Drug Trial News

RSS

Paving the way for future pan-European clinical trials

Pan-European collaboration is important for many clinical trials and essential for trials that are investigating treatments for rare diseases.

10 Oct 2007

Network approach finds potential breast cancer susceptibility gene

Like a crossword-puzzle solver who uses the letters in some answers to figure out others, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an international group of collaborators have used data on genes involved in inherited forms of breast cancer to identify a gene linked to non-hereditary cases of the disease.

10 Oct 2007

Medicaid managed care enrollees appear to receive lower-quality

The proportion of Medicaid beneficiaries in managed care increased from 23 percent to more than 60 percent during the same time period,” the authors write. There is limited information in peer-reviewed literature on the quality of care delivered within health plans to Medicaid enrollees.

10 Oct 2007

Intensity modulated radiation therapy better for sparing bladder when treating prostate cancer

When treating early-stage prostate cancer, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) spares the bladder significantly more from direct radiation when compared to 3-D conformal proton therapy (3D-CPT), but the amount of rectal sparing is similar with both treatments, according to a study released in the October issue of the International Journal for Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

10 Oct 2007

Under HMOs, Medicaid patients fare worse than commercial HMO patients

Once viewed as a panacea to the nation's health care problems, HMOs have fallen out of favor.

10 Oct 2007

Decrease in the use of radiotherapy procedures for the treatment of cancer in hospitals

The Department of Radiology and Physical Medicine of the Universidad de Granada, in Andalusian hospitals radiotherapy is not used as much as should be expected for the treatment of cancer, in favour of other procedures such as chemotherapy or surgery.

10 Oct 2007

Just one week of meditation helps

Researchers in the U.S. have found that in order to benefit from meditation, months of practice are not essential and benefits can be achieved in just one week.

10 Oct 2007

Returning to stressful jobs puts heart attack victims at risk of another attack

According to a new study heart attack survivors who return to jobs which are stressful run the risk of having another heart attack.

10 Oct 2007

Migraine drug Topamax tested on alcoholics

Researchers in the United States say a drug used to prevent migraines has been effective in reducing the number of days alcoholics spend binge drinking.

10 Oct 2007

Antibody repairs myelin in lab study of multiple sclerosis and related disorders

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that a human antibody administered in a single low dose in laboratory mouse models can repair myelin, the insulating covering of nerves that when damaged can lead to multiple sclerosis and other disorders of the central nervous system.

10 Oct 2007

Relatives of Parkinson's disease victims more prone to dementia

According to a new study the relatives of people with Parkinson's disease are at an increased risk of developing dementia.

9 Oct 2007

Soaring obesity rates in the UK

An analysis conducted out by a cancer charity in Britain has found that the waistlines of both men and women have significantly increased in the last decade.

9 Oct 2007

Quick action after a minor stroke reduces the risk of a major stroke

According to two studies by British and French researchers quick action following a minor stroke reduces the chance of a major stroke later on.

9 Oct 2007

Bad marriage equals a bad heart

The epidemiologists at University College London, Britain, found that even after taking into account other factors that could contribute to heart disease, such as depression, men and women with negative aspects in their relationships still had a 25 percent increase in heart disease risk.

9 Oct 2007

Xeloda (capecitabine) better all round for cancer patients

A drug to treat colon cancer is proving much more convenient than traditional chemotherapy, has fewer side effects - and a study of almost 2,000 patients has shown it is giving them a better chance of surviving the disease.

9 Oct 2007

Surgery may offer best chance of long-term prostate cancer survival

A study from Switzerland suggests that men who have surgery for prostate cancer appear less likely to die of the disease within 10 years than men who choose other treatment options, especially if they are younger or have cancers with certain tumor cell characteristics, according to a report in the Oct. 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

9 Oct 2007

Study links chemical to inhibited milk synthesis, secretion in humans

University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have identified the neurotransmitter serotonin as the chemical responsible for inhibiting milk production and secretion in human mammary glands.

9 Oct 2007

Smoking appears to have no effect on the progression of multiple sclerosis

Contrary to an earlier report, smoking appears to have no effect on the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study published in the October 9, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

9 Oct 2007

Relatives of patients with Parkinson's disease may have an increased risk of developing dementia

Parkinson's disease is characterized by a decline in the functions of the central nervous system, such as motor skills and speech. Several studies have shown an increased risk of dementia in first-degree relatives of Parkinson's disease patients, while other studies have not confirmed the association, according to background information in the article.

9 Oct 2007