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In a study presented at the 35th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), Dr Giovanni Bernardo from Fondazione Maugeri in Pavia, Italy, presented results that suggested it may be possible to identify subsets of metastatic breast cancer patients who are likely to respond to subsequent lines of chemotherapy.

Dr Bernardo's group analysed data from 980 women treated with chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer in their centre between 1992 and 2006.

For the first time, UK scientists have reported direct evidence that taking up smoking results in epigenetic changes associated with the development of cancer.

The results were reported at the 35th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Milan, Italy.

A subset of lung cancer patients seem to live longer and experience delays in disease progression when a new drug that targets a cancer-associated molecule called MET is added to treatment with erlotinib, the results of a double-blind Phase-II trial show.

Dr David Spigel, Director of lung cancer research for the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee reported the trial findings at the 35th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Milan, Italy.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have found how gene expression that may contribute to drug resistance is ramped up in unusual types of breast tumors. Their findings may offer new therapy targets.

The study is published in the Oct. 8 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, where it is designated a paper of the week.

Approximately 70 percent of breast cancers express the estrogen receptor. These "ER-positive" tumors usually respond to hormone-related therapies, such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors. But not always.

When people are rejected by peers, they often lash out. In children, that aggression occasionally takes horrifying directions, leading to school shootings or other deadly acts. Researchers in the Netherlands found that some children are more likely than others to lash out in response to acute peer rejection: children who already feel like outcasts.

A new type of breast cancer treatment has shown encouraging activity as a first-line therapy in HER2-positive metastatic disease, researchers reported at the 35th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Milan, Italy.

Principal investigator Edith Perez, MD, Mayo Clinic in Florida, presented the results of the first ever randomized trial of trastuzumab-DM1 (T-DM1) as a first-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer.

Saranac Lake, N.Y. – A billion people living in underdeveloped areas around the world are infected with parasitic helminthes, worms that survive by residing in and feeding on their hosts. These infestations can cause chronic intestinal (and occasionally systemic) illnesses leading to long-term disability. Irah King and Markus Mohrs, biomedical researchers at the Trudeau Institute, are investigating illnesses caused by these gut-dwelling worms in an effort to decipher how immune cells send and receive signals that determine the specific immune response to mount.

TEMPE, Az. - An international team of scientists, exploiting pioneering techniques at Arizona State University, has taken a significant step toward unlocking the secrets of oxygenation of the Earth's oceans and atmosphere.

The complication rate during pregnancy with twins is about 40%. Women with multiple pregnancies often develop pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, and hemorrhages during the term of their pregnancy. Joachim W Dudenhausen from the Charité Berlin University Medicine and Rolf F Maier from Magdeburg University Medical Center, investigate which risks can be minimized by close monitoring in multiple pregnancies (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[38]: 663-8).

Shift work can cause cancer. In the new issue of the Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[38]: 657-62), Thomas C. Erren and colleagues describe the current state of knowledge in this area and point out the challenges lying ahead.

Antwerp, Belgium – October 8, 2010– VIB researchers at the University of Antwerp have identified several mutations that play an important role in the development of Hereditary Sensory and Autonomous Neuropathy Type 1 (HSAN 1). HSAN 1 is a rare genetic disorder of the peripheral nervous system. Identification of the mutations will lead to a more accurate diagnosis of the disease in patients as well as improved genetic counseling and prenatal diagnostic tests for couples who are carriers and planning a pregnancy.

HSAN

The family Cobitidae is a group of small, bottom dwelling, primary freshwater fishes . They are widely distributed in Eurasia and Morocco, with the greatest diversity in southern Asia. However, known fossil cobitids are scarce, and only include a few species of Cobitis and a species of Sabanejewia. Most of the materials consist of either detached suborbital spines or poorly preserved skeletons with little information about the suborbital spines.

Chevy Chase, MD—Using novel technology allowing "virtual bone biopsies" researchers have found that a common treatment for prostate cancer called androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is associated with structural decay of cortical and trabecular bone. The study has been accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Chevy Chase, MD—The use of testosterone assays for patient care and research is on the rise as new research links testosterone to a variety of diseases and conditions. Although the assays are heavily used, discrepancies and inaccuracies in measurements resulting from the various assays are widespread.