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Monthly Archives: November 2012

Digoxin increases deaths in patients with atrial fibrillation

Digoxin, a drug that has been used worldwide for centuries to treat heart disease, is associated with a significant increase in deaths in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), according to results from a study published online in the European Heart … Continue reading →

Published Wednesday, November 28th, 2012 at 12:05 am
Posted in Cardiology

Relatives of people who die suddenly from heart problems have greatly increased risk of cardiovascular disease

Relatives of young people who have died suddenly from a heart-related problem are at greatly increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease according to a study published online in the European Heart Journal [1]. The authors of the study say these … Continue reading →

Published Wednesday, November 14th, 2012 at 12:05 am
Posted in Cardiology, Genetics

First trial in humans of “minicells”: a completely new way of delivering anti-cancer drugs

A completely new way of delivering anti-cancer drugs to tumours, using “minicells” derived from bacteria, has been tested for the first time in humans and found to be safe, well-tolerated and even induced stable disease in patients with advanced, incurable … Continue reading →

Published Friday, November 9th, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted in Cancer

Molecular ‘portraits’ of tumours match patients with trials in everyday clinical practice

Researchers in France are taking advantage of the progress in genetic and molecular profiling to analyse the make-up of individual cancer patients’ tumours and, using this information, assign them to particular treatments and phase I clinical trials – an approach … Continue reading →

Published Friday, November 9th, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted in Cancer

Mesothelioma drug slows disease progression in patients with an inactive NF2 gene

Preliminary findings from the first trial of a new drug for patients with mesothelioma show that it has some success in preventing the spread of the deadly disease in patients lacking an active tumour suppressor gene called NF2. The study … Continue reading →

Published Friday, November 9th, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted in Cancer

New targeted therapy for advanced prostate cancer shows anti-tumour activity in phase I clinical trials

Few available treatment options exist once prostate cancer has spread to other parts of the body and has failed to respond to therapies that involve blocking the male hormone androgen. Patients with advanced, hormone-refractory prostate cancer usually die from the … Continue reading →

Published Thursday, November 8th, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted in Cancer

Researchers develop non-invasive technique for predicting patients’ response to chemotherapy

Researchers have developed a non-invasive way of predicting how much of a cancer-killing drug is absorbed by a tumour. The preliminary study, which was reported at the 24th EORTC-NCI-AACR [1] Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Dublin, Ireland, … Continue reading →

Published Thursday, November 8th, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted in Cancer

Patients with aberrations in two genes respond better to drugs blocking a well-known cancer pathway

Cancer patients with mutations or variations in two genes – PIK3CA and PTEN – who have failed to respond to several, standard treatments, respond significantly better to anti-cancer drugs that inhibit these genes’ pathways of action, according to research presented … Continue reading →

Published Thursday, November 8th, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted in Cancer

New monoclonal antibody inhibits tumour growth in advanced solid tumours in a phase I clinical trial

A newly developed antibody targeting a signalling pathway that is frequently active in solid tumours has shown encouraging signs of efficacy in its first trial in humans, researchers reported at the 24th EORTC-NCI-AACR [1] Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer … Continue reading →

Published Wednesday, November 7th, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted in Cancer

Scientists test 5000 combinations of 100 existing cancer drugs to find more effective treatments

Scientists in the United States have tested all possible pairings of the 100 cancer drugs approved for use in patients in order to discover whether there are any combinations not tried previously that are effective in certain cancers. Dr Susan … Continue reading →

Published Wednesday, November 7th, 2012 at 12:01 am
Posted in Cancer
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