srrpenna's blog

An international team, writing in the British Journal of Cancer, examined 40 separate studies looking at the potential link between breast cancer and diabetes.

Being obese or overweight is linked to both conditions.

article from bbc

The combination of two vaccines that has previously failed to produce a response on their own has cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 per cent.

It is the first time in human trials that a vaccine has protected against the virus which leads to Aids.

The vaccines are ALVAC, from Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine division of French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis; and AIDSVAX, originally developed by VaxGen Inc. and now held by Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases, a non-profit founded by some former VaxGen employees.

Bacterial infection is a major health threat to patients with severe burns and other kinds of serious wounds such as traumatic bone fractures. Recent studies have identified an important new weapon for fighting infection and healing wounds: insulin.

(PHILADELPHIA) Smoking has once again been implicated in the development of advanced cancer. Exposure to nicotine by way of cigarette smoking may increase the likelihood that pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma will become metastatic, according to researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson. Their study was published in the August edition of the journal Surgery.

Tampa, Fla. (July 27, 2009) – An Italian research team, publishing in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (18:4), which is now available on-line without charge at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct, has found that stem cells derived from human placenta may ultimately play a role in the treatment of lung diseases, such as pulmonary fibrosis and fibrotic diseases caused by tuberculosis, chemical exposure, radiation or pathogens. These diseases can ultimately lead to loss of normal lung tissue and organ failure.

Men with early stages of prostate cancer who delay radical treatment in favor of an approach of "expectant management" do not have high levels of anxiety and distress. That is the conclusion of a new study published in the September 1, 2009 issue of Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study's results suggest that living with untreated cancer is not upsetting for many patients with early prostate cancer.