Two major research organizations in the Phoenix area have announced they will collaborate on an ambitious goal: creating a vaccine to prevent the development of cancer. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe and Mayo Clinic will use the latest developments in laboratory and clinical sciences to reach their goal - finding components in cancer that could be used to vaccinate against the occurrence of the disease. [click link for full article]

At a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on Thursday, ranking member Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) expressed concern about proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid by the Bush administration, CongressDaily reports. Bush’s fiscal year 2008 budget proposal includes $75.6 billion in cuts to the programs. [click link for full article]

Researchers have discovered that the same genetic regulator that triggers growth of stem cells during brain development also plays a central role in the development of the lethal brain cancer malignant glioma. In experiments on mice with such gliomas, they showed that knocking out the function of a particular regulatory protein, Olig2, almost completely eliminated tumor formation. [click link for full article]

Sure you think about diet and exercise as key to heart disease prevention. But what about the neighborhood you live in?According to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine, the incidence of heart disease and associated fatalities are higher for people who live in poor neighborhoods vs. those who live in more affluent areas. [click link for full article]

While previous biomedical research studies have found that genetics and race increase risk for some diseases, a new look into how researchers study genetic triggers of type 2 diabetes suggests that defining race remains an inexact science, with social and historic facts mixing with biology throughout the research process. [click link for full article]

Results from a 20-year trial at the Royal Marsden have today revealed that tamoxifen, a drug that blocks oestrogen, reduces the risk of women developing ER-positive breast cancer by 39 per cent. This finding emerged in the second decade of the long-running Royal Marsden cancer prevention study which involved 2,471 healthy women at high risk of developing breast cancer. [click link for full article]

Abortion-rights opponents in Illinois are criticizing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who is running for president in 2008, for votes he made on legislation while serving as a state senator, The Hill reports. [click link for full article]

Children who are at risk for the development of allergy, such as those with a strong family history of allergies, may be able to delay or prevent the onset of…

Long-term follow-up data from the independent Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 trial support earlier findings that Femara (letrozole tablets) is more effective than tamoxifen as initial post-surgery therapy for early breast cancer. The updated study results were published in the February 10 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. [click link for full article]

The Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research is launching one of the largest research projects in the United States to examine the genetic and environmental factors that influence common diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s disease, asthma and many others. [click link for full article]