Public release date: 9-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Julia Evangelou Strait straitj@wustl.edu 314-286-0141 Washington University School of Medicine A nationwide consortium of scientists has reported the first comprehensive genetic analysis of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, a common type of lung cancer responsible for about 400,000 deaths each year. "We found that almost 75 percent of the patients' cancers have mutations that can be targeted with existing drugs -- drugs that are available commercially or for clinical trials," says one of the lead investigators, Ramaswamy Govindan, MD, an oncologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and co-chair of the lung cancer group of The Cancer Genome Atlas. The research appears online Sept. 9 in Nature. The Cancer Genome Atlas project combines efforts of the nation's leading genetic sequencing centers, including The Genome Institute at Washington University, to describe the genetics of common tumors with the goal of improving prevention, detection and treatment. The Cancer Genome Atlas is supported by the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute, both parts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The other lung cancer co-chairs are the study's senior author Matthew Meyerson, MD, PhD, … Continue reading →

You've heard about sperm banks. Now, at long last, make room for their genetic equivalents: egg donor banks. After years of failed attempts to effectively freeze donor eggs, a revolutionary technology has finally fine-tuned the process, giving birth to a cottage industry of banks with a growing national catalog of healthy donor eggs. Florida stands to play a major role in the budding business, both in supplying a youthful donor pool and in generating demand from older women looking for viable options to grow their families, experts say. "I think Florida is a fairly competitive area for reproductive medicine," said Dr. Moshe Peress, a reproductive endocrinologist in Boca Raton. "It is certainly inevitable that banks are going to establish themselves in the area, and the use of frozen donor eggs is going to be a lot more ubiquitous than it is now." Already, of the nation's three major egg banks, two of them My Egg Bank, North America; and Donor Egg Bank USA have established direct relationships with large, reputable in-vitro fertilization centers in South Florida in recent months. It's all been made possible by what IVF experts consider a quantum leap in an area of reproductive medicine that has … Continue reading →

By Leila B. Salaverria Philippine Daily Inquirer Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo: Stem cell treatment MANILA, PhilippinesLike her predecessor, former President and Pampanga lawmaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has turned to stem cell therapy in an effort to improve her health. Arroyo said in her official Twitter account that she would have her fourth stem cell intravenous treatment with her alternative medicine doctor on Monday. Arroyo said her treatment would involve cultured stem cells, and it would be much more modest in price than the one coming from sheep or ones own body. A close friend and ally of Arroyo, Quezon Representative Danilo Suarez, confirmed that the President has started stem cell therapy, and that she told him that the stem cells she has been using did not come from lamb placenta, and was the less costly form of stem cell treatment. If you have a lot of health problems, you will try such things, Suarez said on Sunday. Suarez said he has even filed a resolution to investigate the practice of stem cell treatments in the country, as well as the claims being made about it, considering that it has been gaining popularity. The public needs … Continue reading →

By Leila B. Salaverria Philippine Daily Inquirer Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo: Stem cell treatment MANILA, PhilippinesLike her predecessor, former President and Pampanga lawmaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has turned to stem cell therapy in an effort to improve her health. Arroyo said in her official Twitter account that she would have her fourth stem cell intravenous treatment with her alternative medicine doctor on Monday. Arroyo said her treatment would involve cultured stem cells, and it would be much more modest in price than the one coming from sheep or ones own body. A close friend and ally of Arroyo, Quezon Representative Danilo Suarez, confirmed that the President has started stem cell therapy, and that she told him that the stem cells she has been using did not come from lamb placenta, and was the less costly form of stem cell treatment. If you have a lot of health problems, you will try such things, Suarez said on Sunday. Suarez said he has even filed a resolution to investigate the practice of stem cell treatments in the country, as well as the claims being made about it, considering that it has been gaining popularity. The public needs … Continue reading →

September 08, 2012 10:01 PM A Brownsville man admitted to charging a couple more than $8,000 to perform an unapproved stem-cell procedure on their child who had experienced neurological problems after nearly drowning. Francisco Morales, 52, has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to introduce misbranded and unapproved drugs into interstate commerce, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced Friday. Lawrence Stowe, 59, of Illinois, pleaded guilty to the same charges. These pleas are a victory for the American public, in demonstrating the FDAs commitment to investigating cases of individuals and businesses that prey on the sick and vulnerable with phony medical treatments, said Patrick J. Holland of the Food and Drug Administrations Office of Criminal Investigations. Alberto Ramon, 50, of Del Rio, and Vincent Dammai, 42, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., are also charged in the case and will go to trial in late November. Magidson said in a press release that Morales and Stowe both falsely represented that they were licensed to practice medicine and that they each operated medical clinics in Brownsville. In January 2006, Stowe admitted that he started using Stowe BioTherapy Inc. and The Stowe Foundation to advertise and promote a medical treatment protocol for several neurological diseases that … Continue reading →

September 08, 2012 10:01 PM A Brownsville man admitted to charging a couple more than $8,000 to perform an unapproved stem-cell procedure on their child who had experienced neurological problems after nearly drowning. Francisco Morales, 52, has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to introduce misbranded and unapproved drugs into interstate commerce, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced Friday. Lawrence Stowe, 59, of Illinois, pleaded guilty to the same charges. These pleas are a victory for the American public, in demonstrating the FDAs commitment to investigating cases of individuals and businesses that prey on the sick and vulnerable with phony medical treatments, said Patrick J. Holland of the Food and Drug Administrations Office of Criminal Investigations. Alberto Ramon, 50, of Del Rio, and Vincent Dammai, 42, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., are also charged in the case and will go to trial in late November. Magidson said in a press release that Morales and Stowe both falsely represented that they were licensed to practice medicine and that they each operated medical clinics in Brownsville. In January 2006, Stowe admitted that he started using Stowe BioTherapy Inc. and The Stowe Foundation to advertise and promote a medical treatment protocol for several neurological diseases that … Continue reading →