Patients in Biological News

Study shows cancer vaccines led to long-term survival for patients with metastatic melanoma

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian today announced promising data from a clinical study showing patient-specific cancer vaccines derived from patients' own cancer cells and immune cells were well tolerated and resulted in impressive long-term survival rates in patients with metastatic melanoma wh...

Probiotics help gastric-bypass patients lose weight more quickly, Stanford study shows

STANFORD, Calif. New research from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford Hospital & Clinics suggests that the use of a dietary supplement after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery can help obese patients to more quickly lose weight and to avoid deficiency of a critical B vitamin. ...

Harvard scientists solve mystery about why HIV patients are more susceptible to TB infection

A team of Harvard scientists has taken an important first step toward the development of new treatments to help people with HIV battle Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) infection. In their report, appearing in the July 2009 print issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology ( http://www.jleukbio.or...

Study characterizes eczema patients most at risk for dangerous viral infections

Eczema patients at risk for serious viral infections have more severe disease, are more likely to be allergic to food and other allergens, and have a frequent history of staph infections, according to researchers at National Jewish Health and other institutions in the NIH-funded Atopic Dermatitis ...

UMMS researchers isolate first 'neuroprotective' gene in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

WORCESTER, Mass. A genetic variant that substantially improves survival of individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, has been indentified by a consortium of researchers led by John Landers, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology and Robert Brown, MD...

Star Trek-like technology offers noninvasive monitor for patients and athletes

HOUSTON (April 29, 2009) How long will it take to develop Star Trek-like medical technologies? The gap between science fiction and reality is closing faster than many people may think. A noninvasive, needle-free system that uses light to measure tissue oxygen and pH will soon be an alternati...

New therapeutic strategy could target toxic protein in most patients with Huntington's disease

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have designed tiny RNA molecules that shut off the gene that causes Huntington's disease without damaging that gene's healthy counterpart, which maintains the health and vitality of neurons. Laboratory studies suggest that a single small interfering RNA ...

Potential new HIV drug may help patients not responding to treatment

A potential treatment for HIV may one day help people who are not responding to Anti-Retroviral Therapy, suggests new research published tomorrow in The Journal of Immunology . Scientists looking at monkeys with the simian form of HIV were able to reduce the virus levels in the blood to undetecta...

Metastatic bone disease patients can walk in Lazarus' footsteps

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (March 9, 2009)Osteoplastya highly effective minimally invasive procedure to treat the painful effects of metastatic bone disease by injecting bone cement to support weakened bonesprovides immediate and substantial pain relief, often presenting individuals who are suffering terri...

Gene therapy demonstrates benefit in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

BOSTON -- Researchers have reported the first clinical evidence that gene therapy reduces symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, an important milestone for this promising treatment which has endured a sometimes turbulent past. Described in the February issue of the journal Human Gene T...

First trial in patients with a potential treatment of the incurable ALS muscle disease

Leuven (Belgium), Stockholm (Sweden) Permission has been granted to start the first safety and tolerability trial on patients for a remedy for ALS. ALS is an incurable, paralyzing neurodegenerative disorder that strikes 5 persons in every 100,000. The disease commonly affects healthy people in th...

Marked improvement in body image, physical stamina, post-surgical pectus patients report

Patients who have had the common chest wall deformity known as pectus excavatum corrected report improved body image and ability to exercise, according to a study published December in the journal Pediatrics . The study, conducted at 11 North American hospitals, involved telephone interviews o...

Stroke patients soon may have fun, high-tech tool

The University of Central Florida will immerse stroke survivors in a virtual world full of flying insects to help expand their range of movement. Researchers in UCF's Media Convergence Lab (MCL) are teaming up with the California-based Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC) to create the progra...

Phase III data show efficacy/safety of iclaprim in patients with complicated skin infections

Reinach, Switzerland, 26 October 2008 Arpida (SWX: ARPN) today presented the combined results from two pivotal Phase III clinical trials at the 48th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC)/Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) 46th annual meeting in Washin...

