Body

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- Breast cancer patients frequently undergo imaging like mammograms or ultrasounds between their first breast cancer-related doctor visit and surgery to remove the tumor. Evaluations of these scans help physicians understand a person's disease and determine the best course of action. In recent years, however, imaging has increased in dramatic and significant ways, say researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center. More patients have repeat visits for imaging than they did 20 years ago, and single imaging appointments increasingly include multiple types of imaging.

SAN ANTONIO—Researchers at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have shown that loss of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene (RB) in triple negative breast cancer patients is associated with better clinical outcomes. This is a new marker to identify the subset of these patients who may respond positively to chemotherapy.

A new model built around biological data from electronic tags, ear bone microchemistry and fisheries catch data for Atlantic bluefin tuna indicates fishing on one side of the Atlantic influences the other side. Bluefin populations on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have declined precipitously since 1950, according to the study published today in the peer-reviewed online journal PLoS ONE. The model estimates the number of Atlantic bluefin tuna remaining in the ocean and projects future population sizes based on alternative management scenarios.

Research shows that feeling good about your country also makes you feel good about your own life—and many people take that as good news. But Matthew Wright, a political scientist at American University, and Tim Reeskens, a sociologist from Catholic University in Belgium, suspected that the positive findings about nationalism weren't telling the whole story. "It's fine to say pride in your country makes you happy," says Wright. "But what kind of pride are we talking about?

CHICAGO --- Why do so many postmenopausal women who are treated for estrogen-sensitive breast cancer quit using drugs that help prevent the disease from recurring?

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – More peer-reviewed scientific studies of the effects on wildlife of large-scale solar energy developments and operations are needed to adequately assess their impact, especially in the desert Southwest, according to a scientific literature review conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and published in the journal BioScience.

Los Angeles, CA (December 9th, 2011) – Terrorist attacks with chemical weapons are a real possibility, according to a study that appears in the online open access journal, Journal of Pharmacy Practice, published by SAGE. Thanks to their extensive knowledge of toxic agents, and how to treat those who have been exposed, pharmacists are an invaluable resource in the event of an actual or potential chemical weapons attack.

(FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2011)— Global HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts are missing a major opportunity to significantly improve health conditions in poor countries by simply adding low-cost care for the many other chronic and disabling diseases routinely afflicting and often killing these same patients, according to a panel of disease experts who spoke at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).

According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic-resistant bacteria are one of the top three threats to human health. Patients in hospitals are especially at risk, with almost 100,000 deaths due to infection every year in the U.S. alone.

New findings by Virginie Stevens (CNRS), Jean Clobert (CNRS), Michel Baguette (Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle) and colleagues show that interactions between dispersal and life-histories are complex, but general patterns emerge. The study was published as open access paper in the journal Ecology Letters.

Troy, N.Y. – Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to design antibodies aimed at combating disease. The surprisingly simple process was used to make antibodies that neutralize the harmful protein particles that lead to Alzheimer's disease.

Torres said there are some cancer clinical trials testing kinesin inhibitors, but so far they have not proved very successful. The inhibitors do stop cell division, but they don't damage the cell enough to induce a quick cell death and eventually the cells begin dividing again.

STARD9, however, not only arrests cells during division, it causes so much disruption in spindle formation and function that the cells die quickly. The cells, in effect, become too broken to repair themselves, Torres said.

People in Northern Ireland have a lower risk of developing some cancers than those living in the Republic of Ireland, according to the All-Ireland Cancer Atlas - a collaborative publication by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry at Queen's University Belfast and the National Cancer Registry in Cork.

The first ever All-Ireland Cancer Atlas analysed 18 types of cancer by electoral division over a 12-year period.

Those cancers which were significantly higher for both sexes in the Republic of Ireland were:

Researchers at the University of Leeds have been studying an enzyme – called 3D – which plays a vital role in the replication of the virus behind the disease. They have found that this enzyme forms fibrous structures (or fibrils) during the replication process. What's more, they have found a molecule which can prevent these fibrils forming.

The project was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and its findings have been published by the Journal of Virology.

Is the patient suffering from blood poisoning? To answer this question, the doctor draws a blood sample and sends it to a central laboratory for testing. This takes up valuable time, which could cost the patient his life. In future, physicians will be able to analyze blood there and then and have the results within twenty minutes. This is made possible by a biochip, developed by scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM in Freiburg.