CHICAGO, IL (May 30, 2014)—Patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer often benefit from chemotherapy before surgery to remove the tumor, but a test of one regimen by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center was halted when too many people experienced serious side effects such as heart attacks and blood clots in the legs and lungs. All of the 31 patients included in the study received a combination of gemcitabine and cisplatin, two drugs normally administered for 12 weeks before surgery to remove the tumors. This became the standard of care after one study looked back, ...

Structural biologists have made important progress towards better understanding the functioning of the circadian clock. The circadian or inner clock coordinates the sleep-wake rhythm and many other body processes that regulate, for example, metabolism, blood pressure, and the immune system. A research team led by Professor Eva Wolf, recently appointed Professor of Structural Biology at the Institute of General Botany of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and Adjunct Director at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), has for the first time identified the molecular ...

STANFORD, Calif. — For many scientists, the clinical promise of stem cells has been dampened by very real concerns that the immune system will reject the transplanted cells before they could render any long-term benefit. Previous research in mice has suggested that even stem cells produced from the subject's own tissue, called iPS cells, can trigger an immune attack. Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found that coaxing iPS cells in the laboratory to become more-specialized progeny cells (a cellular process called differentiation) before ...

Dr Mwenza T. Blell of the University of Bristol interviewed 257 British Pakistani women aged 39-61 living in West Yorkshire and found that the standard checklist approach to studying menopause symptoms, which ignores women's understanding of their own experience, leaves researchers and clinicians with gaps in their knowledge of the 'true' symptoms of menopause. Many previous studies into the menopause have relied on standardised checklists, such as the Blatt-Kupperman index and the Menopause Symptom Checklist, that were derived from the clinical experiences of women living ...

HOUSTON-Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and other institutions have applied a newly developed software tool to identify genetic mutations that contribute to a person's increased risk for developing common, complex diseases, such as cancer. The research is published in the May 2014 edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology. The technology, known as pVAAST (pedigree Variant Annotation, Analysis and Search Tool), combines two different statistical methods used for identifying disease-causing gene mutations. This combination approach outperforms ...

TEMPE, Ariz. – Phoenix stands at a parched crossroads. Global scale climate change is forecast to bring hotter summers and more extreme heat to the Valley, but regional urbanization also will impact temperatures experienced by residents. So how should Phoenix grow knowing that such growth could cause temperatures to increase in the future and bring added health risks? Should the city deploy mitigating technologies to help fight summer's heat? Would adopting a low-growth strategy reduce the adverse health consequences of hot weather? New Arizona State University research ...

New Rochelle, NY, May 30, 2014—High throughput screening of compounds in live cells is a powerful approach for discovering new drugs, but the potential for cell toxicity must be considered. A novel technique that uses DNA-binding fluorescent dyes to evaluate the cytotoxicity of an experimental compound in real-time during screening, saving time and resources, is described in ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies website. Lucius Chiaraviglio ...

LOS ANGELES – (May 30, 2014) – Green tea and its extracts have been widely touted as potential treatments for cancer, as well as several other diseases. But scientists have struggled to explain how the green tea and its extracts may work to reduce the risk of cancer or to slow the growth of cancer cells. A study recently published online by the journal, Metabolomics, offers an explanation that researchers say could open a new area of cancer-fighting research. The study reports that EGCG, the active biologic constituent in green tea, changed the metabolism of pancreatic ...

CHICAGO, IL (May 30, 2014)—Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have carried out the first retrospective analysis of adjuvant chemotherapy's impact on overall survival in patients with stage III soft tissue sarcomas (STS), adjusted for socioeconomic status and other variables. The findings show that regardless of socioeconomic status and comorbidities, adjuvant chemotherapy improved survival by approximately 23 percent in stage III STS. Study leader Sujana Movva, MD, Medical Oncologist at Fox Chase, will present the findings the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society ...

CHICAGO, IL (May 30, 2014)—The use of chemotherapy before surgery to remove ovarian cancer has increased dramatically in recent decades, particularly among certain patients, according to a new analysis from Fox Chase Cancer Center that will be presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Looking back at medical records from more than 58,000 women, Fox Chase's Angela Jain, MD, Medical Oncologist and co-investigator Elizabeth Handorf, PhD, member of the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Facility, found that only 8.94% received chemotherapy ...

A compound in saliva, along with common proteins in blood and muscle, may protect human cells from powerful toxins in tea, coffee and liquid smoke flavoring, according to results of a new study led by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. The findings, reported online May 19 in Food and Chemical Toxicology, suggest that people naturally launch multiple defenses against plant chemicals called pyrogallol-like polyphenols or PLPs found in teas, coffees and liquid smoke flavoring. The presence of these defenses could help explain why PLPs are not crippling ...

VIDEO: This animation of visible and infrared imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite shows the weakening of Hurricane Amanda from May 28 to its dissipation on May 30. Click here for more information. A new animation of visible and infrared imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite shows the weakening and dissipation of the Eastern Pacific Ocean's Hurricane Amanda. The animation that runs from from May 28 to May 30 was created at NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space ...

CHICAGO, IL (May 30, 2014)—More than a quarter of HIV+ patients are also infected with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), which may complicate treatment and care decisions after a cancer diagnosis. The specifics of those complications haven't been well-researched in the past. Results from a new Fox Chase Cancer Center study on this patient population may start filling in that gap. Fox Chase Hematologist and Medical Oncologist Stefan K. Barta, MD, MS, MRCP – who led the study – analyzed data from HIV+ patients diagnosed with lymphoma, collected over 17 years, to better understand ...

