Body

The contribution of H. pylori and smoking trends to the decline in gastric cancer in US men.

Trends in Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and smoking explain a significant proportion of the decline of intestinal-type noncardia gastric adenocarcinoma (NCGA) incidence in US men between 1978 and 2008, and are estimated to continue to contribute to further declines between 2008 and 2040.

A novel transcriptome-based classification of colon cancer that improves the current disease stratification based on clinicopathological variables and common DNA markers is presented in a study published in PLOS Medicine this week. (A transcriptome is all RNA produced by a population of cells.) Pr. Pierre Laurent-Puig and colleagues from INSERM in Paris, France used genetic information from a French multicenter study supported by the "Ligue contre le cancer" to identify a standard, reproducible molecular classification based on gene expression analysis of colorectal cancer.

Transparent information on the evidence supporting global recommendations on paediatric medicines should be easily accessible in order to help policy makers decides on what drugs to include in their national drug lists, according to international experts from Ghana and the UK writing in this week's PLOS Medicine.

Researchers at University of Cincinnati have developed and tested a solar-powered nano filter that is able to remove harmful carcinogens and antibiotics from water sources – lakes and rivers – at a significantly higher rate than the currently used filtering technology made of activated carbon. They report their results today at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

ATHENS, Ohio (May 21, 2013)—How does the bacterium Shigella—the cause of a deadly diarrheal disease—detect that it's in a human host? Ohio University scientists have found that a biological "RNA thermometer" monitors whether the environment is right for the bacterium to produce the factors it needs to survive within the body, according to a study published May 21 in the journal PLOS ONE.

CINCINNATI—Using the Department of Defense Serum Repository (DoDSR), University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have identified a number of biomarkers for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which could help with earlier diagnosis and intervention in those who have not yet shown symptoms.

This finding, the first of its kind and led by UC's Bruce Yacyshyn, MD, is being presented via podium presentation by staff from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Digestive Disease Week 2013, being held May 18-21 in Orlando, Fla.

Boston – Adenotonsillectomy, or the removal of the adenoids and tonsils, is performed 500,000 times a year in the United States, often as a treatment for children with obstructive sleep apnea. However, the procedure's ability to improve a child's attention and executive functioning, behavior, sleep apnea symptoms, and quality of life has not been rigorously evaluated until now.

AURORA, Colo. (May 21, 2013) – A paper recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine and co-written by physicians and scientists at the University of Colorado School of Medicine finds that an important genetic risk factor for pulmonary fibrosis can be used to identify individuals at risk for this deadly lung disease.

Boston, Mass.—By studying the roles two proteins, thrombospondin-1 and prosaposin, play in discouraging cancer metastasis, a trans-Atlantic research team has identified a five-amino acid fragment of prosaposin that significantly reduces metastatic spread in mouse models of prostate, breast and lung cancer. The findings suggest that a prosaposin-based drug could potentially block metastasis in a variety of cancers.

AURORA, Colo. (May 21, 2013) – Research into genetic features of pulmonary fibrosis by physicians and scientists at the University of Colorado School of Medicine may lead to improved treatment of this deadly lung disease, according to a paper published online by JAMA.

The study found that a particular genetic variation helps predict survival in some cases of pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic progressive disease with a median survival of three years. As a result of the study, researchers may want to consider including genetic testing in future clinical trials.

Environment is not the only factor in shaping regulatory patterns -- and it might not even be the primary factor, according to a new Rice University study that looks at how cells' protein networks relate to a bacteria's genome.

ATS 2013, PHILADELPHIA – African-Americans are less likely than whites and women are more likely than men to have had a prior diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) regardless of their current disease severity, according to a new study.

ATS 2013, PHILADELPHIA ─ A study of veterans at high risk for developing lung cancer shows that low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) can be highly effective in helping clinicians spot tiny lung nodules which, in a small number of patients, may indicate the earliest stages of the disease. LDCT uses less than a quarter of the radiation of a conventional CT scan.

Results of the study will be presented at the ATS 2013 International Conference.

Variation in the gene MUC5B among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was associated with improved survival, according to a study published online by JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the American Thoracic Society international conference.

Children with obstructive sleep apnea who had a common surgery to remove their adenoids and tonsils showed notable improvements in behavior, quality of life and other symptoms compared to those treated with "watchful waiting" and supportive care. However, there was no difference between both groups in attention and executive functioning, as measured by formal neuropsychological tests.