Weill Cornell experts publish review of genetic medicine
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In an article published in the April issue of Nature Reviews Genetics, two experts at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University sum up the achievements, challenges and promise of a burgeoning field: genetic medicine.
“There have been some real success stories since the human genome was sequenced in 2001, but some disappointments, too, and real hurdles yet to be overcome,” says co-author Dr. Ronald G. Crystal, the Bruce Webster Professor of Internal Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.
“However, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the nearly limitless potential of this technology, which is still in its infancy,” he says.
Studies show HPV testing is more sensitive than current screening methods
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The current technique for screening for cervical cancer involves collecting cells by way of a pap smear and examining them under a microscope. Although this method has reduced cervical cancer in countries where it is regularly used, it has several weaknesses.
A new study found that the test for human papillomavirus (HPV), which is present in almost all cervical cancers, is more sensitive than cytology (cell examination) in detecting cervical cancer. The study published online April 3, 2006 in the International Journal of Cancer, the official journal of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), and is available via Wiley InterScience.
Cytology is currently the gold standard for cervical cancer detection, but it has several limitations: high-quality samples must be collected; identifying the cell changes that may lead to cancer is highly subjective; and the method itself is very repetitive, which can further lead to interpretive errors. Several studies have shown that HPV testing is more sensitive than cytology at detecting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), the changes in cervical cells that can lead to cancer. The current study was an analysis of data from several countries comparing the two methods.
US company claims to make stem cells from testes
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U.S. researchers said on Saturday they had transformed immature cells from men’s testicles into powerful stem cells, which they then coaxed into becoming nerve, heart and bone cells.
Their work has not been assessed by standard peer-review processes, but was presented at a meeting of stem cell researchers in Valencia, Spain. If other researchers can duplicate their efforts, the study offers a possible new source of valuable stem cells.
The researchers, at Irvine, California-based PrimeGen Biotech LLC, worked with immature cells found in testes and ovaries known as germ cells. Scientists have hoped to use germ cells as a source of tissues for transplant and other medical uses.
UN health body confirms four Egypt bird flu cases
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that four Egyptians have caught bird flu, including two who died from the virus, an Egyptian health ministry official said on Monday.
Nasr al-Sayyed told Reuters that a WHO laboratory in Britain had verified the four cases. The result was received on Sunday, he said. The Egyptian government sends samples from people it suspects have caught the virus to the WHO for final confirmation.
The government says a total of eight Egyptians have been infected by bird flu. Two of those have recovered, while the others are still being treated.
Video game helps young people blast cancer
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Saif Azar, a 14-year-old video game fan, said a new title called “Re-Mission” helped arm him with the knowledge of how to fight cancer after he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2003.
“It was perfect, actually. It helped me understand the things that were going on in my body,” said Azar, who started playing the game as part of a clinical study and continues playing today as he wraps up his treatments.
Roxxi, the main character in “Re-Mission,” is a gutsy, fully-armed “Nanobot” who seeks out and destroys cancer cells throughout the body.
Study suggests rise in autism cases may not be real
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A rise in autism cases is not evidence of a feared epidemic but reflects that schools are diagnosing autism more frequently, a study said on Monday.
Children classified by U.S. school special education programs as mentally retarded or learning disabled have declined in tandem with the rise in autism cases between 1994 and 2003, the author of the study said, suggesting a switch of diagnoses.
Government health authorities have been trying to allay widely publicized concerns that vaccines containing the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal, which is no longer used, were behind an autism epidemic.
Canada scraps plan to decriminalize marijuana use
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Canada’s new Conservative government will scrap draft legislation that would have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Monday.
The legislation, drawn up by the previous Liberal government, alarmed police officials in Canada and the neighboring United States who said it would only encourage the already booming trade in pot.
Once the Liberals lost the January 23 election after 12 years in power, the bill looked to be in deep trouble. One of Harper’s five priorities is to clamp down on crime.
