Certain types of brain cancer cells, called cancer stem cells, help brain tumors to buffer themselves against radiation treatment by activating a “repair switch” that enables them to continue to grow unchecked, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have found.
US scientists have come up with a new way to determine whether someone is suffering from an eating disorder – examining their hair. A study released by researchers from Utah’s Brigham Young University found that examining carbon and nitrogen in the proteins of hair could reveal information about a person’s day-to-day nutrition.
At the 11th biennial meeting of the International Gynecologic Cancer Society (IGCS) underway in Santa Monica, CA, the potential impact of widespread adoption of HPV vaccination among girls in Mexico was described. In a study, “HPV-Vaccination Impact on Cervical Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Mexico: A Cancer Registry Based Model,” a team from the Mexican Institute of Social Security (Instituto Mexicano Del Seguro Social), the Mexican Institute of Public Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) concluded that HPV vaccination targeting HPV subtypes 16 and 18 could reduce cervical cancer cases and deaths by 60 percent.
Soot particles spewing from the exhaust of diesel trucks constitute a major contributor to the alarmingly high rates of asthma symptoms among school-aged children in the South Bronx, according to the results of a five-year study by researchers at New York University’s School of Medicine and Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
Researchers at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development (J&JPRD) announced on 15 October 2006 that they have discovered a new molecular mechanism that may underlie neuropathic pain. The clearer understanding of the root-cause of chronic neuropathic pain, and the preclinical validation of new targets for pharmaceutical therapies shown in this research, together present an opportunity for the development of new ways to treat the severe pain associated with such common conditions or diseases as sciatica, diabetic neuropathy and shingles.
Case Western Reserve University’s Technology Transfer Office has entered a worldwide exclusive licensing agreement with TRACON Pharmaceuticals of San Diego, Calif., to develop Methoxyamine, a new cancer therapeutic that reverses cancer cell resistance to chemotherapy. Methoxyamine is a “first in class” drug that targets a specific DNA repair pathway.
Feeding babies alcoholic milk may help to protect against some food allergies. Kefir, a traditional fermented drink, is consumed in Eastern Europe as a health food, and is often used to wean babies, as it is easily digested. Food allergy prevalence is especially high in children under the age of three, with around 5-8% of infants at risk. Currently the only treatment is avoidance of the problematic food.
A fast, sensitive and inexpensive diagnostic tool called MassTag PCR has been developed that can identify the specific pathogen that causes a particular case of respiratory infection, according to a new study funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The research team ? headed by scientists in the Jerome L. and Dawn Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and their colleagues at the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health ? used MassTag PCR to identify previously undiagnosed pathogens that caused influenza-like illnesses in New York State during the winter of 2004.
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, have linked specific genetic mutations to defects in cells that lead to a rare disease known as Birt-Hogg-Dub? syndrome. Building on previous clinical and genetic work spanning several years, the researchers discovered a novel protein that binds to the normal version, but not the mutant version, of the protein implicated in Birt-Hogg-Dub? syndrome. This new protein, which they named folliculin interacting protein 1 (or FNIP1), links Birt-Hogg-Dub? syndrome to disruptions in critical energy- and nutrient-sensing cellular pathways. The findings appear online October 2, 2006, in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research was led by Masaya Baba, M.D., Ph.D., and a team of scientists from NCI’s Center for Cancer Research*.
Americans accustomed to the seasonal misery of sneezing, runny noses and itchy, watery eyes caused by ragweed pollen might one day benefit from an experimental allergy treatment that not only requires fewer injections than standard immunotherapy, but leads to a marked reduction in symptoms that persists for at least a year after therapy has stopped, according to a new study in the October 5 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The research was sponsored by the Immune Tolerance Network, which is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), both components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.