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In the future, women with metastatic ovarian cancer could be treated with a radioactive substance that can seek and destroy tumour cells. An initial study in patients conducted jointly by the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and Sahlgrenska University Hospital has found that the treatment has no unwanted side-effects.

Three out of ten women who undergo polar body diagnosis go on to have a child. The extensive technique of polar body analysis (PBA) is described by researchers in reproductive medicine at Lübeck in an article in the current edition of Deutsches Ärtzeblatt International, in which they present three successful cases and one failure (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106(33): 533-8).

Fast growing transgenic fish can revolutionise commercial fish farming and relieve the pressure on overexploited fish stocks. But what happens in the natural environment if transgenic fish escape? Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have studied transgenic fish on behalf of the EU and are urging caution:-Until further notice transgenic fish should be bred in closed systems on land, says Fredrik Sundström at the Department of Zoology, University of Gothenburg.

German scientists have identified a serious and previously misunderstood contaminant that brings the safety and efficacy of intravenous treatments into question. In a report published in the September 2009 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology (http://www.jleukbio.org), they show how a common intravenous treatment used to boost blood pressure in ailing patients also contains substances called "advanced glycation end products," which trigger inflammation.

Barcelona, Spain, 30 August: A landmark international study led by McMaster University researchers found high doses of the blood thinner clopidogrel (Plavix) significantly reduce complications in heart patients undergoing angioplasty to clear blocked arteries.

Angioplasty, also known as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), carries with it the risk of a heart attack and stent thrombosis, the formation of life-threatening blood clots inside stents that prop open narrowed arteries.

Barcelona, Spain, 30 August: Concomitant kidney dysfunction and/or worsening renal function in patients with heart failure is a frequent finding and is associated with a poor prognosis. Current treatment of heart failure has beneficial effects on cardiac function but does not favorably affect renal function. The possibility to improve renal function and/or obtain kidney protection with new drugs or devices is still uncertain.

Barcelona, Spain, 30 August: Heart failure patients may benefit from treatment of anaemia similarly to those with chronic kidney disease (CKD) or cancer.

Anaemia is common to many diseases (chronic kidney disease, cancer, chronic heart failure) as well as a consequence of treatment for diseases such as cancer, specifically with chemotherapeutic agents. Anaemia may contribute to lethargy, reduced exercise tolerance and poor quality of life. Therefore, raising haemoglobin (Hb) in anaemic patients has long been thought to be a beneficial therapeutic goal.

Barcelona, Spain, 31 August: A new trial has begun in order to ascertain once and for all whether the best strategy for patients who cannot receive P-PCI is early fibrinolysis, together with mandated angiography. This is the STREAM trial whose principal investigators are Profs Frans van der Werf, Paul Armstrong and Tony Gershlick.

Barcelona, Spain, 31 August: Cardiac events are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery, and new guidelines issued today by the European Society of Cardiology address this common and complicated challenge.

Barcelona, Spain, August 30: Data from a phase II trial of an investigational intravenous drug designed to block the formation of blood clots shows potential to reduce the risk of death, a second heart attack, or other coronary complications compared with the current standard of care in patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes (heart attacks or unstable angina).

Viruses have numerous tricks for dodging the immune system. In the September 7, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, Stagg et al. reveal a key detail in one of these stratagems, identifying a protein that enables cyto¬megalovirus to shut down an antiviral defense (online August 31).

Barcelona, Spain, 31 August: Studies from a growing body of convincing data show that responsiveness to antiplatelet therapy is real. This is a clinically important issue and there is a need to develop individual antiplatelet strategies particularly for patients at risk. Further studies are needed to find out whether a personalized antiplatelet therapy can improve platelet inhibition and net clinical outcome in patients identified by non-genetic and genetic risk analysis.

Barcelona, Spain, 31 August: The beneficial effects of aspirin in primary prevention of cardiovascular events i.e. stroke, MI and cardiac death are known and generally accepted. In a recent meta-analysis total cardiovascular event rate was shown to be reduced by 12% and the rate of myocardial infarctions by 18% (Lancet 2009; 373, 1849-60). This holds specifically true for individuals with a 10-year risk for cardiac death above 5% or a total cardiovascular event risk above 15%.

The drywood termite, Cryptotermes secundus, eavesdrops on its more aggressive subterranean competitor, Coptotermes acinaciformis, to avoid contact with it, according to scientists from CSIRO Entomology and the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy.

SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 31, 2009 — Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have shed new light on Ewing's sarcoma, an often deadly bone cancer that typically afflicts children and young adults. Their research shows that patients with poor outcomes have tumors with high levels of a protein known as GSTM4, which may suppress the effects of chemotherapy. The research is published online today in the journal Oncogene.