UCR researchers propose minocycline as a promising drug for patients with Fragile X syndrome

RIVERSIDE, Calif. A UC Riverside-led team of biomedical scientists has found that a readily available drug called minocycline, used widely to treat acne and skin infections, can be used to treat Fragile X syndrome , the most common inherited cause of mental impairment and the most common cause o...

Herpes drug inhibits HIV in patients infected with both viruses

This release is available in French . Researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), McGill University and other institutions have discovered how a simple antiviral drug developed decades ago suppresses HIV in patients who are also infected with herpes. Their study was publi...

Majority of osteoporosis patients not receiving calcium and vitamin D with treatment

Geneva, Switzerland 15th September, 2008: New research published today at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), Montral, Canada, reveals that less than half (43%) of patients in Europe with osteoporosis are claiming to take both calcium and vitamin D su...

CMV infections affect more than just patients with compromised immune systems, researchers find

An infection due to a virus called cytomegalovirus (CMV), which most commonly affects people with compromised immune systems, can also affect hospital intensive-care patients who have no immune-system problems, University of Washington researchers have found. CMV infection is also associated with ...

'Cross fire' from the brain makes patients tremble

A typical symptom of Parkinson's disease is tremor in patients. A group of scientists, including Professor Peter Tass from Forschungszentrum Jlich have succeeded in demonstrating the mechanisms which cause the so-called tremor: neuron clusters in the depths of the brain drive the tremor. This disc...

New treatment approach promising for lymphoma patients in the developing world

Preliminary results suggest that patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the developing world might benefit from a modified chemotherapy regimen, researchers say. At the ESMO Conference Lugano (ECLU) organized by the European Society for Medical Oncology, a group headed by Prof. Hamd...

Certain anticancer agents could be harmful to patients with heart disease

A set of promising new anticancer agents could have unforeseen risks in individuals with heart disease, suggests research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The anticancer drugs which go by the strange name of hedgehog antagonists interfere with a biochemical process that ...

Galiximab in combination with rituximab in patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma

Lugano, Switzerland June 7, 2008 The Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) today announced data from a phase II clinical trial showing that 70 percent of patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma responded to treatment with galiximab, an investigational anti-CD80 monoclonal antibody, ...

Eribulin mesylate demonstrated anti-tumor activity in patients with advanced breast cancer

Woodcliff Lake, N.J., May 15, 2008The investigational chemotherapeutic agent eribulin mesylate (E7389) demonstrated activity in a heavily pretreated population of women with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, according to results of a multi-center Phase II clinical trial. The study als...

Cell-based therapy shows promise in patients with Parkinson's disease

CHICAGO - A novel cell therapy using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells attached to tiny gelatin bead microcarriers implanted in the brain can improve the symptoms of patients with moderate to advanced Parkinsons disease (PD). Rush University Medical Center neurosurgeon Dr. Roy A. E. Bakay ...

Scientists test device to track medication adherence in patients with HIV/AIDS

GAINESVILLE, Fla. Most of us have missed a dose of antibiotic or forgotten to take a daily vitamin. But when the stakes are higher as they are for people with HIV/AIDS a skipped pill could mean the difference between health and hazard for the entire population. Now, a breath monitoring devic...

Three Dimensional Visualization of Right Ventricle Provides Important Information for Treatment of Patients with Tetralogy of Fallot, According to a Study in The American Journal of Cardiology

Model Created Using Piecewise Smooth Subdivision Surface Provides Both Shape and Volumetric Evaluation of Tetralogy of Fallot Patients SEATTLE, April 8, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Three dimensional visualization of the right ventricle provides important shape and volumetric insights that help ca...

Pregnant patients lose out in breast cancer treatment; a new approach is needed

Berlin, Germany: Pregnant breast cancer patients can be treated as closely as possible to existing guidelines for non-pregnant patients, with few ill effects, a scientist told the 6th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-6) today (Wednesday 16 April). Dr. Sibylle Loibl, Assistant Profess...

