http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A new class of drug targeting skin cancer's genetic material has been successfully tested in humans for the first time, opening the way to new treatments for a range of conditions from skin cancers to eye diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-drug-skin-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 07 May 2013 08:50:02 EST news287134709 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) have published findings that help explain how a common and particularly resilient form of liver cancer evades the body's natural antitumor responses. The study, published April 15 in the journal Cancer Research, a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), is the first to examine the combined effect of immunosuppression on immune function in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the fifth-most-common cancer in the world and the third-leading cause of cancer-related mortality globally. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-liver-cancers-armed-strategies-evading.html Cancer Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:51:37 EST news285490290 National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists studying an emerging coronavirus have found that a combination of two licensed antiviral drugs, ribavirin and interferon-alpha 2b, can stop the virus from replicating in laboratory-grown cells. These results suggest that the drug combination could be used to treat patients infected with the new coronavirus, but more research is needed to confirm this preliminary finding. The study appears in the April 18, 2013, issue of Scientific Reports. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-treatment-coronavirus-early-lab.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 18 Apr 2013 05:00:02 EST news285437011 Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a specific gene that regulates the heart's ability to regenerate after injuries. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-gene-regenerates-heart-tissue-critical.html Genetics Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:00:13 EST news285416459 A newly published study of patients with pulmonary fibrosis has discovered multiple genetic variations that should help with future efforts to treat the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-genetic-variation-contributes-pulmonary-fibrosis.html Genetics Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:48:54 EST news285263326 A new study suggests that the type of bio-cellular grafts increasingly used by surgeons to repair damaged tissue may be useful for treating low-back pain (LBP). However, not all sufferers responded equally to the novel therapy. Results reported today at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine ranged from complete pain relief to no improvement. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-experimental-bone-marrow-grafts-low-back-pain.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:56:40 EST news284918194 Just like a massive iceberg jutting out of the ocean, many of cancer's genetic underpinnings remain hidden under the surface, impossible to predict or map from above. The foreboding shadows and shapes that appear on CT scans and MRIs – and even in the field that doctors see when they zoom in to look at cancer cells under a high-powered microscope – are just the tip of the iceberg. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-individualized-genomic-tailored-cancer-treatment.html Cancer Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:48:14 EST news284381187 Chagas disease, a deadly tropical infection caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and transmitted by biting insects called "kissing bugs," has begun to spread around the world, including the U.S. Yet current treatment is toxic and limited to the acute stage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-sight-bug.html Medications Thu, 14 Feb 2013 09:50:05 EST news280057423 Triple-negative breast cancers are more biologically diverse than previously believed and classification should be expanded to reflect this heterogeneity, according to University of North Carolina researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-biological-diversity-triple-negative-breast-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 13 Feb 2013 11:28:24 EST news279977290 Each year, nearly 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke which can result in permanent brain damage, long term disability or death. As a leading cause of adult disability, stroke has an annual burden of more than $62 billion on the United States economy. With the exception of rehabilitation therapy, very few treatments are available to improve the chronic neurologic deficits caused by a stroke. In hopes of expanding therapeutic options, Northwestern Medicine researchers are investigating a novel stem cell therapy, known as SB623, that may hold the key to improving motor function following a disabling stroke. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-northwestern-medicine-stem-cell-therapy.html Medical research Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:10:01 EST news279813228 (HealthDay)—Improved understanding of the pathogenesis of infantile hemangiomas (IHs) is leading to better treatment options, according to a review published online Dec. 24 in Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-infantile-hemangiomas.html Pediatrics Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:00:01 EST news275838784 Six organizations representing physicians, other health care professionals, and patients today issued two new clinical practice guidelines for diagnosing and treating stable ischemic heart disease (IHD), which affects an estimated one in three adults in the United States. The guidelines and patient summaries appear in the November 20 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, published by the American College of Physicians (ACP). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-clinical-stable-ischemic-heart-disease.html Cardiology Mon, 19 Nov 2012 17:00:02 EST news272562546 Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute researchers have found that an experimental compound may help stem the debilitating effects of muscular dystrophy by restoring normal blood flow to muscles affected by the genetic disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-preclinical-muscular-dystrophy.html Medical research Thu, 08 Nov 2012 10:06:22 EST news271591571 Researchers have discovered a previously unknown function for a protein that could add to the expanding arsenal of potential new drugs for battling inflammation and tissue fibrosis in a number of disease processes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-efforts-effective-anti-inflammatory-drugs.html Inflammatory disorders Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:00:37 EST news267965288 A new study published online in Nature Medicine, led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, describes the discovery of a novel drug combination aimed at a subset of melanoma patients who currently have no effective therapeutic options. