Body

Chemical changes in the genetic material, known as epigenetic modifications, regulate the activity of many genes. Thus, attachment of methyl groups to DNA often inactivates important cellular growth brakes. Therefore, this process called methylation is believed to be a major cause of uncontrolled division of cancer cells. Specific enzymes, the DNA methyltransferases, are responsible for methylation.

PHILADELPHIA, May 7, 2010 -- A survey conducted by the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) found that 9 percent of all internists originally certified between 1990 and 1995, including a significantly larger proportion of general internists (17 percent) than internal medicine subspecialists (4 percent), are no longer working in general internal medicine or one of its subspecialties about a decade after their original certification by ABIM.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the major causes of cancer death in the developed countries. Accumulated evidences indicate that lipid metabolism, especially the one in the arachidonic acid (AA)-pathway, appears to play a critical role in the development of CRC. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ(PPAR-γ) gene, one of the most important components of the AA-pathway, has been verified to express in a variety of tumor cells. Many studies have been performed about the association between the polymorphism 34 C>G of PPAR-γgene and CRC, but got conflicting results.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary neoplasm of the liver and often arises in the context of a chronic liver disease that impairs coagulative function. Surgical resection is the best option to cure HCC, however, surgery on cirrhotic liver may increase the risk of bleeding. Despite the clinical relevance of the matter, no guidelines are available on the administration of antithromboembolic prophylaxis in cirrhotic patients undergoing hepatic resection.

Eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a well-accepted initial therapy incases of localized (stage ⅠE) low-grade gastric mucosa-associated lymphoidtissue (MALT) lymphoma associated with H. pylori infection. However, there are no treatment guidelines for the management of H. pylori-negative low-grade gastric MALT lymphoma.

Recently, contrast-enhanced (CE) ultrasound (US) appeared as an important modality to show the vascularity in the areas of interest, and has been used widely in clinical diagnosis of liver lesions. Three dimensional ultrasonography (3D US) allows three orthogonal planes to spatially demonstrate the features of subjects, which has been frequently used in fetal US.

A team from the University of Cantabria (UC) has studied the contribution that internal migration by foreign people living in Spain made to the process of overall provincial convergence between 1996 and 2005. The main reasons for foreign migrants moving between regions were found to be primarily employment-related rather than to do with residential choice.

Lipoma of the small intestine is a benign tumor of mesenchymal origin which is mostly found by chance during gastrointestinal investigation. Invaginations account for 2/3 of small bowel occlusion caused by up to 80% of tumors and the lipoma is the most frequent benign tumor that causes invagination in its submucous polypoid and it is in more or less scissile form. However, multiple lipomas within the intestinal duplication canal as a predominant cause of partial intestinal obstruction is an exceptional clinical scenario.

HOUSTON – Human adult stem cells injected around the damage caused by a heart attack survived in the heart and improved its pumping efficiency for a year in a mouse model, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report online ahead of publication in Circulation Research.

The study, with researchers at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, used innovative imaging techniques developed by researchers at MD Anderson to track the stem cells' location and performance over time.

Gastric cancer is the most common malignant gastrointestinal cancer and accounts for 25% of cancer deaths. Nuclear matrix, a filamentous protein framework for eukaryotic cellular chromatin, closely relates to DNA duplication and transcription. Research on nuclear matrix proteins will provide insight into how tumors developed.

Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be an effective alternative to minimally invasive MR arthrography for the diagnosis of hip labral tears, a common cause of hip pain, according to a study to be presented at the ARRS 2010 Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA.

Brussels, 6 May 2010 -- A new study of metastatic breast cancer shows that the number of circulating tumor cells patients have in their blood directly correlates with the length of their survival. Reported at the IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference in Brussels, Belgium, the results have the potential to improve the delivery of personalized therapy to these patients.

Calgary, AB – Cryptococcus disease is a rare but serious infection resulting from inhaling a toxic fungus often found in fir trees. Approximately 250 people have been infected with the disease in British Columbia since its emergence in 1999. The disease can cause meningitis, pneumonia and in 10 per cent of cases it can lead to death.

Particular parvoviruses normally infect rodents, but they are also infectious for human cells. However, they do not cause any disease symptoms in humans. Most importantly, these viruses have an astonishing property: They kill infected tumors cells without causing any damage to healthy tissue. Therefore, scientists in the teams of Jean Rommelaere and Jörg Schlehofer at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have been investigating over the past years whether these viruses can be used as weapons against cancer.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Most people associate serotonin with brain neurology, but over 95 percent of the body's serotonin occurs in the gastrointestinal tract, which has a complex neuronal circuit that has been called "the second brain" of the body. Now a Mayo Clinic research team has identified a number of genetic variants in serotonin genes that impact irritable bowel syndrome or IBS. The findings are being presented today at Digestive Disease Week 2010 in New Orleans.