General Health News

Merck Serono: Study Published In JCO Shows Erbitux Enhances Efficacy In MCRC Patients With KRAS Wild-Type Tumors In 1st-Line Setting

A study published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology demonstrates that the addition of Erbitux® (cetuximab) to standard oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy (FOLFOX-4) in previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients with KRAS wild-type tumors results in significantly higher efficacy than chemotherapy

Immutep Announces Positive Interim Results In Phase I/II Chemoimmunotherapy Trial In Breast Cancer

Immutep S.A. announced today interim results from its ongoing Phase I/II chemoimmunotherapy clinical trial in metastatic breast carcinoma. ImmuFact IMP321 was administered the day after weekly paclitaxel for six months. The interim results show a clinical response rate of 50 per cent compared to 25 per cent with paclitaxel

Study Links Obesity To Elevated Risk Of Ovarian Cancer

A new epidemiological study has found that among women who have never used menopausal hormone therapy, obese women are at an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer compared with women of normal

FDA Announces Class I Recall Of Ophthalmic Surgical Device

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a Class I recall of lot no. UD30654 of Healon D, an ophthalmic viscosurgical device (OVD) manufactured by Advanced Medical Optics Inc. (AMO) of Santa Ana, Calif. OVDs are viscoelastic materials used to maintain space in the eye during surgery. Typically, OVDs are pre-packaged in a syringe and are applied using a small tube. On

FDA Prevents Two Dairies From Adulterating Animal Drugs And Food

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that the District Court for the District of New Mexico has enjoined Do-Rene and Clover Knolls Dairies and their owners, Douglas B. Handley and Irene Handley, from adulterating new animal drugs and introducing adulterated food into commerce. Both companies are based in Clovis,

Getting A Good Deal On Gym Membership

New Year is the time when many people decide to join a gym, or revisit a neglected gym membership, and in the current economic climate, gym owners will be concerned not only to attract new members but also to hold onto their existing ones, so now is a good time to get a good deal on your gym

Building Work Starts On The Largest IVF Facility In The NHS, UK

A Â£3.3m plan to reorganise Reproductive Medicine services in Leeds, bringing them together for the first time in a single purpose-designed facility which will improve care for fertility patients, is getting

What If The Treatment Doesn't Work: Nailing Steroid Resistant Asthma

Nailing steroid resistant asthma was the focus of a recent Biomedical Forum for clinicians, researchers and allied health professionals from Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts and King's College

American Medical Student Association Applauds Pharmaceutical Industry For Voluntary Ban; Continues To Call For Federal Regulation

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the nation's oldest and largest, independent association for physicians-in-training, applauds the pharmaceutical industry for implementing a voluntary ban on gifts to physicians, which began on January 1,

MHRA - Brief Summary Of Reclassifications That Have Been Approved In The Past 12 Months, UK

Please see the relevant entry in List C (consolidated list of substances present in authorised products which have been reclassified since 1 April 2002) for full

MRSA At Record Low For The Chesterfield Royal Hospital, England

The Chesterfield Royal Hospital has recorded its lowest yearly MRSA rates since records began. The latest statistics have been released by the Health Protection Agency with just ten cases recorded at the Royal in the year between April 2007 and March 2008. And the news gets better with the hospital on course to do even better this year with only five recorded cases since April

Hospitals Consult On Proposal To Become An NHS Foundation Trust - Lincolnshire, England

Communities across Lincolnshire are being invited to get involved and have their say on the next step for the future of the county's hospitals, by attending a consultation event in their area. The United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust intends to apply for NHS Foundation Trust

New Device Couples, Fuses Cells For Stem Cell Research

MIT engineers have developed a new, highly efficient way to pair up cells so they can be fused together into a hybrid cell. The new technique should make it much easier for scientists to study what happens when two cells are combined. For example, fusing an adult cell and an embryonic stem cell allows researchers to study the genetic reprogramming that occurs in such

Novel Glioblastoma Mouse Model Developed By Salk Researchers

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a versatile mouse model of glioblastoma - the most common and deadly brain cancer in humans - that closely resembles the development and progression of human brain tumors that arise naturally. "Mouse models of human cancer have taught us a great deal about the basic principles of cancer biology," says Inder Verma,

Discovery Could Improve Understanding Of Ulcerative Colitis, Lead To New Therapies

An international team led by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers has identified genetic markers associated with risk for ulcerative

The High Societal, Economic Burden Of Insomnia Shown By Study

A study in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Sleep indicates that the indirect costs of untreated insomnia are significantly greater than the direct costs associated with its treatment. The study estimates that the total annual cost of insomnia in the province of Quebec is 6.5 billion Canadian dollars, representing about one percent of the province's

Factors Other Than Central Sleep Apnea May Contribute To Poor Sleep Quality In Heart-Failure Patients

A study in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Sleep demonstrates that the frequent arousals from sleep that occur in heart failure patients with central sleep apnea (CSA) may reflect the presence of another underlying arousal disorder rather than being a defensive mechanism to terminate

Reducing Otolaryngic Surgical Infection Rates By Pre-Screening For MRSA

Pre-operative screening of patients for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) may be an effective way to reduce infection rates following otolaryngic surgeries, according to new research published in the January 2009 issue of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck

Toxicity Mechanism Identified For Parkinson's Disease

Neurologists have observed for decades that Lewy bodies, clumps of aggregated proteins inside cells, appear in the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative

Antioxidants Offer Pain Relief In Patients With Chronic Pancreatitis

Antioxidant supplementation was found to be effective in relieving pain and reducing levels of oxidative stress in patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP), reports a new study in Gastroenterology. CP is a progressive inflammatory disease of the pancreas in which patients experience abdominal pain (in early stage) and diabetes and maldigestion (in late

DNA Nanotubes May Soon Find Their Way Into A New Generation Of Ultra-Tiny Electronic And Biomedical Innovations

Arizona State University researchers Hao Yan and Yan Liu imagine and assemble intricate structures on a scale almost unfathomably small. Their medium is the double-helical DNA molecule, a versatile building material offering near limitless construction

Earlier, Individualized Treatment Of Thyroid Cancer Enabled By Molecular Imaging

In a study to determine the diagnostic value of molecular imaging in nodal staging of patients with thyroid cancer, researchers were able for the first time to accurately distinguish between cancerous cells in regional lymph nodes and normal residual thyroid tissue directly after

New Congenital Neutropenia Syndrome And Causative Gene Mutation Identified By Scientists

A team of scientists has discovered a new syndrome associated with severe congenital neutropenia (SCN), a rare disorder in which children lack sufficient infection-fighting white cells, and identified the genetic cause of the syndrome: mutations in the gene Glucose-6-phosphatase, catalytic subunit 3 (G6PC3). The findings, which are published in the

Transplant Program At UT Southwestern University Hospital Recognized For Increasing Organ Donor Rates

The surgical transplant team at UT Southwestern University Hospital has garnered twin awards for its successful efforts to increase organ donation rates. "Each organ donation is an opportunity for new life, so we are gratified with these recognitions," said Dr. Juan Arenas, chief of surgical transplantation and surgical director for the liver transplant

Pharmaceutical Companies Seek Clarity On Evidence Needed For Drug Label Change

With the discovery of a growing number of predictive biomarkers for existing drugs, the question of when and how to add pharmacogenetic information to drug labels has taken on greater urgency. On December 16 the Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC) of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) met in Gaithersburg, MD with representatives from pharmaceutical companies Amgen and

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