The official MedZine Blog

Cancer genes can also be the origin of congenital anomalies. A joint research group of the Hubrecht Institute and the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands, described this in the journal Cell Reports. Continue reading

Tamoxifen acts as a preventive drug in women with a family history of breast cancer. Users of tamoxifen have a 30 percent lower risk, compared to women who do not use the drug. That is the conclusion of new research conducted at the British Queen Mary University, London. The results have been published in The Lancet Oncology. Continue reading

Scientists of the Harvard School of Public Health discovered a novel mechanism, partly responsible for a disrupted metabolism in obesity. In their article, recently published in Nature Medicine, the authors present a process that takes place in liver cells, which can eventually lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Continue reading

Researchers at the University of Cambridge discovered a molecule that suppresses cancer growth. The molecule, named FDI-6, ensures that transcription factor FOXM1 is not able to bind to DNA. The transcriptional downregulation ensures that tumorgrowth is suppressed. This study could open the door to new treatment methods for cancer. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications. Continue reading

Employees who work in shifts are more likely to have impaired cognitive function. A team of French and British scientists published this in the journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Participants who worked in shifts had lower scores on memory, processing speed, and overall brain power. Continue reading

According to scientists from the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, adding antioxidants from cocoa to the diet can improve the memory. These flavanols act on a brain area responsible for cognition. Results of this study are published in Nature Neuroscience. Continue reading

American scientists developed a method to treat brain cancer. A research group of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute genetically engineered stem cells so that they produce cytotoxins. With this method, they succeeded in killing cancer cells that remained in mouse brains after resection of a tumour. Results were published in the journal STEM CELLS. Continue reading

Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas might induce aging in white blood cells, causing a greater risk of cardiometabolic disease. That is concluded by researchers of the University of California-San Francisco in an article, recently published in the American Journal of Public Health. Continue reading

At the Dutch Medicines Days (DMD), the Galen awards have been presented. Led by a jury, these awards are presented anually to one researcher and one drug that is the most innovative and meaningful. This year’s best researcher was Tom Würdinger, PhD of the neuro-oncology group at the VUmc, Amsterdam. The award for the best drug went to Kalydeco from Vertex, a compound indicated for cystic fibrosis (CF). Continue reading

This year, the Dutch Medicines Days 2014 (DMD) were predominated by the subject of personalised medicine. Medical doctors, researchers and delegates from insurance providers and pharmaceutical companies discussed implementation and innovative treatment methods considering this subject. The DMD is a congress on innovative drug research, hosted by the Federation for Innovative Drug Research in the Netherlands (FIGON). Continue reading