Advances in cancer detection and treatment have progressed greatly throughout the past 40 years enabling more people to live longer lives. However, for survivors who had cancer before or during their reproductive years, infertility may be an unfortunate reality; as all of the standard therapies for cancer, including surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy can have a negative affect on fertility. [click link for full article]

An urgent and massive expansion of clinical trials capacity is needed to carry out vital research to accelerate the development and evaluation of new TB drugs, say Unni Karunakara (MSF) and colleagues. “Trials are urgently needed,” they say, “to find regimens that are shorter, less toxic, and effective against multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDRTB). [click link for full article]

Drug-resistant TB strains may account for 10% of the 8 million new cases of TB that occur each year, say Carole Mitnick (Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA) and colleagues. Increasing concern about resistance has redoubled interest in strategies to control drug-resistant TB, they say, especially in settings of high HIV prevalence. Current treatments for MDR-TB last between 18 and 24 months, adverse effects are common, and many patients cannot be cured. [click link for full article]

According to new research, New York and the District of Columbia top the list of counties with the greatest disparity between the percentages of black and white residents who are obese. The study, presented at the American Public Health Association’s 135th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., looked at county-level data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) for the years 2001-2005. [click link for full article]

As the weather starts to turn cold and crisp around the country, people are packing their pockets with tissues to combat their runny noses. With outdoor time of year, noses…

US scientists have used non invasive radio waves to heat up carbon nanotubes embedded in the cancerous livers of rabbits to kill cancer cells without damaging healthy tissue. The preclinical study is published in the October 24th early online issue of the journal Cancer and is the work of Dr Steven A Curley, professor of surgical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. [click link for full article]

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) announced the presentation of detailed 48-week data from two phase III pivotal clinical trials, Studies 102 and 103, which evaluate the safety and efficacy of once-daily Viread® (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) among adult patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. [click link for full article]

A House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Thursday examined six rules proposed by HHS that would affect matching funds for state Medicaid programs, CQ HealthBeat reports. According to committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif. [click link for full article]

A new US study has found that lack of sleep in children aged 9 to 12 is linked to increased risk of being overweight.The study is published in the 5th November issue of Pediatrics and is the work of Dr Julie C Lumeng, assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan Center for Human Growth and Development, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and colleagues. [click link for full article]

The Senate on Thursday voted 64-30 to approve revised legislation (HR 3963) that would reauthorize and expand SCHIP, the Washington Post reports (Washington Post, 11/2). [click link for full article]