Author: Marie Benz MD FAAD

03 Aug Simpler test to decide which lung cancer pts benefit from crizotinib

Posted at 01:10h in Lung Cancer

A relatively simple and inexpensive method may be used to determine whether a lung cancer patient is a candidate for crizotinib therapy, according to research published in the August issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official monthly journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer...

01 Aug Combining dasatinib with Tamoxifen, may overcome Tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer

Posted at 20:45h in Breast Cancer

August 1 20100 PHILADELPHIA—Taking a leukemia chemotherapy drug may help breast cancer patients who don't respond to tamoxifen overcome resistance to the widely-used drug, new research from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson suggests. Interestingly, researchers found that taxoxifen combined with dasatinib, a protein-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, reverses the chemo-resistance caused by cancer-associated...

01 Aug New brain imaging research reveals why autistic individuals confuse pronouns

Posted at 20:26h in Autism

PITTSBURGH—Autism is a mysterious developmental disease because it often leaves complex abilities intact while impairing seemingly elementary ones. For example, it is well documented that autistic children often have difficulty correctly using pronouns, sometimes referring to themselves as "you" instead of "I." A new brain imaging study published in the journal...

01 Aug Research Supports Upcoming Alzheimer’s Disease Guidelines

Posted at 20:11h in Alzheimer's - Dementia

Reston, Va.–Two new studies published in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM) provide insight intothe potential of positron emission tomography (PET) to differentiate between types of dementia and to identify pharmaceuticals to slow the progress of dementia. With proposed National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the...

01 Aug Young African American Men and “alternative” Tobacco Products

Posted at 10:48h in Smoking, Tobacco Research

Alexandria, VA — Tobacco related disease is a primary source of mortality for African American men. Recent studies suggest that "alternative" tobacco products may have supplanted cigarettes as the most common products used by young African Americans, according to new research published in the August 2011 issue of Otolaryngology –...

31 Jul National asthma genetics consortium releases first results

Posted at 23:45h in Asthma, Wake Forest

Discovers new asthma gene in African-Americans, replicates 4 others A new national collaboration of asthma genetics researchers has revealed a novel gene associated with the disease in African-Americans, according to a new scientific report. By pooling data from nine independent research groups looking for genes associated with asthma, the newly-created EVE Consortium...

29 Jul NIH awards researcher $1.7 million to study non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Posted at 13:01h in NIH

DETROIT – Kezhong Zhang, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular medicine and genetics and of immunology and microbiology in the School of Medicine at Wayne State University, was awarded $1.7 million by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health to explore how...

29 Jul Study examines how blood protein levels change as breast cancer develops before it is clinically detectable

Posted at 01:38h in Breast Cancer, Nature

SEATTLE – Using a "systems biology" approach – which focuses on understanding the complex relationships between biological systems – to look under the hood of an aggressive form of breast cancer, researchers for the first time have identified a set of proteins in the blood that change in abundance long...

28 Jul US Gout prevalence increases over last 2 decades

Posted at 15:19h in Gout

A new study shows the prevalence of gout in the U.S. has risen over the last twenty years and now affects 8.3 million (4%) Americans. Prevalence of increased uric acid levels (hyperuricemia) also rose, affecting 43.3 million (21%) adults in the U.S. Greater frequency of obesity and hypertension may be...

28 Jul Breast density tied to specific types of breast cancer

Posted at 15:16h in Breast Cancer, Cancer Research

Women with breasts that appear dense on mammograms are at a higher risk of breast cancer and their tumors are more likely to have certain aggressive characteristics than women with less dense breasts, according to a study published online July 27 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Mammographic breast...

28 Jul Increased muscle mass may lower risk of pre-diabetes

Posted at 15:11h in Diabetes, JCEM, Nature, UCLA

Study shows building muscle can lower person's risk of insulin resistance A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that the greater an individual's total muscle mass, the lower the person's risk of having insulin resistance, the major precursor of type...

