Body

No matter which way you look at it, rejection hurts. Experiencing rejection from a boss, a friend, or a partner is difficult enough for many adults to handle. But adolescents, who are dealing with the one-two punch of biological and social change, may be the most vulnerable to its negative effects.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A common birth control device is effective in treating early-stage endometrial cancer in morbidly obese and high-risk surgery patients, said Georgia Health Sciences University Cancer Center researchers, and could lead to a cost-effective treatment for all women with this cancer type.

Arlington, Va. — A new 90-day intravaginal ring has been developed — that for the first time — enables the long-lasting vaginal delivery of tenofovir (TFV), the only topical prophylactic shown to be effective at reducing the sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) when formulated in a short-lasting gel. This research is being presented at the 2012 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Chicago, Ill., Oct. 14 – 18.

ARLINGTON, VA -- CONRAD researchers, in collaboration with engineers at the University of Utah, have designed a 90-day intravaginal ring that can be used by women to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV. A study of the ring used sheep to determine whether safe, effective and steady doses of the antiretroviral drug tenofovir can be released over 90 days. This research is being presented at the 2012 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Chicago, Ill., Oct.

Hailed by some as the "end of race as we know it" and the beginning of a "post-racial" America, the 2008 election of Barack Obama sparked a measurable bump in feelings of political empowerment among black Americans.

But those sentiments have faded considerably over the last year or so, according to a new analysis of political survey data, with the sharpest declines in perceived political power coming among blacks who identify themselves as conservatives or "born again" Christians.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A study by the University at Buffalo shows for the first time that obese males ages 14 to 20 have up to 50 percent less total testosterone than do normal males of the same age, significantly increasing their potential to be impotent and infertile as adults.

The paper was published online as an accepted article in Clinical Endocrinology.

PHILADELPHIA (October 16, 2012)— Researchers at Drexel University have identified the physical forces in red blood cells and blood vessels underlying the painful symptoms of sickle cell disease. Their experiment, the first to answer a scientific question about sickle cell disease using microfluidics engineering methods, may help future researchers better determine who is at greatest risk of harm from the disease. They report their findings in Cell Press's Biophysical Journal today.

Capillary Blockage Conundrum

Philadelphia, PA, October 16, 2012 – Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is considered a precursor lesion for invasive breast cancer if untreated, and is found in approximately 45% of patients with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). Patients with DCIS only (not accompanied by invasive disease) have a 5-year-survival of nearly 100%, compared to 89% for all stages of invasive breast cancer (24% for patients with distant metastasis).

Chapel Hill, NC – Patient-reported outcomes should be a standard part of evaluating the comparative effectiveness of cancer treatments, according to recommendations put forward by a multi-institution research group.

BOSTON—In what they say is a promising and highly selective treatment strategy, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have safely shut down breast cancer and a form of leukemia in mice by targeting abnormal proteins to which the cancers are "addicted," according to a new study.

Even though the investigators genetically silenced the proteins or blocked them with a drug in normal as well as cancerous tissues, the animals remained healthy, they report in the Oct. 16 issue of the journal Cancer Cell. Peter Sicinski, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber is the paper's senior author.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — A new noninvasive test for colorectal cancer screening demonstrated high sensitivity for detecting colorectal cancer, in particular precancers that are most likely to develop into cancer, according to data presented at the 11th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held here Oct. 16-19, 2012.

A team of researchers at the IRCM, supervised by Dr. Jacques Drouin, reprogrammed the identity of cells in the pituitary gland and identified critical mechanisms of epigenetic cell programming. This important discovery, published yesterday by the scientific journal Genes & Development, could eventually lead to new pharmacological targets for the treatment of Cushing's disease.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA — Routine screening for type 2 diabetes in adults at low and moderate risk is not recommended, although it is recommended for people at high and very high risk of the disease, state new diabetes screening guidelines published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.cmaj.ca/content/184/15/1687.full. The guidelines suggest using a risk calculator and then screening based on the predicted risk of diabetes.

Researchers investigating the long-term consequences of child abuse have identified some protective factors that can improve the health of victims during their adulthood.

Men and women in their 30s who had been abused or neglected as children reported worse mental and physical health than their non-abused peers. But being married or having graduated from high school buffered the severity of their symptoms.

PHILADELPHIA—Men who had high levels of the activated Stat5 protein in their prostate cancer after a radical prostatectomy were more likely to have a recurrence or die from the disease compared to men who had little to no presence of the growth protein, according to a recent study published in Human Pathology by Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center researchers.

This suggests, Stat5, a protein that when activated signals cancer cells to grow and survive, could be an ideal biomarker to help guide patients and physicians for future treatment.