| North American Scientific divests brachytherapy product line
Best Theratronics will pay $5 million to acquire North American Scientific's line of prostate brachytherapy products, which includes the Prospera brachytherapy seeds. North American Scientific CEO John Rush said the sale will allow the company to focus on ClearPath -- implantable devices that optimize the delivery of radiation therapy for breast cancer. Los Angeles Business Journal (free registration) (02/12) Canadian firm MDS lowers revenue outlook for 2008 Thursday, December 11, 2008 Draxis shareholders agree to takeover by Indian firm Tuesday, May 27, 2008 Naviscan recognized for PEM technology Monday, February 23, 2009 Related News Stories North American Scientific Sells Prostate Cancer Treatment Los Angeles Business Journal | Tuesday, February 24, 2009 Zoo elephants die sooner, study says Toronto Star, The | Tuesday, December 16, 2008 Crown Holdings to close 2 plants - Forbes.com Forbes | Wednesday, November 12, 2008 Elephants have shorter lives in zoos, researchers find Houston Chronicle | Friday, December 12, 2008 Coke Bottler Raises Outlook Wall Street Journal, The | Thursday, December 18, 2008 .
Flaxseed Oil--Health Boon or Bust?
Flaxseed oil has been purported to be useful in curing everything from attention deficit hyper activity disorder (ADHD) to prostate cancer. Scientifically, research does suggest that some disorders, such as ADHD and heart diseases that could result from deficiencies in key fatty acids, be treated with flaxseed oil supplements, but there have been no conclusive studies specifically targeting the effect of flaxseed oil on ADHD or heart disease. In laboratory studies, flaxseed oil has been reported to lower blood cholesterol levels in animals. Human studies on cholesterol and flaxseed oil have been inconclusive.
The Mayo Clinic has given flaxseed oil a grade “C" rating for its potential to cure or alleviate symptoms of ADHD, high cholesterol, and menopause based on the most recent research.
Indevus Pharmaceuticals Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2009
The Company's approved products include SANCTURA XR(TM) and SANCTURA(R) for overactive bladder, VANTAS(R) for advanced prostate cancer, SUPPRELIN(R) LA for central precocious puberty, and DELATESTRYL(R) to treat male hypogonadism. The Indevus development pipeline contains multiple compounds within the Company's core therapeutic areas in addition to several partnered or partnerable programs. The most advanced compounds in development include, VALSTAR(TM) for bladder cancer, NEBIDO(R) for male hypogonadism, PRO 2000 for the prevention of infection by HIV and other sexually-transmitted pathogens, octreotide for acromegaly, and pagoclone for stuttering. About SANCTURA and SANCTURA XR SANCTURA(R) and SANCTURA XR(TM) belong to a class of anticholinergic compounds known as muscarinic receptor antagonists.
CyberKnife For Prostate Cancer
"There's lots of important things in the pelvis and if you're missing the prostate, you're giving your rectum high does of radiation, which could cause rectal bleeding. If you're missing the prostate, you're giving high does of radiation to the bladder, which could cause bleeding from your bladder." Other radiation treatments take much longer. Internal seed therapy takes three months. External radiation lasts 40 days. The CyberKnife cuts treatment down to five days. "Prostate cancer is a cancer of 10 or 20 years, so we won't know how good the results are for that long, but we're not willing to wait because we have the best radiation technology in the world," Dr. Collins said. "I'm not willing to wait 20 years to give this opportunity to men." A PSA blood test can detect your risk of the disease.
Pulse investigation: new health centres are GP led in name only
Three trusts also revealed that new clinics would be offering Zoladex hormone injection treatment for prostate and breast cancer. ‘We are very excited by it [the new centre] because we think it will be quite a step change in local provision,' says Dr Yates. Just how GP-led health centres will develop will become clearer over the coming months, as over 100 of the centres open up across the country. Alan Johnson recently hailed the first of the centres to open, in Bradford, as a blueprint for the future of general practice. If we are looking at a vision of the future, it is one dominated by extended opening, walk-in access, an integration between health and social care – and a workforce of nurses and salaried doctors. General practice may never be the same again.
