Tag Archives: country

New look at complex head and neck tumor behavior

An increasing number of head and neck cancers are caused by a virus, the human papilloma virus (HPV). Using tissue from HPV-positive and HPV-negative (largely linked to smoking) HNSCC tumors, researchers from institutions around the country referenced The Cancer Genome Atlas to develop a comprehensive assessment of alterations, or oncogenes, that could play a role in how the tumors develop and metastasize, said Wendell Yarbrough, M.D., section chief of otolaryngology at Yale School of Medicine and Clinical Program Leader of the Head & Neck Cancer Program at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven. “To make the progress we envision with personalized medicine, we first have to understand what’s driving these tumors, and this is one of the first studies to do this,” said Yarbrough, an author on the study. …

Pneumococcal vaccine reduces antibiotic-resistant infections in children by 62 percent

The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13), first available in 2010 (replacing 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, PCV7), reduced the incidence of antibiotic-resistant invasive pneumococcal disease by 62 percent from 2009 to 2013 among children under five years old. The study is the first report of the effectiveness of PCV13 to combat antibiotic-resistant infections, a vaccination recommended for children under five years old. …

Access to minimally invasive colon cancer surgery varies by location

A new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center finds that in some parts of the country, about two-thirds of colon cancer patients will receive laparoscopic colectomy, a minimally invasive procedure to remove part of the colon. In other parts of the country, the rate was zero. …

Breast conserving therapy shows survival benefit compared to mastectomy in early-stage patients with hormone receptor positive disease

The study findings defy the conventional belief that the two treatment interventions offer equal survival, and show the need to revisit some standards of breast cancer practice in the modern era. The research was presented at the 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium by Catherine Parker, MD, formerly a fellow at MD Anderson, now at the University of Alabama Birmingham. In the 1980s, both US-based and international randomized clinical studies found that BCT and mastectomy offered women with early stage breast cancer equal survival benefit…

Pain and itch may be signs of skin cancer

The study, published online by JAMA Dermatology on July 23, 2014, found that nearly 36. 9 percent of skin cancer lesions are accompanied by itching, while 28.2 percent involve pain. Non-melanoma skin cancers — specifically, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma — are more likely than melanoma to involve itch or pain, the study found. “The study highlights the importance of a simple bedside evaluation for the presence and intensity of pain or itch as an easily implementable tool for clinicians in evaluating suspicious skin lesions,” concluded the study. …

Precursor of multiple myeloma more common in blacks than whites

The findings, which appear in the journal Leukemia, are from the first nationwide study to look at the precursor of multiple myeloma in blacks, whites, and Hispanics and could point the way toward tailored screening and preventive strategies for different racial groups. The study also uncovered different rates of the condition in different parts of the country, suggesting an environmental component to the racial disparities. “We have known for a long time that there is a marked racial disparity in multiple myeloma, but the big question has been why that disparity exists,” says the study’s senior author, Vincent Rajkumar, M.D., a hematologist/oncologist at Mayo Clinic…