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

Bike Paths, Other 'Healthy' Infrastructure Projects Proving Controversial
"Attempts to set billions aside for infrastructure projects like bike paths face an uphill battle on Capitol Hill," The Chicago Tribune reports, adding "GOP legislators see no health savings in parks and similar projects," while advocates say preventive efforts will bring down costs. "A draft Senate bill would provide up to $10 billion annually for a "prevention and public health investment fund" -- a portion of which could be used for projects such as bike paths, sidewalks, farmers markets and other community interventions meant to curb chronic and costly conditions like obesity."
generic viagra online
BMA Welcomes Call For Transparency On Cost Of NHS Management Consultants
The BMA on Thursday welcomed the Health Select Committee"s call for the government to gather central information on the cost to the NHS of private management consultants.
News of the day
Promising Robotic Therapy For Cerebral Palsy
Over the past few years, MIT engineers have successfully tested robotic devices to help stroke patients learn to control their arms and legs. Now, they"re building on that work to help children with cerebral palsy.
Diagnostics

Smoking Increases Potential For Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

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. The culprit behind the increased metastasis potential appears to be an isoform (variant type) of a protein called osteopontin, according to Hwyda Arafat, M.D. Ph.D., an associate professor of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and a member of the Jefferson Pancreatic, Biliary & Related Cancers Center. Nicotine promotes the expression osteopontin, and high levels of osteopontin have been reported in pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDA). Dr. Arafat and her research team analyzed PDA samples and confirmed that the isoform, called OPNc, was also expressed on invasive PDA lesions. Previous studies have shown that OPNc is expressed in several invasive cancers, and supports metastatic behavior. The researchers correlated OPNc expression with the patients" smoking history. OPNc expression was found on 87 percent of the invasive PDA lesions analyzed, of which 73 percent were from smokers. The OPNc expression also correlated with higher expression levels of osteopontin. Premalignant lesions expressed no OPNc. "This is the first time a relationship between nicotine and OPNc expression has been identified," Dr. Arafat said. "These data are very exciting because now we can evaluate OPNc as a prognostic and diagnostic marker of invasive PDA lesions. "Because of the lower expression levels of OPNc in non-smokers, OPNc may be regulated by nicotine, which is another novel finding of this study. The exact role of OPNc in PDA remains to be defined, but it could provide a unique potential target to control pancreatic cancer aggressiveness, especially in people who smoke cigarettes." Pancreatic cancer is the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the country, taking 34,000 lives a year. Only four percent of individuals with pancreatic cancer live for five years after diagnosis. Thomas Jefferson University


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

© Copyright 2009