Body

Philadelphia, PA, September 1, 2011 – The first report of the presence of alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) in cancers arising from the bladder, cervix, endometrium, esophagus, gallbladder, liver, and lung was published today in The American Journal of Pathology. The presence of ALT in carcinomas can be used as a diagnostic marker and has implications for the development of anti-cancer drug therapies.

An article in the September issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology summarizes methods for radiation dose optimization in chest computed tomography (CT) scans. Chest CT is the third most commonly performed CT examination, frequently used to diagnose the cause of clinical signs or symptoms of the chest, such as cough, shortness of breath, chest pain or fever.

Regardless of the body region being scanned, dose reduction must always start with making sure that there is a justifiable clinical indication for CT scanning.

DALLAS – Sept. 1, 2011 – UT Southwestern Medical Center has developed a new lifesaving genetic screening program for families at high risk of contracting colorectal cancer, a deadly yet highly preventable form of cancer.

DENVER, Aug. 31, 2011 — With almost 100 million people in developing countries exposed to dangerously high levels of arsenic in their drinking water, and unable to afford complex purification technology, scientists today described a simple, inexpensive method for removing arsenic based on chopped up pieces of ordinary plastic beverage bottles coated with a nutrient found in many foods and dietary supplements.

Breast cancer patients over the age of 60 with early-stage, hormone-responsive small tumors who forego adjuvant endocrine, also called hormonal therapy, are not at an increased risk of mortality compared to women of the same age without breast cancer, according to a study published Aug. 31 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

LA JOLLA, CA – August 31, 2011 - Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shown that a particular white blood cell plays a direct role in the development and spread of cancerous tumors. Their work sheds new light on the development of the disease and points toward novel strategies for treating early-stage cancers.

When it comes to defibrillators, simpler may be safer, even though more complex machines are used on a majority of patients.

That's according to a new study from a team that included University of Colorado School of Medicine researcher Paul Varosy, MD. The group reviewed more than 100,000 records of cardiac patients. They found that there was more chance of surgical problems and death with devices that require electrical leads to be attached to two chambers of the heart compared to those that work on one chamber.

A specific genetic alteration has been discovered as a defining feature of epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE), a rare but devastating vascular cancer. These findings have also been used to develop a new diagnostic test for this blood vessel disease.

Some scientists were surprised at how fast bacteria developed resistance to miracle antibiotic drugs developed less than a century ago but it turns out resistance has been around for at least 30,000 years.

Research findings published in Nature show antibiotic resistance is a natural phenomenon that predates the modern clinical antibiotic use. Principal investigators for the study are Gerry Wright, scientific director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research and Hendrik Poinar, McMaster evolutionary geneticist.

Researchers have undertaken the most comprehensive investigation of genetic variance in human metabolism and discovered new insights into a range of common diseases. Their work has revealed 37 new variants that are associated with concentrations of metabolites in the blood. Many of these match variants associated with diseases such as chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes and blood clotting.

treatment because it allows us to target tumours throughout the body as opposed to just those that we can directly inject. The study is also important because it shows that we can use this approach to selectively express foreign genes in tumours, opening the door to a whole new suite of targeted cancer therapies."

The green anole lizard is an agile and active creature, and so are elements of its genome. This genomic agility and other new clues have emerged from the full sequencing of the lizard's genome and may offer insights into how the genomes of humans, mammals, and their reptilian counterparts have evolved since mammals and reptiles parted ways 320 million years ago. The researchers who completed this sequencing project reported their findings August 31 online in the journal Nature.

Scientists have discovered a genetic cause of extreme thinness for the first time, in a study published today in the journal Nature.

The research shows that people with extra copies of certain genes are much more likely to be very skinny. In one in 2000 people, part of chromosome 16 is duplicated, making men 23 times and women five times more likely to be underweight.

DENVER, Aug. 31, 2011 — The technology in "fire paint" used to protect steel beams in buildings and other structures has found a new life as a first-of-its-kind flame retardant for children's cotton sleepwear, terrycloth bathrobes and other apparel, according to a report presented here today at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

DENVER, Aug. 31, 2011 — A new birth control vaccine for white-tailed deer — a growing nuisance in urban areas for gardens and landscaping — eliminates the dangerous reproductive behavior behind the annual autumn surge in automobile-deer collisions. The vaccine, just becoming commercially available in some states, was the topic of a report here today at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).