Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have pinpointed a key regulatory protein that translates blood flow into gene expression. The investigators showed that in a model of mouse embryonic development a transcription factor called Klf2, which resides in cells that line blood vessels, is activated by rapid, pulsed blood flow, as reported in the December issue of Developmental Cell. [click link for full article]

A longer, less intense course of radiotherapy provides better value for the money than a shorter, more intense regimen when given to ease pain and other complaints in patients with late-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.Patients with late-stage NSCLC are often too ill to receive intensive treatment for their cancer. [click link for full article]

President Bush on Wednesday signed into law a tax, trade and health care bill (HR 6111) that includes provisions to reverse a 5.1% reduction in Medicare physician reimbursements scheduled for 2007 and to loosen contribution limits for health savings accounts, CQ Today reports (Van Dongen, CQ Today, 12/20). [click link for full article]

“Profiles of Medicaid’s High Cost Populations,” Kaiser Family Foundation: The report, by Jeffrey Crowley of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute and Molly O’Malley of Kaiser’s [click link for full article]

AstraZeneca has announced the first results from a major clinical trial, EFECT (Evaluation of Faslodex vs Exemestane Clinical Trial), at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).(1) The data confirm that fulvestrant - an oestrogen receptor antagonist, and the first of a new type of endocrine therapy - is a valuable treatment option for women with hormone-receptor positive (HR+) advanced breast cancer. [click link for full article]

Hundreds of millions of city dwellers breathe air so polluted with chemicals, smoke and particles that it dramatically exceeds World Health Organization limits with major impacts on health and the environment. A major study on the state of air pollution in 20 of Asia⬔s key cities shows that while there have been improvements in achieving better air quality, air pollution still poses a threat to health and quality of life of many people. [click link for full article]

Progesterone is a female sex hormone known to regulate the growth of normal breast tissue while also seeming to be involved in breast cancer. Its exact role in the carcinogenic process, however, is still unclear. But now, in work about to be published in the “Journal of Cellular Biochemistry”, a team of Portuguese scientists shows that progesterone seems to sustain the formation of blood vessels, which, by supplying nutrients to the tumour cells, are vital for breast cancer progression. [click link for full article]

A research team at UT Southwestern Medical Center has for the first time identified several genes whose expression is lost in four of the most common solid human cancers - lung, breast, prostate and colon cancer.The findings, which researchers say could form the basis for a new early detection screen for certain cancers, are published today in the online journal Public Library of Science Medicine. [click link for full article]

The incidence of stroke in the U.S. over the past 50 years has declined, although the severity of stroke has not, according to a study in the December 27 issue of JAMA.Stroke continues to be a major public health concern, with more than 750,000 new strokes occurring each year in the United States. [click link for full article]

People with heart failure tend to think that they should avoid physical efforts, in order to prevent the worsening of the already compromised cardiac functions. But a joint research carried out by EVGN scientists and other Italian partners proved that the opposite is true. [click link for full article]