Genetic and epigenetic variations ensure that no two people are exactly alike, and the same holds true for any two cancers. Now, researchers have the tools and the knowledge to help predict how individuals will respond to cancer therapies, enabling them to create more effective therapies for individual cancers - personalized medicine. [click link for full article]

There is wide variation among state Medicaid programs’ eligibility requirements, benefits and quality of care, according to a report released on Wednesday by the advocacy group Public Citizen, CQ HealthBeat reports. The report analyzed 2004 and 2005 Medicaid data compiled by the [click link for full article]

A new study published in PLoS Medicine suggests that the age when a woman’s periods start may affect her children’s growth rate during childhood,final height and risk of obesity in later life. [click link for full article]

A more intensive postoperative chemotherapy regimen for high-risk gastric cancer patients did not improve their survival, according to a randomized controlled trial in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.The five-year survival rate for gastric cancer patients who undergo radical surgery is typically between 15 and 32 percent. Efforts to improve survival with new therapies, including postoperative chemotherapy, have yet to yield statistically significant results. [click link for full article]

Daniel O’Connor, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine has studied about 265 twin pairs over the past few years, which has led him to some surprising discoveries.”By studying many traits and genes, we have started to put together unexpected stories,” he said. [click link for full article]

Medicare fraud costs billions of dollars each year, according to testimony from federal officials at a Wednesday hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, CongressDaily reports. Acting [click link for full article]

Daniel O’Connor, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine has studied about 265 twin pairs over the past few years, which has led him to some surprising discoveries.”By studying many traits and genes, we have started to put together unexpected stories,” he said. [click link for full article]

Following the tragic event at the Virginia Tech campus, the American Red Cross is one of many organizations in the local community offering support at this time. Our trained relief workers, mostly mental health workers, arrived at Virginia Tech yesterday to support the efforts of local Red Cross volunteers who have been offering emotional support, food and beverages to students, loved ones and first responders. [click link for full article]

Mayo Clinic researchers have designed a new strategy in the promising field of cancer vaccine research that’s proven to be successful in boosting T cells — the immune builders akin to a super defense force against cancer cells. Scientists say their strategy may prove to be more successful than methods currently under study and in clinical trials.The research, which was lost to Hurricane Katrina but recovered at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. [click link for full article]

Today’s Medicare Trustees report will give the Bush Administration an excuse to continue to raise false alarms about the financial health of the program. Transitory predictions must not be allowed to damage one of the most successful domestic programs in American history. Medicare is the solution to our soaring health care costs, not the problem. Americans are living healthier and longer lives, in large part thanks to the reliable and affordable health care provided by Medicare. [click link for full article]