Protein That Promotes Survival Of Stem Cells Might Be Key To Poor Leukemia Prognosis
The complex and life-sustaining series of steps by which hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) give rise to all of the body's red and white blood cells and platelets has now been discovered to depend in large part on a single protein called Mcl-1. This finding, from an investigator at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, is published in the February 18 issue of Science. Mcl-1 blocks the biochem...Eleven gene 'signature' reliably predicts cancer prognosis
The rather new concept of "tumor stem cells" maintains that a rare, stem cell-like population of cancer cells exists among the mix of other cells found in a tumor and that these tumor stem cells are responsible for tumor progression and metastasis. In a revolutionary study appearing in the June 1 print issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Gennadi Glinsky and colleagues from the Sidney...Mayo Clinic: Gene expression profiling not quite perfected in predicting lung cancer prognosis
While there have been significant advances in the use of gene expression profiling to assess a cancer prognosis, a Mayo Clinic review and analysis of existing lung cancer studies shows that this technology has not yet surpassed the accuracy of conventional methods used to assess survival in lung cancer patients. The interest in and the knowledge of gene expression profiling in medical scie...Poorer breast cancer prognosis with reduced physical activity
A multicenter study headed by Melinda Irwin, M.D., from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale School of Medicine, have found that women who are diagnosed with breast cancer are less active after the diagnosis leading to increase in body weight and body fat, which, in turn, leads to poorer breast cancer diagnosis. The population-based, multicenter study involved 856 patients wit...Optimum Timing for HIV/AIDS Prognosis
A new study shows the best time to make a prognosis for someone with HIV is six months after treatment begins. Researchers find cell counts //at that time give a more accurate picture of a person’s prognosis than when they are originally diagnosed with HIV. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is a common treatment for HIV patients. HAART has improved the prognosis of HIV patie...Genetic Profile To Predict Ovarian Cancer Prognosis
A new study appearing in the November 1, 2005 issue of The Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), says that a new gene profile may help in predicting how patients with advanced ovarian cancer would respond to aggressive chemotherapy. // In many patients with ovarian cancer, at whatever stage, first grade chemotherapy usually shows an effect in combating the cancer. But, "due to the lingerin...Soap Opera Coma Patients Have Far Better Prognosis Than In Real Life
American soap operas paint an improbably rosy picture of coma patients' survival and recovery, with potentially important consequences for viewers // , says a study. Tracking storylines containing coma patients over 10 years, researchers found that soap opera patients were far more likely to survive a coma than in real life. And they were also much more likely to emerge unscathed. <br...Diseases in Marine Animals Could Portend Unhealthy Prognosis for Humans
There appears to be profound links between land-based pollution, and diseases in our marine mammals, according to scientists, physicians, and veterinarians, that implies an unhealthy prognosis for Human health. // According to Paul Sandifer, Chief Scientist for the new Oceans and Human Health Initiative in the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),"Marine mammals are...