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David Goodman's blog

Tissue therapies on the high street

Submitted by David Goodman on Tue, 20/07/2010 - 15:09

The views of a leading scientist are that stem cell ‘pharmacies’ could be commonplace on the UK’s high streets in about 20 years.

Professor David Warburton, a leading authority on stem cells and regenerative medicine, who is based in Los Angeles, told a special conference in the UK that he expected the next two decades to bring personalised treatment for damaged body parts and organs and that stem cells banks will eventually be as widespread as regular chemists are today.

Stem cells are able to be grown in laboratories and used to make replacement tissue while those taken from early stage embryos are able to become virtually any kind of tissue in the human body. Professor Warburton has led research into the use of stem cells extracted from the amniotic fluid that surrounds a baby in the womb. His laboratory is looking into possibly using stem cells to reconstruct lungs and is hoping eventually to include experimental stem cell treatments for blood diseases and spinal cord injuries.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1293990/Stem-cell-pharmacies-High-Street-just-20-years.html

Bursting bubbles to aid cancer treatment

Submitted by David Goodman on Tue, 29/06/2010 - 15:19
Scientists in Yorkshire are hoping to develop a new treatment for cancer involving bursting bubbles with sound waves.

Experts from Leeds University are looking into the new approach which involves delivering chemotherapy drugs directly to the site of a tumour by using ultrasound to burst bubbles containing drugs.

Small gas-filled bubbles are already being used in medicines to provide a clearer image on ultrasound scanners and they reflect a stronger signal than surrounding tissue when injected into the bloodstream. However some ultrasound signals burst the bubbles and this is the element which the scientists hope to develop further.

Existing chemotherapy drugs will be used initially but it is hoped that the approach could be adapted for new therapies to treat colorectal cancer and improve the standard of care provided.

Tentative hopes for autism breakthrough

Submitted by David Goodman on Tue, 15/06/2010 - 13:41
The blog post this week looks at the link between autism and DNA and news of new developments regarding research into the condition.

Scientists claim that they have discovered a link between the two which emerged through analysing the genomes of almost 1,000 autistic people and comparing their DNA against that of over 1,200 unaffected people. The results showed up significant differences between the DNA of the two groups and the scientists believe this could explain why autism has a strong genetic component that could trigger the condition in certain circumstances.

The scientists caution that this work is still in its early stages and that many more years of painstaking research will have to be done to understand and treat the genetic alterations that increase a person’s susceptibility to the disorder. However it has led to hopes that some time in the future there could be earlier diagnosis tests for autism and possible new forms of treatment.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/autism-and-genetics-a-breakthrough-that-sheds-light-on-a-medical-mystery-1996221.html

Cancer detection breakthrough where blood tests can detect cancer before a tumour develops

Submitted by David Goodman on Thu, 03/06/2010 - 10:50
News of a breakthrough in cancer detection comes from British scientists who have devised a blood test that can detect cancer before a tumour develops.

This potentially exciting development in the field of cancer research is the first that is able to accurately read the signals in a person’s immune system as a cancer germinates. It is thought that these signals are present up to five years before the cancer can be seen so giving surgeons the opportunity to intervene at an early stage before the cancer develops.  For years there have been complaints that medical advances had not developed better cancer detection practices, now those concerns may be answered.

Britain currently has a poor record of early diagnosis and disease survival with detection particularly difficult in lung, pancreas and gullet cancers. The new breakthrough follows 15 years of research by scientists in Nottingham and the USA. It will be introduced in the United States next month, initially to aid smokers at the greatest risk of lung cancer.

Professor John Robertson, who led the research, said that work was underway on a breast cancer blood test and added that the new technology should significantly improve the detection of 90% of solid cancers.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article7141460.ece

New computer system aids healthcare

Submitted by David Goodman on Tue, 18/05/2010 - 09:00
This week’s blog post concerns a new computer system which is able to administer drugs to patients following a heart bypass operation.

The initiative comes from consultants at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust who worked together to develop the artificial intelligence system which is able to analyse a patient’s vital signs and recommend the drug types and infusion rates to the experts caring for a patient. A spokesman for the NHS Trust said that it was able to achieve good control and the computer was able to monitor patients “considerably more rapidly than experts currently manage”.

The consultants who devised the system won first prize at this year’s Medipex NHS Innovations Awards ceremony; which showcases new technology developed by the NHS. Dr Jonathan Ross, one of those who designed the system said: “This is the first study in the world to demonstrate in a clinical trial the ability for a computer, knowing nothing about the specific patient except what data is shown on the routine monitoring, to suggest to an expert the drugs and infusion rates required for precise control of the cardiovascular system”.

He added that the advance in technology would lead to more individual care, tailored to an individual patient’s needs and could free up healthcare staff to deal with other aspects of care.

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews/39Smart39-computer-for-heart-patients.6300502.jp

NICE rejects cancer drug

Submitted by David Goodman on Thu, 06/05/2010 - 13:35

The latest blog post sees the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) once again in the headlines.  The organisation has rejected the drug Avastin, saying that it is not cost effective despite evidence that it can increase the life expectancy of bowel cancer sufferers by up to two years.  Although the final decision is due next month, NICE has said that the cost breaches its threshold for NHS use.

Ten times as many patients get Avastin paid for by private health insurers than on the NHS.  It is estimated that as many as 5,000 sufferers of advanced bowel cancer could benefit from the drug which can also be used to treat breast cancer.  It is also revealed that NICE is looking into the use of Avastin for patients threatened with blindness.

The move by NICE is controversial as the drug is standard care in most other westernised countries.  Almost all EU countries, as well as Australia, the United States, Canada and Scandinavia meet the cost of using Avastin to treat bowel cancer.

If there is a change of government following the general election the Conservative Party would face an early test on its pledge to fund all cancer drugs.  The party’s health spokesman Andrew Lansley said: “We will ensure through our new cancer drugs fund that patients will be able to get the drugs that their doctors say they need.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1273196/Horror-story-thousands-cancer-patients-denied-miracle-drug-NHS.html