Tag Archives: health

Research reveals structure of master regulator, new drug target for autism, cervical cancer

"Because the assembly of cells is like an elaborate tinker toy set in which the parts can be used in different combinations to serve various roles, E6AP normally functions in nerve cells to direct brain development and in a functionally related process termed neuronal plasticity which allows nerve cells to alter their patterns of communication with neighboring cells during learning," notes Arthur Haas, PhD, the Roland Coulson Professor and Chairman of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans and Director of the laboratory in which the work was performed. The research team included lead investigator Dr. Virginia Ronchi, a postdoctoral fellow, and her colleagues, Jennifer Klein and Dr. Daniel Edwards, all of whom work in Dr…

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. …

Promising new biomarkers linked to early diagnosis of breast cancer

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in both men and women in the U.S. However, women have a higher chance than men of being diagnosed with cancer before the age of 60 due to breast cancer development. Metastases in breast cancer’s later stages cause the majority of deaths associated with the disease, making early detection crucial to patient survival. …

Cancer Statistics 2014: Death rates continue to drop

Each year, the American Cancer Society estimates the numbers of new cancer cases and deaths expected in the United States in the current year and compiles the most recent data on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival based on incidence data from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics. The data are disseminated in two reports, Cancer Statistics, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, and its companion article, Cancer Facts & Figures. This year’s report estimates there will be 1,665,540 new cancer cases and 585,720 cancer deaths in the United States in 2014…

Costs for complications from cancer surgical care extremely high

The authors’ findings come against the backdrop of rising cancer care costs in the United States, which were estimated at $124.6 billion in 2010 and could rise by 66 percent to $207 billion by 2020. "It is widely known that outcomes after cancer surgery vary widely, depending on interactions between patient, tumor, neoadjuvant therapy and provider factors," said Marah Short, a senior research analyst for the Baker Institute’s Health Policy Forum. "An area of cancer care that has received little attention is the influence of complications on medical outcomes and costs of care…

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. …