http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—Working with lab mice models of multiple sclerosis (MS), UC Davis scientists have detected a novel molecular target for the design of drugs that could be safer and more effective than current FDA-approved medications against MS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-approach-treatment-ms-conditions.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Fri, 17 May 2013 16:54:30 EST news288028433 To mark the European Month of the Brain, we look at one EU-funded project that has focussed efforts on drug delivery across the so-called blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier (BBB), while preforming a key protective function, is now recognised as the major obstacle in the treatment of most neurological disorders. It hinders the delivery of many potentially important therapeutic and diagnostic substances to the central nervous system (CNS). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-blood-brain-barrier.html Medical research Mon, 13 May 2013 05:40:40 EST news287642389 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington scientists have identified a class of immune cells that reside long-term in the genital skin and mucosa and are believed to be responsible for suppressing recurring outbreaks of genital herpes. These immune cells also play a role in suppressing symptoms of genital herpes, which is why most sufferers of the disease are asymptomatic when viral reactivations occur. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-immune-cells-suppress-genital-herpes.html Immunology Wed, 08 May 2013 13:00:01 EST news287236436 Tumor cells often express proteins that set them apart from their healthy neighbors. These very same proteins can also help the immune system to recognize and destroy the cancer. Several research groups and companies have already demonstrated proof-of-concept for antitumor therapeutic vaccines based on this principle, typically employing 'retrained' dendritic cells (DCs) harvested from a patient's own immune system. To date, however, such vaccines have demonstrated only limited effectiveness in beating back tumor progression. Shin-ichiro Fujii, Kanako Shimizu and colleagues from the RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology have now revealed research that could supercharge the potency of future cancer vaccines. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-two-pronged-approach-immune-vaccines-effectively.html Cancer Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:39:06 EST news286184340 In the era of molecular medicine, potentially active compounds for use in cancer therapies can be identified faster than ever before. Yet pinpointing the molecular target of an anticancer compound and deducing its mode of action remains a painstaking process. Yushi Futamura, Hiroyuki Osada and colleagues from the Chemical Biology Department of the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute have now discovered that anticancer compounds induce a shape change in target tumor cells that is directly related to a compound's mode of action. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-cancer-drugs.html Cancer Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:30:01 EST news285839665 A new broad range antibiotic, developed jointly by scientists at The Rockefeller University and Astex Pharmaceuticals, has been found to kill a wide range of bacteria, including drug-resistant Staphylococcus (MRSA) bacteria that do not respond to traditional drugs, in mice. The antibiotic, Epimerox, targets weaknesses in bacteria that have long been exploited by viruses that attack them, known as phage, and has even been shown to protect animals from fatal infection by Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria that causes anthrax. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-scientists-nature-antibiotic-resistance.html Medications Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:00:02 EST news284831058 An international research collaboration led by scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and the University of Dundee, in the U.K., have developed a way to efficiently and effectively make designer drugs that hit multiple protein targets at once. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-paves-drugs-aimed-multiple-protein.html Medical research Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:00:16 EST news274533992 Scientists searching for ways to develop treatments for Huntington's disease (HD) just got a roadmap that could dramatically speed their discovery process. Researchers at the Buck Institute have used RNA interference (RNAi) technology to identify hundreds of "druggable" molecular targets linked to the toxicity associated with the devastating, ultimately fatal disease. The results from this unprecedented genome-scale screen in a human cell model of HD are published in the November 29, 2012 edition of PLOS Genetics. The work was is a collaboration between Buck Institute faculty members Robert E. Hughes, Ph.D., Sean Mooney, Ph.D., Lisa Ellerby, Ph.D. and Juan Botas, Ph.D. at the Baylor College of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-genome-scale-hundreds-potential-drug-huntington.html Genetics Thu, 29 Nov 2012 17:32:16 EST news273432726 Researchers in France are taking advantage of the progress in genetic and molecular profiling to analyse the make-up of individual cancer patients' tumours and, using this information, assign them to particular treatments and phase I clinical trials—an approach that could become part of everyday clinical practice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-molecular-portraits-tumours-patients-trials.html Cancer Thu, 08 Nov 2012 18:00:04 EST news271613695 A completely new way of delivering anti-cancer drugs to tumours, using 'minicells' derived from bacteria, has been tested for the first time in humans and found to be safe, well-tolerated and even induced stable disease in patients with advanced, incurable cancers with no treatment options remaining. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-trial-humans-minicells-anti-cancer-drugs.html Cancer Thu, 08 Nov 2012 18:00:03 EST news271613615 Preliminary findings from the first trial of a new drug for patients with mesothelioma show that it has some success in preventing the spread of the deadly disease in patients lacking an active tumour suppressor gene called NF2. The study is presented at the 24th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Dublin, Ireland, today (Friday). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-mesothelioma-drug-disease-patients-inactive.html Cancer Thu, 08 Nov 2012 18:00:02 EST news271613650 Researchers have developed a non-invasive way of predicting how much of a cancer-killing drug is absorbed by a tumour. The preliminary study, which will be reported at the 24th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Dublin, Ireland, today (Thursday), was conducted in lung cancer patients and it also revealed that less than one per cent of the drug, docetaxel, is absorbed by the tumours. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-non-invasive-technique-patients-response-chemotherapy.html Cancer Wed, 07 Nov 2012 18:28:27 EST news271535298 Cancer patients with mutations or variations in two genes -– PIK3CA and PTEN -– who have failed to respond to several, standard treatments, respond significantly better to anti-cancer drugs that inhibit these genes' pathways of action, according to research presented at the 24th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Dublin, Ireland, today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-patients-aberrations-genes-drugs-blocking.html Cancer Wed, 07 Nov 2012 18:27:28 EST news271535236 Few available treatment options exist once prostate cancer has spread to other parts of the body and has failed to respond to therapies that involve blocking the male hormone androgen. Patients with advanced, hormone-refractory prostate cancer usually die from the disease after 12 to 18 months, so new therapies are desperately needed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-therapy-advanced-prostate-cancer-anti-tumor.html Cancer Wed, 07 Nov 2012 18:26:19 EST news271535169 A newly developed antibody targeting a signalling pathway that is frequently active in solid tumours has shown encouraging signs of efficacy in its first trial in humans, researchers will report at the 24th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Dublin, Ireland, today (Wednesday). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-monoclonal-antibody-inhibits-tumor-growth.html Cancer Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:00:03 EST news271440465 Scientists in the United States have tested all possible pairings of the 100 cancer drugs approved for use in patients in order to discover whether there are any combinations not tried previously that are effective in certain cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-scientists-combinations-cancer-drugs-effective.html Cancer Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:00:01 EST news271440532 (Medical Xpress)—A new molecule designed to treat Alzheimer's disease has significant promise and is potentially the safest to date, according to researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-purdue-designed-molecule-closer-alzheimer-treatment.html Medical research Wed, 03 Oct 2012 07:51:20 EST news268469464 Research carried out at The University of Manchester has found further evidence that a simple solution, which is already used in IV drips, is an effective treatment for reducing inflammation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-solution-inflammation.html Inflammatory disorders Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:29:50 EST news267355777 Scientists at Tulane University School of Medicine, led by Dr. James Antoon and Dr. Barbara Beckman, have characterized two drugs targeting sphingosine kinase (SK), an enzyme involved in cancer growth and metastasis. New treatments specifically attacking cancer cells, but not normal ones, are critical in the fight against cancer. The results, which appear in the July 2012 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, demonstrate the role of SK in drug resistance and therapeutic potential of SK inhibitors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-drug-resistant-cancer-inhibition-sphingosine.html Cancer Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:38:44 EST news263731115 Drugs for type 2 diabetes can contribute to weight gain, bone fractures and cardiovascular problems, but in mice, an investigational drug appears to improve insulin sensitivity without those troublesome side effects, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-diabetes-drug-side-effects.html Medical research Mon, 04 Jun 2012 17:51:39 EST news258051090 Cardiac researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that a certain cellular pathway is linked to obesity-related disorders, like diabetes, heart disease and fatty liver disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-cellular-pathway-linked-diabetes-heart.html Medical research Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:20:03 EST news254058299 Scientists who developed a technology for identifying and targeting unique protein receptor ZIP Codes on the cellular surface have found a way to penetrate the outer membrane and deliver engineered particles - called iPhage - to organelles inside the cell. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-scientists-tailor-cell-surface-organelle.html Medical research Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:17:25 EST news253898239 Testing patients with non-small cell lung cancer for both mutations and amplifications of the KRAS gene prior to therapy may help to predict response to treatment with antifolates, according to the updated results of a preclinical study presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-kras-gene-mutation-amplification-status.html Cancer Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:12:41 EST news252753151 Researchers have taken a critical step in understanding how allergic reactions occur after identifying a genetic signature for regulation of a key immune hormone, interleukin (IL-13). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-allergic-diseases.html Immunology Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:10:01 EST news252149755 A study led by Eric Courchesne, PhD, director of the Autism Center of Excellence at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has, for the first time, identified in young autism patients genetic mechanisms involved in abnormal early brain development and overgrowth that occurs in the disorder. The findings suggest novel genetic and molecular targets that could lead to discoveries of new prevention strategies and treatment for the disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-gene-abnormalities-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:00:04 EST news251654116 An international team of researchers led by clinicians at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered a genetic Achilles' heel in an aggressive type of prostate cancer -- a vulnerability they say can be attacked by a targeted drug that is already in clinical trials to treat other types of cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-achilles-heel-lethal-prostate-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:30:52 EST news240723012 Researchers have developed a new genetic screening tool that will aid in the investigation of possible treatments for patients with melanoma and the unique genetic mutations that may accompany the disease, according to data presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, held Nov. 12-16, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-panel-melanoma-mutations-door-treatment.html Cancer Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:04:03 EST news240595419 Patients with non-small cell lung cancer who have mutations in the KRAS gene should respond well to the antifolate class of drugs, according to results of a recent study conducted by Quintiles comparing human lung cancer cell lines and patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-antifolates-nsclc-subtype.html Cancer Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:03:52 EST news240465805 Findings from preclinical studies in a skin cancer model showed that next-generation BRAF inhibitors used alone, or first-generation BRAF inhibitors used in combination with an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor, may have the potential to prevent drug-induced skin lesions in BRAF mutation-positive patients treated for melanoma. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-approaches-side-effects-braf-mutation-positive.html Cancer Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:22:02 EST news240427310 Researchers have created a new phenotypic screening platform that better predicts success of drugs developed to prevent blood vessel tumor growth when moving out of the lab and onto actual tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-effective-potential-cancer-drugs.html Cancer Sun, 13 Nov 2011 14:16:35 EST news240416187