Tag Archives: healthcare

DNA clamp to grab cancer before it develops

Toward a new generation of screening tests An increasing number of genetic mutations have been identified as risk factors for the development of cancer and many other diseases. Several research groups have attempted to develop rapid and inexpensive screening methods for detecting these mutations. "The results of our study have considerable implications in the area of diagnostics and therapeutics," says Professor Francesco Ricci, "because the DNA clamp can be adapted to provide a fluorescent signal in the presence of DNA sequences having mutations with high risk for certain types cancer. …

Patient satisfaction with clinical services can affect treatment outcomes

Seven hundred patients treated for colorectal cancer at three Cancer Treatment Centers of America hospitals completed service quality questionnaires measuring their levels of satisfaction with hospital operations and services, physicians and staff, and contained patient endorsements. Overall patient experience was measured by asking, “Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your overall experience with the institution?” Survey responses were correlated with median patient survival time from survey completion…

Younger, early breast cancer patients often undergo unnecessary staging, imaging procedures

Presented at a poster session at the 2013 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium by Carlos Barcenas, M.D., assistant professor in MD Anderson’s Breast Medical Oncology, the study is the first to look at the issue of over-use of staging procedures, including imaging and tumor markers in the diagnosis setting, specifically in younger, early-stage breast cancer patients. Over-testing and unnecessary procedures extends beyond cancer care across the healthcare continuum. …

Barriers to HPF vaccination among teens

HPV vaccine coverage among teenagers has increased since the vaccine was licensed in 2006 but it still remains low compared with other recommended vaccinations. Most HPV infections will clear on their own, but persistent infections can progress to precancers or cancers, including cervical, vulvar, vaginal, penile and anal cancer, as well as cancers of the mouth and throat. Vaccination is recommended for both girls and boys, based on age requirements for the specific vaccines, according to the study background. Dawn M. …

Female doctors twice as likely to screen low-risk women for cervical cancer

Female family physicians are twice as likely to order the HPV test (in addition to screening for cervical cancer through pap smears) for low-risk women aged 30-65 than their male counterparts, according to the findings published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. …

Screening guidelines may miss ten percent of colon cancers

In the largest population-based study to date, researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah made this finding based on nearly 127,000 individuals who underwent colonoscopy in Utah between 1995 and 2009. The results appear online in “Early View” of the journal Cancer. Family history of colon cancer is widely accepted as a factor that increases risk for the disease. …