Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Promising Results With Aleglitazar, A New Treatment Drug For Type 2 Diabetes (SYNCHRONY Study)
The results from the phase II SYNCHRONY study are published in an article Online First and in a future edition of The Lancet. At the same time, the findings are presented at the American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans, USA. They suggest that aleglitazar, a treatment for type 2 diabetes, might be safe and effective and may perhaps be introduced into phase III trials.
generic viagra online
Do Prevention Programs Save Money? CBO Says 'No'
The Congressional Budget Office has so far "failed to attribute any savings to increased efforts to provide preventive efforts like stop-smoking programs," challenging the notion that preventive care saves money for the health care system, NPR reports. "Former CBO health analyst Joe Antos, now at the American Enterprise Institute, says preventive services often cost more than they save. In screening people for cancer, for example, he says, "you screen literally millions of people, sometimes at fairly high cost per screen. You"ll pick up some true positives, people who really have the disease. You"ll pick up some false positives." Then all those people have to be followed up by the medical system, which costs even more money."
News of the day
Efforts To Quickly Develop Swine Flu Vaccine Reported In GEN
Scientists around the world are accelerating their efforts to develop a vaccine against the H1N1 influenza virus (Swine flu) as rapidly as possible, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN). The need for such a vaccine received a strong impetus from the World Health Organization, which has issued a Phase 5 pandemic alert, a strong signal that the WHO believes a pandemic is imminent, according to the June 1 issue of GEN (http://www.genengnews.com/articles/chitem.aspx?aid=2938).
Endocrinology

DxS' TheraScreen(R) K-RAS Companion Diagnostic Approved For Use With Amgen's Vectibix™ In Canada

DxS, a personalised medicine company, has had its TheraScreen: K-RAS Mutation Kit granted a licence by the regulatory body Health Canada for use as a diagnostic for anti-EGFR therapies and as the companion diagnostic for Amgen"s colorectal cancer therapy, Vectibix™ (panitumumab). The availability of the TheraScreen: K-RAS Mutation Kit will allow colorectal cancer patients in Canada to be screened using the DxS diagnostic to assess their suitability for treatment with Vectibix™. Studies have shown that patients with the non-mutated K-RAS gene may respond to treatment with Vectibix™. Approximately 60 per cent of metastatic colorectal cancer patients have a non-mutated K-RAS gene. Colorectal cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer death in Canada, with around 22,000 diagnosed each year, causing 9,100 deaths1. Dr. Kenneth Pritzker, Mount Sinai Services, Toronto, one of the leading centres carrying out K-RAS testing in Canada said "This is extremely good news that we now have a registered method for K-RAS testing. The DxS K-RAS test is simple to use, highly sensitive and is the companion diagnostic test of choice for assessing a patient"s response to Vectibix™." The approval of the TheraScreen: K-RAS Mutation Kit is a step forward in making personalised medicine more readily available to physicians and patients in Canada. The future of cancer treatment will be guided by the use of technological advances such as these, which enable physicians to better manage a patient"s disease or predisposition towards a disease. Now physicians can choose a treatment approach that is likely to work best in the context of a patient"s genetic and environmental profile. Following the global distribution agreement signed in 2008, Roche Diagnostics will be distributing and supporting sales of the TheraScreen: K-RAS Mutation Kit in Canada beginning in August of this year. About colorectal cancer This year an estimated 22,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and 9,100 will die from it. On average, 413 Canadians will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer every week and 171 will die from the disease weekly. One in 14 men is expected to develop colorectal cancer during his lifetime and one in 27 will die from it. One in 16 women is expected to develop colorectal cancer during her lifetime and one in 31 will die from it. Overall, colorectal cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer death in Canada. 1 Data from the Colorectal Association of Canada, http://www.colorectal-cancer.ca DxS


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009