Research & Development News Channel

Thioridazine, successfully kills cancer stem cells in the human

2012-05-27T21:00:01Z

A team of scientists at McMaster University has discovered a drug, thioridazine, successfully kills cancer stem cells in the human while avoiding the toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments.

World Health Assembly endorses new plan to increase global access to vaccines

2012-05-27T21:00:00Z

Ministers of Health from 194 countries at the Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly endorsed a landmark Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), a roadmap to prevent millions of deaths by 2020 through more equitable access to existing vaccines for people in all communities.

Calcium supplements linked to significantly increased heart attack risk

2012-05-24T09:00:00Z

Calcium supplements might increase the risk of having a heart attack, and should be "taken with caution," concludes research published in the online issue of the journal Heart. Furthermore, boosting overall calcium intake from dietary sources confers no significant advantage in terms of staving off heart disease and stroke, the findings indicate.

Biomarker predicts response to cancer treatment

2012-05-21T21:00:00Z

VIB researcher Diether Lambrechts, associated with KU Leuven, has discovered a biomarker that might potentially predict which patients will benefit more from treatment with bevacizumab (Avastin). If validated, this discovery could be an important step towards personalized medicine and patient-tailored use of this important cancer drug.

In drug-approval race, US FDA ahead of Canada, Europe

2012-05-16T21:00:00Z

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generally approves drug therapies faster and earlier than its counterparts in Canada and Europe, according to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers. The study counters perceptions that the drug approval process in the United States is especially slow.

Blood pressure drugs don't protect against colorectal cancer

2012-05-14T21:00:00Z

A new study has found that, contrary to current thinking, taking beta blockers that treat high blood pressure does not decrease a person's risk of developing colorectal cancer. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study also revealed that even long-term use or subtypes of beta blockers showed no reduction of colorectal cancer risk.

Vitamin K2: New hope for Parkinson's patients?

2012-05-13T22:00:00Z

Neuroscientist Patrik Verstreken, associated with VIB and KU Leuven, succeeded in undoing the effect of one of the genetic defects that leads to Parkinson's using vitamin K2. His discovery gives hope to Parkinson's patients.

H1N1 discovery paves way for universal flu vaccine

2012-05-08T22:00:00Z

University of British Columbia researchers have found a potential way to develop universal flu vaccines and eliminate the need for seasonal flu vaccinations. Each year, seasonal influenza causes serious illnesses in three to five million people and 200,000 to 500,000 deaths.

Some HDL, or 'good' cholesterol, may not protect against heart disease

2012-05-07T22:00:00Z

A new study by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers has found that a subclass of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the so-called "good" cholesterol, may not protect against coronary heart disease (CHD) and in fact may be harmful.

Potential to revive abandoned cancer drug by nanoparticle drug delivery

2012-05-02T22:00:00Z

Current nanomedicine research has focused on the delivery of established and novel therapeutics. But a UNC team is taking a different approach. They developed nanoparticle carriers to successfully deliver therapeutic doses of a cancer drug that had previously failed clinical development due to pharmacologic challenges.

Stem cell researchers map new knowledge about insulin production

2012-04-29T22:00:00Z

Scientists from The Danish Stem Cell Center (DanStem) at the University of Copenhagen and Hagedorn Research Institute have gained new insight into the signaling paths that control the body's insulin production.

New drug to tackle fat problems

2012-04-27T22:00:00Z

Medical researchers at the University of Sheffield have defined the structure of a key part of the human obesity receptor- an essential factor in the regulation of body fat- which could help provide new treatments for the complications of obesity and anorexia.

Key protein responsible for controlling nerve cell protection

2012-04-22T22:00:00Z

A key protein, which may be activated to protect nerve cells from damage during heart failure or epileptic seizure, has been found to regulate the transfer of information between nerve cells in the brain. The discovery, made by neuroscientists at the University of Bristol and published in Nature Neuroscience and PNAS, could lead to novel new therapies for stroke and epilepsy.

Women don't receive the same treatment as men for heart disease the world-over

2012-04-20T11:00:00Z

Women with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) receive inferior or less aggressive treatment compared to men, according to three large studies presented today at the World Congress of Cardiology.

Advances in personalized medicine for lung cancer

2012-04-18T22:00:00Z

Several new studies that may help doctors tailor lung cancer treatment to the characteristics of individual patients and of their tumors are being presented at the 3rd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva.

Canadian study suggests off-label prescribing of medications is common

2012-04-16T22:00:00Z

A study evaluating off-label prescribing of medications in a primary care network in Canada suggests the practice is common, although it varies by medication, patient and physician characteristics, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

Discovery could help to develop drugs for organ transplant and cancer patients

2012-04-15T22:00:00Z

Loyola researchers are reporting surprising findings about a molecule that helps ramp up the immune system in some cases and suppress it in others. The finding eventually could lead to new drugs to regulate the immune system by, for example, revving it up to attack tumor cells or tamping it down to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs.

UCLA-engineered stem cells seek out and kill HIV in living organisms

2012-04-12T22:00:00Z

Expanding on previous research providing proof-of-principal that human stem cells can be genetically engineered into HIV-fighting cells, a team of UCLA researchers have now demonstrated that these cells can actually attack HIV-infected cells in a living organism.

Alzheimer's precursor protein controls its own fate

2012-04-10T22:00:00Z

A research team led by the University of South Florida Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences has found that a fragment of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) - known as sAPP-α and associated with Alzheimer's disease - appears to regulate its own production.

Normalizing tumor blood vessels improves delivery of only the smallest nanomedicines

2012-04-10T13:00:00Z

Combining two strategies designed to improve the results of cancer treatment - antiangiogenesis drugs and nanomedicines - may only be successful if the smallest nanomedicines are used.