Blood Weekly articles from May 2002

Blood Weekly archives from May 2002

Multiple MHC-mismatched cord blood infusions hasten engraftment.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Multiple cord blood infusions from MHC-disparate donors may improve outcomes for hematopoietic stem cell recipients, researchers in North Carolina report. ...

Antiapoptosis gene could extend cell survival in cancer therapies.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Making human peripheral blood lymphocytes more resistant to cellular suicide, or apoptosis, could be one way to increase their effectiveness in cancer...

Intensive antiretroviral-chemotherapy effective against lymphoma/leukemia.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Texas say that high-dose chemotherapy, combined with potent antiviral drugs, can offer hope to patients suffering from AIDS-related hematological...

Oncogene expression heightens vulnerability to cytotoxicity.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Surprisingly, researchers in Europe have found that heightened expression of a key oncogene by some leukemic cells may make them more susceptible to cytotoxic...

Optimal vitamin intake lowers vascular damage risk.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles say that careful vitamin intake may reduce the risk of vascular damage in children suffering from...

Tiny device blocks 'useless' part of heart, prevents blood clots.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A tiny device implanted into the heart to prevent blood clots could reduce the risk of strokes in people with atrial fibrillation (AF), researchers report in the April 9, 2002, rapid-access publication...

Clotted blood suitable for genetic analysis.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Clotted blood samples can provide useful genetic information, according to researchers in the United States. Dr. Karissa K. Adkins and colleagues working...

Blood analysis portal available for global commercialization.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Diametrics Medical, Inc., (DMED) announced the Blood Analysis Portal, jointly developed with Philips Medical Systems - a division of Royal Philips Electronics (PHG), is now available commercially...

Abaxis announces $5.8 million financing.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Abaxis, Inc., (ABAX) a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems, announced it has completed a private financing that has raised approximately $5.8 million. Of...

Abbott wins sole supplier contract for blood screening tests.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Abbott Laboratories (ABT) announced it has been awarded a multiyear contract as the exclusive supplier of six infectious disease tests used for screening blood donated to the American Red Cross. ...

Abaxis calls patent lawsuit meritless.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Abaxis, Inc., (ABAX) said the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Idexx Laboratories, Inc., in the United States District Court in Maine as meritless. The claim appears to involve Abaxis'...

EntreMed's thalidomide analog proves powerful in preclinical studies.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- EntreMed, Inc., (ENMD), a biopharmaceutical leader in angiogenic research and product development, announced preclinical findings that a new derivative of thalidomide induces sustained tumor regression...

Cord blood enzyme levels unaffected by age, delivery method.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Cord blood transplantation could be an effective treatment for some enzyme deficiencies, regardless of when or how the grafts are collected, researchers say....

Global Med signs 10-year agreement for vein-to-vein products.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Global Med Technologies, Inc., (GLOB) announced the signing of an agreement for its SafeTrace donor management software with Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center for a 10-year contract period. In...

Hyperhemolysis not effected by RBC antigen matching.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Lindsay Edmunds, PhD, ELS, senior medical writer - A U.S. study of pediatric and adult sickle cell patients who received transfusions indicated that the most important adverse effect was...

Blood transfusion linked to lung ailment.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The government and researchers are warning that blood transfusions can cause a serious and often-unrecognized lung problem that has been linked to more than 45 deaths nationwide since 1992. The...

Certican demonstrates reduced risk of graft vasculopathy.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Certican (everolimus) data presented at the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) in Washington, DC, offer the first-ever clinical evidence of an immunosuppressant drug with...

Intensive study on donor organ preservation launched.
May 9, 2002... 2002 MAY 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HyperBaric Systems, Inc., (HYRB) a California biomedical company, announced that it has begun an intensive and comprehensive study on technologies and methodologies that will potentially extend the...

Interleukin-11 not suitable for graft-versus-host prophylaxis.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The cytokine interleukin-11 should not be used as graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) prophylaxis in allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients,...

Irbesartan superior to other antihypertensive drugs.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Irbesartan and similar drugs produce benefits not seen with other antihypertensive agents, according to researchers in Scotland. Dr. M. Julia Brosnan and...

Wilms tumor gene expression marks stem cell graft contamination.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells express high levels of Wilms tumor gene 1 (WT1), which can be used to detect these cells in stem cell grafts, researchers...

