Body

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A mutant gene long thought to accelerate tumor growth in thyroid cancer patients actually inhibits the spread of malignant cells, showing promise for novel cancer therapies, a Mayo Clinic study has found. The findings will be presented by Mayo Clinic researcher Honey Reddi, Ph.D., at the Endocrine Society meeting in Boston.

Women with a healthy body weight before and after diagnosis of breast cancer are more likely to survive the disease long term, a new study finds. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.

(NEW YORK, NY, June 4, 2011) – Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center are honing in on the development of what may be the first non-steroidal, oral contraceptive for men. Tests of low doses of a compound that interferes with retinoic acid receptors (RARs), whose ligands are metabolites of dietary vitamin A, showed that it caused sterility in male mice.

Scientists have identified a new strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) which occurs both in human and dairy cow populations.

The study, led by Dr Mark Holmes at the University of Cambridge, identified the new strain in milk from dairy cows while researching mastitis (a bacterial infection which occurs in the cows' udders).

Revealing another part of the story of muscle development, Johns Hopkins researchers have shown how the cytoskeleton from one muscle cell builds finger-like projections that invade into another muscle cell's territory, eventually forcing the cells to combine.

Such muscle cell fusion, the researchers say, is not only important for understanding normal muscle growth, but also muscle regeneration after injury or disease. The work, they believe, could further development of therapies for muscular dystrophy or age-related muscle wasting.

(Embargoed) CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have shown in an animal study that transplantation of adult stem cells enriched with a bone-regenerating hormone can help mend bone fractures that are not healing properly.

NEW YORK (June 5, 2011) — Less invasive catheter-based aortic valve replacement and open valve-replacement surgery have a similar one-year survival for patients at high risk for surgery.

CHICAGO -- ASCO Abstract #CRA9015. Flaxseed provides no benefit in easing hot flashes among breast cancer patients and postmenopausal women, according to a Mayo Clinic and North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) study.

Formoterol, a new generation asthma medication, shows great promise for improving fat and protein metabolism, say Australian researchers, who have tested this effect in a small sample of men. The researchers presented their results on Saturday 4 June 2011 at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.

The research team comprises members of Professor Ken Ho's lab from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research as well as Professor Ric Day, a clinical pharmacologist from St. Vincent's Hospital.

DETROIT – The demands of a medical residency can make balancing a career and family a challenge. But the results of a Henry Ford Hospital survey of Emergency Department (ED) resident physicians' attitudes on pregnancy during residency may offer uplifting news.

The survey of 541 residents from across the country found that 84 percent said it was acceptable for female residents to have children during residency and 82 percent said they would rearrange their schedule to help a pregnant colleague.

Almost all bacteria owe their structure to an outer cell wall that interacts closely with the supporting MreB protein inside the cell. As scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry and at the French INRA now show, MreB molecules assemble into larger units, but not - as previously believed – into continuous helical structures. The circular movement of these units along the inside of the bacterial envelope is mediated by cell wall synthesis, which in turn requires the support of MreB.

PASADENA, Calif.—For all animals, development begins with the embryo. It is here that uniform cells divide and diversify, and blueprints are laid for future structures, like skeletal and digestive systems. Although biologists have known for some time that signaling processes — messages that tell a cell to express certain genes so as to become certain parts of these structures — exist at this stage, there has not been a clear framework explanation of how it all comes together.

In a study that included nearly 18,000 children who had cancer, with follow-up of about 25 years, the greatest excess risk associated with a subsequent primary neoplasm (a new tumor) at older than age 40 years was for digestive and genitourinary neoplasms (related to the genital or urinary tract organs), according to a study in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer. The study is being published early online to coincide with the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2011 Annual Meeting.

In a clinical trial that included nearly 80,000 women, those who received ovarian cancer screening did not have a reduced risk of death from ovarian cancer compared to women who received usual care, but did have an increase in invasive medical procedures and associated harms as a result of being screened, according to a study in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer. The study is being published early online to coincide with its presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2011 Annual Meeting.

An analysis of data from previously published studies indicates that longer time to beginning adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery for colorectal cancer is associated with worse survival, according to a study in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer. The study is being published early online to coincide with its presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2011 Annual Meeting.