27 Jul Scientists Develop New Therapy for HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

Posted at 10:38h in Breast Cancer, Cancer Research

Newswise — PHILADELPHIA — Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer may have an alternative therapy when they develop resistance to trastuzumab, also known as Herceptin, according to a laboratory finding published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Jacek Capala, Ph.D., D.Sc., an investigator at the...

26 Jul Antibiotic appears more effective than cranberry capsules for preventing urinary tract infections

Posted at 20:24h in Infections, JAMA, Urinary Tract Infections

In premenopausal women who have repeated urinary tract infections (UTIs), the antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) appeared more effective than cranberry capsules for preventing recurrent infections, at the risk of contributing to antibiotic resistance, according to a report in the July 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives...

26 Jul Hormone therapy may be hazardous for men with heart conditions

Posted at 18:00h in Cancer Research, Hormone Therapy, Prostate Cancer

Fairfax, Va., July 26, 2011 – Adding hormone therapy to radiation therapy has been proven in randomized clinical trials to improve overall survival for men with intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer. However, adding hormone therapy may reduce overall survival in men with pre-existing heart conditions, even if they have high-risk...

26 Jul New Avenues Open Up for Mesothelioma Targeted Therapy

Posted at 00:12h in Cancer Research

Newswise — July 25, 2011 (Philadelphia, PA) --Researchers from the lab of Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph.D., the Founder and Director of the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, have identified new potential anti-tumor agents that might be effective in treating mesothelioma, one of the deadliest cancer tumors. Scientists tested...

25 Jul Substance may extend time to prevent brain damage after Stroke

Posted at 21:35h in Nature, Stanford, Stroke, UCLA

STANFORD, Calif. — A naturally occurring substance shrank the size of stroke-induced lesions in the brains of experimental mice — even when administered as much as 12 hours after the event, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have shown. The substance, alpha-B-crystallin, acts as a brake on the immune system,...

25 Jul Study examines screening for pancreatic cancer in high-risk populations

Posted at 19:43h in Cancer Research, Dartmouth

OAK BROOK, Ill. – July 25, 2011 – Researchers from New England report in a new study that using a tumor marker, serum CA 19-9, combined with an endoscopic ultrasound if the tumor marker is elevated, is more likely to detect stage 1 pancreatic cancer in a high-risk population than...

24 Jul 2 genetic variations predict second cancers after radiation for children with Hodgkin lymphoma

Posted at 23:01h in Cancer Research, Nature, Sloan Kettering, University of Pennsylvania

A genome-wide association study published in the August issue of Nature Medicine has found two tiny genetic variations that can predict which patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma are most likely to develop radiation-induced second cancers years after treatment. Knowing in advance who is at risk could help physicians tailor treatment to...

22 Jul Atherosclerosis linked to Dementia

Posted at 19:32h in Alzheimer's - Dementia

American Stroke Association Scientific Statement Statement Highlights: • High blood pressure is related to the development of age-related vascular cognitive impairment. • Maintaining a healthy heart may also maintain a healthy functioning brain, according to the statement. • Screening elderly patients for heart and stroke risk factors may also identify those at risk of...

22 Jul Optimism associated with lower risk of having stroke

Posted at 19:28h in Stroke, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania

American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal Report Study Highlights: • A large-scale observational study shows that optimism is associated with lower risk of stroke. • On a 16-point scale, each point increase in optimism correlated with a 9 percent reduction in stroke risk. • This study adds to the increasing body of research on...

22 Jul Hepatitis C is transmitted by unprotected sex between HIV-infected men

Posted at 18:50h in Hepatitis - Liver Disease, HIV

Sexual transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is considered rare. But a new study by researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), provides substantial evidence that men with HIV who have sex with other men (MSM) are at increased risk...

22 Jul Misuse of Pain Medication May Be Pathway to High-Risk Drug Behaviors

Posted at 18:34h in Addiction, Pain Research, Pharmacology

Philadelphia (July 22, 2011)—A new study by researchers at Drexel University’s School of Public Health suggests that abuse of prescription painkillers may be an important gateway to the use of injected drugs such as heroin, among people with a history of using both types of drugs. The study, published in...