Tag Archives: doctor

Cetuximab or bevacizumab with combi chemo equivalent in KRAS wild-type MCRC

“The CALGB/SWOG 80405 trial was designed and formulated in 2005, and the rationale was simple: we had new drugs –bevacizumab and cetuximab– and the study was designed to determine if one was better than the other in first-line for patients with colon cancer,” said lead study author Alan P. Venook, distinguished Professor of Medical Oncology and Translational Research at the University of California, San Francisco, USA. The CALGB/SWOG 80405 trial studied patients whose tumours were KRAS wild-type at codons 12 and 13. …

Test increases odds of correct surgery for thyroid cancer patients

The test, available at the UPMC/UPCI Multidisciplinary Thyroid Center and other diagnostic testing agencies, improved the chances of patients getting the correct initial surgery by 30 percent, according to the study published this month in the Annals of Surgery. “Before this test, about one in five potential thyroid cancer cases couldn’t be diagnosed without an operation to remove a portion of the thyroid,” said lead author Linwah Yip, M.D., assistant professor of surgery in Pitt’s School of Medicine and UPMC surgical oncologist…

Cancer genomics hub adds childhood cancer data

A UCSC team led by bioinformatics expert David Haussler established CGHub in 2012 to manage primary sequence data from all of NCI’s cancer genomics research programs. These programs, which aim to improve cancer treatment by identifying the genetic drivers of cancer, require massive amounts of data to be shared among researchers throughout the country. …

What does compassion sound like?

Rochester researchers believe they are the first to systematically pinpoint and catalogue compassionate words and actions in doctor-patient conversations. By breaking down the dialogue and studying the context, scientists hope to create a behavioral taxonomy that will guide medical training and education. "In health care, we believe in being compassionate but the reality is that many of us have a preference for technical and biomedical issues over establishing emotional ties," said senior investigator Ronald Epstein, M.D., professor of Family Medicine, Psychiatry, Oncology, and Nursing and director of the UR Center for Communication and Disparities Research. Epstein is a national and international keynote speaker and investigator on mindfulness and communication in medical education. …

Ultrasound microscopy: Aid for surgeons to make the invisible, visible

Ultrasonic microscopes have a wide range of applications including determining the presence of otherwise invisible defects in components used in the automobile, aeronautical, and construction industries. Professor Naohiro Hozumi of Toyohashi Tech’s Department of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering is developing the technology to monitor living tissue and cell specimens for medical purposes. …