Author Interviews, Infections, JAMA, Microbiome / 24.12.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tara F Carr, MD Assistant Professor, Medicine and Otolaryngology Allergy and Immunology Fellowship Training Program Director Director, Adult Allergy Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85724 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Carr: Some patients with chronic rhinosinusitis continue to suffer from symptoms despite aggressive medical and surgical treatments. For these individuals, therapy is generally chosen based on bacterial culture results, and often includes the use of topical antibacterial rinses with a medication called mupirocin.  We found that if patients are still having problems after this treatment, the bacteria identified from repeated sinus cultures are very different than those usually expected, and in general more difficult to treat. (more…)
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Cancer Research, Johns Hopkins / 26.06.2015

Nishant Agrawal M.D. Associate Professor of Otolaryngology Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nishant Agrawal M.D. Associate Professor of Otolaryngology Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Agrawal: The idea of the study really arose from the specificity of genetic changes that characterize and are the hallmark of cancer cells.  Only cancer cells contain these mutations so their detection in bodily fluids was a reasonable expectation.  The current study builds on previous work from our group that tumor DNA can be detected in the bodily fluids of patients with many different types of solid malignancies.  The main findings of the study are that tumor DNA in saliva and plasma provides a non-invasive biomarker for head and neck cancer.  The take home message is that tumor DNA has potential to be used as a biomarker for screening, early detection, monitoring during treatment, and surveillance after cancer treatment is completed. (more…)