Body

Asian non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients survive longer than Caucasians no matter how many drugs are given in a first-line setting, and the effect was apparent both before and after the introduction of targeted therapies in the early 2000s, according to research published in the June issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Internet is empowering its users more than ever, but the same technology that allows people access to limitless information has also enabled some to combat scientific or medical authority with their personal experiences.

The surgical removal of the appendix and tonsils before the age of 20 was associated with an increased risk of premature heart attack in a large population study performed in Sweden.(1) Tonsillectomy increased the risk by 44% (hazard ratio 1.44) and appendectomy by 33% (HR 1.33). The risk increases were just statistically significant, and were even higher when the tonsils and appendix were both removed. However, there was no risk association evident when the operations were performed in people over the age of 20.

Philadelphia, PA, June 1, 2011 – Although gynecologic cancers account for only 10 percent of all new cancer cases in women, these cancers account for 20 percent of all female cancer survivors. Because long-term survival is now more common, it is increasingly important to detect recurrence. The Clinical Practice Committee of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) has released a Clinical Document outlining their expert recommendations for cancer surveillance, published today in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (AJOG).

TORONTO, June 1, 2011– Despite significant clinical advances in HIV care, an estimated 25 per cent of new HIV infections in Ontario from 2006 to 2008 were among women, according to a health study by researchers from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and St. Michael's Hospital. The researchers say 93 per cent of new infections among women are acquired through sexual transmission and seven per cent through injection drug use. About 60 per cent of newly infected women are immigrants.

Radiology benefit managers (RBMs) — which provide prior authorization for imaging services using proprietary algorithms to determine appropriateness — shift significant costs to physicians and have the potential to either increase or decrease societal costs, according to a study in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology (www.jacr.org).

Since the Industrial Revolution, over half of all the CO2 produced by burning fossil fuels has been absorbed by the ocean, making pH drop faster than any time in the last 650,000 years and resulting in ocean acidification. Recent studies have shown that this causes fish to lose their sense of smell, but a new study published today in Biology Letters shows that fish hearing is also compromised.

A study published in this week's PLoS Medicine suggests that there might be an association between maternal immunization with inactivated influenza vaccine during pregnancy and reduced likelihood of prematurity and the baby being small for gestational age.

Cutting back on sleep drastically reduces a healthy young man's testosterone levels, according to a study published in the June 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

An analysis of data on heart and lung transplant recipients indicates that patients who had transplant surgery performed at nighttime did not have a significantly different rate of survival up to one year after organ transplantation, according to a study in the June 1 issue of JAMA.

Frequently cited studies involving associations of biomarkers report effect sizes that are often larger when compared to summary estimates from meta-analyses evaluating the same associations, according to a study in the June 1 issue of JAMA.

Despite concerns that surgeon fatigue is leading to dangerous complications for patients and data showing worse outcomes for many patients who undergo surgery at night, new Johns Hopkins research suggests that — in the case of heart and lung transplants — time of day has no affect on patient survival.

STANFORD, Calif. — More than two dozen widely cited studies linking genes or other "biomarkers" to specific diseases vastly overstate the association, according to new research from an expert in scientific study design at the Stanford University School of Medicine. As a result, clinicians may be making decisions for their patients based on inaccurate conclusions not supported by other, larger studies.

HOUSTON — A lymphoma vaccine uniquely tailored for each patient extends disease-free survival by 14 months, with signs of an even better response for patients with a specific biological marker, a team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported today in the online version of Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Despite a state requirement that public middle and high school students get 400 minutes of physical education every 10 days, approximately 1.3 million — more than a third (38 percent) of all adolescents enrolled in California public schools — do not participate in any school-based physical education classes, according to a new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.