Author: Marie Benz MD FAAD

08 Dec Many women do not undergo breast reconstruction after mastectomy

Posted at 20:31h in Breast Cancer

SAN ANTONIO — Despite the benefits, only a small minority of women, regardless of age, are opting for immediate reconstructive breast surgery after undergoing mastectomy for treatment of breast cancer, according to data presented at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 6-10, 2011. Research has shown that...

08 Dec Low Risk Prostate Cancer: Panel endorses active monitoring

Posted at 19:59h in Prostate Cancer

An independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health has concluded that many men with localized, low-risk prostate cancer should be closely monitored, permitting treatment to be delayed until warranted by disease progression. However, monitoring strategies—such as active surveillance—have not been uniformly studied and available data do...

08 Dec Obese patients with HER2-positive breast cancer may have worse outcomes

Posted at 19:52h in Breast Cancer, Mayo Clinic

SAN ANTONIO -- Obese patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer may have worse outcomes than patients who are normal weight or overweight, Mayo Clinic researchers found in a study presented today at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. HER2-positive breast cancer gets its name from a protein called...

08 Dec Judicious PSA, Testing, Can Help Reduce Unnecessary Prostate Biopsies

Posted at 19:49h in Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Medical Research Centers, Prostate Cancer, University of Michigan

BOSTON – Prostate cancer screening that combines an adjusted blood test with other factors including the size of the gland, the patient’s overall weight and family history, can help up to one-quarter of men avoid biopsies and the risks associated with them, a Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center-led research team...

20 Nov Researchers find genetic rearrangements driving 5 to 7 percent of breast cancers

Posted at 23:26h in Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Duke, Genetic Research, Nature, University of Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered two cancer-spurring gene rearrangements that may trigger 5 to 7 percent of all breast cancers. These types of genetic recombinations have previously been linked to blood cancers and rare soft-tissue tumors, but are beginning to be...

15 Nov Study: Gene impedes recovery from Alcoholism

Posted at 19:54h in Addiction, Alcohol

People who are alcohol-dependent and who also carry a particular variant of a gene run an increased risk of premature death. This is a recent finding from the interdisciplinary research at the Department of Psychology and the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Researchers in the longitudinal project Göteborg...

26 Oct Linking of mutations in 12 genes to ovarian cancer may lead to more effective prevention

Posted at 20:27h in Ovarian Cancer

October 25 2011 More patients with ovarian carcinoma carry cancer-predisposing mutations, and in more genes, than previously thought. A rapid experimental method for screening genomes has located mutations in 12 genes for inherited cancers of the ovary, fallopian tubes and peritoneum (the thin tissue lining the lower abdomen). More than one-fifth of ovarian...

26 Oct NIH to Support Addiction Medicine Education Programs

Posted at 20:20h in Addiction, NIH

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 Contact:NIAAA Press Office 301-443-3860 NIH grant will help translate addiction research into practice A new grant will help establish a core of post-graduate addiction medicine education programs in academic medical centers throughout the United States. The National Infrastructure for Translating Addiction Research into Clinical Practice grant, awarded last month...

26 Oct Increase in postmastectomy breast reconstruction

Posted at 20:13h in Breast Cancer

Released: 10/18/2011 11:00 AM EDT Source: American College of Surgeons (ACS) New findings show an increase in postmastectomy breast reconstruction, and that TRAM flap reconstruction remains intact with a high degree of patient satisfaction Newswise — SAN FRANCISCO: Until now, studies looking at trends in cancer care have shown that immediate postmastectomy breast...

26 Oct Children’s Use of Asthma Controller Drugs Has Doubled

Posted at 19:39h in AHRQ, Asthma

Released: 10/17/2011 8:00 AM EDT Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Newswise — The proportion of children who used a prescribed controller drug to treat their asthma doubled from 29 percent in 1997–1998 to 58 percent in 2007–2008, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare...

