Scientists have discovered a new way to target cancer through manipulating a master switch responsible for cancer cell growth. The findings, published in the journal Cancer Cell, reveal how cancer cells grow faster by producing their own blood vessels. Cancer cells gain the nutrients they need by producing proteins that make blood vessels grow, helping deliver oxygen and sugars to the tumour. These proteins are vascular growth factors like VEGF - the target for the anti-cancer drug Avastin.
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New Study Shows European Consumers Show Considerable Interest in Learning from Pharma Companies
Despite heavy restrictions on DTC advertising in Europe, nearly two in five online Europeans would like to be able to learn more about prescription drugs directly from a pharmaceutical company, according to the new Cybercitizen Health® Europe study from pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company Manhattan Research. Cybercitizen Health® Europe 2011 explores how European consumers use digital health and pharma information and tools.
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Importance of echocardiography to evaluate cardio toxicity in cancer patients
One study presented at the meeting, which is being held in Budapest, Hungary, 7 to 10 December, reports on an initiative using echocardiography to document early warning signs of adverse effects from trastuzumab (Herceptin ®) (1), while the other uses echocardiography to evaluate the protective role of ACE inhibitors and statins on the hearts of cancer patients (2).
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Philips Welcomes Initial Results of Largest Home Healthcare Clinical Study to Date
Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) welcomed the initial results of a home healthcare clinical study published today by the UK's Department of Health. Involving approximately 6,000 patients at three sites across the UK, the two-year study is believed to be the world's largest of its kind to date. Funded by the Department of Health, the clinical study - known as the Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) program - aimed to provide an evidence base for the adoption of telemonitoring technologies, which could alleviate the mounting financial burden of institutional care for the chronically ill.
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New Potential Personalized Medicine Platform
p-medicine project, launched in February this year, is a 4-year Integrated project aiming at developing a new and state-of-the-art IT platform for personalized medicine. The researchers elaborated the first deliverables according to the agreed 'Description of Work', they identified and described motivated use case scenarios by underlining the p-medicine platform's end user needs and requirements.
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Enhanced treatment of brain tumors
Glioblastoma is regarded as the most malignant form of brain tumor. In many cases, neurosurgeons are not able to remove such tumors completely because of the risk of destroying too much brain tissue in the process. Moreover, it is often impossible to identify all the fine extensions by which the tumor spreads into surrounding healthy tissue. To at least slow down the growth of tumor cells that have remained in the head, almost all glioblastoma patients are treated by radiotherapy after surgery.
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Finnish researchers discover regulator of human cell activity
The research teams headed by Prof. Johanna Ivaska (University of Turku and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland) and Prof. Marko Salmi (University of Turku and the National Institute for Health and Welfare) have discovered that the SHARPIN protein regulates human cell activity. Published in a leading journal, the study concludes that SHARPIN regulates the movement and activity of inflammatory cells and of lung and prostate cancer cells.
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