Body

Faster, higher, stronger: A protein that enables powerful initial immune response

Your first response to an infectious agent or antigen ordinarily takes about a week, and is relatively weak. However, if your immune system encounters that antigen a second time, the so-called memory response is rapid, powerful, and very effective.

African-American women more likely to be diagnosed with higher risk breast cancer

Washington, D.C., June 9, 2014 - A research study led by cancer specialists at MedStar Washington Hospital Center found that African-American women frequently present with biologically less favorable subtypes of breast cancer.

New study finds text messaging program benefits pregnant women

WASHINGTON, DC (June 9, 2014) – The leading mobile health service in the nation, Text4baby, was found to significantly benefit pregnant women, according to a new study led by Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at the George Washington University and the Madigan Army Medical Center. The pilot study examined several things including the short-term effects of Text4baby exposure four weeks post enrollment on attitudes, beliefs and behaviors targeted by the text messages.

Humanitarian liking on Facebook

"Liking" a page on the social networking site Facebook is a new form of civic engagement and humanitarian support, so concludes research published in the International Journal of Web Based Communities. According to the paper's authors social motives and an emotional response underpinned users' inclination to like, or follow, a page, rather than their simply seeking information and news.

PET/MR is superior for verifying coronary arterial disease

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Ischemic heart disease, a narrowing of the arteries supplying blood to the heart, is a leading cause of death throughout the world. A hybrid molecular imaging technique called positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance (PET/MR) imaging, which tells doctors vital information about cardiac and arterial function, has been found to be an effective molecular imaging tool for detecting coronary artery disease (CAD), say researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting.

Chemo-radionuclide therapy halts neuroendocrine cancer

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Advanced cancer of the neuroendocrine system can lead to dismal prognoses, but a novel therapy is packing a punch by uniting powerful radionuclide treatment and chemotherapy drugs, revealed researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting.

Opti-SPECT/PET/CT: 5 different imaging systems now combined

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Taking their pick, biomedical researchers can now conduct five different imaging studies in one scan with a state-of-the-art preclinical molecular imaging system that scientists unveiled during the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting.

Enzyme-inhibition could revolutionize molecular imaging

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – The prominent role a single enzyme plays in cancer imaging has eluded researchers for years, but not anymore. This discovery could pave new avenues in nuclear medicine. The enzyme, called neutral endopeptidase (NEP), has a way of breaking down most radiopeptide imaging agents in the body. Researchers have developed an elegant new concept that improves molecular imaging, according to study results presented during the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting.

Molecular imaging gets to the root of rheumatoid arthritis

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Rheumatoid arthritis causes chronic pain for almost half of adults by the time they retire, but a new molecular imaging technique can visualize inflammation in the joints, giving doctors a clear read on chronic pain and possible joint destruction, say researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting.

A few circulating cancer cells could cue risk of metastases

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – A simple noninvasive blood test matched with state-of-the-art molecular imaging of individual cells could help oncologists understand their patients' chances of survival, say researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting.

Molecular imaging finds novel way to knock down breast cancer

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – For years researchers have been developing molecular imaging techniques that visualize hormonally active breast cancer cells—specifically those testing positive for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). A recent innovation in breast cancer biomarkers seeks the HER3 receptor instead, which could mean more comprehensive breast cancer imaging and potential treatments, say experts presenting data during the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting.

PSMA-based imaging traces even treatment-resistant prostate cancer

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Anti-androgen hormonal therapy, also called chemical castration, can be an important defense against further disease progression for patients with prostate cancer that has traveled and grown in other areas, or metastasized—but some cases simply do not respond to this treatment.

Molecular breast imaging protocol unmasks more cancer

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Patients with advanced breast cancer that may have spread to their lymph nodes could benefit from a more robust dose of a molecular imaging agent called Tc-99m filtered sulfur colloid when undergoing lymphoscintigraphy, a functional imaging technique that scouts new cancer as it begins to metastasize. Best results also indicate that imaging could be improved by injecting the agent the day prior to surgical resection, according to research unveiled at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting.

Presurgical SPECT/CT shows more cancer than current standard

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Startling data from an international multi-center trial provide growing evidence that sentinel node imaging is more effectively accomplished with hybrid functional imaging with single photon emission computed tomography and computed tomography (SPECT/CT) than with another molecular imaging technique called lymphoscintigraphy.

CU researchers explain mechanism that helps viruses spread

AURORA, Colo. (June 9, 2014) – In an article published in the scientific journal Nature, a University of Colorado School of Medicine researcher and colleagues explain how RNA molecules found in certain viruses mimic the shape of other molecules as part of a strategy to 'hijack' the cell and make more viruses.