The collaboration between two companies may pave the way for the development of new therapy options for neuroendocrine tumors: Covidien LTd, a global provider of healthcare products and BioSynthema Inc., a company specialized in the discovery and development of molecular targeted biophamaceuticals recently signed an agreement that will gain BioSynthema access to specific Covidien proprietary…
Change is occurring at a rapid rate in cancer care - in many European countries cancer services are now being provided primarily in an ambulatory or outpatient setting with subsequent change of resources. Karen Luker, Professor of Community Nursing at the Universtiy of Manchester, UK, thinks that specialist nurses should not only refresh their knowledge of existing and new therapies. As the face…
"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
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…
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)…
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 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.
By Henning von Eicke of Roche Diagnostics GmbH
AstraZeneca has been collaborating with researchers who detected a potential Aurora B inhibitor.
Prevention is better than cure - use the technology! A report from the 1st International High Tech in Medicine congress.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).