It has been reported that the incidence of testicular cancer has plateaued in some parts of the USA, especially among non-Hispanic Whites in Los Angeles. Temporal trends analysis was conducted over three decades to assess the evidence for such a plateau, and to examine whether the incidence of testicular cancer remains stable across racial/ethnic groups. This study also investigated the influence of age at diagnosis on the incidence of testicular cancer.

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ORLANDO, FL (UroToday.com) - Dr. Paul Lange presented the Ramon Guiteras lecture. Surgeon-scientists have made great contributions to medicine. However, we might be one generation from ignorance and two from obsolescence, he said.

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A pre-planned multivariate analysis of the five-year follow-up data shows that patients receiving chemotherapy after-surgery to treat colon cancer, are more likely to live longer when taking the chemotherapy pill Xeloda (capecitabine), compared to those receiving 5-FU/FA intravenous (IV) chemotherapy. Read the rest of this entry »

Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) announced updated results from the “STEPP” (Skin Toxicity Evaluation Protocol with Panitumumab) trial, the first prospective study to examine differences between preemptive and reactive skin treatment for skin toxicities in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients receiving epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFr) therapy.

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I’m an avid watcher of hospital shows, from ER (back in the George Clooney days) to Scrubs and Grey’s Anatomy today. So I was intrigued to check out last night’s premiere of Hopkins, a six-part ABC News series on real-life doctors and patients at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

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June 27, 2008 — A 23-minute video shown in the waiting rooms of various sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics was effective in reducing the incidence of STDs, according to the results of a controlled trial published in the June 24 Open Access issue of PLoS Medicine.

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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Researchers have been undercounting new cases of HIV infection in the United States, meaning the rate is probably 25 percent higher at 50,000 people per year, the nation’s top AIDS doctor said on Tuesday.Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the rate of infection was not increasing but that new methods of calculating the rate showed infections were more common than previous estimates.

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WEDNESDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) — A protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease also plays a role in HIV progression by promoting entry of the virus into cells, U.S. researchers say.”The apoE4 protein is the greatest known genetic risk factor to Alzheimer’s disease. However, its role in infectious diseases has been less well-defined,” study author Robert W. Mahley, president of the Gladstone Institutes, said in a prepared statement.

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THURSDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) — The herpes drug aciclovir (Zovirax) doesn’t reduce the risk of HIV-1 infection in people who have sex with men infected with genital herpes, a U.S. study finds.Previous research has shown that herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2) infection — the most common cause of genital herpes — increases the risk for HIV-1 infection by two- to threefold.

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Treating cancer patients with interleukin-7 (IL-7), a small protein that can stimulate the immune system, leads to an increase in lymphocytes, key to the production of effective immune responses, in the body, according to a new study by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The demonstration that IL-7 is able to broaden the possible immune responses in humans could have a wide range of clinical implications. This study was published online June 23, 2008, in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

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