Mental stress reduces blood flow to the heart in patients with gene variation

GAINESVILLE, Fla. University of Florida researchers have identified a gene variation in heart disease patients who appear especially vulnerable to the physical effects of mental stress to the point where blood flow to the heart is greatly reduced. Searching for the presence of this gene may b...

Clinical trial that may help patients breathe easier begins at Central DuPage Hospital

WINFIELD, Ill., April 1, 2008 Researchers at Suburban Lung Associates and the Chicago Chest Center recently announced the start of the EASE (Exhale Airway Stents for Emphysema) Trial to explore an investigational treatment for advanced widespread emphysema. The trial focuses on airway bypass, a m...

Hope among patients with ALS may take a variety of forms

New Rochelle, NY, March 27, 2008 -Sustaining hope in the face of a chronic, debilitating illness such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) should be a goal of palliative care and can take many forms, representing a continuum from focusing on the self to concern for others, as described in a pape...

Gene therapy protocol at UCSD activates immune system in patients with leukemia

A research team at the Moores Cancer Center at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) reports that patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who were treated with a gene therapy protocol began making antibodies that reacted against their own leukemia cells. The study will be published o...

'Smart' holograms help patients help themselves

Patients with diabetes, cardiac problems, kidney disorders or high blood pressure could benefit from the development of new hologram technology. The new "smart" holograms, which can detect changes in, for example, blood-glucose levels, should make self-diagnosis much simpler, cheaper and more rel...

Analysis calls for medical device information to better serve patients and doctors

The approval process for medical devices does not involve the same rigorous review used for pharmaceuticals, and this needs to change in order to improve health outcomes, say researchers from the University of California, San Francisco. The UCSF team analyzes the problem and proposes steps to...

Northwestern Memorial trial may wean kidney transplant patients off antirejection drugs

CHICAGO After a transplant surgery, anti-rejection drugs for the organ recipient are a must, but with prolonged use can have serious side effects, including infections, heart disease and cancer. A team led by Joshua Miller, MD, a researcher at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine,...

Genetic variant predicts antipsychotic response for schizophrenia patients by ethnicity

Philadelphia, PA, January 8, 2008 Schizophrenia is a developmental disorder with a large genetic component contributing to increased risk. Available antipsychotic medications treat some of the symptoms of schizophrenia, but are typically effective in only a subset of patients. Unfortunately, it...

Gene variation may elevate risk of liver tumor in patients with cirrhosis

A particular gene variation appears to significantly increase the risk that individuals with cirrhosis of the liver will go on to develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a liver tumor that is the third leading cause of cancer death. In the January 2 Journal of the American Medical Association, re...

Study examines genetic defects linked to body abnormalities in patients with childhood cancer

Children with cancer have a higher prevalence of body abnormalities, such as asymmetric lower limbs and curvature of the spine, suggesting that the genetic defect responsible for the abnormality may play a role in the development of cancer, according to a study in the January 2 issue of JAMA. ...

Eltrombopag effective for hepatitis C patients with low blood-platelet counts

NEW YORK (Dec. 28, 2007) -- For patients with hepatitis C, having a low blood platelet count is a frequent complication associated with advanced disease. This problem is compounded by the fact that standard antiviral treatment for the disease can further reduce platelet numbers to dangerously low ...

Safe and effective therapy discovered for patients with protein-losing enteropathy

(December 6, 2007 - La Jolla, CA) Researchers at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham Institute) have developed the first model to study intestinal protein leakage in mice, allowing the team to control and replicate both genetic deficiencies and environmental damages in an in vivo s...

New Actemra data shows significant benefit for patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis

The innovative new rheumatoid arthritis drug Actemra (tocilizumab) has been shown to significantly improve the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients who failed to achieve an adequate response to traditional disease modifying agents (DMARDs). Exciting new data from the TOWARD1...