Body

Promising new research reveals a potentially highly effective treatment for heterotopic ossification (HO), a painful and often debilitating abnormal buildup of bone tissue. HO comes in two main forms—one that appears in children and is congenital, another that strikes wounded military personnel and surgery patients and is triggered by severe injuries and wounds.

An animal study by developmental biologists shows that a drug that interrupts a signaling-nuclear protein pathway can prevent HO. The study appeared online today in Nature Medicine.

Young adult patients with genetic heart diseases, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), substantially benefitted from therapeutic hypothermia, which could further extend the role for this treatment strategy in new patient populations, according to a scientific presentation at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, April 1-3.

In patients with HCM, despite rapid cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with defibrillation, survival following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has been particularly unfavorable, explained the study authors.

Murray, UT (4/03/11) – Fasting has long been associated with religious rituals, diets, and political protests. Now new evidence from cardiac researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute demonstrates that routine periodic fasting is also good for your health, and your heart.

The sickle cell trait could be a cause—albeit rare—of sudden death in young African-American competitive athletes, most commonly during football training, according to a scientific poster that will be presented at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Sessions, April 1-3, in New Orleans.

The Heart of New Ulm Project, which is merging environmental, peer leadership and individual interventions across an entire rural Minnesota community with the assistance of a healthcare system, worksites and the general community to prevent coronary heart disease, has shown a 24 percent reduction in the number of acute heart attacks in a five-quarter period, compared with the previous five-quarter period of evaluation.

This study will be presented at the 60th annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Sessions in New Orleans on April 3.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Scientists have uncovered a genetic characteristic of metastatic prostate cancer that defines a rare sub-type of this disease. These findings are published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, which will debut at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held April 2-6.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Scientists at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute have identified a mutation in the DDR2 gene that may indicate which patients with squamous cell lung cancer will respond to dasatinib.

The findings are published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, debuting here at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, from April 2-6.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A study published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, debuting here at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held April 2-6, showed how evaluating the immune response in the tumor microenvironment may help researchers better target therapy in breast cancer.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Scientists have identified digoxin as a possible therapy for prostate cancer, using a combination of laboratory science and epidemiology that is unprecedented in its cooperative nature.

"Epidemiologists and basic scientists often do not understand each other, as we often are only clear on our own strengths and the other's weaknesses," said Elizabeth Platz, Sc.D., M.P.H, professor of epidemiology and the Martin D. Abeloff, M.D., scholar in cancer prevention at Johns Hopkins University.

Johns Hopkins scientists and their colleagues paired laboratory and epidemiologic data to find that men using the cardiac drug, digoxin, had a 24 percent lower risk for prostate cancer. The scientists say further research about the discovery may lead to use of the drug, or new ones that work the same way, to treat the cancer.

A team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco has discovered a new way to predict breast cancer survival based on an "immune profile" – the relative levels of three types of immune cells within a tumor. Knowing a patient's profile may one day help guide treatment.

Moreover, the UCSF team showed that they could use drugs to alter this immune profile in mice. Giving these drugs to mice, in combination with chemotherapy, significantly slowed tumor growth, blocked metastasis and helped mice live longer, suggesting that the approach may work in people.

Berlin, Germany, 02 April 2011: Highly exciting new data presented today at the International Liver CongressTM found Pegylated Interferon-lambda (PegIFN-lambda) shows superior virological response in HCV patients of genotypes 1-4, with improved safety and tolerability, compared to Pegylated Interferon-alpha (PegIFN-alpha-2a), the current standard of care in chronic HCV.1

Berlin, Germany, Saturday 02 April 2011: Exciting new data presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2011 show that quadruple therapy in chronic hepatitis C (HCV) patients suppressed the emergence of resistant variants and resulted in a 100% rate of sustained virological response - undetectable HCV RNA - 12 weeks after treatment (SVR12).1

ORLANDO, Fla. — The American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting continues to be a showcase for the most cutting edge science in cancer, and this year's meeting, held here April 2-6, will include an increased focus on clinical trials that will impact patient care.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Scientists are continuing their work on the Biomarker-integrated Approaches of Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer Elimination trial — known more commonly as the BATTLE trial — and presented updated results at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held here April 2-6.

John Heymach, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of thoracic, head and neck medical oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said this update details the "discovery phase" of the ongoing program.