Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Deworming Drug Could Help Reduce Spread Of HIV In Africa, Study Finds
Providing girls in rural Africa with a deworming drug could help reduce the spread of HIV, according to a study recently published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the New York Times reports. The drug, called praziquantel, costs about 32 cents per pediatric dose and prevents schistosomiasis, a worm disease that starts as a urinary tract infection. If untreated, schistosomiasis can lead to female genital sores that can facilitate HIV infection. Because the drug can kill the worms but cannot cure genital sores, girls should be protected before they reach sexual maturity, according to the Times. "For this relatively small investment, the reproductive health of young women would be improved," the authors from the Sabin Vaccine Institute, Imperial College London and Oslo University wrote, adding that "there is a reasonable chance that HIV/AIDS transmission can be reduced." There are about 207 million schistosomiasis cases worldwide, 90% of which occur in Africa, where humans are exposed usually through snail-infested water. According to a pilot program conducted in Burkina Faso, all 70 million cases among young children in Africa could be treated for $22 million, and repeating universal treatment every two years for 10 years would cost $112 million (McNeil, New York Times, 5/26).

Juggling Cells Using High-Precision Laser Tweezers
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have developed a new method to study single cells while exposing them to controlled environmental changes. The unique method, where a set of laser tweezers move the cell around in a microscopic channel system, allows the researchers to study how single cells react to stress induced by a constantly changing environment.
News of the day
Motor Neurone Disease: New Stem Cell Research Could Make Lab Mice Redundant
Researchers from the University of Bath are embarking on a project to use stem cell technology that could reduce the number of animal experiments used to study conditions such as motor neurone disease.
Cardiovascular

In Elderly Lung Cancer Patients, All-Biologic Regimen Found To Be Efficacious And Well-Tolerated

Previously untreated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients over the age of 70 respond well to a combination of bevacizumab and erlotinib, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers reported at the annual meeting of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. "Based on our initial data, the combination appears to be well tolerated and efficacious, though we"ll have to wait and see the final results," says Hossein Borghaei, D.O., medical oncologist at Fox Chase, who led the trial. Elderly patients are often excluded from clinical trials because researchers fear they will have trouble tolerating standard chemotherapy regimens. That leaves open the question of how best to treat these individuals who account for more than half of all NSCLC in the United States. With that challenge in mind, Borghaei and colleagues designed a trial testing a combination of two molecularly targeted agents in patients 70 years or older. The team reasoned that a combination lacking standard cytotoxic agents may be better tolerated by these patients, potentially without comprising efficacy. "We looked for a regimen that had few side effects, would involve only targeted agents, and had a bit of a track record. This combination was a natural fit," Borghaei says. Several small phase II trials in younger NSCLC patients demonstrated that the combination had anti-tumor activity and a relatively favorable toxicity profile. Thus far 21 elderly NSCLC patients have enrolled in the Fox Chase trial and 14 are evaluable for response. The median age of the 14 evaluable patients is 78, with a range of 71 to 84 years. Four patients have had partial responses with demonstrable tumor shrinkage and three patients had stable disease by RECIST criteria. The combination appears safe and well tolerated in this patient population with the most commonly encountered toxicities of clinical relevance being high blood pressure, fatigue, loss of appetite and diarrhea. "The observed activity of this regimen in this patient population suggests promise and therefore warrants continued investigation," Borghaei says. He also emphasizes that designing a clinical trial just for elderly patients is a novel approach, but one that should be used more in the future given the large proportion of NSCLC patients in this demographic group. Diana Quattrone Fox Chase Cancer Center


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009