Tag Archives: hopkins

Scientists use genome sequencing to demonstrate herbal remedy causes upper urinary tract cancers

Aristolochic [pronounced a-ris-to-lo-kik] acid is found in the plant family "Aristolochia," a vine known widely as birthwort, and while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first warned of its cancer-causing potential in 2001, botanical products and herbal remedies containing it can still be purchased online. Moreover, the vine has been found to be an environmental carcinogen through the contamination of food supplies of farming villages in the Balkans, where Aristolochia grows wildly in the local wheat fields…

Step closer to custom-building new blood vessels

The results appear online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "In demonstrating the ability to rebuild a microvascular bed in a clinically relevant manner, we have made an important step toward the construction of blood vessels for therapeutic use," says Sharon Gerecht, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Johns Hopkins University Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Physical Sciences-Oncology Center and Institute for NanoBioTechnology. "Our findings could yield more effective treatments for patients afflicted with burns, diabetic complications and other conditions in which vasculature function is compromised." Gerecht’s research group and others had previously grown blood vessels in the laboratory using stem cells, but barriers remain to efficiently producing the vessels and using them to treat patients. For the current study, the group focused on streamlining the new growth process. …

New website keeps loved ones informed during surgery

Just mentioning the word surgery can send chills down a person's spine. Whether it’s a simple appendectomy or a more complicated procedure, going under the knife can be frightening for both patients and families alike. Now, a new website, MDconnectME.com, is helping to settle the nerves of friends, significant others and family members all across the globe. The website, which is free to use, was designed to allow family members to stay informed while their loved one undergoes an operation. Before surgery, patients make a list of people to notify during their procedure, which grants their doctor permission to send previously-typed notes like, “Ann is now heading into the operating room for surgery,” throughout the day. These messages can be sent through text or e-mail. MDconnectME.com is now being used throughout the country at centers such as Mount Sinai Hospital, Johns Hopkins, and UCLA. For more information, go to MDconnectME.comsource : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/12/new-website-keeps-loved-ones-informed-during-surgery/

No increased risk of infection for long-term sex partners of people with HPV-related oral cancers, study suggests

“While we can’t guarantee that the partners of patients will not develop oral HPV infections or cancers, we can reassure them that our study found they had no increased prevalence of oral infections, which suggests their risk of HPV-related oral cancer remains low,” says Gypsyamber D’Souza, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is expected to present the results of her study June 1 at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting…

Despite new recommendations, women in 40s continue to get routine mammograms at same rate

In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) sifted through the evidence and recommended that while women ages 50-74 should continue to undergo mammograms every two years, those between the ages of 40 and 49 without a family history of breast cancer should discuss the risks and benefits of routine screening mammography with their physicians to make individual decisions. As a result of the altered recommendations, Lauren D. Block, M.D., M.P.H., a clinical fellow in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and her colleagues expected to find fewer women in their 40s getting routine mammograms. …

Making cancer less cancerous

"This master regulator is normally turned off in adult cells, but it is very active during embryonic development and in all highly aggressive tumors studied to date," says Linda Resar, M.D., an associate professor of medicine, oncology and pediatrics, and affiliate in the Institute for Cell Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Our work shows for the first time that switching this gene off in aggressive cancer cells dramatically changes their appearance and behavior." A description of the experiments appears in the May 2 issue of the journal PLOS ONE…