Melanoma patients treated with ipilimumab can survive up to 10 years

Patients with advanced melanoma, who have been treated with the monoclonal antibody, ipilimumab, can survive for up to ten years, according to the largest analysis of overall survival for these patients, presented at the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013) [1]. Professor Stephen Hodi (MD), Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, USA), told the congress: "Our findings demonstrate that there is a plateau in overall survival, which begins around the third year and extends through to the tenth year...

Tumor genetics, cancer cell signaling discoveries pave way for use of new therapies for thyroid cancer

For many years, patients with advanced thyroid cancer faced bleak prospects and no viable treatment options. But now, building on recent discoveries about the genetics and cell signaling pathways of thyroid tumors, researchers are developing exciting new weapons against the disease, using kinase inhibitors that target tumor cell division and blood vessels. Two recent clinical trials led by a researcher from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania showcase the great promise of these new approaches...

Insomnia in menopause may improve with Yoga

Taking a 12-week yoga class and practicing at home was linked to less insomnia - but not to fewer or less bothersome hot flashes or night sweats. The link between yoga and better sleep was the only statistically significant finding in this MsFLASH (Menopause Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers for Symptoms and Health) Network randomized controlled trial. "Many women suffer from insomnia during menopause, and it's good to know that yoga may help them," said lead author Katherine Newton, PhD, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute...

Reliable blood flow imaging system fifty times less expensive than standard equipment

Tracking blood flow in the laboratory is an important tool for studying ailments like migraines or strokes and designing new ways to address them. Blood flow is also routinely measured in the clinic, and laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) is one way of measuring these changes; however, this technique requires professional-grade imaging equipment, which limits its use...

Scientists are unraveling the secrets of the mechanism that snips our genes

Certain diseases such as cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy are linked to genetic mutations that damage the important biological process of rearranging gene sequences in pre-messenger RNA, a procedure called RNA splicing. These conditions are difficult to prevent because scientists are still grasping to understand how the splicing process works. Now, researchers from Brandeis University and the University of Massachusetts Medical School have teamed up to unravel a major component in understanding the process of RNA splicing...

The importance of telomere length in prostate cancer prognosis

Like the plastic caps at the end of shoelaces, telomeres protect - in their case - the interior-gene containing parts of chromosomes that carry a cell's instructional material. Cancer cells are known to have short telomeres, but just how short they are from cancer cell to cancer cell may be a determining factor in a prostate cancer patient's prognosis, according to a study led by Johns Hopkins scientists...

Ontarians more likely to survive 1 year after hospitalization: study

More people in Ontario are living longer after hospitalization than in 1994, with a 22% decrease in the risk of death after 1 year from admission, found an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Hospitals deliver a substantial proportion of health care, from treating acute illness to performing surgery, offering specialist medicine and care for people from birth to death. They are large consumers of health care costs world-wide, and it is important to understand how they are performing as part of the health care system...