(WASHINGTON, July 9, 2013) – New evidence suggests that using advanced genetics technologies to monitor for remaining cancer cells after treatment may soon become an effective tool to inform treatment decisions and ultimately predict patient outcomes for patients with a particularly aggressive form of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).
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LA JOLLA, CA - Scientists studying cancer development have known about micronuclei for some time. These erratic, small extra nuclei, which contain fragments or whole chromosomes that were not incorporated into daughter cells after cell division, are associated with specific forms of cancer and are predictive of poorer prognosis.
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- The U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings inspire discussion and marketing, but do they actually reflect quality differences between schools when it comes to medical education in primary care?
Researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine are believed to be the first to take on that question by analyzing the primary care rankings from 2009 through 2012, reconstructing scores and proposing alternative measurements. Their findings are published online now, ahead of the August 13 print issue of the journal Academic Medicine.
University of British Columbia researchers have developed a vaccine that may halt the spread of West Nile Virus (WNV) among common and endangered bird species.
WNV, a mosquito borne pathogen, arrived in North America in 1999 and is now endemic across the continent. In 2012 alone, WNV killed 286 people in the United States, and 42 people have died from the virus in Canada since 2002. There is currently no effective vaccine against WNV infection in humans or birds.
Genetic mutations aren't the only thing that can keep a protein called PTEN from doing its tumor-suppressing job. Johns Hopkins researchers have now discovered that four small chemical tags attached (reversibly) to the protein's tail can have the same effect, and they say their finding may offer a novel path for drug design to keep PTEN working.
In a report published on July 9 in the journal eLife, the Johns Hopkins scientists describe how a cluster of four phosphate groups, first found 13 years ago to bind to PTEN's tail, controls its activity.
London -- Women who give birth to multiple babies following IVF treatment are at a higher risk of breast cancer than those giving birth to singletons or who remain childless. Dutch investigators from the Omega study group said the explanation may not be the multiple pregnancy per se but a maternal trait related to a higher implantation potential and to breast cancer itself.
London, 9 July 2013: Children born as a result of assisted reproduction (ART) are at no greaterrisk of cancer than children born spontaneously in the general population, according to resultsof one of the largest ever cohort studies of ART children. "This is reassuring news for couplesconsidering assisted conception, their subsequent children, fertility specialists and for the widerpublic health," said the investigators.
Results of the study were presented today at the annual meeting of ESHRE by Dr CarrieWilliams from the Institute of Child Health, University College London, UK.
London, 9 July 2013: Shift work, which encourages sleep deprivation and patterns of activityoutside the circadian rhythm, has been associated with a greater risk of ill health and loss ofwell-being in some (but not all) studies.(1) However, little is known about the effects of shiftwork on reproductive health and fertility.
Now, a study reported today at the annual meeting of ESHRE, by Dr Linden Stocker from theUniversity of Southampton, UK, indicates that working shift patterns is associated with anincreased risk of menstrual disruption and subfertility.
London, 9 July 2013: Egg freezing as insurance against age-related infertility is a growing trend inmany countries. Women who bank oocytes for use at some time in the future hope to buy alittle time in their search for a suitable partner.
However, a study from one of Europe's largest centres in reproductive medicine suggests thatmany of those banking eggs believe they will never use them - even though they still recognisethe experience as "positive". The majority of those who did (and did not) freeze their eggswished they had done so at an earlier age.
By studying rapidly evolving bacteria as they diversify and compete under varying environmental conditions, researchers have shown that temporal niches are important to maintaining biodiversity in natural systems. The research is believed to be the first experimental demonstration of temporal niche dynamics promoting biodiversity over evolutionary time scales.
ANN ARBOR –While record numbers of hospitals and doctors participate in electronic health information exchange efforts, which enable medical histories to follow patients as they move between healthcare providers, the long-term success of these programs is in question.
That's according to a new national survey of health information exchange organizations led by a University of Michigan researcher.
San Diego, CA, July 9, 2013 – Recent breakthroughs in cervical cancer prevention have resulted in new vaccination and cervical cancer screening guidelines. Recommendations do not always translate into practice, however. Less than one third of obstetrician-gynecologists vaccinate their eligible patients against the human papilloma virus (HPV), and only half adhere to cervical cancer prevention guidelines published three years previously, according to a survey published this month in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Failure to consider public health in the formulation of agricultural policy has compromised the American nutritional environment by promoting the production and consumption of unhealthy foods
The H7N9 avian flu strain that emerged in China earlier this year has subsided for now, but it would be a mistake to be reassured by this apparent lull in infections. The virus has several highly unusual traits that paint a disquieting picture of a pathogen that may yet lead to a pandemic, according to lead scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Scientists have found that key metabolites in blood – chemical 'fingerprints' left behind as a result of early molecular changes before birth or in infancy – could provide clues to a person's long-term overall health and rate of ageing in later life.