Investigators uncover intriguing clues to why persistent acid reflux sometimes turns into cancer
... telomere length and telomerase activity in biopsy specimens from 38 patients with GERD and 16 control patients. This new line of research suggests that the continuous acid bath affecting esophageal cells causes them to divide more frequently in order to regenerate the damaged lining. However, each time the ce...Shining light on pancreatic cancer
...e-cancerous tissue from normal tissue, even if the specimens look identical under a normal biopsy. In both studies, the techniques worked regardless of age, tumor size, smoking history or tumor location, although the researchers hope to use the next trial phase to test individuals with serious pancreatic dis...USC researchers show that molecular markers predict tumor recurrence
...n to cancerous growths. Researchers analyzed blood specimens that were obtained at USC medical facilities between 1999 and 2007, testing whether a specific pattern of polymorphisms in 33 genes involved in cancer progression predicted tumor recurrence. Of the 197 patients who participated, 72 patients had stage...New insights into chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis
...tery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, comparing biopsy specimens from patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease ...lar risk factors were similar in both groups. All specimens were evaluated, by light microscope, for evidence of chronic inflammatory cell infiltration in the a...Coffee consumption may lower blood uric acid levels -- the precursor of gout
...nsented to a medical exam in which blood and urine specimens were obtained. Coffee and tea consumption were determined based on responses to a food questionnaire that assessed intake over the previous month. Researchers estimated the amount of caffeine per cup of coffee or tea using data from the U.S. Departme...Study reveals aspirin's colorectal cancer prevention mechanism
...tal cancer, then retrieved more than 600 pathology specimens from participants whose diagnoses could be confirmed. The samples were analyzed for expression of COX-2. As seen in previous reports, among the more than 120,000 participants, those who took at least two standard aspirin tablets a week had about ...Developments in tissue engineering offer new sources for stem cell treatments
... ectoderm. Tissues were collected from orchiectomy specimens and cultured according to protocols specific to pa...tors harvested paragonadal adipose tissue from rat specimens and processed the tissue to yield the stem cells, which were then suspended in a phosphate-buffered ...Topical retinol helps reduce wrinkles associated with natural skin aging
...inning treatment. In addition, 4-millimeter biopsy specimens of skin were taken from both arms at the beginning and end of the 24-week treatment period. A total of 23 individuals completed the full study and 13 withdrew from the study prior to completion. When the researchers included the individuals who had...Gel derived from a patient's own blood may help promote wound healing
...nt for the control sites." Examination of biopsy specimens revealed that the histologic features of the skin (such as cellular characteristics and microscopic signs of healing) at the treated wound sites looked similar to the skin at the control wounds. However, when the count of platelets in the gel was mor...US soldiers in Iraq fighting drug-resistant bacteria after injuries
...US Army soldiers, investigators cultured skin swab specimens from 102 active military soldiers stationed at a base in Iraq. The base is in an environment representative of all Iraqi environments with desert, irrigated farmland and an urban area nearby. Several previous reports have described skin carria...Molecular marker may help identify pancreatic cancer, and possibly predict survival time
...al associated with certain miRNA expression. Study specimens were obtained at a National Cancer Institute-desig...reatic tissue as well as from chronic pancreatitis specimens and subsequent miRNA was analyzed to identify associations with certain tissue types and prognosis. ...PET imaging identifies aggressive kidney cancers that require surgery
...of PET scan results then classified resected tumor specimens as clear cell renal carcinoma or otherwise. All patients were monitored for toxicity and the antibody infusion was well tolerated with no side effects or other adverse events related to the agent. According to the authors, G250 PET may ultimately...Blood marker helps predict prognosis among those with abdominal infection
...erial and fungal infections and sepsis. Bacterial specimens were obtained from the abdomens of all participants, as were other tissue cultures when sepsis was suspected. The patients were monitored from within 96 hours of their first symptoms to a maximum of 21 days for levels of procalcitonin and another ma...NHLBI awards 12 Women's Health Initiative contracts
...to fund a second round of studies using biological specimens from the WHI in 2008. WHO: Dr. Jacques Rossouw, WHI project officer, is available to comment on these awards and the NHLBI's interest in maximizing the scientific yield from this landmark study....New quartz references for workplace safety
...nique must be used to prepare the quartz-on-filter specimens for XRD measurements. Details on SRM series 2950--2958, "Respirable Alpha Quartz on Filter Media" are available at https://srmors.nist.gov/tables/view_table.cfm?table=105-10.htm . A related series of reference materials using cristobalite, the sec...1 in 3 drivers under 'the limit' for alcohol still test positive for drugs
...rchers base their findings on 2000 blood and urine specimens taken from drivers who had been stopped by police ...er a period of two years in Ireland. Half of the specimens were below the maximum legal alcohol limit of 80 mg/100 ml for blood and 107 mg/100 ml for urine. Th...Protein-based tumor biomarker predicts breast-cancer survival
...2,000 breast-tumor samples for p27 expression. The specimens were analyzed via tissue microarray, a relatively new technique that mimics high-throughput methods originally developed for large-scale genetic analysis. Using this method, many tumor samples can be analyzed for protein expression at once. While th...New study finds no link between Kawasaki disease and newly discovered coronavirus
...awasaki disease in the previous study, respiratory specimens were only available from 11 children. Anne H. Rowley, MD, from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and The Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago pointed out in an accompanying editorial other studies testing the association betwee...Sunscreens with benzophenone-3 unsuitable for children
...nzalez. The subjects continued to provide urine specimens after they stopped applying the sunscreen. The urine still contained benzophenone-3 five days after stopping using the sunscreen, a result that suggests that the substance is being stored in the body. The average total amount of benzophenone-3 excret...USC researchers discover breast cancer stem cells in bone marrow
...tudy, Cote and colleagues looked at 50 bone marrow specimens from women whose breast cancer was caught in its earliest stages, but in whom tumor cells were detected in the bone marrow. Using a newly developed immunohistochemical protocol, Cote and colleagues found the tumor cells from all patients contained a ...