p-medicine project, launched in February this year, is a 4-year Integrated project aiming at developing a new and state-of-the-art IT platform for personalized medicine. The researchers elaborated the first deliverables according to the agreed 'Description of Work', they identified and described motivated use case scenarios by underlining the p-medicine platform's end user needs and requirements.
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Enhanced treatment of brain tumors
Glioblastoma is regarded as the most malignant form of brain tumor. In many cases, neurosurgeons are not able to remove such tumors completely because of the risk of destroying too much brain tissue in the process. Moreover, it is often impossible to identify all the fine extensions by which the tumor spreads into surrounding healthy tissue. To at least slow down the growth of tumor cells that have remained in the head, almost all glioblastoma patients are treated by radiotherapy after surgery.
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Finnish researchers discover regulator of human cell activity
The research teams headed by Prof. Johanna Ivaska (University of Turku and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland) and Prof. Marko Salmi (University of Turku and the National Institute for Health and Welfare) have discovered that the SHARPIN protein regulates human cell activity. Published in a leading journal, the study concludes that SHARPIN regulates the movement and activity of inflammatory cells and of lung and prostate cancer cells.
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One adult in ten will have diabetes by 2030
World Diabetes Day 2011 marks the release of the International Diabetes Federation's 5th edition of the Diabetes Atlas. New figures indicate that the number of people living with diabetes is expected to rise from 366 million in 2011 to 552 million by 2030, if no urgent action is taken. This equates to approximately three new cases every ten seconds or almost ten million per year. IDF also estimates that as many as 183 million people are unaware that they have diabetes.
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How to design drugs that could target particular nerve cells?
The future of drug design lies in developing therapies that can target specific cellular processes without causing adverse reactions in other areas of the nervous system. Scientists at the Universities of Bristol and Liège in Belgium have discovered how to design drugs to target specific areas of the brain. The research, led by Professor Neil Marrion at Bristol's School of Physiology and Pharmacology and published in this week's Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS), will enable the design of more effective drug compounds to enhance nerve activity in specific nerves.
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Using Viagra to combat malignant melanoma
At first it sounds like good news: The body's own immune system gets active in almost every cancer - however, not necessarily for the benefit of the patient. "We distinguish between two different types of immune response," says Professor Dr. Viktor Umansky, immunologist at DKFZ and University Medical Center Mannheim. "On the one hand, cells of the immune system specifically attack tumor cells. On the other, however, almost every tumor causes in its microenvironment a chronic inflammatory immune response which suppresses the specific antitumor immunity."
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Researchers discover genes involved in colorectal cancer
A jumping gene with the fairy tale name "Sleeping Beauty" has helped to unlock vital clues for researchers investigating the genetics of colorectal cancer. A study used the Sleeping Beauty transposon system to profile the repertoire of genes that can drive colorectal cancer, identifying many more than previously thought. Around one third of these genes are mutated in human cancer, which provides strong evidence that they are driver mutations in human tumours.
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