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PHILADELPHIA — Researchers have found a new oncogenic signaling pathway by which the environmental toxin arsenic may lead to adverse health effects, including bladder cancer. These study results are published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Researchers at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida have found that PKC-iota (PKC), an oncogene important in colon and lung cancers, is over-produced in pancreatic cancer and is linked to poor patient survival. They also found that genetically inhibiting PKC in laboratory animals led to a significant decrease in pancreatic tumor growth and spread.

The discovery, reported in the March 1 issue of Cancer Research, is especially encouraging, they say, because an experimental agent that targets PKC is already being tested in patients at Mayo Clinic.

In a laboratory study published in the journal Cancer Research, Scott & White Healthcare anatomic pathologist Arundhati Rao, M.D. is a co-investigator looking at the ways in which estrogen can interfere with how chemotherapy does its job in destroying breast cancer cells. The most common type of breast cancer is "estrogen-receptor positive" breast cancer.

Velusamy Rangasamy and Ajay Rana, Ph.D., are also the lead authors on the study and are based at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago where Dr. Rana is a professor of pharmacology.

CHICAGO- When women hear the word menopause, they often think about hot flashes, hormone shifts and mood swings. But what about heart disease? Studies show a woman's risk of heart disease intensifies drastically around the time of natural menopause, which for most women is around the age of 50. This news may come as a surprise, but experts explain that understanding risk factors is an important first step, and reassure women that there are ways to lower your risk.

Patients hospitalized with mild to moderate community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) should not be routinely prescribed prednisolone, a corticosteroid, as it is associated with a recurrence of symptoms after its withdrawal, according to the first randomized double-blind clinical trial to address the subject.

Biologists affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History and City College of the City University of New York have found that grizzly bears are roaming into what was traditionally thought of as polar bear habitat—and into the Canadian province of Manitoba, where they are officially listed as extirpated. The preliminary data was recently published in Canadian Field Naturalist and shows that sightings of Ursus arctos horribilis in Canada's Wapusk National Park are recent and appear to be increasing in frequency.

Despite a six-year hiatus, a resurrected national physical activity initiative in Canada, ParticipACTION, still has the potential to succeed thanks to a "sticky" brand fostered over thirty successful years, and support from organizations with health promotion and physical activity as their mandates, University of Alberta researchers have found.

A special issue of Insect Molecular Biology reports the detailed analyses of specific aspects of the genome of the important plant pest, the Pea Aphid. The analyses are based on the publication of the aphid genome sequence in PLoS Biology and is a major step in enhancing our understanding of insect ecology and evolution with important implications for controlling these significant plant pests.

Patients hospitalized with mild to moderate community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) should not be routinely prescribed prednisolone, a corticosteroid, as it is associated with a recurrence of symptoms after its withdrawal, according to the first randomized double-blind clinical trial to address the subject.

Acute stroke care and clinical outcomes have improved significantly at hospitals participating in the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines–Stroke program, according to a large study in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, a journal of the American Heart Association.

About 50 percent of the world's population carry Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in their gastrointestinal tract - 30 percent of the German population are infected. Besides cancer, these bacteria are linked to other chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease. The decoding of the H. pylori genome in 1997 revealed this pathogen to possess surprisingly few genes for transcriptional regulators, sparking a number of crucial questions: Where do the genes of Helicobacter start, and how are these switched on and off? Have all genes been discovered already?

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic researchers along with collaborators from Life Technologies are reporting on the application of a new approach for sequencing RNA to study cancer tumors. Their findings from a proof-of-principle study on oral carcinomas appear in the current issue of PLoS One, the online science journal.

VIDEO ALERT: Additional audio and video resources, including comments by Dr. Smith, are available on the Mayo Clinic News Blog

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The presence of certain proteins in premalignant oral lesions may predict oral cancer development, Medical College of Georgia researchers said.

SIBLINGs, or Small Integrin-Binding Ligand N-linked Glycoproteins, are a family of five proteins that help mineralize bone but can also spread cancer. SIBLINGs have been found in cancers including breast, lung, colon and prostate.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – In a new study published in the March issue of Radiology, researchers from Columbia University and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute have determined that an imaging exam of the heart using the latest generation of CT technology exposes patients to as much as 91 percent less radiation than standard helical CT scanning.