Silibinin Suppresses Growth of Human Prostate Carcinoma PC-3
Silibinin is currently under phase II clinical trial in prostate cancer patients; however, its antitumor effects and mechanisms are not completely understood. Herein, we studied the efficacy and associated mechanisms of silibinin against orthotopically growing advanced human prostate carcinoma PC-3 tumors. Athymic male mice were orthotopically implanted with PC-3 cells in prostate and 1 week later after surgical recovery were gavaged daily with silibinin (100 mg/kg body weight) for 7 weeks. Silibinin treatment reduced the lower urogenital weight (including tumor, prostate, and seminal vesicle) by 40% (P < 0.05) without any toxicity in mice. Silibinin decreased proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression and proliferating cells (P < 0.001) but increased cleaved caspase-3-positive cells (P < 0.01) and apoptotic cells (P < 0.001) and suppressed tumor microvessel density (P < 0.001) and vascular endothelial growth factor expression (P = 0.02).
Concerned about Prostate Cancer? New Drug May Help Prevent the Disease
Healthy men who are worried about prostate cancer should consider taking a drug called finasteride daily to reduce their risk of developing the condition. Finasteride is sold by Merck as Proscar to treat swollen prostates and as Propecia to treat baldness. The recommendation especially applies for men with a normal reading on the prostate-specific antigen or PSA, test, which is considered the best indicator of the presence of a tumor. Clinical trials on the drug included only men in this category. Previous studies have also shown that the drug reduces the risk of prostate cancer, but experts are worried that it may be responsible for an increased risk of deadliest tumors. Recent analysis, however, have dismissed these worries and the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Urological Association recommend patients to talk to their doctor about the benefits of this drug.
St. Helena Urology opens in Clearlake
Mindy Samuelson, MD and John Brasch, MD specialize in treating incontinence and prostate cancer in addition to a variety of medical conditions related to the bladder, kidneys, urinary tract and male reproductive organs. Dr. Samuelson, who is the only female urologist in the North Bay counties, specializes in treating female incontinence and has participated in several research studies on this condition, which affects more than 13 million Americans and mostly women. She is board-certified in urology and has advanced training in minimally invasive surgical treatments. Her medical degree is from Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Brasch has been a board-certified urologist for 35 years and specializes in adult urology, geriatric incontinence, and cancers of the kidney, bladder and prostate.
Adjuvant Radiotherapy Useful for PT3 N0M0 Prostate Cancer
Prior research has shown that roughly a third of men who undergo radical prostatectomy for apparently localized prostate cancer will develop extraprostatic disease. Whether adjuvant radiotherapy may help cut risk of metastatic disease and mortality was unclear. Dr. Ian M. Thompson, from the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, and colleagues addressed this topic by assessing the outcomes of 431 men who were randomized to receive adjuvant radiotherapy (60 to 64 Gy) or observation after radical prostatectomy. Seventy of the 211 men randomized to observation later received radiotherapy. Radiotherapy increased the odds of metastasis-free survival and overall survival. Specifically, the hazard ratio for metastasis in the radiotherapy arm versus the observation arm was 0.71 (p = 0.016), and the corresponding mortality hazard ratio was 0.72 (p = 0.023).
Hannibal Free Clinic honors volunteers
A PSA test is used to detect prostate cancer. Anything over 4 is a sign of the disease. Richard's PSA level was more than 70. Webster said, "I was shocked because he'd never discussed any of the symptoms of prostate problems. I called the lab to make sure it was correct." What was it like to get the news of your PSA test? Wahl said "I was devastated and shocked because I didn't think I had anything wrong with me. I'd been healthy all my life and worked every day. I didn't know there was anything wrong with me." After contacting area healthcare providers for assistance, the Free Clinic matched Richard up with doctors at the James E. Cary Cancer Center and local urologist Dr. Steven Cockrell at the Hannibal Clinic who are both providing life-saving care for Richard until he's approved for public aid.
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