The biology of cancers
Cancer research is progressing rapidly. For a large part, biology contributes to its most significant advances, which aim to renew the whole model of cancer care.
Research
The first whole-body MRI-PET system
The technological integration of positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been the dream of molecular imaging experts and engineers for some time. Now, the German Science Council has agreed to provide 6.56 million funding to install a whole-body MRI-PET prototype in the centre of excellence for imaging procedures at the radiology clinic in Eberhard-Karls…
A 7-Tesla in clinical diagnostics?
Most of the 30 institutes around the world that work with a 7-Tesla MRI scanner do not focus on answering questions about the clinical benefit of this field strength; their efforts revolve around the brain and neurosciences. One exception is the Erwin L Hahn, at the Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, which is based at the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex, a World Heritage Site in…
11.7-T scanner a magnet to draw international researchers to France
A massive scanner for in vivo molecular imaging of the human brain will reveal the metabolic processes of neurological disorders, John Brosky reports
Eröffnung des Heidelberger Ionenstrahl-Therapiezentrums (HIT)
Am 2. November wurde das Heidelberger Ionenstrahl-Therapiezentrum (HIT) feierlich eröffnet. Die am GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt entwickelte Krebstherapie steht nun erstmals im Routinebetrieb einer großen Patientenzahl zur Verfügung. Bislang wurden Patienten ausschließlich am Therapieplatz bei GSI behandelt. Die Therapie mit Ionenstrahlen…
Taking part in clinical trials is good for health
Patients with chronic heart failure who agree to take part in clinical trials have a better prognosis than those who do not, according to a study reported in the November European Journal of Heart Failure. The finding, say the authors, may even call into question the commonplace ethical requirement of most clinical trials that by choosing not to take part in the study a patient will not be…
Biochips to aid in cancer diagnosis
It is very difficult to predict whether a cancer drug will help an individual patient: only around one third of drugs will work directly in a given patient. Researchers at the Heinz Nixdorf Chair for Medical Electronics at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have developed a new test process for cancer drugs. With the help of microchips, they can establish in the laboratory whether a…
HPV vaccines indicate further benefits for cervical cancer protection
New human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine studies presented at the 16th International Meeting of the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) in Belgrade, Serbia, this week have confirmed sustained protection against precancerous cervical lesions in healthy young women, as well as beneficial effects for women previously treated for cervical, vulvar or vaginal precancers or genital warts.
Carl Zeiss Speeds brain mapping and 3-D reconstruction
Electron microscopy and analysis instruments from Carl Zeiss are redefining the science of brain mapping and 3-D reconstruction. Wide-field, high resolution imaging, huge data storage and manipulation capabilities plus highly automated sample preparation techniques are yielding research results 100-times, or more, faster than ever before.
Cancer: Holistic approach is needed
Europe is facing the challenge of an expected dramatic increase in the prevalence of cancer that could reach 15 million Europeans by 2020. Health systems will require the promotion of innovative funding and a rethink in regulation, according to a new study released today at the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG), the European Union's leading health policy congress for experts and…
Pharma research suffers
The biotech industry is being hit twice as hard by the economic crisis. In addition to the general economic downturn, the largely dried-up equity market, which has massively complicated the usual equity financing through the stock exchange or venture capital, is causing problems for companies.
Child diabetes cases set to soar across Europe
Expert advises specific strategies should be developed to deal with this relatively new patient group.
Colorectal cancers
Incidence data from cancer registries have drawn the attention to colorectal cancer. It is one of the most common cancers in developed countries. In 2006, the estimated number of new cases in the European Union of 25 member states was 297,000 for both genders.
Russia's continuing laser medicine advances
For the past 30 years, in the former USSR and Russia, laser medicine has been actively developed and regular annual conferences have opened new avenues for its use by the country's doctors.
Research on insulin cancer risk rings alarm
Four different population-based studies, recently published in Diabetelogia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), examine a possible link between insulin glargine (brand name, Lantus) and cancer.
Embracing Excellence in Prostate, Bladder and Kidney Cancer
Barcelona, Spain 26-29 November
Cardiovascular research
As Professor Valentin Fuster pointed out this year, the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) is now a splendid reality thanks to the support of the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III institutions on which, now and for the future, it depends. Along with that public sector backing, CNIC will also receive civil support from the ProCNIC…
Synthetic lethality
Completion of a Phase I clinical trial has demonstrated the great promise of a completely new type of cancer treatment, according to results announced this June in The New England Journal of Medicine by scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and the Royal Marsden Hospital in the United Kingdom, working with pharma firm AstraZeneca.
Nutrition and functionality: key partners in ageing
Every second geriatric patient acutely hospitalised in Europe suffers malnutrition and, worse, this often goes unnoticed. These shocking facts were aired this July in Paris, during a satellite symposium held by the Nestlé Nutrition Institute at the 19th IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics.
Molekularer Schalter für Herzschwäche entdeckt
Charité-Wissenschaftler beschreiben die Rolle des Proteins CTGF Wissenschaftler der Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin und des Max-Delbrück Centrums für molekulare Medizin (MDC) in Berlin Buch haben die Funktion des Proteins Connective Tissue Growth Factor (CTGF) im Herzen aufgeklärt.
Silenced genes as a warning sign of blood cancer
In the genetic material of cancer cells, important growth inhibitors are often switched off by chemical labels in the DNA. Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center and the Ohio State University, USA, discovered in mice that cancer-typical DNA labeling occurs long before the first symptoms of leukemia appear. A test for the genetic label might therefore help to detect a developing cancer at…
The AACC Annual Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo
The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) hosts its 2009 meeting in conjunction with the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Along with this, a high European participation is on the cards. "We are pleased that so many peers from Europe join us each year, and that our European colleagues lead many of the important scientific sessions," said Barbara Goldsmith PhD, current AACC…
Public health puzzle - inequalities in health
In almost all of the industrialised countries, the general health status - as indicated for example by infant mortality, prevalence of disease, subjective health and life expectancy - has improved during the last four decades. At the same time, however, there is a proven close correlation between good and poor health and high and low socioeconomic status.
Hospital Universitari Vall d`Hebron to work with Roche technology
The Research Institute of the Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (IR-HUVH) in Barcelona is the first Spanish health centre to acquire the Genome Sequencer FLX System from 454 Life Sciences, a Roche company. This new high-performance sequencing system improves the productivity and precision of genome sequencing at IR-HUVH.
