News

An interesting conversation ensued during a monthly breast conference last week. As usual, the case was presented, a woman in her late 80's, who presented with a lump in her breast and a suspicious mammogram. After the usual testing of ultrasound, MRI, CT and biopsy it was confirmed that she had breast cancer.

Compliance with statin therapy in the first two years of use may reduce hospitalization rates and direct medical costs in the subsequent year.

Parents value the opinions and advice of their child's pediatrician when it comes to their child's weight, but a new study reveals that pediatricians, generally, are reluctant to talk to parents about concerns with the child's weight.

Dr. Pullen proposes a "radical solution" - pay specialists less.

The uncommon condition seems to be midway between a cluster headache and trigeminal neuralgia, according to Dr. Pullen.

With personal genetic testing kits available for sale in stores and online, the FDA recently announced that it would regulate the kits as medical devices and require companies to prove the tests are valid and accurate.

More than 1,000 pain clinics have opened in Florida in the last few years, leading to a thriving trade in illegal pill distribution.

Graduating medical school, "we" all stood and repeated, deep within our private solemnity, a modern version of the Hippocratic oath. Nowhere is a "we" to be seen. Instead, "I swear... I will keep... I will impart... I will follow..." transitions us from students to practitioners.

Hospitals seeking to provide quality care must first focus on improving relationships with their employees, according a Press Ganey survey, which found that 45% of hospital workers are discontent with their work.

Those of us who have worked in medical schools have struggled with the question of whether or not we can teach this to young men and women who are learning to be doctors or whether it is something that they either have or do not have.

Hospital-owned practices were the most successful in attracting physicians in 2009, according to a report from the MGMA, which says one of the key drivers for this trend could be higher starting compensation.

An open, prospective, randomized, multicenter study of chemotherapy with and without enoxaparin (a low–molecular weight heparin) found that the medication effectively prevented symptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China conducted a meta-analysis to compare the diagnostic value of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scanning versus endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) versus combined FDG-PET and computed tomography scanning (PET/CT) in diagnosing pancreatic carcinoma.

AstraZeneca's cancer drug Iressa (gefitinib) has been licensed in Europe as a treatment for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The approval of this oral medication follows the results of the Iressa Pan-Asia Study (IPASS), in which it demonstrated superior progression-free survival compared with intravenous carboplatin/paclitaxel chemotherapy.

Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 10, Beijing Cancer Hospital became the first hospital in mainland China to use RapidArc radiotherapy cancer treatments.

Almost half of patients that begin therapy on popular osteoporosis drugs discontinue their treatment within six months, according to an analysis by SDI, a healthcare market insight and analytics firm.

The results of a new Cochrane Systematic Review show that topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) treat short-term pain more effectively and have fewer side effects.

A number of major pharmaceutical companies have agreed to share data from clinical trials for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease in an effort to speed the development of new treatments for the brain disorders.

An online article about overweight and obese patients generates numerous comments.

Now that ASCO has concluded, I'd like to review the data from GOG 218, the three-arm randomized trial that evaluated the role of bevacizumab in the first-line treatment of ovarian cancer.

A growing concern for people with cancer and their families.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago report that senescence, a process previously thought to only occur in cells that suffer DNA damage, also occurs at wound sites, and plays an important role in the formation of scar tissue.

Patients suffering with back and neck problems return to work at different rates based on personal factors, according to thesis by a researcher at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

A cystic fibrosis patient died after receiving lungs from a smoker.

KSDK, a news station from St. Louis, MO, recently ran an article on how the iPad is being used at the St. Louis Children's Hospital to help educate, distract, and prepare patients.

According to recent reports from China, since the beginning of the year 13 workers from Foxconn, a large factory in Shenzhen, have committed suicide.

A study of children living in King County, Washington, found that those who live in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to be obese, and that these areas present many obstacles to maintaining a healthy weight.

A roundup of recent articles in the clinical literature that look at the use of smartphones and apps in a variety of healthcare specialties and settings.

The unexpected brain abnormalities in children undergoing routine MRI scans highlights the need for guidelines that help pediatricians talk to parents about what the findings mean, according to Johns Hopkins Children's Center researchers.