A comparison of two clinical trials suggests that the chemotherapy drug cisplatin is more effective against metastatic osteosarcoma than the chemotherapy drug carboplatin. These results were published in the journal Cancer.
Each year more than 1 million cases of skin cancer are reported. The most common type of skin cancer is basal cell cancer, which accounts for 80 percent of all skin cancers. The other types of skin cancer includes squamous and melanoma.
A large study on the popular asthma medication salmeterol was halted after researchers uncovered evidence that the drug may pose a slightly higher risk for respiratory and asthma-related deaths among black patients.
Substances produced in the body that act like those found in the cannabis plant help preserve bone density, according to researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
According to the Arndt Schultz Law, substances vary in action depending on whether the concentration is high, medium, or low. High concentrations kill; medium concentrations suppress or inhibit; and low, or minute concentrations stimulate.
Initial results of the nation’s largest clinical trial for depression have helped clinicians to track ‘real world’ patients who became symptom-free and to identify those who were resistant to the initial treatment. Participants treated in both medical and specialty mental health care settings experienced a remission of symptoms in 12 to 14 weeks during well-monitored treatment with an antidepressant medication. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), used flexible adjustment of dosages based on quick and easy-to-use clinician ratings of symptoms and patient self-ratings of side effects.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the drug Revlimid (lenalidomide) for the treatment of patients with a subtype of Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). The subtype is MDS patients with deletion 5q cytogenetic abnormality.
Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have determined how a promising drug candidate attacks the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB). Published online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the finding may help scientists optimize the drug candidate, PA-824, which targets Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb).
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the tentative approval of Stavudine (stav’ yoo deen) for Oral Solution, 1 mg/mL to be manufactured by Aurobindo Pharma LTD. of Hyderabad, India. This product is the first generic version of the already approved Zerit for oral solution manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb. This child-friendly product is indicated for use in pediatric patients with HIV, from birth through adolescence. This product will now be available for consideration for purchase under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) for prevention (prophylaxis) of seasonal influenza (“flu”) in children 1 to 12 years of age who had close contact with an infected individual. This is the first drug approved for prevention of both influenza A and B in pediatric patients.