Body

Cancer patients who are malnourished experience significantly greater levels of psychological distress than those who are more adequately nourished, according to new results reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology's Symposium on Cancer and Nutrition (Zurich, 20-21 March 2009).

(SAN DIEGO) – Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) fell by more than 90 percent during the past three years at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania due to a multi-pronged approach combining leadership initiatives, electronic infection surveillance, checklists to guide line insertion and maintenance, and implementation of the Toyota Production System to encourage best practices in line care.

African Americans have a shorter life expectancy than whites, and cancer plays a major role in this disparity. African Americans are more prone to get cancer; they tend to present at a later, deadlier stage; and they have poorer survival rates after diagnosis.

CARBONDALE, IL—Insects such as honeybees and bumble bees are predictable in the way they move among flowers, typically moving directly from one flower to an adjacent cluster of flowers in the same row of plants. The bees' flight paths have a direct affect on their ability to hunt for pollen and generate "gene flow", fertilization and seed production that results when pollen moves from one plant to another. The study of gene flow has experienced more attention in part due to the recent introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the environment.

Almost half of all patients with cancer of the voice box (larynx) who receive radiotherapy treatment will experience malnutrition, according to new data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology's Symposium on Cancer and Nutrition (Zurich, 20-21 March 2009).

Larynx cancer is one of the most common head and neck cancers, with 159,000 new cases and 90,000 deaths reported worldwide each year.

Stockholm, 20 March - In 2005, the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group Study 4 (SPCG-4) reported that radical prostatectomy improved prostate cancer survival compared with watchful waiting after a median of 8.2 years of follow-up. At the 24th Annual EAU Congress in Stockholm, Sweden the results after 3 more years of follow-up were reported by Professor Lars Holmberg from Uppsala, Sweden.

Today Dr. Martin Gleave of the Vancouver Prostate Centre in Canada gave a lecture about new approaches to treat castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRCP) during the 24th Annual Congress of the European Association of Urology in Stockholm, Sweden.

"If we look at the way kidney cancer treatment has changed over recent years we see a glimpse of the future", says Dr Gleave, "Targeted therapies may become available".

Long-term daily drinking, rather than weekly binge drinking, is by far the biggest risk factor in serious liver disease, according to a new report from the University of Southampton.

The study, published in Addiction journal this week, concludes that increases in UK liver deaths are a result of daily or near daily heavy drinking, not episodic or binge drinking, and this regular drinking pattern is often discernable at an early age. It also reccommends that several alcohol-free days a week is a healthier drinking pattern.

A new study published today in the journal Addiction shows that drinking alcohol is the greatest risk factor for acetaldehyde-related cancer. Heavy drinkers may be at increased risk due to exposure from multiple sources.

A new study suggests that previously noted low rates of successful hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy in African Americans are in large part due to very early differences in the antiviral activity induced by interferon. The study is published in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic research shows a correlation between inadequate vitamin D levels and the amount of narcotic medication taken by patients who have chronic pain. This correlation is an important finding as researchers discover new ways to treat chronic pain. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic pain is the leading cause of disability in the United States. These patients often end up taking narcotic-type pain medication such as morphine, fentanyl or oxycodone.

Elimination diets can only help children who have food sensitivity

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have used a new approach, known as RNA-Seq, to profile the gene expression of the bacterium that causes anthrax, Bacillus anthracis. Their study, published March 20, 2009, online by the Journal of Bacteriology, marks the first time any bacterial transcriptome—the complete collection of mRNAs produced by a bacterium as it expresses different genes—has been comprehensively defined, and provides a much more detailed view of how bacteria regulate their gene expression.

of the keys to their worldwide success."

Source: Brown University

A Brown University-led research team for the first time has caught on film how bats land. Their findings were surprising: tree-roosting bats execute a different landing maneuver than cave-dwelling species.

(Photo Credit: Daniel Riskin, Brown University)

Washington, DC - New research suggests that monoclonal antibody therapy of cancer can be improved to be much more powerful than it is today, says a researcher at Georgetown University Medical Center's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in the March 21 issue of the Lancet.