The first trial to study patients with acute coronary syndrome who do not undergo coronary stenting or bypass surgery found no significant difference between two anti-clotting drugs - prasugrel and clopidogrel - in preventing the first occurrence of death, heart attack or stroke, according to Duke University Medical Center cardiologists. The study also showed no difference in serious bleeding complications. At the same time, the Duke researchers observed an unexpected reduction in heart attack, stroke and death among patients treated with prasurgrel beyond one year of treatment. The researchers say this potential time-dependent benefit requires further exploration.
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Oracle to Support Cancer Research UK's Development of Targeted Cancer Therapies
To support its vision of beating cancer in the United Kingdom, Cancer Research UK, the world's largest not-for-profit cancer research organization, will be working with Oracle Health Sciences Translational Research Center as the foundation for a new analytical environment that will help the charity combine the genetic and clinical data from its Stratified Medicine Programme. Together with AstraZeneca, Pfizer and the UK government's Technology Strategy Board, Cancer Research UK is working to demonstrate a national service that will provide standardized, high-quality and cost-effective genetic testing of tumors linked to clinical data.
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Golden age of prostate cancer treatment hailed as fourth drug in 2 years extends life
The head of one of the UK's leading cancer research organisations has hailed a golden age in prostate cancer drug discovery as for the fourth time in two years results are published finding a new drug can significantly extend life. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine today shows the drug enzalutamide can significantly extend life and improve quality of life in men with advanced prostate cancer - in findings that could further widen the treatment options for men with the disease.
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Potential drug molecule shows enhanced anti-HIV activity
Researchers from Munich and Naples have shown that minimal modification of a synthetic peptide with anti-HIV activity results in a new compound with more than two orders of magnitude higher binding affinity to the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and greatly improved anti-HIV activity. This could be a step toward the design of new, more effective drugs against AIDS, inflammatory diseases, and some forms of cancer.
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How heat helps to treat cancer
Research at Bangor University has identified a switch in cells that may help to kill tumors with heat. Prostate cancer and other localized tumors can be effectively treated by a combination of heat and an anti-cancer drug that damages the genes. Behind this novel therapy is the enigmatic ability of heat to switch off essential survival mechanisms in human cells. Although thermotherapy is now more widely used, the underlying principles are still unclear.
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Anti-angina drug shows protective effects from carbon monoxide
An international research team, led from the University of Leeds, has found that a common anti-angina drug could help protect the heart against carbon monoxide poisoning. Animal studies have shown that the anti-angina drug ranolazine can significantly reduce the number of deaths from arrhythmias - irregular or abnormally paced heartbeats - that have been triggered by carbon monoxide.
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MDC researchers develop new approach to treat acute liver failure
Acute liver failure is a life-threatening disease, characterized by a sudden, massive death of liver cells. Unfortunately, few treatment options exist, especially for advanced-stage liver failure. As a last resort a liver transplant may be the only remaining option. Now the physician Dr. Junfeng An of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and Dr. Stefan Donath, a specialist in internal medicine and cardiology, also of the MDC and Helios Klinikum Berlin-Buch, have developed a new treatment approach based on a mouse model.
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