http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A device co-developed by a University of Houston (UH) physicist to detect the spread of breast cancer and allow physicians to better plan intervention is extending its market reach, bringing it another step closer to clinical trials in the U.S. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-probe-breast-cancer-boost.html Cancer Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:47:54 EST news284744867 Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that a new imaging dye, designed and developed at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, is an effective agent in detecting and mapping cancers that have reached the lymph nodes. The radioactive dye called Technetium Tc-99m tilmanocept, successfully identified cancerous lymph nodes and did a better job of marking cancers than the current standard dye. Results of the Phase III clinical trial published online today in the Annals of Surgical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-imaging-agent-enables-cancer-accurate.html Cancer Wed, 20 Mar 2013 16:01:41 EST news283014093 A recent study conducted by a group of German scientists revealed the presence of a previously unknown cell in the urethra of mice. These chemosensory cholinergic brush cells are in close contact to sensory neurons that express cholinergic receptors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-uncovers-cells-urethra-hazardous-substances.html Medical research Fri, 15 Mar 2013 03:00:01 EST news282499052 (HealthDay)—Sentinel injuries are common among infants who suffer abuse and are rare in those who are evaluated for abuse and found to not be abused, according to a study published online March 11 in Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-sentinel-injuries-common-infants-abused.html Pediatrics Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:40:01 EST news282398303 Studying HIV-1, the most common and infectious HIV subtype, Johns Hopkins scientists have identified 25 human proteins "stolen" by the virus that may be critical to its ability to infect new cells. HIV-1 viruses capture many human proteins from the cells they infect but the researchers believe these 25 proteins may be particularly important because they are found in HIV-1 viruses coming from two very different types of infected cells. A report on the discovery, published online in the Journal of Proteome Research on Feb. 22, could help in building diagnostic tools and novel treatment strategies to fight HIV infection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-hiv-disguises-human-proteins-crucial.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:34:06 EST news281183636 (Medical Xpress)—In a surprise breakthrough, researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute and their colleagues have found that microglia remove healthy neural progenitor cells (NPCs) through phagocytosis to control neuron production during brain development. This newly discovered mechanism keeps neuron numbers in check, preventing brain overgrowth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-microglia-neuron-production-brain.html Neuroscience Wed, 27 Feb 2013 09:49:44 EST news281180973 Women who have had the lymph nodes under their arm surgically removed during breast cancer treatment are warned to avoid certain practices that can cause lymphedema—a condition that causes chronic, painless swelling in the arm. Now, a new study published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons suggests that the vast majority of women who undergo breast cancer operations worry about developing this complication and that this fear far exceeds their actual risk of getting lymphedema. In fact, most women adopt four to five commonly recommended measures to prevent this incurable condition despite little data supporting the efficacy of these precautionary behaviors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-breast-cancer-patients-lymphedema.html Surgery Mon, 25 Feb 2013 12:44:18 EST news281018650 A special report published by the BMJ today finds that thousands of melanoma patients around the world are undergoing an expensive and invasive procedure called sentinel node biopsy, despite a lack of clear evidence and concerns that it may do more harm than good. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-bmj-effectiveness-costly-invasive-procedure.html Cancer Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:30:01 EST news276874901 A study led by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers has found that an important branch of the immune system, in reaction to the development of atherosclerotic lesions, mounts a surprisingly robust anti-inflammatory T cell response that helps prevent the disease from progressing. The findings may help inform the design of anti-atherosclerosis vaccines and other therapies that can take advantage of this aspect of the immune system. The study was published today in the online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-insights-immune-atherosclerosis.html Immunology Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:38:28 EST news275323100 African American women with early stage, invasive breast cancer were 12 percent less likely than Caucasian women with the same diagnosis to receive a minimally invasive technique, axillary sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy, years after the procedure had become the standard of surgical practice, according to research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-african-american-women-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:13:53 EST news273939221 Most patients whose breast cancer has spread to their lymph nodes have most of the lymph nodes in their armpit area removed after chemotherapy to see if any cancer remains. A study conducted through the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group and led by Judy Boughey, M.D. a breast surgeon at Mayo Clinic shows that a less invasive procedure known as sentinel lymph node surgery successfully identified whether cancer remained in lymph nodes in 91 percent of patients with node-positive breast cancer who received chemotherapy before their surgery. In sentinel lymph node surgery, only a few lymph nodes, the ones most likely to contain cancer, are removed. The findings are being presented at the 2012 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-invasive-surgery-residual-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 05 Dec 2012 09:46:07 EST news273923162 (Medical Xpress)—A newly discovered gene that is essential for embryo survival could also hold the key to treating and potentially controlling chronic infections such as HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-survival-gene-key-hiv-hepatitis.html Immunology Mon, 26 Nov 2012 09:18:48 EST news273143921 Preoperative 3-dimensional visualization of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) with a technique known as single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography was associated with a higher rate of detection of positive SLNs and a higher rate of disease-free survival among patients with melanoma, according to a study in the September 12 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-technique-ct-linked-lymph-node.html Cancer Tue, 11 Sep 2012 16:00:06 EST news266597201 Melanoma, newly diagnosed in more than 76,000 Americans in 2011, is the most common and dangerous form of skin cancer. Melanoma is rare in children, accounting for 1 to 4 percent of all melanoma cases and just 3 percent of pediatric cancers. Just as adult cases of melanoma are increasing, pediatric melanoma is rising at the rate of 1 to 4 percent per year. