 as a specific genetic marker for the vascular cells associated with tumor growth, a finding that could aid in diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer.

"The laboratory of Dr. George Coukos is developing novel treatments for ovarian cancer which target the vasculature surrounding the tumor, thereby disrupting the blood supply needed for the tumor to grow," said Chunsheng Li, Ph.D., a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Ovarian Cancer Research Center.

BOSTON -- Using one of the largest databases of prostate cancer outcomes in the United States, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have developed a prediction tool that uses a patient's clinical information to estimate the benefit of adding androgen deprivation therapy of various durations to radiation therapy.