Nearly two-thirds of all cancer patients in the United States will undergo radiation therapy as part of their treatment, and as many as 90 percent of those patients will experience radiation dermatitis – a rash or burn on the skin. Topical treatments commonly such as silver sulfadiazine cream contain heavy metals. Therefore, patients have historically been advised to avoid using these…
It has been known for some time that it is better to transfer a single embryo to a woman’s womb during assisted reproduction treatment (ART) to avoid a multiple pregnancy. However, even when single embryo transfer (SET) is performed, some women still become pregnant with twins or even triplets. Researchers have investigated one of the reasons why this happens.
A research team led by Arun Iyer, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Wayne State University, has developed a nanoplatform technology that works in combination with existing chemotherapeutic drugs that may reverse drug-resistance in renal cell carcinoma.
With new immunotherapy treatments for melanoma, recovery rates have risen dramatically – in some cases to around 50%. But they could be much higher. A new study led by researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science showed, in lab dishes and animal studies, that a highly personalized approach could help the immune cells improve their ability to recognize the cancer and kill it.
Around one percent of people infected with HIV produce antibodies that block most strains of the virus. These broadly acting antibodies provide the key to developing an effective vaccine against HIV. Researchers from the University of Zurich and the University Hospital Zurich have now shown that the genome of the HI virus is a decisive factor in determining which antibodies are formed.
A new method predicts the course of HPV-negative head and neck cancer after radiation chemotherapy. According to a recent article in the journal ‘Clinical Cancer Research’, five microRNAs (miRNAs) can provide the decisive data.
An international collaboration between Imperial College London, Singapore's Duke-NUS Medical School and Belgium-based pharmaceutical company UCB led to the discovery of a new anti-epileptic drug target and a whole new approach that promises to speed up the discovery of future drugs to treat debilitating diseases, such as epilepsy.
Four potentially game changing solutions selected for the annual commercial acceleration program of the Spanish foundation for innovation and prospective in healthcare (Spanish: FIPSE), included Duralock, a system that could ease post partum pain by avoiding postdural puncture headache (PDPH), a common complication of epidural anaesthesia. PDPH occurs when the anaesthesiologist punctures the dura…
Researchers at the University of Florida have discovered that a modified version of an important immune cell protein could be used to treat Alzheimer's disease. The study reveals that soluble versions of a protein called TLR5 can reduce the buildup of amyloid plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's disease model mice and prevent the toxic peptide that forms these plaques from killing neurons.
Magnets may play a central role in the future of surgery. This summer, US surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Cadeddu performed the first of several magnet-assisted prostate cancer surgeries he has now done. “Every hole you create in a patient has a risk associated with it. Every incision means increased pain, increased risk of hitting a blood vessel,” days Dr. Cadeddu. The new magnetic approach might prove…
As the world’s largest cardiology congress gets underway in Munich, it’s worth looking back to previous ESC sessions to see how scientific debates have evolved. At ESC 2016, held in Rome, REM-HF investigators presented data suggesting remote monitoring in implantable cardiac devices offered no added clinical benefit. Two years on, there are new reasons to re-examine that conclusion, with a…
Nanomedicine will play an increasingly important role in future diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, a subject explored in detail by four expert speakers at the British Cardiovascular Society conference in Manchester in June. The conference heard that the technology – dealing with dimensions and tolerances of less than 100 nanometres, especially the manipulation of individual…
Physicians have been performing surgery with the assistance of x-ray technology for almost half a century. While this technology has been progressing steadily, its limitations continue to be a major challenge. Thus, many professionals agree: it's time for our method to be changed. Taiwan Main Orthopaedics Biotechnology introduced the worldwide first smart surgical glasses.
Glioblastoma brain tumors can have an unusual effect on the body's immune system, often causing a dramatic drop in the number of circulating T-cells that help drive the body's defenses. Where the T-cells go has been unclear, even as immunotherapies are increasingly employed to stimulate the body's natural ability to fight invasive tumors. Now researchers have tracked the missing T-cells in…
Neurologist who coined the phrase "Time is Brain" says message is not so simple anymore. Rather there should be no hard-and-fast rule governing when therapy can be given because strokes progress differently in different patients.
Researchers Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report that they figured out why air sacs in the lungs clog up with a thick substance called surfactant in a brutal disease called Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP), and they show taking cholesterol-busting pills called statins can effectively treat the disease.
A high-fat diet may promote the growth of pancreatic cancer independent of obesity because of the interaction between dietary fat and cholecystokinin (CCK), a digestive hormone. In addition, blocking CCK may help prevent the spread of pancreatic tumors to other areas of the body (metastases). The new findings are published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal…
A catheter based procedure to close a type of ‘hole in the heart’ followed by antiplatelet drugs (e.g. aspirin) should be recommended for patients under 60 years old, who have also had a stroke, say a panel of experts in The BMJ today. The procedure involves slowly moving a catheter into the heart to close the hole. Most guidelines currently advise against the closure procedure and instead…
Obesity, cancers and other gastrointestinal diseases have digestive systems all over Europe in a chokehold. In a new report, non-profit organisation United European Gastroenterology (UEG) sheds a spotlight on the issues, challenges and inequalities of digestive health - and points out ways to fix the most pressing problems.
Scientists have developed a new bone engineering technique called Segmental Additive Tissue Engineering (SATE). The technique allows researchers to combine segments of bone engineered from stem cells to create large scale, personalized grafts that will enhance treatment for those suffering from bone disease or injury through regenerative medicine.
About a third of epilepsy sufferers require treatment through surgery. To check for severe epilepsy, clinicians use a surgical procedure called electrocorticography (ECoG). An ECoG maps a section of brain tissue to help clinicians identify areas damaged by seizures.
For the first time, a team of international researchers have mapped the family trees of cancer cells in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) to understand how this blood cancer responds to a new drug, enasidenib. The work also explains what happens when a patient stops responding to the treatment, providing important clues about how to combine enasidenib with other anti-cancer drugs to produce…
Robotic surgery is as effective as traditional open surgery in treating bladder cancer, according to a news study. 350 patients participated in the nationwide trial, who were randomly assigned to undergo robotic surgery or open surgery to remove cancerous bladders.
An existing malaria drug could improve the effectiveness of a new class of cancer therapies, called glutaminase inhibitors, if used in combination, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) discovered in a new study.
The exchange of a single amino acid building block in a metabolic enzyme can lead to cancer. In addition, it can impair the immune system. It thus blocks the body’s immune response in the battle against the mutant molecule and also impedes immunotherapy against brain cancer. This finding opens new insights into cancer development and progression and it also suggests that rethinking antitumor…