Cancer therapy: Drugs that get under your skin
2012-03-12
(Press-News.org) Skin problems are the most common adverse effects from new anti-cancer drugs. Ralf Gutzmer, from the Hannover Medical School (MHH), and co-authors now summarize the current state of knowledge in the recent edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2012; 109(8): 133-40).
Adverse effects of the skin include rashes, nail problems, and the hand-foot syndrome. The substance class of multikinase inhibitors causes such cutaneous adverse effects in up to 34% of patients. The proportion of patients with adverse effects is even higher for the selective kinase inhibitors, such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors and inhibitors of mutated BRAF, with up to 90% affected, and for immunotherapeutics such as the CTLA-4 antibody, with up to 68% affected.
Such adverse effects can be severe, painful, or lead to psychological discomfort due to their localization on visible areas of the body, and this can affect patients' willingness to continue treatment. However, adverse effects can also be associated with a patient's positive response to therapy, as is the case for the EGFR inhibitors.
Early recognition and treatment of cutaneous adverse effects are critical to successfully implementing anti-cancer drug therapies. Achieving this requires on the one hand the primary treating physician, and on the other, an intensive, interdisciplinary collaboration involving dermatologists.
INFORMATION:
http://www.aerzteblatt.de/pdf.asp?id=122847
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2012-03-12
The Rapid City skyline has changed forever offering a sustainable glow with the official crowning of the newly branded downtown Adoba Eco Hotel exterior signage package. Teaming up with Lauretano Sign Group, a national provider of eco-savvy signage products, Atmosphere Hospitality Management Services owner of the Adoba Eco Hotel brand continues to forge their way down a path of sustainability.
The unveiling of the new Adoba Eco Hotel sign is the latest sustainable enhancement to the property, which is one of Rapid City's most recognizable buildings. The environmentally-friendly ...
2012-03-12
Most plants live in symbiosis with soil fungi and are supplied with water and nutrients as a result. Based on the petunia, plant biologists at the University of Zurich have now discovered that a special transport protein is required to establish this symbiotic relationship. The targeted control of this protein could lead to greater harvests.
About 80 percent of all terrestrial plants enter into a symbiotic relationship with fungi living in the soil. The fungi provide the plant with water, important nutrients like phosphate and nitrate, and certain trace elements like ...
2012-03-12
Forty years ago, LSD was used in the treatment of alcoholics - with good results. Perhaps it's time to look at it again?
In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, researchers in many places in the world experimented with LSD in the treatment of various disorders, including alcoholism. Not all experiments were scientifically tenable by today's standards, but some were. Now Teri Krebs and Pål-Ørjan Johansen, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), have taken a closer look at these experiments.
The results of all of these studies pointed in the same ...
2012-03-12
Research Now, the leading global online sampling and data collection company, today announced that it has further developed its unique B2B screening tool, now enabling clients in North America to collect additional insight on B2B respondents in Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The tool was first launched on Research Now's US business panel in October 2011, where SIC codes are also available, and is exclusive to Research Now among online panels.
Now with an international scope, the tool will work in conjunction with the pre-screening process to provide ...
2012-03-12
March 8, 2012, Shenzhen, China – BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, reported that it can use next-generation sequencing to analyze DNA as low as 200 ng from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. This advancement enables researchers to easily identify the genetic details and pathology mechanism of FFPE disease samples, especially for some rare tumors, with higher accuracy and reliability than existing techniques.
FFPE samples are common biological materials for disease diagnoses and scientific research. Because FFPE tissue samples may be stored indefinitely ...
2012-03-12
Researchers at King's College London and Hiroshima University, Japan, have identified a specific gene linked to throat cancer following a genetic study of a family with 10 members who have developed the condition.
The study, published today in American Journal of Human Genetics, uncovered a mutation in the ATR gene, demonstrating the first evidence of a link between abnormality in this gene and an inherited form of cancer. The researchers say this finding raises new ideas about genetic factors linked to throat cancer and provides a platform for exploring the role of ...
2012-03-12
Modular Industrial Computers, the "Leaders' Choice" for plant floor computing, announces new models to its successful line of NEMA 4X workstations. The FS PowerBox 17-HP and FS PowerBox 19-HP combine the proven, award winning, FS (Field Serviceable) PowerBox platform with Hewlett Packard's (HP) T5740. The system is shipped fully assembled, tested and ready for quick installation into the most demanding industrial applications.
The FS PowerBox has proven itself as the most flexible, cost effective solution for companies looking to deploy Thin Clients into the ...
2012-03-12
Growing older and being overweight are not necessarily associated with a decrease in mental well-being, according to a cross-cultural study looking at quality of life and health status in the US and the UK.
The study, led by Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick, analysed lifestyle and health patterns in more than 10,000 people in both countries and their links to participants' mental and physical quality of life and health status.
Quality of life was evaluated using a measure which takes in eight different factors including perception of general health, ...
2012-03-12
A research team from the Netherlands assessed the impact of wine and resveratrol (a natural polyphenol found in high quantities in red wine) on lung function. It also looked at genetic factors and mechanisms by which resveratrol might be absorbed by the body and its possible effect on longevity of life. The authors report that pure resveratrol intake was associated with higher lung volumes and that white wine intake (but not red wine intake) and was associated with lower risk of airway obstruction. They report that the genetic factors studied did not relate to the associations ...
2012-03-12
In today's computer processors, much of the power put into running the processor is being wasted.
A research team at Case Western Reserve University came up with a novel idea called fine-grained power gating, which saves power and money in a couple of ways: less energy would be used, and less heat produced.
"Using less power produces less heat. Less heat means less cooling is needed," said Swarup Bhunia, professor of electrical engineering and computer science and an author of the research. "That can avoid the need for a big fan to cool off the processor, which saves ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Cancer therapy: Drugs that get under your skin
