| Researchers advance stem cell gene therapy
Under this protocol, MGMT, a drug-resistance gene, is added into purified hematopoietic stem cells to protect these cells from the damage of chemotherapy regimens. In one of 24 presentations by Ireland Cancer Center researchers at the annual American Society of Hematology meeting, Stanton Gerson, MD, and colleagues presented that eight patients were enrolled on the trial and six were infused with their own stem cells which were engineered to carry the MGMT gene. In three patients, stem cells carrying the gene were identified in their blood or bone marrow. In one patient, stem cells carrying the gene were detected up to 28 weeks after their administration. This significant finding has never been reported before with this gene and drug combination. ??This study is the first to show the success of treatment with evidence that stem cells now carry the new gene,?? says Dr.
Dec 28th
Well, it's almost time for me to head off to Australia. Tomorrow, actually, but this might be my last chance to get in a blog before then. I will try to blog while there but won't promise. Christmas is over and it was quite a pleasant one. My son visited from Las Vegas and he said he had a good time. It looks like he is set on going back to college full time to qualify as an accountant. He did one class last semester and got an A, so it looks like he should do OK in that field. He has quite a bit of money coming to him for education from the time he spent in the United States Air Force; at least enough for about two years of college. We spent Christmas Eve morning at my wife's parents then headed to Pensacola Beach, Florida to where my wife's sister and family live. Lots of gifts were handed around and we all ate and drank too much.
Car culture recklessly puts all of us at risk
L B from Canada writes: As a bicyclist, I heartily agree. I get to see the worst of drivers, and because I am relatively slow, I get to see more of them than another car driver does. People seem to take even more risks around cyclists, because hey - they won't get hurt! Instead of thanking cyclists for taking another car off the road (meaning less congestion and less pollution), drivers get angry because we are too slow. "
I like cycling however I've found that many cyclists are a sanctimonious lot who think they don't have to obey the rules of the road (like running Stop signs, riding on the sidewalk, going down the street the wrong way, running Red lights, etc.). Just ask a pedestrian how they feel about some cyclists -- I vouch you'd get an earfull! It'd be nice to have real bike lanes like The Netherlands.
Breast cancer
Oral Contraception. Studies have been conflicting about whether estrogen in oral contraception increases the chances for breast cancer. A 2002 study supported an earlier major study, with both finding no evidence that OC use increases the risk for breast cancer, even in women who have taken them for 15 years of more or had taken them at young ages. In contrast, other studies have reported a higher risk in women who are current or recent users and in women who take them for more than four years before a first full-term pregnancy. Still, the risk for women taking OCs around menopause is unclear. Earlier research found a higher risk in women who used earlier forms of the pill containing high-dose estrogens and progestins (before 1975) and who had a family history of breast cancer. Hormone Replacement Therapy.
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