Insulin may prevent thrombosis leading to heart attack and stroke.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Insulin may interfere with the cascade of reactions that promote clot formation and platelet aggregation in heart-attack patients and may help prevent clot formation and plaque development in persons...

Experiments reveal ancient blood flow map.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists studying how developing blood cells migrate to their proper destinations in fruit flies have discovered the ancestral role of a protein better known for ensuring that tumors have adequate...

Air pollution causes healthy blood vessels to constrict.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- For the first time researchers have shown that air pollution negatively affects the blood vessels of healthy humans, according to a study in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. ...

CCR5 is safe target for therapeutic agents.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Denmark say that the CCR5 receptor needed for HIV cell entry can be safely targeted by potential antiviral treatments. "The CC chemokine...

Tl-201 brain SPECT unsuitable for lymphoma diagnosis.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Thallium (Tl)-201 brain mass spectrometry (SPECT) is not suitable for diagnosing lymphoma in AIDS patients, researchers in the United States explain. ...

Cells switched on by cold.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Blood banks store platelets at room temperature and throw them out after 5 days. They would last longer refrigerated, but when chilled, they activate and form a useless clot in the bag. Researchers...

Kiss biopsies goodbye.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Just a drop of blood or urine might be enough to reveal if a patient has cancer, what type it is and whether it's treatable. "One day, there could be one biochip for analyzing all cancers," said...

New data show at-home dialysis therapy may benefit more patients.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Results from the largest randomized controlled trial ever conducted among patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) demonstrate that PD, a flexible home-based dialysis therapy for people with...

Enbrel safe but ineffective as therapy.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - An fusion protein designed to lower levels of a proinflammatory cytokine provides limited benefits to myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients, according to...

CardioOptics medical director to speak at NASPE scientific session.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- CardioOptics Medical Director Bruce Ferguson presented "Direct Intra Cardiac Visualization through Blood for EP Procedures" at the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology's (NASPE) 23rd...

Researchers identify key gene that regulates immune response.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Princess Margaret Hospital's Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) and Amgen Research Institute have discovered that controlling a specific gene could prevent the body's immune system from...

Neuroblastoma patients at risk of hepatic veno-occlusive disease.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Young neuroblastoma patients have a heightened risk of veno-occlusive disease (VOD) of the liver after undergoing stem cell transplantation, researchers in the...

Visilizumab may be useful for graft-versus-host treatment.
May 16, 2002... 2002 MAY 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - A novel drug may help physicians treat severe complications after stem cell transplantation, researchers in the United States report. "Visilizumab is a...

High mean platelet volume increases risk.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Austria have provided new information on the link between platelet characteristics and heart attack risk. "An increased mean platelet...

Cord blood stem cells can differentiate into dermal dendritic cells.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Japan say that hematopoietic stem cells from umbilical cord blood can differentiate into a wider range of cells than previously believed. ...

Antibiotic use does not affect results from truama patients.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Preemptive antibiotic use does not affect the infection rate for trauma victims in intensive care, researchers argue. "Febrile trauma patients have...

New findings could lead to innovative treatment technologies.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Sickle cell disease comprises a group of inherited disorders of red blood cells. The condition is characterized by chronic anemia, disabling recurrent pain, and premature death. It is found...

Low factor XIII levels predict gut graft-versus-host disease.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Germany have found a likely cause for the alimentary graft-versus-host reactions seen in some patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell...

Rituximab potentiates cisplatin effects by Bcl-2 suppression.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United States have shed new light on the mechanisms by which the monoclonal antibody rituximab potentiates the effects of the anticancer...

Scientists aim to eliminate battlefield transfusions.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The need for blood transfusions on the battlefield presents a multitude of logistical problems. For cities removed from the fighting, the treatment of mass casualties where blood might not be...

Risks of drugs studied.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- There's growing suspicion that switching from aspirin to a more stomach-friendly arthritis drug could increase some people's risk of heart attacks and a study suggests the reason is a drug-caused...

Instrumentation Laboratory, MAGNET renew agreement for critical care portfolio.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Instrumentation Laboratory (IL) announced that it has renewed a multiyear contract for its entire portfolio of Critical Care Products with MAGNET. This new agreement continues a relationship that...

