Administering a new form of immunotherapy to children with neuroblastoma, a nervous system cancer, increased the percentage of those who were alive and free of disease progression after two years. The percentage rose from 46 percent for children receiving a standard therapy to 66 percent for children receiving immunotherapy plus standard therapy, according to the study in the Sept. 30, 2010, New England Journal of Medicine. The randomized phase III clinical trial was coordinated by the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), a national consortium of researchers supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the NIH.
Childhood Asthma Treatment: Not One-Size-Fits-All
March 2, 2010 | by
A new study has found the addition of long-acting beta-agonist therapy to be the most effective of three step-up, or supplemental, treatments for children whose asthma is not well controlled on low doses of inhaled corticosteroids alone.
The study was designed to provide needed evidence for selecting step-up care for such children and was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers also identified patient characteristics, such as race, that can help predict which step-up therapy is more likely to be the most effective for a child with persistent asthma.
The study found that almost all of its participants had a different response to the three different treatments. Although adding the long acting beta-agonist step-up was one and one-half times more likely to be the best treatment for most of the study group, many children responded best to other two treatments instead.
The results were presented March 2 at the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology 2010 Annual Meeting in New Orleans and are published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.
COPD, Even When Mild, Limits Heart Function
January 21, 2010 | by
A common lung condition, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) diminishes the heart’s ability to pump effectively even when the disease has no or mild symptoms, according to research published in the Jan. 21 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The study is the first time researchers have shown strong links between heart function and mild COPD. The research was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.
Blood Stem-Cell Transplant Regimen Reverses Sickle Cell Disease in Adults
December 10, 2009 | by
A modified blood adult stem-cell transplant regimen has effectively reversed sickle cell disease in 9 of 10 adults who had been severely affected by the disease, according to results of a National Institutes of Health study in the Dec. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial was conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by NIH researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Medicexchange: A Medical Imaging Resource
June 27, 2007 | by
The New England Journal of Medicine calls the development of body imaging one of the most important medical developments of the past 1,000 years [1]. Indeed, patient-specific information regarding disease diagnosis and progression is routinely obtained today using medical imaging.
Medicexchange is a medical imaging portal where you can find all the world’s leading medical imaging solutions in one place and offers a number of benefits for both radiology professionals and informed health consumers.