CHICAGO, IL (May 30, 2014)—Patients with AIDS-related lymphomas (ARL) may face an increased risk of central nervous system involvement (CNSi) compared to other lymphomas. The effect of CNSi on survival outcomes, however, hasn't been thoroughly examined until now. In a new study led by Fox Chase Cancer Center Hematologist and Oncologist Stefan K. Barta, MD, MS, MRCP, researchers report that CNSi – identified at the time of an ARL diagnosis – does not appear to have an impact on overall survival. Dr. Barta's collaborators will present the findings at the 50th Annual Meeting ...

TAMPA, Fla. (May 30, 2014) – Fatigue is a debilitating problem for cancer patients undergoing treatment; however, it also poses a huge detriment after treatment and can significantly affect quality of life. Approximately 30 percent of cancer patients endure persistent fatigue for several years after treatment, according to an American Society of Clinical Oncology Expert Panel co-chaired by Paul Jacobsen, Ph.D., associate center director of Population Sciences at Moffitt Cancer Center. ASCO created the panel to develop assessment, screening, and treatment guidelines for ...

VIDEO: Real time quantum simulation of the conversion of light into current in an organic solar cell composed of a polymer chain, and a Fullerene buckyball. The movie lasts for about... Click here for more information. Photovoltaic cells directly convert sun light into electricity and hence are key technological devices to meet one of the challenges that mankind has to face in this century: a sustainable and clean production of renewable energy. Organic solar cells, using polymeric ...

Symmetry is an inherent part of development. As an embryo, an organism's brain and spinal cord, like the rest of its body, organize themselves into left and right halves as they grow. But a certain set of nerve cells do something unusual: they cross from one side to the other. New research in mice delves into the details of the molecular interactions that help guide these neurons toward this anatomical boundary. In an embryo, a neuron's branches, or axons, have special structures on their tips that sense chemical cues telling them where to grow. The new findings, by ...

PHILADELPHIA — The majority of women with cancer causing BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations experience sexual dysfunction, menopausal symptoms, cognitive and stress issues, and poor sleep following prophylactic removal of their Fallopian tubes and ovaries - a procedure known as risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) - according to results of a new study from the Abramson Cancer Center and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The team's findings, which reaffirm the need for a better understanding of how to manage long-term effects of the risk-reducing ...

Researchers at the University of Surrey and the University of Southampton have investigated whether narcissists can elicit empathy for another person's suffering. It has been well documented that narcissists lack empathy, but why is that the case, and do they have the capacity to change that behavior? The research is published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Characterizing narcissism When we think of narcissism most of us can all think of a colleague, friend, or former significant other that would fit the description; "A bit full of themselves, self-centered, ...

Narcissists tend to lack empathy, which can cause problems for themselves, the people around them and society in general. However, new research published today from the University of Surrey, suggests that with the right focus, people with narcissistic tendencies can feel empathy for another person's suffering. This may be important in helping to prevent the often violent or anti-social behaviours that some narcissists are prone to and the crimes that are committed as a result. The research, published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, studied participants ...

Research by the University of Liverpool has found that eating prunes as part of a weight control diet can improve weight loss. Consumption of dried fruit is not readily recommended during weight loss despite evidence it enhances feelings of fullness. However, a study by the University's Institute of Psychology, Health and Society of 100 overweight and obese low fibre consumers tested whether eating prunes as part of a weight loss diet helped or hindered weight control over a 12-week period. It also examined if low fibre consumers could tolerate eating substantial ...

Researchers from the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group, hosted at LSTM, conducted an independent review of the effects of pre-referral rectal artesunate for people with severe malaria, published in the Cochrane Library today. The review follows a large trial of rectal artesunate in 2009 which led the World Health Organization to recommend its use. Severe malaria is a serious medical condition caused by infection with the Plasmodium parasite. It is treated by giving injections of antimalarial drugs, which need to be started as quickly as possible to reduce the risk of ...

As a new therapeutic approach, Janus kinases are currently in the limelight of cancer research. The focus of interest is the protein JAK2. By inhibiting this protein one tries to cure chronic bone marrow diseases, such as myelofibrosis and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Loss of JAK2 is advantageous for leukemia cells Scientists working with Veronika Sexl at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology may initiate a transformation of thought in regard of JAK2 inhibition. To simulate the human disease as accurately as possible, the scientists used a mouse leukemia ...

As winged dinosaurs underwent a series of evolutionary changes during the transition into Aves, or birds, one pivotal transformation was the appearance of a single-ovary reproductive system. "The most widely accepted hypothesis for the presence of a single functional ovary in living birds is that the right ovary … was lost to reduce body mass in gravid females during flight," report a team of Chinese scientists who are adding new details to the mosaic of understanding how terrestrial dinosaurs gave rise to birds and powered flight. These scientists, led by the director ...

This news release is available in German. Imperfections in the regular atomic arrangements in crystals determine many of the properties of a material, and their diffusion is behind many microstructural changes in solids. However, imaging non-repeating atomic arrangements is difficult in conventional materials. Now, researchers at the University of Vienna have directly imaged the diffusion of a butterfly-shaped atomic defect in graphene, the recently discovered two-dimensional wonder material, over long image sequences. The results are published in the prestigious journal ...