Sexy media a siren call to promiscuity: study
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Sexually charged music, magazines, TV and movies push youngsters into intercourse at an earlier age, perhaps by acting as kind of virtual peer that tells them everyone else is doing it, a study said on Monday.
“This is the first time we’ve shown that the more kids are exposed to sex in media the earlier they have sex,” said Jane Brown of the University of North Carolina, chief author of the report.
Previous research had been limited to television, said the study that looked at 1,017 adolescents when they were aged 12 to 14 and again two years later. They were checked on their exposure during the two years to 264 items—movies, TV shows, music and magazines—which were analyzed for their sexual content.
Racial gap seen in chemo for colon cancer
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Black patients with colorectal cancer are 20 percent less likely than white patients to be recommended for add-on (or “adjuvant”) chemotherapy, new research indicates.
The finding comes from a look-back study that included all 17,174 black and white colorectal cancer patients diagnosed in Alabama during a recent 7-year period. Dr. Hanaa S. Elhefni, from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio reported the results at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
At a press briefing on health disparities, in which Dr. Elhefni’s study was highlighted, Dr. Olufunmilayo I. Olopade, an oncologist from the University of Chicago said: “This study shows that doctors are not recommending treatments for colorectal cancer that we know are effective and we need to find out why.”
Prolonged mobile phone use raises brain tumour risk
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The use of mobile phones over a long period of time can raise the risk of brain tumours, according to a Swedish study released on Friday, contradicting the conclusions of other researchers.
Last year, the Dutch Health Council, in an overview of research from around the world, found no evidence that radiation from mobile phones or TV towers was harmful. A four-year British survey in January also showed no link between regular, long-term use of cell phones and the most common type of tumour.
But researchers at the Swedish National Institute for Working Life looked at the mobile phone use of 2,200 cancer patients and an equal number of healthy control subjects.
Researchers Discover Cancer Cells May Move Via Wave Stimulation
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Mayo Clinic researchers have uncovered a new cellular secret that may explain how certain cancers move and spread—a feature of cancers that makes treatment especially difficult. If the mechanism that drives cancer movement—also called metastasis—can be understood well enough to manipulate it, new and better treatments can be developed for patients with metastatic cancers.
Significance of the Mayo Clinic Research
The Mayo researchers focused on odd protrusions observable by microscope on the surface of certain cancer cells: circular waves. Until now, no one has fully understood the function of these waves. The Mayo findings in the current edition of Cancer Research http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/current.shtml are the first to show one role the waves play. They selectively round up activated growth-promoting proteins from the cell surface and take them to the interior of the cell. Under normal conditions, this process would help terminate signals from these growth-promoting proteins. However, in cancer cells it appears that either these waves may not function properly, or that the internalized proteins may remain active longer, which allows them to “instruct” a cell to acquire cancerous traits such as excessive growth and invasive movement that constitute metastasis. These waves are important for helping to keep these cancer-growth commands at bay.
UK dentists warn on service as deal deadline looms
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Dentists warned the UK government on Friday that it could be harder to get treatment on the NHS as a deadline loomed for them to sign up to new contracts.
The British Dental Association said almost two thirds of dentists in areas they surveyed were only giving provisional agreement to the contracts, reserving the right to dispute the terms.
That could lead to some dentists turning to private work and refusing to treat patients on the NHS, adding the existing difficulty of finding an NHS dentist in some areas of the country. But Health Minister Rosie Winterton told the BBC that the “vast majority” of dentists were signing up to the new agreement, which takes force from April 1.
U.S. will dispose of feed infected by bird flu
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To help prevent the spread of bird flu, the Food and Drug Administration will draw up rules for the disposal of livestock feed that might carry avian influenza viruses, a U.S. official said on Thursday.
FDA also will develop tests for antiviral drug residues in poultry during fiscal 2007, which begins October 1, said Bruce Gellin, director of the National Vaccine Program Office at the Department of Health and Human Services.