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-drug-combination-nras-mutant-melanoma.html Cancer Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:38:51 EST news267093520 Included in the 2012 International Antiviral Society-USA panel recommendations for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patient care is that all adult patients, regardless of CD4 cell count, should be offered antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to an article in the July 25 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS. Other new recommendations include changes in therapeutic options and modifications in the timing and choice of ART for patients with an opportunistic illness such as tuberculosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-hiv-treatment-adult-patients-antiretroviral.html HIV & AIDS Sun, 22 Jul 2012 15:14:44 EST news262188877 Inhibitors of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) are being assessed in clinical trials as a potential treatment for recurrent or refractory solid tumors. Clear genetic rationale for these trials, together with evidence that primary and metastatic lung tumors might be particularly susceptible to the drugs, is now reported in a preclinical study published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-preclinical-ongoing-clinical-trials-ido.html Cancer Thu, 19 Jul 2012 10:39:19 EST news261913115 Anurag Singh, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at Boston University School of Medicine has been invited to present his recent work on targeted therapeutics for colon cancer at the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL. Singh's seminar, scheduled for Tuesday April 3rd, will be featured in the "Late-Breaking Abstracts Mini-Symposium". This highlights recent and provocative groundbreaking research in cancer biology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-therapeutics-colon-cancer-aacr.html Cancer Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:48:21 EST news252722892 Researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre working with mice have revealed that one of the main genes protecting against cancer brings two additional health benefits by boosting longevity and combating obesity. Mice carrying extra copies of the study gene eat more than normal, but are thinner -- a novel and entirely unexpected outcome. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-scientists-mice-anti-cancer-gene-obesity.html Cancer Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:04:00 EST news250261430 A new study has found that patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who have not responded to interferon treatments experience long-term benefits when they switch to the targeted drug imatinib. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that imatinib is the treatment of choice for these patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-drug-leukemia-patients-benefit-therapy.html Cancer Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:09:06 EST news249541736 Multiple sclerosis (MS) may progress from the outermost layers of the brain to its deep parts, and isn't always an "inside-out" process as previously thought, reported a new collaborative study from researchers at the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic. The traditional understanding is that the disease begins in the white matter that forms the bulk of the brain's inside, and extends to involve the brain's superficial layers, the cortex. Study findings support an opposite, outside-in process: from the cerebrospinal fluid-filled subarachnoid space, that cushions the outside of the brain and the cortex, into the white matter. The new findings will guide researchers as they seek to further understand and treat the disease. The study was published in the December issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-multiple-sclerosis-brain-outer-layers.html Medical research Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:00:11 EST news242497574 The proliferation of metastases is often the main cause of complications and death from cancer. For the first time, researchers are looking very closely at the development of these metastases themselves, instead of focusing on the "primary" cancers from which they originated. In doing so, a team from the Swiss Center for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), at EPFL, was able to isolate a protein that plays a major role in metastasis development, and showed that the formation of secondary cancers could be prevented by blocking this protein. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-nipping-metastases-bud-strategy-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:00:01 EST news242484916 Stockholm, Sweden: Men with prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of the body and that is resistant to hormone therapy suffer less from fatigue if they are treated with a combination of abiraterone acetate and prednisone, according to results from a phase III clinical trial presented today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-abiraterone-acetate-fatigue-prostate-cancer.html Cancer Sun, 25 Sep 2011 13:27:28 EST news236176033 An innovative approach for implanting a new aortic heart valve without open-heart surgery is being offered at Rush University Medical Center to patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at high-risk or not suitable candidates for open heart valve replacement surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-heart-valve-chest-option-non-operable.html Cardiology Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:12:45 EST news228143551 Vaccines that save lives by preventing disease have been around for centuries. Now, new vaccines that treat cancer are being developed, but how they will be combined with existing treatments is not clear. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-advocate-national-strategic-approach-therapeutic.html Cancer Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:19:33 EST news226757806