Blood test may help signal tumor's remission, return in throat cancer patients
...time to pursue a second line of treatment, such as surgery or drug therapy. “Cancers of the head and neck are insidious because surgical removal of the tumor can severely impair a person’s ability to talk and to swallow,” said NIDCD Director, James F. Battey, Jr., M.D., Ph.D. “A blood test that enables doct...Gene therapy delivery of nerve growth factors reverses erectile dysfunction in animal model
...th damage to the cavernous nerve that results from surgery for prostate cancer. Even if a patient receives a nerve-sparing procedure during surgery, recovery from ED after radical prostatectomy may take a long time. In this study, which was led by Joseph C. Glorioso, III, Ph.D., chair of the department o...Dual-imaging technique useful before -- and during -- brain surgery
...rstand what is happening in their head and how the surgery will be conducted. “We can essentially show patients a color-coded picture of their brain and explain to them where their tumor is in relation to areas that control critical functions like expressive speech, movement and vision,” says Leach. “This...University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers develop 'off-the-shelf' vascular grafts
...ed by David A. Vorp, Ph.D., associate professor of surgery and bioengineering and a faculty member of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, developed its vascular graft by “bulk seeding,” or spraying, MDSCs inside a biodegradable porous, tubular polyest...Cancer stem cells similar to normal stem cells can thwart anti-cancer agents
... by Vera Donnenberg, Ph.D., assistant professor of surgery and pharmaceutical sciences, University of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy, used cell surface markers and dyes to identify cancer stem cells as well as normal adult stem cells and their progeny in samples obtained from normal lung and lun...Clot-dissolving agent may be beneficial in treatment of severe frostbite
...ncurrent trauma, neurological impairment or recent surgery or hemorrhage.” “Additional studies are warranted to confirm our findings and to determine the best methods of assessing tissue damage and administering thrombolytics [anti-clotting drugs] in terms of timing, duration and route,” they conclude....Gene therapy study shows safety and statistically significant improvement in Parkinson's disease
... drug therapy) beginning at three months following surgery and continuing through the end of the study. These improvements occurred predominantly on the side of the body corresponding to the side of the brain receiving treatment. Moreover, the absence of change at the earliest time point following treatment ...Focused ultrasound relieves fibroid symptoms in women
...ogy. Magnetic resonance-guided, focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS) allows radiologists to precisely target fibroids without harming healthy surrounding tissue. "This treatment immediately stops blood flow in the treated fibroid tissue, which results in a significant, sustained decrease in symptoms for up ...Percutaneous aortic valve replacement safe, successful in high-risk patients
...aortic valve, all of whom had been turned down for surgery because of other health problems. In severe narrowing, or stenosis, of the aortic valve, the heart has difficulty pumping blood from the left ventricle to the rest of the body. The result is a back-up of fluid into the lungs and severe shortness of b...Dealing deadly cancers a knockout punch
...e most common site of metastatic disease. To date, surgery has been the only effective therapy for metastatic sarcoma. The multi-center, Phase II study follows successful completion of systemic administration trials with Reolysin in the U.K. and the U.S. This will be the second of several Phase II trials ...Thymus transplants gives hope to babies with fatal immune disease
...by various infections and were not a result of the surgery itself, she said. "These babies are very frail when they get here, so it is crucial that they are nourished and supported during this period after transplant to strengthen and maintain them as their immune systems rebuild," Markert said. "We have ...Gene thought to assist chemo may help cancer thrive
...re still alive. The stage of cancer at the time of surgery had no correlation to who survived and who didn't. What did seem to have an effect was whether p53 was working or not in the chemotherapy-treated tumors. A standard belief in cancer research is that a working p53 is essential in helping chemo pati...UCLA study uncovers clues for why Graves' disease attacks the eyes
...ourse of one to two years. No cure exists, though surgery can be done at the end stage to correct disfigurement....In young mice, gregariousness seems to reside in the genes
...egarious strain of mouse. Lahvis is a professor of surgery in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and the senior author of the new study. Performing under the dim glow of red lights to simulate the nocturnal environment when mice are most active, the sociability of test mice was assessed when they...Scientists identify pancreatic cancer stem cells
... Diane M. Simeone, M.D., an associate professor of surgery and molecular and integrative physiology. "The ... human pancreatic specimens removed during patient surgery in "xenograft" mice with compromised immune systems. Researchers removed tumors after they grew, and...Transfusion expert urges wider use of filtered blood
...fact, estimated that the savings in treating heart surgery complications alone could total $1 billion a year,... to begin using leukoreduced blood for all cardiac surgery cases. Since then, the hospital has extended its leukoreduction practice to all patients, beginning ...Woven scaffolds could improve cartilage repair
... strategies for treating cartilage damage, such as surgery or cartilage implants, are fairly limited, said Farshid Guilak, Ph.D., director of orthopedic research at Duke and senior member of the research team. "We don't currently have a satisfactory remedy for people who suffer a cartilage-damaging injury...OHSU surgeon implants donated tissue allografts
...these treatments and continue to pioneer cartilage surgery treatments. ...Drug-resistant bacterial infections serious complication after corrective eye surgery
...e first reports of MRSA keratitis after refractive surgery in patients with no known exposure to a healthcare facility, the first report of MRSA keratitis after a laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) enhancement, and the first reports of MRSA keratitis after prophylaxis with fourth generation fluoroquinolone......says Saeki, an associate professor of neurological surgery and chief of Ohio State's Dardinger Laboratory for Neuro-oncology and Neurosciences. In this study, first author Shigeru Tanaka, a postdoctoral fellow in Saeki's laboratory, and his colleagues used nerve cells obtained from the brain tissue of ra...