http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest news from University of North Carolina School of Medicine Multiple myeloma is a form of cancer where the plasma cells in the bone marrow grow out of control, causing damage to bones as well as predisposing patients to anemia, infection and kidney failure. A medical procedure called autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, commonly known as a stem cell transplant, is frequently an important treatment option for many patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-benefit-maintenance-therapy-multiple-myeloma.html Cancer Fri, 11 May 2012 15:13:34 EST news255968004 Cancer therapies targeting specific molecular subtypes of the disease allow physicians to tailor treatment to a patient's individual molecular profile. But scientists are finding that in many types of cancer the molecular subtypes are more varied than previously thought and contain further genetic alterations that can affect a patient's response to therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-molecular-subtypes-genetic-response-lung.html Cancer Fri, 11 May 2012 15:12:55 EST news255967873 In early results of a large-scale randomized study published in 2010 and led by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, giving daily antiretroviral drugs (ART) to HIV-infected moms or their breastfeeding babies for 28 weeks proved safe and effective for preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission through breast milk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-longer-breastfeeding-antiretroviral-drugs-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:30:03 EST news254592611 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has awarded the 12th Perl-UNC Neuroscience prize to Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD of Stanford University and Edward Boyden, PhD and Feng Zhang, PhD of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-stanford-mit-scientists-perl-unc-neuroscience.html Neuroscience Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:57:02 EST news254573815 Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have identified a new way to deliver long-lasting pain relief through an ancient medical practice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-pain-relief-pap-longer-traditional.html Medical research Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:35:32 EST news254399725 A treatment for localized prostate cancer known as Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is better than conventional conformal radiation therapy (CRT) for reducing certain side effects and preventing cancer recurrence, according to a study published in the April 18, 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. In 2012, approximately 241,740 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-intensity-modulated-therapy-optimal-localized.html Cancer Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:50:20 EST news253878614 In a paper published today in the journal Cell, a team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill unveils the first broad-based test for activation of protein kinases "en masse", enabling measurement of the mechanism behind drug-resistant cancer and rational prediction of successful combination therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-kinase-yield-big-gains-drug-resistant.html Cancer Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:00:04 EST news253441476 A team of scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Vanderbilt University have pinpointed the region on dengue virus that is neutralized in people who overcome infection with the deadly pathogen. The results challenge the current state of dengue vaccine research, which is based on studies in mice and targets a different region of the virus. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-achilles-heel-dengue-virus-future.html Medical research Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:07:30 EST news253371985 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers working as part of the International Cystic Fibrosis Consortium have discovered several regions of the genome that may predispose cystic fibrosis (CF) patients to develop an intestinal blockage while still in the uterus. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-gene-variations-linked-intestinal-blockage.html Genetics Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:00:15 EST news252502985 At the molecular level, drugs like salvinorin A (the active ingredient of the hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum) work by activating specific proteins, known as receptors, in the brain and body. Salvinorin A, the most potent naturally occurring hallucinogen, is unusual in that it interacts with only one receptor in the human brain — the kappa opioid receptor (KOR). Scientists know of four distinct types of opioid receptors, but until now the structure of the 'salvia receptor', and the details about how salvinorin A and other drugs interact with it, was a mystery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-salvia-receptor-reveals-salvinorin-interacts.html Medical research Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:00:02 EST news251556219 What characterizes many people with depression, schizophrenia and some other mental illnesses is anhedonia: an inability to gain pleasure from normally pleasurable experiences. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-brain-mechanism-reward-enjoyment.html Neuroscience Wed, 21 Mar 2012 12:44:37 EST news251552669 A team of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have successfully flushed latent HIV infection from hiding, with a drug used to treat certain types of lymphoma. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-drug-purge-hidden-hiv-virus.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:43:51 EST news250443824 The recent U.S. economic recession was the longest and most severe since World War II. During this period, personal spending on health care grew at the slowest rate in over 50 years, suggesting that Americans used less health care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-recession-high-co-pays-tied-colonoscopy.html Health Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:55:57 EST news249058549 A series of 15 scientific papers published this week in the journals of the Genetics Society of America (Genetics and G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics) put North Carolina at the epicenter of a scientific resource called the Collaborative Cross – a "library" of genetic diversity that scientists believe can help fast-track important discoveries about genetics and disease into new discoveries, tests, and treatments that impact human health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-north-carolina-based-genetic-resources-fuel.html Genetics Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:30:01 EST news248609568 UNC researchers have discovered how the genetic defect underlying one of the most common congenital heart diseases keeps the critical organ from developing properly. According to the new research, mutations in a gene called SHP-2 distort the shape of cardiac muscle cells so they are unable to form a fully functioning heart. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-molecular-link-genetic-defect-heart.html Genetics Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:25:17 EST news247749883