FRANCE: Thousands will lose healthcare cover
"If you think 53 makes you old enough to retire, then fine, go ahead and retire. But don't expect the state to pay for it." President Nicolas Sarkozy, during his election campaign
Colon cancer
Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Endoscopic Ultrasound
Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is the combination of ultrasound and endoscopy, which allows placement of high-frequency transducers close to the intestinal wall and adjacent structures. As EUS enters its third decade, it is used for locoregional staging of many upper gastrointestinal malignancies, including cancers of the oesophagus, stomach, duodenum, ampulla of Vater, extrahepatic bile ducts and…
Contrast Harmonic Imaging (CHI)
Case 1 50-year-old male with a colorectal cancer. Greyscale imaging clearly shows the lesion, as an echogenic 3 cm mass (Fig.l a), which must be considered as suspicious for a metastasis from his colorectal cancer but benefit of the doubt must be given. Colour Doppler (Fig. 1b) is not helpful. At 33 seconds after SonoVue injection (early sinusoidal phase), Vascular Recognition Imaging (VRI)…
Virtual Coloscopy
Increasingly more importance is being ascribed to early detection of colon carcinoma and of its precursor stages, since there has been a practically twofold increase in the incidence of this disease in Germany over the past 20 years. With a combination of 1. case history, 2. rectal palpation result, 3.'blood in stools' test (haemoccult) and 4. coloscopy, many conspicuous changes to the intestinal…
In-vivo and in-vitro diagnostics in molecular medicine
In molecular medicine - and particularly in oncology - Siemens Medical Solutions is concentrating on further development of the FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose) biomarker to improve identification of certain tumours.
Low compliance with guidance harms patients
By Henning von Eicke of Roche Diagnostics GmbH
New Cancer Drug Hope
AstraZeneca has been collaborating with researchers who detected a potential Aurora B inhibitor.
The 1st International High Tech in Medicine congress
Prevention is better than cure - use the technology! A report from the 1st International High Tech in Medicine congress.
Small wireless device to improve cancer treatment
USA - Engineers are developing a tiny wireless device - the size of a rice grain - to be implanted in tumours to indicate the precise radiation dose received and to locate the exact position of tumours during treatment.
Alga may help
A European study involving 500,000+ people aged between 25-70 years, in 20 European countries, has confirmed a connection between dietary fibre consumption and colon cancer protection.
Alcohol ups colon cancer risk
Denmark - Regular drinkers significantly increase their risk of rectal cancer, but that risk is reduced if wine makes up a third or more of weekly consumption, according to research carried out by Professor Morten Grønbaek, at the Centre for Alcohol Research, National Institute of Public Health, Copenhagen, published in the journal GUT.
High-cal intake: Hope for bowel cancer?
France - Less than 50% of those affected by bowel cancer survive beyond five years after diagnosis. However, new research* surprisingly suggests that a high calorie diet may increase chances of survival for longer.
New approaches for gentler healing
By Professor Horst Neuhaus MD, Head of Internal Medicine at the Evangelical Hospital, Dusseldorf, describes highlights during April's 33rd Congress of the German Society of Endoscopy and Imaging Procedures (DGE-BV).