The drug trastuzumab (Herceptin) is used to treat HER2-positive breast cancer (a type of breast cancer that overexpresses the HER2 gene and accounts for about 25% of all breast cancers). Trastuzumab therapy improves the chances of survival; however, it has deleterious side effects and is expensive. Thus, it is important to accurately determine the patient’s HER2 status. The challenge is to develop a testing strategy that is both accurate and economical. [click link for full article]

Some congressional Democrats are pushing for increased enforcement of laws governing dental care for children enrolled in Medicaid after a 12-year-old Maryland boy died from complications related to an untreated tooth infection that spread to his brain, NPR’s “Morning Edition” reports. All children enrolled in Medicaid are supposed to receive dental care. [click link for full article]

The following highlights recent state news related to human papillomavirus vaccines. Merck’s HPV vaccine Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline’s HPV vaccine Cervarix in clinical trials have been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases. [click link for full article]

In one of the first studies of its kind, researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine explored why blacks are less likely than other races to become living kidney donors, and the reasons are obesity and failure to complete the donor evaluation.”Obesity is a growing problem in the African-American community, particularly among women, and this reflects what we found in the study,” said Amber Reeves-Daniel, D.O., an instructor in internal medicine-nephrology. [click link for full article]

Hospitals on average bill uninsured patients 2.5 times more than they bill health insurers and three times more than they bill Medicare for medical services, according to a study published on Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs, the Los Angeles Times reports (Yi, Los Angeles Times, 5/8). [click link for full article]

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have begun to shed light on why the human immune system isn’t able to stop such cancers as melanoma, suggesting answers that could pave the way for better treatment of this often-fatal illness.In a small study, the scientists found that the immune cells in a majority of people with this deadly skin cancer fail to respond properly to a molecule called interferon, which normally activates the immune system. [click link for full article]

President Bush’s letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) saying he will veto legislation that would weaken federal policies or laws on abortion drew “strong” responses from abortion-rights advocates and opponents, the Washington Times reports (Ward, Washington Times, 5/5). [click link for full article]

Two new studies by Dartmouth Medical School pediatrician researchers underscore the significant impact that movies have in influencing teens to smoke. The studies show that movies deliver billions of smoking impressions to American teens; and that even teens outside the U.S. are affected by smoking images in films distributed internationally by American studios. [click link for full article]

Summertime brings more outdoor activities, including camping and hiking, along with exposure to poison oak, ivy and sumac. Contact with these plants can cause itchy, blistering rashes, called contact dermatitis….

“Global Fund To Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria Has Improved Its Documentation of Funding Decisions but Needs Standardized Oversight Expectations and Assessments,” Government Accountability Office: The report examines documentation by the [click link for full article]