Researchers in Australia have demonstrated that blocking a certain protein can reduce or prevent cigarette smoke-induced lung inflammation in mice. Inflammation underlies the disease process of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and many other smoking-related ailments.

Hypnotherapy seems to be very effective for easing the distressing symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and in a goodly proportion of cases, clears up symptoms altogether, reveal experts during a wide ranging discussion of the condition in a Frontline Gastroenterology podcast.

Men who start losing their hair at an early age may be less likely to develop prostate cancer in the future, new research suggests.But Cancer Research UK said that the results contradict those of previous studies and that further research is needed to provide more reliable evidence.

Meningococcal disease is a major cause of bacterial meningitis and sepsis with high consequent disability and mortality rates worldwide[1]

Dominant groups of meningococcal disease vary by country and region, and can change over time, making it an even more unpredictable disease[2]

Human Genome Sciences announced this morning that its cancer antibody flunked a mid-stage clinical trial, failing to produce better data on either disease response or progression-free survival for lung cancer when compared to a control group.

The fungal plant pathogen Fusarium oxysporum is capable of horizontal gene transfer similar to that seen in bacteria, a new comparative genomics study suggests.

An international team sequenced the genomes of two plant pathogens in the Fusarium genus — F. verticillioides and F. oxysporum f.sp lycopersici — and compared them with the genome of the previously sequenced species F. graminearum. In the process, the team found four chromosomes carrying pathogenesis-related genes that can hop from one F. oxysporum strain to another.

Abraxis BioScience reports that a Phase III trial showed that Abraxane improved overall response rate in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The firm says that the FDA previously agreed that this would be sufficient to submit an sNDA for the drug in first-line NSCLC. Abraxis' stock jumped 33% during morning trading.

“We anticipate filing an sNDA to the FDA during 2011 for what will be the second indication for Abraxane in the U.S,” says Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., executive chairman and founder of the firm. The drug is a solvent-free chemotherapy already approved for metastatic breast cancer.

While the A20 protein (tumor necrosis factor, alpha-induced protein 3 or TNFAIP3) is known to be tumor suppressive in lymphoma, a recent study has found that in glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain tumor, A20 acts as a potent tumor enhancer.

An experimental hypertension therapy in Novartis' pipeline has cleared an important mid-stage clinical trial hurdle and is headed for a pivotal test. Researchers for the pharma giant say that LCZ696--a combination of the experimental AHU377 with the standard drug Diovan-- significantly better than Diovan alone. And the combo therapy clearly outperformed a placebo.

Government and university scientists in the US and drug development companies will undertake a new personalized clinical trial model that will use genetic biomarkers from individual tumors to screen several new drugs for breast cancer.

Led by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Biomarkers Consortium, the I-SPY2 trial program also will use MRI bioimaging as part of the studies, according to FNIH.

A review of published articles on gene expression based prognostic signatures in lung cancer revealed little evidence that any of the signatures are ready for clinical use, according to researchers at NCI. Serious problems in the design and analysis of the studies were also found.

To assess the progress made toward clinical application of these signatures, Jyothi Subramanian, Ph.D., and Richard Simon of the biometric research branch at the NCI analyzed 16 relevant published studies from 2002 to 2009 that reported on the development of gene expression based prognostic signatures for non-small-cell lung cancer. The review was published online March 16 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and is titled “Gene Expression–Based Prognostic Signatures in Lung Cancer: Ready for Clinical Use?”

U.S. scientists have fine-tuned the process for synthesizing a family of compounds with the potential to kill cancer and other diseased cells, and have found that they represent a distinctive category of anticancer agents.

By comparing the unique collection of bacteria found on a person's hand to those recovered at a crime scene, microbes could act like fingerprints to nab the culprit, scientists have revealed.

CytoDyn, Inc. (Pink Sheets:CYDY) has begun full humanization of Cytolin®, the Company’s unique immune therapy for treating HIV/AIDS.

A vaccine designed to prevent cervical cancer also may protect females from post-surgical recurrence of the disease, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Clove is the best antioxidant spice, say Miguel Hernández University (UMH) researchers.

Using spices eaten in the Mediterranean diet as natural antioxidants is a good way forward as far as health is concerned.

A study published on bmj.com today concludes that using metal staples to close wounds after orthopedic (joint) surgery can lead to a greater risk of infection than using traditional nylon sutures.

Solid-pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) of the pancreas is relatively rare. There are some similarities between SPN and pancreatic endocrine tumor (PET), especially the non-functioning ones, in clinical and pathological manifestations.

Researchers at Children's National Medical Center have discovered that African American children with asthma in metropolitan Washington, DC, are significantly more likely to have low levels of vitamin D than healthy African American children.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is failing to follow its own guidance aimed at making live-extending treatments available on the NHS, leaving many patients with rarer forms of cancer without drugs that could prolong their lives, a campaign group has said.