Tag Archives: medicine

Better way to track emerging cell therapies using MRIs

In a paper published September 17 in the online journal Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh and elsewhere describe the first human tests of using a perfluorocarbon (PFC) tracer in combination with non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to track therapeutic immune cells injected into patients with colorectal cancer. “Initially, we see this technique used for clinical trials that involve tests of new cell therapies,” said first author Eric T. Ahrens, PhD, professor in the Department of Radiology at UC San Diego…

Curcumin, special peptides boost cancer-blocking PIAS3 to neutralize cancer-activating STAT3 in mesothelioma

Malignant mesothelioma has received widespread notoriety because it occurs frequently in the lung linings of people exposed to asbestos. However, asbestos does not always cause this particular cancer that kills 43,000 people worldwide each year. Many mesothelioma patients were never exposed to asbestos. “Mesothelioma is a disease that continues to have a significant burden worldwide, and the treatment option is really suboptimal. …

Blood test could identify when cancer treatment has become detrimental — ScienceDaily

Researchers identified the emergence of drug-resistant cancer cells by testing repeated blood samples from patients with advanced prostate cancer. They set out a new ‘treatment paradigm’ — the constant monitoring of patients using a blood test for signs that therapy is becoming counter-productive. The study was conducted at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Trento in Italy. …

Professional recommendations against routine prostate cancer screening have little effect — ScienceDaily

The study, published as a research letter online in JAMA Internal Medicine, focused on the use of PSA — prostate-specific antigen — to test for prostate cancer. “We found that the effect of the guidelines recommending against the routine screening of elderly men in particular has been minimal at best,” says Jesse Sammon, D.O., a researcher at Henry Ford’s Vattikuti Urology Institute and lead author of the study. The researchers found an estimated 17 million men age 50 or older without a history of prostate cancer or prostate problems who reported undergoing PSA screening…

Focus on treatment costs, value: Less radiation for elderly women with early breast cancer

The study, using a national database of more than 100,000 women treated during the last decade, found that today nationally radiation oncologists are less likely to use radiotherapy in women older than 70 with early-stage estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer and that when they do, treatment is appropriately less-intensive. This follows a randomized trial demonstrating low rates of recurrence in women who don’t receive radiotherapy after lumpectomy, provided they take endocrine therapy. This confirms radiation oncologists are responding to a growing impetus to keep medical practices current and cost-effective, said first author Charles Rutter, M.D., a radiation oncology resident in Yale’s School of Medicine. “In light of the current environment surrounding the cost of healthcare — with an intense focus on costs — only treatments with meaningful benefit should be delivered,” Rutter said…

Skin cancer risks higher for soldiers serving abroad

In a retrospective study of about 200 veterans seen at the post-deployment clinic of the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System found that 62 percent of military personnel reported getting sunburned while deployed abroad, including cases of skin blistering. In addition, 29 percent noted a change in the color, shape or size of their moles (a skin cancer risk factor) since being deployed to tropical zones, but only 4 percent reported receiving a skin examination from a physician since deployment…