An anti-allergy drug in use for more than 40 years significantly reduced tumor growth in animal models of human pancreatic cancer and also increased the effectiveness of standard chemotherapy, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. [click link for full article]

Viewing prior mammograms in association with current mammograms significantly improves radiologist performance and may decrease unnecessary recalls by up to 44 percent, according to a study in the January issue of Radiology.”Prior mammograms should always be used when available,” said the study’s lead author, Antonius A. J. Roelofs, Ph.D., from the Department of Radiology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center in the Netherlands. [click link for full article]

People who receive higher disability ratings for work-related back injuries don’t necessarily fare worse over the long term than those who get lower ratings, a Saint Louis University study finds.The study, which reinforced previous research showing blacks receive less treatment for their back pain than whites, was published online this month in the Journal of Pain. [click link for full article]

Over the past 3 decades, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, or balloon angioplasty) has significantly changed the treatment of coronary artery disease (narrowing of the arteries supplying the heart muscle). Unlike the more invasive coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, angioplasty is a nonsurgical procedure in which a tiny catheter with a balloon is inserted into the coronary artery. The balloon is then inflated to push aside the plaque causing the narrowing. [click link for full article]

Blood transfusions save the lives of millions of heart surgery patients and others each year. But a new study suggests that patients who receive transfusions during heart bypass surgery have a higher risk of developing potentially dangerous infections, and dying, after their operation.In fact, this increased risk may help explain a longstanding medical mystery: why women bypass patients are more likely than men to die in the first few months after surgery. [click link for full article]

The University of Illinois at Chicago has been named a National Institutes of Health Islet Cell Resource Center and awarded a three-year $3.25 million grant.One of seven federally funded centers in the United States, UIC will provide researchers across the country with human pancreatic islet cells for transplantation into diabetic patients and provide cells for basic science research. [click link for full article]

After five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor have been sentenced to death by a Libyan court for allegedly infecting about 400 children with HIV on purpose, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU commissioner for Foreign Relations and Neighborhood Policy has urged Libya to recall the sentences.Benita Ferrero-Waldner wrote to the European Affairs Secretary, Libya, urging him to annul the death sentences, according to the Sofia News Agency, Bulgaria. [click link for full article]

A common asthma drug reduced pancreatic cancer cell growth in laboratory experiments and animal tests, a new study reports.A protein called S100P is found in excess amounts in some cancers and is important for pancreatic cancer cell growth and survival. This protein also activates a cell surface protein receptor called RAGE that plays a role in Alzheimer disease, diabetes, and cancer. [click link for full article]

UroToday.com - One of the obvious limitations of the ablative technologies (radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and cryotherapy) is the reliance on radiographic criteria (lack of enhancement) to define success and effective tumor ablation. Recent reports of persistent viable tumor in tumors resected for a variety of indications after ablative therapy have hampered the widespread acceptance of these technologies into general practice. [click link for full article]

UroToday.com - Aside from preoperative PSA, Gleason score, and pathologic stage, surrogate markers for prostate cancer-related death after prostatectomy include PSA doubling time and the length of time from surgery to PSA recurrence.In the October issue of the Journal of Urology, Freedland and co-workers from Johns Hopkins performed a detailed analysis of a contemporary series of 379 patients who developed disease recurrence after radical prostatectomy. [click link for full article]