Popular Articles

Risk Of Liver Cancer In Women With Hepatitis B Virus Infection Varies With Number Of Pregnancies
Risk for hepatocellular carcinoma, a primary malignancy of the liver, was statistically significantly higher among women with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection than among women without the virus, according to a study published online June 17 in the JNCI.

Sleep And Weight Gain: A Molecular Link
There appears to be a link between sleep and weight control, with some studies indicating that sleep disruption can increase weight gain and others that diet affects sleep. Victor Uebele and colleagues, at Merck Research Laboratories, West Point, have now provided further evidence to support this association by showing that T-type calcium channels regulate body weight maintenance and sleep in mice. These data suggest that sleep and circadian treatment approaches may be of benefit in the fight against obesity.
News of the day
Unique Cardiovascular Treatment Readied For Global Market: Proprietary Paccocath(R) Technology Is The Only Drug Eluting Balloon With Clinical Data
MEDRAD Interventional(TM)/Possis(R) announced that it has reached key milestones in bringing the Paccocath(R) Technology closer to market as an option for the over 14 million patients in the United States and Europe who suffer from Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD). These milestones include the selection of physician investigators for U.S. clinical trials and the completion of a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.
Sexual Health

Breast Cancer Etiology May Vary By Subtype

Women"s reproductive and lifestyle characteristics can be linked to different invasive breast cancer subtypes. Data on 2544 breast cancer cases, presented in the open access journal Breast Cancer Research, suggests that traditional risk factors for development of the condition are associated with different kinds of tumor. Marilyn Kwan from Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, California, led a team of researchers who used data from the LACE (Life After Cancer Epidemiology) and Pathways studies to investigate the characteristics of women with different breast cancer subtypes: luminal A, luminal B, triple negative and Her2-overexpressing. She said, "These varying associations by subtype lend further support to the growing evidence base that breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease defined by estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and Her2 expression with distinct etiologic pathways and prognoses". The researchers found that patients with luminal B tumors were generally younger at diagnosis than those with luminal A and were less likely to consume alcohol, use HRT or use oral contraceptives. Compared to luminal A cases, triple negative cases tended to be African American, younger at diagnosis and overweight/obese if premenopausal. Her2-overexpressing cases were also more likely to be seen in younger patients than luminal A cases and were more likely to be Hispanic or Asian. Kwan concludes, "Future research should focus on refinement of tumor subtypes in order to best elucidate how the risk factors may vary. Important modifiable factors that may be related to the development of specific tumor subtypes include obesity in the case of triple negative cancers and alcohol consumption for luminal B tumors". Epidemiology of breast cancer subtypes in two prospective cohort studies of breast cancer survivors Marilyn L Kwan, Lawrence H Kushi, Erin Weltzien, Benjamin Maring, Susan E Kutner, Regan S Fulton, Marion M Lee, Christine B Ambrosone and Bette J Caan Breast Cancer Research (in press) http://breast-cancer-research.com/ Graeme Baldwin BioMed Central


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