Treatment with the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and prophylaxis for people exposed to infected patients could be one of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing illness and death during an influenza pandemic.
The use of drugs to prevent heart complications during surgery is called into question in this week?s BMJ.
Researchers at Children?s Hospital Boston report finding a new way to increase stem cells in blood, suggesting a possible treatment to help patients who undergo chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant for leukemia and other cancers recover their immune function more quickly.
A clinical trial including 50 medical centers and 304 patients has confirmed that polyethylene (PEG) laxative is safe for patients suffering from chronic constipation. The study, published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, indicates that even elderly patients can use the drug safely for up to six months.
The cell labels the proteins it wants to dispose with Ubiquitin (Ub). Malfunctions in the ubiquitin-proteasome system can be fatal for the organism, resulting in cancer and immunological disorders. The knowledge about the ubiquitination reaction has led to the development of highly promising drugs. Biochemists at the University of Frankfurt now describe a novel Ub conjugation reaction that might allow a more efficient manipulation of key proteins in the treatment of cancer and other diseases.
Childhood cancers are fortunately rare, but among them, neuroblastoma is a special case, accounting for 7 percent of all childhood cancers, but 15 percent of childhood cancer deaths. It typically occurs as a solid tumor in the abdomen, but also in the neck, chest, and pelvis, developing in the network of the body’s sympathetic nervous system.
A team of researchers, led by surgeons at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia, has found further evidence supporting the ability of a protein to predict how well a patient with advanced pancreatic cancer will do after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.
Mushrooms might serve as biofactories for the production of various beneficial human drugs, according to plant pathologists who have inserted new genes into mushrooms.
Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY, TSX: SHQ) announced today that it has received an approvable letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for INTUNIV (guanfacine) extended release tablets (previously referred to as SPD503), a nonstimulant selective alpha-2A-receptor agonist that has been studied in children and adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
The list of reasons you shouldn’t smoke has gotten longer. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are reporting that smoking interferes with ligament healing.