BiotechMashup

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) Men should weigh the risks and benefits of the test and the treatment before undergoing prostate-cancer screening, according to Edward Partridge, M.D., the president-elect of the American Cancer Society National Board of Directors. That sentiment is shared by doctors in the UAB Division of Urology who work in tandem with Partridge and his cancer team at UAB. The decision to screen should be made with a trusted source of regular care, the oncologists say.

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham have discovered that restricting consumption of glucose, the most common dietary sugar, can extend the life of healthy human-lung cells and speed the death of precancerous human-lung cells, reducing cancer's spread and growth rate.

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) A new National Cancer Institute-funded translational grant will focus on next-generation human papillomavirus vaccines for the prevention of cervical cancer. It also will test therapeutic agents that have shown promise in preventing, slowing or effectively treating existing cancers of the cervix. The $11.5 million S.P.O.R.E. is a partnership with UAB, Hopkins and Colorado.

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) Every 16 minutes, an American commits suicide. It's the 11th leading cause of death in this country, a fact being widely noted during National Suicide Prevention Week Sept. 6-12. And now researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are looking deep inside the brain for ways to determine the reasons people commit suicide -- and identify those most likely to attempt it.

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) For colon and other cancers, African-Americans have lower survival rates than whites. There has been a belief that racial disparity in survival following surgery for colon cancer was related to a high BMI and co-morbidity. A new study shows there must be some other explanation.

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) The award recognizes a pediatrician whose career signifies excellence in infectious diseases research, education, patient care, prevention and public health. The 2010 recipient of the Distinguished Physician Award from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society is Richard Whitley, M.D., a renowned researcher and infectious disease specialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is the current president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) A new study shows that the Gardasil vaccine reduces the likelihood of human papillomavirus-related disease recurring after teen and adult women already have had surgery to remove cancer or certain pre-cancerous changes, said Warner Huh, M.D., an associate professor in the UAB Division of Gynecologic Oncology and lead presenter.

(American Cancer Society) A new American Cancer Society study finds progress in reducing cancer death rates is evident whether measured against baseline rates in 1970 or in 1990. The study appears in the open access journal PLoS ONE, and finds a downturn in cancer death rates since 1990 results mostly from reductions in tobacco use, increased screening allowing early detection of several cancers, and modest to large improvements in treatment for specific cancers.

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) The National Science Foundation has awarded $431,200 to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Physics to facilitate the purchase of a new highly-specialized imaging system -- the first of its kind in Alabama -- that will be a centerpiece of a new interdisciplinary research laboratory on campus.