The father of Javona Peters, a 16-year old girl who went into coma after an operation to relieve pressure on her brain, has gone to Bronx Supreme Court for a decision on whether to take her off life support - the case is set for January 7th. The father, Leonard Peters, was initially against the idea, but has said he is “85% changed my mind now, but I don’t know the legality.” He said that if nothing works for Javona he does not see the point now. [click link for full article]

Among breast cancer patients, both chemotherapy and tamoxifen independently reduced the risk of developing a second cancer in the other breast, according to a study published online December 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The risk reduction persisted for at least 10 and 5 years, respectively. For breast cancer patients the risk of developing cancer in the other breast is two to six times greater than the breast cancer risk of the general public. [click link for full article]

Researchers developed a new method for distinguishing between breast cancer recurrences and new primary tumors. One commonly used method is to detect changes in DNA copy number. Another is to compare clinical and pathologic characteristics of the two tumors. Marc Bollet, M.D. [click link for full article]

Cannabinoids may suppress tumor invasion in highly invasive cancers. Cannabinoids, the active components in marijuana, are used to reduce the side effects of cancer treatment, such as pain, weight loss, and vomiting, but there is increasing evidence that they may also inhibit tumor cell growth. However, the cellular mechanisms behind this are unknown. Robert Ramer, Ph.D., and Burkhard Hinz, Ph.D. [click link for full article]

At least 1 percent of hospitalized patients at major medical centers will have a pancreatic cystic lesion on cross sectional imaging, and up to one quarter of all pancreata examined in an autopsy series contained a pancreatic cyst. Until recently, pancreatic cystic lesions were thought to be benign, but new evidence suggests that they may lead to malignancies. [click link for full article]

Roswell Park Cancer Institute’s (RPCI) Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) will not only be renewed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for five years, but America’s first cancer center has garnered its best CCSG score in its history. RPCI has been an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, without interruption, since 1974, and was one of the three centers used by the NCI as a model for the 39 comprehensive cancer centers in existence today. [click link for full article]

Medimix International, a leader in global healthcare marketing research, announced that it has decided to fund the work of world renowned dermatologists, Dr.s Claire Lugassy and Raymond L. Barnhill, in order to support the next phase of their studies on melanoma metastasis. The goal of this research is a better understanding of why there are interactions between external blood cells and melanoma cells. [click link for full article]

A University of Leicester academic has given evidence to the House of Lords’ Science and Technology Committee. Dr William Toff, Senior Lecturer in Cardiology, gave expert evidence to the inquiry on Air Travel and Health. He told the committee that, “for the average traveller, the use of aspirin is a relatively ineffective intervention” in the prevention of DVT. [click link for full article]

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) announced that its TAXUS” Liberté” paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system has received European CE Mark approval for use in patients with diabetes.1 Boston Scientific submitted data showing the TAXUS Liberté stent has benefited diabetic patients with coronary artery disease, both in clinical trials and real-world registries. [click link for full article]

Large numbers of the poorest Americans living in the United States are suffering from some of the same parasitic infections that affect the poor in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, says the Editor-in-Chief of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. [click link for full article]