26 Oct Aspirin Desensitization: for Patients with Aspirin & NSAID Allergies; CV Disease

Posted at 19:38h in Allergies, Heart Disease

Released: 10/10/2011 9:00 AM Source: Thomas Jefferson University Newswise — (PHILADELPHIA) – Beth Moore can now keep up with her children. The suburban Philadelphia mother of two had suffered from allergies and chronic sinusitis since her teens. With age her symptoms became more severe, turning into bronchitis and eventually asthma, diminishing her...

26 Oct Through-the-Nipple Breast Cancer Therapy Shows Promise in Early Tests

Posted at 19:32h in Breast Cancer, Chemotherapy

October 26 2011 Newswise — Delivering anticancer drugs into breast ducts via the nipple is highly effective in animal models of early breast cancer, and has no major side effects in human patients, according to a report by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers in Science Translational Medicine on October 26....

26 Oct Gene responsible for relapses in young leukemia patients

Posted at 19:30h in Cancer Research, Leukemia

One of the causes of resistance to cancer treatment in children is now beginning to be elucidated. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients with a particular form of the ATF5 gene are at higher risk of having a relapse when treated with E. coli asparaginase, a key chemotherapy drug for this type...

12 Oct Study finds estrogen may prevent younger menopausal women from strokes

Posted at 19:20h in Hormone Therapy, Mayo Clinic, Stroke

ROCHESTER, Minn. - Estrogen may prevent strokes in premature or early menopausal women, Mayo Clinic researchers say. Their findings challenge the conventional wisdom that estrogen is a risk factor for stroke at all ages. The study was published in the journal Menopause. Researchers combined the results from a recent Mayo Clinic...

11 Oct Study shows increased prostate cancer risk from vitamin E supplements

Posted at 23:45h in Cleveland Clinic, JAMA, Prostate Cancer

Men who took 400 international units (I.U.) of vitamin E daily had more prostate cancers compared to men who took a placebo, according to an updated review of data from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). The findings showed that, per 1,000 men, there were 76 prostate...

11 Oct Ovarian cancer patients survive longer with BRCA2 mutated in tumors

Posted at 23:42h in Cancer Research, MD Anderson, Ovarian Cancer

HOUSTON - Women with high-grade ovarian cancer live longer and respond better to platinum-based chemotherapy when their tumors have BRCA2 genetic mutations, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Institute for Systems Biology report in the Oct. 12 issue of the Journal of the American...

11 Oct Mushroom compound appears to improve effectiveness of cancer drugs

Posted at 23:40h in Cancer Research, Chemotherapy

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A compound isolated from a wild, poisonous mushroom growing in a Southwest China forest appears to help a cancer killing drug fulfill its promise, researchers report. The compound, verticillin A, sensitizes cancer cells to TRAIL, a drug which induces cancer cells to self destruct, said Dr. Kebin Liu,...

07 Oct Detecting glaucoma before it blinds

Posted at 01:33h in Ophthalmology

Early detection and diagnosis of open angle glaucoma important so that treatment can be used in the early stages of the disease developing to prevent or avoid further vision loss. Writing in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics, researchers in the US have analyzed...

06 Oct Marijuana component could ease pain from chemotherapy drugs

Posted at 16:53h in Breast Cancer, Pain Research

A chemical component of the marijuana plant could prevent the onset of pain associated with drugs used in chemo therapy, particularly in breast cancer patients, according to researchers at Temple University's School of Pharmacy. The researchers published their findings, "Cannabidiol Prevents the Development of Cold and Mechanical Allodynia in Paclitaxel-Treated Female...

06 Oct Survival increased in early stage breast cancer after treatment with herceptin and chemo

Posted at 02:12h in Breast Cancer

Treating women with early stage breast cancer with a combination of chemotherapy and the molecularly targeted drug Herceptin significantly increases survival in patients with a specific genetic mutation that results in very aggressive disease, a researcher with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center reported Wednesday. The study also found that a regimen...

