(Press-News.org) DENVER – Favorable results have led to crizotinib gaining approval for the treatment of advanced stage ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in Japan, the United States, Canada, and several other countries in Europe and Asia. Now, the identification of an effective therapy for ALK-positive NSCLC places great emphasis on rapid, accurate, and cost-effective way to find patients with this subtype of lung cancer. A recent study published in the January 2013 issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's (IASLC) Journal of Thoracic Oncology, concludes immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a reliable screening tool for identification of ALK rearrangement.
Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is the current standard method to detect ALK rearrangement. However, FISH is not readily available as a routine method of pathology practice in most laboratories because it is time consuming and requires advanced technical and professional expertise. In contrast, IHC is relatively inexpensive, faster, and is perfectly adapted for routine practice by academics and most commu¬nity hospitals.
Researchers screened 377 stage I or II NSCLC cases, diagnosed between 1978 and 2002. Tissue microarray results were available on 377 cases by IHC and 273 cases by FISH. Eleven cases were positive or possibly positive by either IHC or FISH, and three cases were positive or possibly positive by both methods.
They found, "that all cases exhibiting ALK rearrangement demonstrated adenocarcinoma histology." Their results report a sensitivity of 100 percent and high specificity with the IHC with no false-negative results. While researchers acknowledge that further study involving a larger cohort is recommended, IHC is a valid screening test.
The lead author of this work is Dr. Chris M.J. Conklin. Co-authors include IASLC members Dr. Janessa Laskin, Dr. Kenneth Craddock, Cherry Have, Dr. Christian Couture and Dr. Diana Ionescu.
INFORMATION:
About the IASLC:
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization dedicated to the study of lung cancer. Founded in 1974, the association's membership includes more than 3,500 lung cancer specialists in 80 countries. To learn more about IASLC please visit www.iaslc.org.
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Today at the International Osteoporosis Foundation's Asia-Pacific Osteoporosis Meeting, researchers from the National Institute of Nutrition in Hanoi presented a new research study that showed the benefits of educational intervention in increasing calcium intake and retarding bone loss in postmenopausal women.
Researchers carried out a controlled trial in the Red River Delta in Vietnam involving a total of 140 women. The women, aged 55 years, had been postmenopausal for at least 5 years, and had low dietary calcium intake (less than 400 mg/day). An intervention group ...
Cambridge, UK (December 15, 2012)--Piraye Yurttas Beim, PhD, Founder and CEO of the biotech firm Celmatix Inc., and a leading international expert in the genetics of female infertility, presented A Report from the Front Lines of the Personalized Reproductive Medicine Revolution at the Futures in Reproduction Conference at the Churchill College, Cambridge, a two- day meeting celebrating the spirit of inquiry personified by Nobel Prize winner Professor Sir Robert Edwards.
In the not so distant future, Dr. Beim predicts things will be very different for women who struggle ...
Executive function (EF), frequently associated with the frontal lobes, guides complex behavior such as planning, decision-making, and response control. EF impairment due to alcohol dependence (AD) has been linked to alcohol's toxic effects on the frontal lobes. A study of EF in a group of adult offspring of AD individuals has found that increased impulsiveness and decreased EF may comprise an inherited trait that signifies greater risk for developing AD.
Results will be published in a special online issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently ...
Prior research has shown that sensitivity to the stimulating effects of alcohol and other drugs is a risk marker for heavy or problematic use of those substances. Prior research has also shown that the personality trait of negative emotionality can have an effect on substance use. A new study examining how the response to an amphetamine interacts with negative emotionality to influence alcohol and drug use has found that a high level of negative emotionality may lead to problem drinking when it occurs together with sensitivity to a drug-based reward.
Results will be ...
While exposure to alcohol marketing is prevalent, and associated with both initiation and progression of alcohol use in underage youth, exactly how it works is not well understood. A new study of alcohol-specific cognitions – whether someone thinks of him/herself as a drinker or having a favorite brand of alcohol – has found that drinker identity and brand allegiance are indeed factors linking alcohol marketing and problematic drinking among experimental underage drinkers.
Results will be published in a special online issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research ...
Contact: Emmanuel Kuntsche
ekuntsche@addictionsuisse.ch
41-213-212-952
Addiction Switzerland
Contact: Allaman Allamani
allamana@gmail.com
39-55-462-4331 (Italy)
Regional Health Agency, Tuscany
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
Early drunkenness may be riskier than an early age at first drink for problem behaviors
Many researchers and clinicians believe that an early age at first drink (AFD) can lead to alcohol problems.
A new study challenges that belief by examining linkages between AFD and problem behaviors.
Findings show that early ...
Contact: Jan W. Wijnia
j.wijnia@zorggroeprijnmond.nl
31-102-931-555
Slingedael Korsakoff Center
Contact: Frits A. J. Muskiet
f.a.j.muskiet@umcg.nl
31-50-361-2733 or 9228
University Medical Center Groningen
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
Vitamin D deficiency may contribute to alcohol-related muscular weakness
Myopathy refers to a disease characterized by muscular weakness and wasting.
Vitamin D deficiency is a well-recognized cause of myopathy, and excessive drinking is often associated with low or subnormal levels of vitamin D.
A ...
Chronic use of alcohol and marijuana during youth is associated with poorer neural structure, function, and metabolism, as well as worsened neurocognitive abilities into later adolescence and adulthood. This may be due to biological and psychosocial transitions occurring during adolescence that impart increased vulnerability to neurotoxic influences. A study of longitudinal changes in fiber tract integrity associated with adolescent alcohol and marijuana use during 1.5 years supports previous findings of reduced white-matter integrity in these youth.
Results will be ...
Previous research had identified an individual's subjective response to alcohol as a marker of alcoholism risk. The A118G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the mu opioid receptor (OPRM1) gene had also been previously associated with subjective response to alcohol in heavy drinkers. A new study extends this research, showing that the OPRM1 genotype seems to moderate the pleasant and stimulating effects to alcohol among alcohol-dependent (AD) individuals but not its unpleasant and sedative effects.
Results will be published in a special online issue of Alcoholism: ...
DARIEN, IL – A new study suggests that there is a significant correlation between excessive daytime sleepiness and vitamin D, and race plays an important factor.
Results show that in patients with normal vitamin D levels, progressively higher levels of daytime sleepiness were correlated inversely with progressively lower levels of vitamin D. Among patients with vitamin D deficiency, sleepiness and vitamin D levels were associated only among black patients. Surprisingly, this correlation was observed in a direct relationship, with higher vitamin D levels associated ...
