Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

New Malaria Vaccine Approach To Be Tested By PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative And Crucell
The US-based PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Malaria Vaccine Development Program (MVDP), and Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell N.V. today announced a collaboration to accelerate development of a promising type of malaria vaccine. Through funding from the USAID MVDP, the partners will conduct studies to determine the effectiveness of Crucell"s novel prime-boost vaccine approach against the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. This approach uses Crucell"s proprietary recombinant adenoviruses (a type of virus associated with the common cold and other mild respiratory infections) to deliver a malaria antigen to the immune system.

Nexavar® In Combination With Chemotherapy Shown To Extend Progression-Free Survival In Patients With Advanced Breast Cancer
Bayer HealthCare AG and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that their first cooperative group-sponsored randomized Phase II trial in advanced metastatic breast cancer met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival. The study evaluated Nexavar® (sorafenib) tablets in combination with the oral chemotherapeutic, capecitabine, in patients with locally advanced or metastatic HER-2 negative breast cancer. Study findings demonstrated that the median progression-free survival was extended in patients treated with Nexavar and capecitabine compared to patients receiving capecitabine and placebo. These results were statistically significant (p-value = 0.0006). In this trial, the safety and tolerability of the combination was as expected and did not show any new or unexpected toxicities. A complete data analysis from this study is expected to be presented at an upcoming scientific meeting.
News of the day
Safe New Treatment Combination For Head And Neck Cancer Patients
Patients undergoing treatment for advanced head and neck cancers may respond well to the addition of gefinitib to chemotherapy, according to a study sponsored by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and chaired by Ethan Argiris, M.D., associate professor of medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and co-leader of the Head and Neck Cancer Program of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). The results were disclosed at the 45th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) on May 30 in Orlando, Fla.
Health Insurance

Teach Your Patients About Their Medicines To Avoid Misadventure, UK

The National Prescribing Service Ltd (NPS) is urging health professionals to teach patients how to identify the active ingredient in their medicines to avoid mix ups and adverse events. A recent NPS literature review found six per cent of hospitalisations are due to adverse events, which increases to nearly 30 per cent in the elderly. Past studies have confirmed that many hospitalisations due to adverse events could have been avoided if the patient had understood their medicines. "Some people identify their medicines by colour and shape, which gets them in trouble if they have to switch brands," NPS CEO, Dr Lynn Weekes said. "There are numerous anecdotes about patients who thought a different brand was a completely different medicine and took both, or stopped taking the medicine completely because they didn"t know what it was." "GPs and pharmacists are trusted experts and are well placed to teach people how to read and understand their medicine labels. To help you do this, NPS has developed several tools that can be used in any pharmacy or GP clinic," Dr Weekes said. These include the NPS Medicine Name Finder, which is an online tool that identifies the active ingredient in PBS-listed prescription medicines and their alternate brand names, and a Medicines List. When a brand name is entered into the NPS Medicine Name Finder, the active ingredient appears and when the active ingredient is entered all available brand names appear. Users are then prompted to record their medicine details on a downloadable Medicines List or print the information to discuss it with their health professional. A link is also provided to the Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) leaflet which contains more details about the medicine. Medicines Lists provide a standard template for recording the necessary information about a patient"s current medicines - names, dosage, dosing frequency and indications - in one simple document they can carry around and update as necessary. "Demonstrating these tools to your patients will not only ensure they understand what they are taking but also provide a check for the health professional to ensure they know what has been prescribed and dispensed," Dr Weekes said. Medicines Lists and the NPS Medicine Name Finder are available to download for free at www.nps.org.au/activeingredient. The Medicine Name Finder can also be saved as a Google Gadget for fast, easy use if you have an iGoogle account. The National Prescribing Service Limited


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009