New smaller heart-lung machine reduces risk to patients.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cleveland Clinic doctors are the first in the nation to use a new heart-lung machine designed to cause less trauma to patients undergoing heart surgery. More than 600,000 people in the United...

Northfield Laboratories reports fiscal 2002 third quarter results.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Northfield Laboratories, Inc., (NFLD), a developer of an oxygen-carrying blood substitute for trauma and elective surgery situations, reported a loss as anticipated of $0.18 per basic share for its...

New handheld computer technology improves management of chronic bleeding disorders.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bayer Biological Products announced it has acquired the rights for a promising new organizational tool designed to improve the management of chronic, life-threatening bleeding disorders. The tool...

Treatment with gene delivery showing promise in bleeding disorder.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Doctors gathered at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in April 2002 to review the latest evolving developments in treatment for hemophilia, a bleeding disorder caused by a deficiency in one of...

Gene mutation influences filtering of blood by kidneys.
May 23, 2002... 2002 MAY 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have uncovered new information about a gene that when mutated prevents the kidneys from filtering properly. The mutation causes a rare disorder known as nail-patella syndrome, which...

Arsenic trioxide may be effective against resistant forms.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The antineoplastic agent arsenic trioxide (ATO) shows promise for the treatment of some drug-resistant forms of leukemia, researchers in France report. ...

Anti-von Willebrand factor monoclonal antibody effective in animals.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Europe and Africa say that they have found a novel target for antithrombosis treatments. "The interaction between collagen, von Willebrand...

Thalidomide may help myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia sufferers.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - The antiangiogenesis drug thalidomide might be useful for treating patients with diagnoses of myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia but because of the risk for...

New treatment for difficult-to-treat inflammatory disease.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) is an occasional disorder in which eosinophils, a type of inflammation-causing white blood cell, increase to excessive levels in the blood. The cells accumulate...

Extra cytokines can improve idiotype vaccination efficacy.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in Germany say that they have found a way to improve the benefits of idiotype vaccination for multiple myeloma patients. "Idiotype (Id)...

Tumor necrosis factor mutations can affect outcome.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Mutations in the genes coding for tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-(alpha) or its receptor can affect the outcome of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation,...

Antiretroviral treatment may restore thymic function.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Powerful antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection can help restore thymic function in treated patients, researchers in Spain report. "The origin of T...

NHF praises Congresswoman for calling attention to bleeding disorders in women.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) praised Congresswomen Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) for responding to its call to help raise awareness nationwide about undiagnosed bleeding disorders in women by...

First clinical data from device for measurement presented at AHA.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Rheologics, Inc., has announced that data derived from blood viscosity tests conducted with its Rheolog scanning capillary viscometer was presented in three study posters at the 3rd Annual Conference...

Photodynamic cell therapy may help prevent graft-versus-host disease.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Collaborators of Celmed BioSciences, a subsidiary of Theratechnologies, published groundbreaking results in the May 1, 2002, issue of Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). ...

Agent renders hepatitis B vaccine more effective in hemodialysis patients.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - The authors of a new study have concluded AM3 (Inmunoferon) enhances the ability of kidney disease patients on hemodialysis to develop long-term protective...

Avigen first to show long-term expression of FVIII in hemophilia A.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Preclinical studies show that adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector may be effective in the treatment of hemophilia A. Scientists presented the promising data at the National Hemophilia Foundation's...

Telik announces initiation of phase I-IIa Trial of TLK199.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Telik, Inc., (TELK) announced the initiation of a phase I-IIa clinical trial of the TLK199 small molecule product candidate in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a bone marrow disorder...

Immune regulatory cells can help prevent graft-versus-host reactions.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United States say that they may have found a novel method for preventing complications after stem cell transplantation. "Immune...

Filtering patient's blood before kidney transplant allows transplant from any donor.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- By filtering kidney patients' blood of antibodies that normally would reject a donor kidney, transplant surgeons at Johns Hopkins have been 93% successful in transplanting the organs between any two...

Researchers to compare prenatal treatments for serious twin complication.
May 30, 2002... 2002 MAY 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia are beginning a study to compare two treatments for a serious condition that may occur in pregnant women carrying twins. In twin-twin...