Health , science reporter for New York Times to discuss work
نویسنده
چکیده
Hailed as a major step forward in the effort to develop targeted cancer therapies, a recently approved drug for the most common type of skin cancer has been a mixed blessing for patients. Although the initial response is usually dramatic, the tumors often recur as the cancer becomes resistant to treatment. Now researchers at the School of Medicine have identified a second way to block the activity of the signaling cascade, called the Hedgehog pathway, that is abnormally active in these cancers. The researchers hope the new approach may not only one day help patients with tumors that have become resistant to the first drug, vismodegib (marketed as Erivedge), but may also provide a novel combination therapy for newly diagnosed tumors that may be more effective than either treatment alone. “These new, highly targeted therapies work really well,” said dermatology professor Anthony Oro, MD, PhD, who was one of several Stanford researchers involved in the multiyear effort that brought vismodegib to market in 2012. “But this type of treatment is a race against evolution. Within a year, many of the tumors recur when the cancers become resistant to the inhibitor.” The effect on patients, particularly those with a severe condition called Gorlin syndrome, is a heartbreaking yo-yo as the tumors that cover most of their bodies disappear within weeks, but often recur in force. But Oro and his colleagues’ discovery of another, previously unknown component of the Hedgehog pathway — a component vital Discovery could pave way to better skin cancer therapy
منابع مشابه
Needed: Global Collaboration for Comparative Research on Cities and Health
Over half of the world’s population lives in cities and United Nations (UN) demographers project an increase of 2.5 billion more urban dwellers by 2050. Yet there is too little systematic comparative research on the practice of urban health policy and management (HPAM), particularly in the megacities of middle-income and developing nations. We make a case for creating a global database on citie...
متن کاملLabonté Identifies Key Issues for Health Promoters in the New World Order; Comment on “Health Promotion in an Age of Normative Equity and Rampant Inequality”
For over 35 years Ronald Labonté has been critically analyzing the state of health promotion in Canada and the world. In 1981, he identified the shortcomings of the groundbreaking Lalonde Report by warning of the seductive appeal of so-called lifestyle approaches to health. Since then, he has left a trail of critical work identifying the barriers to — and opportunities for —health promotion wor...
متن کاملBRIC Health Systems and Big Pharma: A Challenge for Health Policy and Management
BRIC nations – Brazil, Russia, India, and China – represent 40% of the world’s population, including a growing aging population and middle class with an increasing prevalence of chronic disease. Their healthcare systems increasingly rely on prescription drugs, but they differ from most other healthcare systems because healthcare expenditures in BRIC nations have exhibited the highest revenue gr...
متن کاملThe Health Policy and Management (HPAM) Gap- From Diagnosis to Prescription: A Response to Recent Commentaries
متن کامل
Substance Use and the Number of Male Sexual Partners by African American and Puerto Rican Women
Background In the United States (US), there are 19 million new sexually transmitted disease (STD) infections each year. Untreated STDs can lead to serious long-term adverse health consequences, especially for young women. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that undiagnosed and untreated STDs cause at least 24,000 women in the US each year to become infertile. This clearly is a...
متن کامل