06 Oct Women exposed to diethylstilbestrol in the womb face increased cancer risk

Posted at 02:08h in Dartmouth, Mayo Clinic

A large study of the daughters of women who had been given DES, the first synthetic form of estrogen, during pregnancy has found that exposure to the drug while in the womb (in utero) is associated with many reproductive problems and an increased risk of certain cancers and pre-cancerous conditions....

06 Oct Tyk2 protein potential new Breast Cancer Therapy Target

Posted at 01:38h in Breast Cancer, Cleveland Clinic

New Rochelle, NY, October 5, 2011 -- A possible new target for breast cancer therapy comes from the discovery that the Tyk2 protein helps suppress the growth and metastasis of breast tumors, as reported in Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Qifang...

05 Oct Interactive Video Games Appear Valuable for ICU Patients

Posted at 14:04h in AHA Journals, Critical Care - Intensive Care - ICUs

Release Date: 10/03/2011 Interactive video games, already known to improve motor function in recovering stroke patients, appear to safely enhance physical therapy for patients in intensive care units (ICU), new research from Johns Hopkins suggests. In a report published online in the Journal of Critical Care, researchers studied the safety and feasibility...

05 Oct Blood Tests May Hold Clues to Pace of Alzheimer’s Disease Progression

Posted at 14:00h in Alzheimer's - Dementia, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Mayo Clinic, Mental Health Research

Release Date: 10/03/2011 Johns Hopkins-led research suggests levels of certain fats in blood might predict rate of cognitive decline. A team of scientists, led by Johns Hopkins researchers, say they may have found a way to predict how quickly patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) will lose cognitive function by looking at ratios...

05 Oct Estrogen Effects on Metabolism & Weight Gain in Women Studied

Posted at 00:22h in Hormone Therapy, Menopause, Weight Research

It's no secret that women often gain weight as they get older. The sex hormone estrogen has an important, if underappreciated, role to play in those burgeoning waistlines. Now, researchers reporting in the October Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, have traced those hormonal effects on metabolism to different parts of...

05 Oct Calorific controversy for intensive care patients

Posted at 00:19h in General Medicine

Patients who are fed more calories while in intensive care have lower mortality rates than those who receive less of their daily-prescribed calories, according to a recent study of data from the largest critical care nutrition database in the world. “Our finding is significant as there have been a number of...

22 Sep Study reveals rise in prostate biopsy complications

Posted at 16:31h in Prostate Cancer

In a study of complication rates following prostate biopsy among Medicare beneficiaries, Johns Hopkins researchers have found a significant rise in serious complications requiring hospitalization. The researchers found that this common outpatient procedure, used to diagnose prostate cancer, was associated with a 6.9 percent rate of hospitalization within 30 days...

22 Sep Cellular origin of a rare form of breast cancer identified

Posted at 16:28h in Breast Cancer, Nature, PNAS

BOSTON (September 22, 2011) -- Identifying the cellular origins of breast cancer might lead to earlier diagnosis and more efficient management of the disease. New research led by Charlotte Kuperwasser of Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) has determined that common forms of breast cancer originate from breast cells known...

21 Sep A gene for Lou Gehrig’s disease and frontotemporal dementia identified

Posted at 20:09h in ALS, Mayo Clinic, Neurological Disorders, UCSF

Frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- two fatal neurodegenerative disease with distinct symptoms -- are triggered by a common mutation in many cases, according to researchers who say they have identified the mutated gene. In the study, reported in the September 21 online issue...

21 Sep Study finds genetic ‘overlap’ between schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

Posted at 20:05h in Bipolar Disorder, Genetic Research, Mental Health Research, Nature, Schizophrenia

Knowledge about the biological origin of diseases like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other psychiatric conditions is critical to improving diagnosis and treatment. In an effort to push the field forward, three UCLA researchers, along with scientists from more than 20 countries, have been taking part in one of the largest collaborative...