http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. This month, Molecular Pharmaceutics reported promising findings from the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research and the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Delaware, about the potential for nanotechnology to deliver chemotherapeutic agents in a way that attacks cancer cells without harming healthy cells. To date, nanoparticle-based drug delivery approaches have been poorly developed for the treatment of childhood leukemia, which comprises 30% of childhood cancers. In the Nemours study, encapsulated dexamethasone ("dex") delivered to pre-clinical models with leukemia significantly improved quality of life and survival compared to the control receiving the unencapsulated drug. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-nanotechnology-drug-delivery-treatment-pediatric.html Cancer Tue, 04 Dec 2012 12:06:07 EST news273845157 In an advance toward development of a nasal spray that protects against infection with influenza and spread of the disease, scientists are reporting identification of a substance that activates the first-line defense system against infection inside the nose. They describe effects of a synthetic form of a natural substance found in bacterial cell walls in ACS' journal Molecular Pharmaceutics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-advance-flu-fighting-nasal.html Medications Wed, 12 Sep 2012 11:12:17 EST news266667129 Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shown that an injectable solution can protect mice from an otherwise lethal overdose of cocaine. The findings could lead to human clinical trials of a treatment designed to reverse the effects of cocaine in case of emergency. Cocaine is involved in more than 400,000 emergency-room visits and about 5,000 overdose deaths each year in the United States. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-antidote-cocaine-overdose-lab.html Medications Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:29:41 EST news253970959 Fibroblasts, cells that play a role in the structural framework of tissues, play an apparent role in melanoma tumor growth. Fibroblasts also contribute to melanoma drug resistance and may also facilitate the "flare" response when a tumor's metabolism is enhanced following a patient being removed from a targeted therapy, said researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-fibroblasts-contribute-melanoma-tumor-growth.html Cancer Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:50:09 EST news244986594 The "Lance Armstrong effect" could become a powerful new weapon to fight cancer cells that develop resistance to chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments, scientists say in a report in the ACS journal Molecular Pharmaceutics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-cancer-cells-lance-armstrong-effect.html Cancer Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:14:46 EST news238248878 Medical scientists now have "clear" evidence that the damaged cartilage tissue in osteoarthritis and other painful joint disorders can be encouraged to regrow and regenerate, and are developing tissue engineering technology that could help millions of patients with those disorders. That's the conclusion of a new analysis of almost 100 scientific studies on the topic, published in ACS's journal Molecular Pharmaceutics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-tissue-joint-osteoarthritis.html Medical research Wed, 08 Jun 2011 10:03:28 EST news226746201 A new test shows promise for detecting the early stages of a major cause of failure in joint replacement implants, so that patients can be treated and perhaps avoid additional surgery. More than 1.5 million total joint replacement operations are performed worldwide each year. While the success rate is 90 per cent, almost 10 per cent of implants fail and require additional surgery, report appears in the ACS journal Molecular Pharmaceutics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-joint-failure.html Medical research Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:40:02 EST news223119590