Vanderbilt University researcher William Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues in Germany and Canada have demonstrated a method for detecting “cell-free” tumor DNA in the bloodstream. Mitchell believes the technique will be transformative in providing improved cancer diagnostics that can both predict…
Ebola Medic Flown to Germany for Anonymity
A South Korean medic exposed to Ebola while working in West Africa has been flown to Germany for infectious disease treatment because the patient’s anonymity would be better protected there, authorities in Berlin said Saturday. Doctors at Berlin’s renowned Charite hospital…
With Opdivo approval, Bristol-Myers arms for PD-1 battle against Merck’s Keytruda
The Bristol-Myers Squibb-vs.-Merck match in melanoma immunotherapy is on. Bristol-Myers ($BMY) scored FDA approval for its cancer immunotherapy Opdivo (nivolumab) three months ahead of schedule, setting it up for a head-to-head contest against Merck’s ($MRK) recent debut in the same class,…
Researchers Find Alternate Drug Therapy Lowers Antibodies
Findings of a three-year clinical trial led by University of Cincinnati (UC) transplant researchers suggest that a novel pre-operative drug therapy reduces antibodies in kidney patients with greater success than with traditional methods, with the potential to increase the patients’ candidacy…
Researchers Map Paths to Cancer Drug Resistance
A team of researchers led by Duke Cancer Institute has identified key events that prompt certain cancer cells to develop cancer drug resistance to otherwise lethal therapies. By mapping the specific steps that cells of melanoma, breast cancer, and a blood…
Drug Blocks Key Signal in Cancer Growth and Drug Resistance
An experimental cancer drug may block an important driver for the survival, growth and spread of cancer cells. The first clinical trial of an experimental drug, called pictilisib, found the safety profile to be manageable in cancer patients at doses that…
Las dosis altas de vancomicina aumentan el riesgo de daño renal en los niños
Results of a small Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study show that hospitalized children given high-dose IV infusions of the antibiotic vancomycin to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections face an increased risk for kidney damage — an often reversible but sometimes serious complication….
Microcapsule Eliminates Toxic Punch of Experimental Anti-Cancer Drug
Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a sugar-based molecular microcapsule that eliminates the toxicity of an anticancer agent developed a decade ago at Johns Hopkins, called 3-bromopyruvate, or 3BrPA, in studies of mice with implants of human pancreatic cancer tissue. The encapsulated…
Combo Treatment Benefits Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer
Results of a Phase 2, open-label, dose-confirmation study of eribulin in combination with capecitabine, suggests that this therapy is efficacious in women with metastatic breast cancer (overall response rate 42.9% and clinical benefit rate 57.1%), with a safety and tolerability profile…
Study Shows Serotonin Can Increase Risk of Drug Addiction
A study by Sarah Bradbury, who graduates with a PhD in Psychology next week, shows that the development of drug addiction is related to brain levels of serotonin—a chemical created by the human body that is responsible for maintaining mood balance….