A new study by Duke University researchers provides more evidence that the nitric oxide (NO) system in the life of a cell plays a key role in disease, and the findings point to ways to improve treatment of illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.

Efforts to protect the tumor-suppressor p53 could just as easily shelter a mutant version of the protein, causing cancer cells to thrive and spread rather than die, according to research by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported in the current issue of the journal Genes and Development.

University of Alberta Educational Psychology PhD student Lindsey Leenaars has completed a study that assessed what types of high school students are being indirectly victimized. This includes being involved in emotionally damaging scenarios such as receiving hurtful anonymous notes, being socially excluded, or having rumours spread about them, including threats of physical harm.Leenaars analyzed data that was collected in Ontario in 2003.

Reducing early blockages in bloodstream access for kidney failure treatment does not increase the likelihood that the access will function adequately for long-term treatments, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

No significant difference in death rates or other outcomes was found between a group of patients with acute kidney injury that received intensive dialysis and another group that received a more standard regimen of dialysis, according to a joint Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) study published in the June issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

UroToday.com - Dr. deVere White stated that miRNA are involved in gene amplification and alteration. They are tissue, cancer and cell cycle specific. This adds complexity to the their understanding. miRNA-155 B in lymphoma is an example of overexpression in a tumor. Global miRNA profiling requires validation with Northern blotting, real time PCR for example otherwise there will be false targets.His lab detected miRNA expression in CaP cell lines.

UroToday.com The authors tested whether p53 expression could predict disease recurrence and disease-specific survival after radical cystectomy in patients with pT1-2N0M0 urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB). They evaluated 272 patients from five centers who had pT1-2N0M0 bladder cancer treated with radical cystectomy and bilateral lymphadenectomy (median follow-up: 5 and 12 years, respectively). None of the patients received neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy.Overall, 33.

UroToday.com - Extended pelvic lymphadenectomy (PLND) increases the yield of both total and positive lymph nodes (LN). Studies have also demonstrated that up to 40% of all LN metastasis are localized outside the region of the standard obturator and external iliac PLND. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of PLND on PSA failure (PSAF).The researchers retrospectively analyzed the databases of radical prostatectomies (RP) from three different Urological Departments.

UroToday.com - The presence of positive surgical margins in a radical prostatectomy (RP) specimen is an important negative prognostic factor, although the length of the positive margins was not an independent predictive factor for biochemical recurrence (BCR) in most studies. The aim of this study is to correlate the length and the Gleason grade of the positive resection margin with BCR after RP.

UroToday.com - For the first time in memory, the session devoted to interstitial cystitis at the annual meeting of the AUA was a podium session rather than a poster session. A mix of basic science and clinical presentations resulted in a compelling session.