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-childhood-melanoma-characteristics.html Cancer Fri, 07 Sep 2012 03:54:59 EST news266208890 (HealthDay) -- Sentinel lymph node biopsy -- a minimally invasive surgical technique that lets doctors see whether cancer has spread -- should be performed on patients with melanoma tumors of intermediate thickness and may also be appropriate for thick melanoma tumors, according to new guidelines released Monday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-guidelines-issued-biopsy-melanoma-patients.html Cancer Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:10:01 EST news261074675 (HealthDay) -- For women with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the vulva, sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy may be safely used in place of inguinal femoral lymphadenectomy, according to research published online July 2 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-sentinel-node-biopsy-safe-vulvar.html Cancer Sun, 08 Jul 2012 05:51:48 EST news260945496 Research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified a possible new approach to defeating bacterial infections by targeting an innate immune system component in a bid to invigorate the immune response. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-innate-immune-protein-war-bacterial.html Immunology Mon, 02 Jul 2012 11:04:21 EST news260445856 (HealthDay) -- Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) grade is an independent predictor of melanoma-specific survival and sentinel lymph node (SLN) status in patients with localized primary cutaneous melanoma, according to a study published online June 18 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-tumor-infiltrating-lymphocyte-grade-ids-melanoma.html Cancer Wed, 20 Jun 2012 18:00:01 EST news259430095 Contrary to a trend in treatment, breast cancer patients with suspicious lymph nodes should have an ultrasound-guided axillary node biopsy, and if that biopsy is positive these patients should undergo an axillary dissection, a new study shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-breast-cancer-patients-positive-ultrasound.html Cancer Thu, 03 May 2012 04:20:01 EST news255233346 One of the major routes of tumor cell dissemination to form metastasis at distant organs in the body is the lymphatic system. To study this process, still poorly understood, and to gain information on which tumors prefer this route for dissemination and how to block it, researchers of the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), led by researcher Sagrario Ortega, have created transgenic mice in which, for the first time, the growth of the lymphatic vessels can be visualized in the whole animal, by a light-emitting reaction, as tumor progresses and forms metastasis. The technique is so sensitive that it allows monitoring those lymph nodes that are going to be invaded by tumor cells. The work is published today in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-genetically-mice-visualize-vivo-inflammation.html Cancer Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:25:02 EST news252602696 Nearly one in three women who have breast cancer surgery will need to return to the operating room for additional surgery after the tumor is evaluated by a pathologist. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-women-breast-cancer-surgeries-university.html Cancer Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:28:24 EST news249647296 Using two cell surface markers found to be highly expressed in breast cancer lymph node metastases, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, working with colleagues at other institutions, have developed targeted, fluorescent molecular imaging probes that can non-invasively detect breast cancer lymph node metastases. The new procedure could spare breast cancer patients invasive and unreliable sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsies and surgery-associated negative side effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-noninvasive-lymph-node-metastasis.html Cancer Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:04:20 EST news245592202 The research team in France has developed an animal model carrying a mutation of the DCC gene. Mice carrying the mutation develop tumours, because this gene can no longer induce the death of the cancer cells. This discovery could lead to the development of a new targeted cancer treatment that aims to reactivate the dying of cancer cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-gene-colorectal-cancers.html Cancer Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:18:47 EST news243083919 Dendritic cells, discovered in 1973 by Ralph Steinman (2011 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine) and known for their role as sentinels of the immune system, have an essential function in the development of high endothelial venules (HEVs), acting as genuine entry sites of lymphocytes into lymph nodes, inflamed tissues and malignant tumors. This is what Christine Moussion and Jean-Philippe Girard, researchers at the Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Structurale (CNRS/France) showed in a study published online in the journal Nature on November 13, 2011. A better understanding of this process could lead to major applications in the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-dendritic-cells-lymphocyte-entry-lymph.html Medical research Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:28:06 EST news240740873 A Johns Hopkins Children's Center study of young people with melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, has found that some children have a higher risk of invasive disease than adults. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-invasive-melanoma-children-adults.html Cancer Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:17:56 EST news237050263 Patients with Merkel Cell Carcinoma who underwent a procedure called sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNLB) had a lower risk of cancer recurrence after two years, according to a study by researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center. When the biopsy's results were used to guide subsequent tests and treatment, these patients had longer survival rates than patients who had not undergone the procedure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-sentinel-lymph-node-biopsy-outcomes_1.html Cancer Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:06:15 EST news236887470 A common technique for determining whether melanoma has spread can be used safely and effectively even in tumors from the head and neck area, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-sentinel-node-biopsy-safe-effective.html Cancer Fri, 05 Aug 2011 11:01:44 EST news231760879 A new study shows that removing lymph nodes due to the presence of occult, or microscopic, cancer cells found in the sentinel lymph node – the one closest to the tumor -- has no impact on survival outcomes of women with early-stage breast cancer. The principal investigator of the study is Armando E. Giuliano, MD, of Cedars-Sinai, who already is renowned for his clinical expertise and for his seminal research on lymph node removal in women with early-stage breast cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-hidden-cancer-cells-factor-early-stage.html Cancer Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:00:31 EST news230886044