Monthly Archives: February 2012

Public release date: 20-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Abbey Anderson aanderson@acponline.org 215-351-2656 American College of Physicians 1. Death Rates from Viral Hepatitis Infections Steadily Increase From 1999 - 2007, Now Surpass HIV-related Deaths in U.S. Middle-aged Americans Disproportionately Affected by "Silent Epidemic" Approximately 3.2 million people in the United States are infected with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), a leading cause of liver disease, cirrhosis, and death. Chronic hepatitis infection is most prevalent among people born from 1945 through 1965, and most of them do not know they are infected. This population is now reaching the age where they are at risk for HCV-related diseases and premature death. Researchers examined death records from 1999 to 2007 for approximately 22 million people to examine mortality from HBV, HCV, and HIV (for comparison). They found that annual deaths from HCV now exceed those from HIV (15,000 deaths from HCV vs 13,000 deaths from HIV), and deaths from hepatitis B and C are concentrated among middle-aged persons. The authors warn that if policy initiatives do not focus on detection and treatment, then the burden of chronic hepatitis ? already at epidemic proportions - will continue to rise. A second article … Continue reading →

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire -02/20/12)- The Centre of Excellence in Personalized Medicine (Cepmed), announced today that they have launched a web-based Personalized Medicine Portal for Canadians and joined DNA Direct by Medco's Genomic Medicine Network (GMN). Cepmed's Personalized Medicine Portal (Portal) provides information and decision making tools that will help patients understand how genetic testing can be used to inform treatment decisions and enable better communication between patients and providers. The Portal, available at http://www.cepmed.com, provides information about access to specific genetic tests in each Province. "Many of the stakeholders have told us that there is a dearth of reliable, evidence based information concerning personalized medicine tests. A centralized source of information about which tests exist, who should take them and how they should be interpreted is what we are offering through our partnership with DNA Direct by Medco. We believe this resource will contribute to improved patient outcomes and savings to the health care system." - Dr. Clarissa Desjardins - CEO, Cepmed. According to the Personalized Medicine Coalition, there are more than 50 genetic tests currently available that can inform treatment decisions and drug therapy for a wide range of diseases.(i) With the availability of these tests, support and demand for … Continue reading →

By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 3:15 PM on 17th February 2012 Created 5:25 PM on 6th February 2012 Bio-hazard: Scientists found three out of 234 people were virtually insensitive to the anthrax toxin. They said this could have implications for other pathogens like HIV Some people have a natural genetic resistance to anthrax, according to scientists. Research into anthrax found susceptibility to the deadly disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis varied from person to person - revealing that susceptibility to the toxin is a heritable genetic trait. Among 234 people studied by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine in the United States, the cells of three people were virtually insensitive to the toxin, while the cells of some people were hundreds of times more sensitive than those of others. The findings may have important implications for national security, as people known to be more resistant to anthrax exposure could be effective first-line responders in times of crises. The research also highlights the fact that many lethal pathogens - including HIV, malaria, leprosy and hepatitis - rely on interactions with host genes to infect and replicate within human cells. Inherited differences in the level of expression … Continue reading →

Public release date: 21-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Margaret Allen mallen@smu.edu 214-768-7664 Southern Methodist University A majority of college students is receptive to donating blood or other genetic material for scientific research, according to a new study from Southern Methodist University, Dallas. In what appears to be the first study to gauge college students' willingness to donate to a genetic biobank, the study surveyed 250 male and female undergraduate and graduate students. Among those surveyed, 64 percent said they were willing to donate to a biobank, said study author Olivia Adolphson. Students filled out a two-page survey with 18 questions designed to assess their willingness to participate in a biobank, an archive of blood and tissue samples donated by individuals for the purpose of genetic research. Student reasons include altruism, while barriers were privacy and lack of time "Overall I found that my sample was very willing to participate in a biobank," said Adolphson, an undergraduate psychology researcher at SMU. "The reasons cited were altruism ? people want to help others ? as well as to advance scientific research and to help find cures. The barriers were concerns about privacy, lack of time, lack of interest and … Continue reading →

It's personal now: Alexis Borisy (left) and Michael Pellini lead an effort to make DNA data available to help cancer patients. Credit: Christopher Harting Michael Pellini fires up his computer and opens a report on a patient with a tumor of the salivary gland. The patient had surgery, but the cancer recurred. That's when a biopsy was sent to Foundation Medicine, the company that Pellini runs, for a detailed DNA study. Foundation deciphered some 200 genes with a known link to cancer and found what he calls "actionable" mutations in three of them. That is, each genetic defect is the target of anticancer drugs undergoing testing—though not for salivary tumors. Should the patient take one of them? "Without the DNA, no one would have thought to try these drugs," says Pellini.  Starting this spring, for about $5,000, any oncologist will be able to ship a sliver of tumor in a bar-coded package to Foundation's lab. Foundation will extract the DNA, sequence scores of cancer genes, and prepare a report to steer doctors and patients toward drugs, most still in early testing, that are known to target the cellular defects caused by the DNA errors the analysis turns up. Pellini says … Continue reading →

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 21, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pathfinder Cell Therapy, Inc. ("Pathfinder," or "the Company") (OTCQB:PFND.PK - News), a biotechnology company focused on the treatment of diabetes and other diseases characterized by organ-specific cell damage, today presented preliminary data highlighting the potential of the Company's unique cell-based therapy for treating diabetes at the 7th Annual New York Stem Cell Summit. Richard L. Franklin, M.D., Ph.D., Founder, CEO and President of Pathfinder, provided an overview of the Company's Pathfinder Cell ("PC") technology, and presented preclinical evidence demonstrating how treatment with PCs was able to reverse the symptoms of diabetes in two different mouse models. Pathfinder Cells are a newly identified non-stem cell mammalian cell type that has the ability to stimulate regeneration of damaged tissue without being incorporated into the new tissue. In today's presentation, Dr. Franklin showed how recent experiments performed using a non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse strain were supportive of earlier data that demonstrated complete reversal of diabetes in mice. The earlier results, which used a drug-induced diabetic mouse model, were published in Rejuvenation Research1. Though preliminary, the recent results are encouraging because the NOD mouse model is widely used and highly regarded as being predictive of human … Continue reading →