Renal cancer prediction technique created

DALLAS, -- U.S. scientists say they've created a statistical model to predict the probability of a renal cancer patient being cancer free 12 years after surgery. The researchers said their model, known as a nomogram, uses tumor and patient characteristics to maximize predictive accuracy. The scientists said knowing the likelihood of the cancer's return can help clinicians counsel patients and customize treatment recommendations. "If the cancer appears only in the kidneys, it can often be treated with a partial or radical nephrectomy," said the study's lead author, Dr. Ganesh Raj, an assistant professor of urology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. "This nomogram is designed for use in the initial counseling session after diagnosis and enables patients to have a clearer understanding of their cancer outcomes with surgery." The research that included the Cleveland Clinic, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Mayo Clinic appears in the Journal of Urology.

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FDA approves new, tiny heart pump

DANVERS, Mass., -- Medical technology company Abiomed Inc. has announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of its Impella 2.5 Cardiac Assist Device heart pump. "FDA clearance of the Abiomed Impella 2.5 represents the next step in enabling heart recovery for patients in the U.S. and will likely change the standard of care in the catheterization lab," said Michael Minogue, Abiomed's chairman, chief executive officer and president. "The device seamlessly provides immediate, minimally invasive circulatory support for critical patients. "The Impella 2.5 is inserted through a catheter into the patient's femoral artery and is then moved into the heart's left ventricle. Up to 2.5 liters of blood per minute are delivered by the pump from the left ventricle into the ascending aorta, providing the heart with active support in critical situations, the Danvers, Mass., company said. The device has been approved for partial circulatory support for periods of up to six hours. Abiomed said the Impella 2.5 is now approved in more than 40 nations for up to seven days of support and has been used to treat more than 1,500 patients outside the United States.

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Advance made in growing heart cells

TORONTO, -- Researchers in Toronto have made advances in developing human progenitor heart cells from embryonic stem cells. Dr. Gordon Keller, director of the McEwen Center for Regenerative Medicine at the University Health Network reported in the journal Nature the new method of generating the heart cells can be used to make an unlimited supply for researchers to study cell processes and medical applications. The manufactured heart cells likely will be used to study how the heart develops and to test whether heart medications are toxic, the Toronto Star reported. "These cells are remarkable ... in that they can make cardiomyocytes, the cells that actually contract, and they can also make cells that contribute to the blood vessels in the heart," Keller said. His team used two different human embryonic stem cell lines from Singapore and Wisconsin, both approved by Canadian and U.S. oversight agencies, the report said. The study expanded on work done last year by researchers led by Charles Murry, director of the Center of Cardiovascular Biology at the University of Washington in Seattle, who showed it was possible to turn human embryonic stem cells into heart muscle cells.

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Cancer scientists study the adenovirus

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. -- U.S. scientists say they have clarified a complex series of biochemical steps involved in abnormal cell proliferation that can lead to cancer. The Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.) Laboratory researchers said they used the adenovirus -- a DNA tumor virus that causes the common cold, but whose genome contains known oncogenes, said William Tansey, who led the study with Professors Scott Lowe and Gregory Hannon. The team focused on an adenoviral oncogene called E1A, and a protein that it codes for with the same name. Since a DNA virus is little more than a tiny segment of DNA enclosed within a protein shell, the researchers said it must find a way to enter the nucleus of a living cell and hijack the cell's reproductive machinery in order to reproduce. "It's not adenovirus itself, but the things it does when it enters a cell, that really interest us, Tansey said. Understanding how a tumor virus like adenovirus promotes cancer can reveal "the most vulnerable pathways and nodes that are linked to tumorigenesis," Hannon added. The research appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Eyes use light to reset biological clock

BALTIMORE, -- A U.S. study said the eye uses light to reset the biological clock through a mechanism that is different from the ability to see. The findings from biologists at John Hopkins University could have implications for people suffering from seasonal affective disorder and insomnia, the university said in a release. "It seems that even if individuals have normal sight, they might be having a malfunction that is contributing to their inability to detect light, which can adversely affect their biological clocks," said Samer Hattar, an assistant professor of biology. The study, published online in the journal Nature, said tests on mice showed that there are two distinct pathways for the two different aspects of light detection -- image-forming and non-image-forming. Hattar and his team said daily exposure to natural light enhances memory, mood and learning. He said people should get out in the sun for at least a little while each day and avoid very bright lights at night. "The idea is to keep your internal rhythm in sync with the cycle of the sun: exposure during the day when the sun is out, less exposure at night, when the sun is down, so to speak," Hattar said.

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Scientists lose hope over AIDS vaccine

LONDON, -- A survey of leading U.S. and British AIDS researchers said many scientists see little hope of an effective vaccine against HIV in the near future. Just two of the 35 scientists surveyed said they were more optimistic about the prospects for an HIV vaccine than they were a year ago, while only four said they were more optimistic now than they were five years ago, the survey by Britain's Independent newspaper said. The survey found that nearly two-thirds believed an HIV vaccine will not be developed within the next 10 years. Some of the scientists said it may take at least 20 more years of research. Researchers said the direction of AIDS research needs to change after the failure last year of a promising prototype vaccine used as an animal model for more than a decade. AIDS researcher Robert Gallo told the newspaper the vaccine's failure is similar to the Challenger disaster that forced the space agency to ground its space shuttle fleet for years.

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Brain disease studied at the atomic level

COLUMBUS, Ohio, -- U.S. scientists say they have, for the first time, inspected the atomic level of the protein that causes hereditary cerebral amyloid angiopathy. The disease, thought to cause stroke and dementia, is initiated by certain kinds of proteins called prions that produce degenerative brain diseases such as CAA, mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. All are incurable and fatal. The researchers, led by Ohio State University Assistant Professor Christopher Jaroniec, used solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to inspect a tiny portion of the protein molecule that is key to the formation of plaques in blood vessels in the brain. "This is a very basic study of the structure of the protein and hopefully it will give other researchers the information they need to perform further studies and improve our understanding of CAA," he said. The research that included doctoral students Jonathan Helmus and Philippe Naudaud, as well as scientists at Case Western Reserve University, appears in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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