Carlos Castro published in PLOS M+Visin Fellow Carlos Castro Gonzlez was lead author on a paper published in June 2014 in PLOS Computational Biology. Castro and his team at UPM with other... By: Greg Hren … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 9-Jul-2014 Contact: Julia Evangelou Strait straitj@wustl.edu 314-286-0141 Washington University School of Medicine Studying the most common type of lung cancer, researchers have uncovered mutations in a cell-signaling pathway that plays a role in forming tumors. The new knowledge may expand treatments for patients because drugs targeting some of these genetic changes already are available or are in clinical trials. Reporting July 9 in Nature, investigators from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), including researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Harvard Medical School and other institutions, studied tumors from 230 patients with lung adenocarcinoma. "This is the first time we have had a panoramic look at the genomic landscape of this many lung tumor specimens," said oncologist Ramaswamy Govindan, MD, professor of medicine at Washington University and TCGA lung cancer project co-chair. "These studies reinforce the opinion that lung cancer is a very heterogeneous disease." Combined with an earlier study of 178 patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma, TCGA researchers now have published genetic data on about 400 lung cancer patients and are working to analyze tumors from 600 more. The investigators included scientists at The Genome Institute at Washington University and other major sequencing … Continue reading →

Keck Medicine of USC has acquired a small oncology network, Orange Coast Oncology Hematology, to expand its growing presence in Orange County. Keck intends to change the name of the newly acquired network to USC Oncology/Hematology, which will operate out of offices in Newport Beach and Irvine. Orange County cancer patients will now have access to university-based treatment, including clinical trials and genetic stem cell research, without having to drive to Los Angeles, said Thomas Jackiewicz, chief of Keck Medicine of USC. The acquisition is part of Keck Medicines ongoing expansion into Orange County, Jackiewicz said. Keck Medicine has previously affiliated with Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach as part of its Orange County outreach. We realized a lot of people were leaving Orange County for their cancer care, Jackiewicz said. We really wanted to make it about the patient and try to bring cancer care closer to home. Under the acquisition, which was announced Wednesday, physicians with the former Orange Coast Oncology Hematology will become faculty at Keck School of Medicine. The physicians joining Keck include Greg Richard Angstreich, Minh D. Nguyen, George B. Semeniuk III, Dilruba Haque and Louis VanderMolen. Read more here: Keck Medicine pushing into … Continue reading →

Unnamed woman had tissue from her nose implanted in her spine in the hope the cells would help repair nerve damage causing paralysis Treatment failed and woman complained of increasing pain in the area Eight years later, a 3cm growth made of nasal tissue and bones appeared By Emily Payne Published: 07:58 EST, 9 July 2014 | Updated: 12:55 EST, 9 July 2014 1,096 shares 288 View comments Nose-like: A 3cm growth formed from nasal tissue, bone and nerve branches was discovered A woman has developed a nose-like growth eight years after a stem cell treatment to cure her paralysis failed. At the Hospital de Egas Moniz in Lisbon, Portugal, the unnamed woman, a U.S. citizen, had tissue from her nose implanted in her spine. Doctors hoped the cells would develop into neural cells and help repair the nerve damage to the woman's spine. View post: Stem cell patient has NOSE grows on her back after 8 years … Continue reading →

A woman found a nose-like growth on her back eight years after stem cell treatment[GETTY] The unnamed woman had tissue from her nose implanted in her spine to help cure her paralysis but the procedure failed. Eight years later the woman complained of increasing pain in the area and doctors found a three-centimetre long growth made of nasal tissue. It was discovered last year and was also made of bits of bone and nerve branches but it had not connected with her spinal nerves. Surgeons at the University of Iowa Hospitals removed the growth from the US citizen, then aged 28, which they said was not cancerous. The unnamed woman had tissue from her nose implanted in her spine [GETTY / PIC POSED BY MODEL] Doctors discovered a nose-like growth on a woman's back eight years after stem cell treatment However, it was secreting a "thick copious mucus-like material" which likely caused the pain on the woman's spine. The results of the surgery were published in New Scientist today. George Daley, a stem cell researcher at Harvard Medical School, said: "It is sobering. Original post: NOSE grows on woman's BACK after failed stem cell treatment … Continue reading →

SALT LAKE CITY Annette Maughan looks forward to the day when her 11-year-old son, Glenn, who has a rare form of epilepsy, will be able to play hide-and-seek with his siblings like he did when he was 3. It's a sight she hasn't seen in the better part of a decade. But Tuesday brought renewed hope, she said, of what may lie ahead for her son. Maughan, who is president of the Epilepsy Association of Utah, and several other parents obtained a hemp extract registration card Tuesday at the Utah Department of Health, the first day the cards were offered. The card allows for legal possession and use of hemp extract, a non- intoxicating cannabis oil taken from specially bred marijuana plants, for the treatment of epileptic seizures. For Maughan, it's one step closer to getting her son back at least how he was at 3 years old. "This is probably the single biggest day of his life," she said. "This is huge for him. The hemp oil promise for him is life-changing." HB105, which was signed into law in March, legalized the medicinal use of hemp extract in the state and allowed for analysis of the treatment at medical … Continue reading →

Annette Maughan waits and holds her son Glenn, who has epilepsy, after she obtained a hemp oil card at the Utah Department of Health in Salt Lake City Tuesday, July 8, 2014. During the 2014 Legislature, lawmakers passed HB105, allowing individuals who are being treated for intractable epilepsy to possess hemp extract as a means of treating their disease. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News SALT LAKE CITY Annette Maughan looks forward to the day when her 11-year-old son, Glenn, who has a rare form of epilepsy, will be able to play hide-and-seek with his siblings like he did when he was 3. It's a sight she hasn't seen in the better part of a decade. But Tuesday brought renewed hope, she said, of what may lie ahead for her son. Maughan, who is president of the Epilepsy Association of Utah, and several other parents obtained a hemp extract registration card Tuesday at the Utah Department of Health, the first day the cards were offered. The card allows for legal possession and use of hemp extract, a non-intoxicating cannabis oil taken from specially bred marijuana plants, for the treatment of epileptic seizures. For Maughan, it's one step closer to getting her … Continue reading →