Diseases/Conditions News Headlines

By Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) - A new type of asthma drug meant to attack the underlying causes of the respiratory disease slashed episodes by 87 percent in a mid-stage trial, making it a potential game changer for patients with moderate to severe disease, researchers said on Tuesday. "Overall, these are the most exciting …

Winning the War against Cervical Cancer

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older men with other illnesses may not live long enough to benefit from aggressive prostate cancer treatments, such as prostate removal or radiation, and they'd have to live with their side effects, says a new study. "If you're going to die of a heart attack in five years, …

By Vrinda Manocha (Reuters) - XenoPort Inc said it would stop development of an experimental multiple sclerosis treatment it planned to launch in 2015 after a late-stage trial failed to show significant improvement over a placebo. Shares of the company fell 26 percent to $5.03 in morning trade on the Nasdaq. "This is disappointing, …

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Britain launched a research program on Monday that should eventually allow all cancer patients to have access to the kind of genetic analysis that led Hollywood star Angelina Jolie to decide to undergo a double mastectomy. The project, involving the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in …

(Reuters) - Peregrine Pharmaceuticals said it reached an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the design of a late-stage trial for its experimental lung cancer drug. The late-stage trial will compare a combination of chemotherapy and the drug, bavituximab, with chemotherapy alone. The main goal of the …

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish pharmaceutical group Lundbeck and Japanese partner Takeda said on Saturday that data from clinical phase III studies with the antidepressant vortioxetine had shown significant improvement in patients' symptoms. Lundbeck said in a statement that the trial showed safety levels consistent with …

ATLANTA (AP) — A metro Atlanta woman who lost both hands, her left leg and right foot after contracting a flesh-eating disease was on her way back from Ohio Friday after being fitted with prosthetic hands.

LONDON (Reuters) - Four more people in China have died from a new strain of bird flu, bringing the death toll from the H7N9 virus to 36 from 131 confirmed cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. The United Nations health agency said the four deaths were from cases that had already been identified in laboratories. …

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca has enrolled the first patient into a final-stage clinical trial of a new drug for a rare type of leukemia as the group's new CEO delivers on a promise to accelerate its oncology programs. Britain's second-biggest drugmaker said on Thursday the Phase III clinical trial would …

By Deena Beasley LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After decades of using one-size-fits-all therapies to combat cancer, doctors are using new tools to help decide when their patients can skip chemotherapy or other harsh treatments. An approach to oncology that has been in place for decades is beginning to yield to an arsenal of long-term …

By Jessica Toonkel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG is exploring a sale of its blood glucose meters business, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, as the industry grapples with increased competition and reimbursement pressure. The discussions about a potential sale of the …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Music, art and dance therapy may relieve anxiety and similar symptoms among people with cancer, according to a new analysis of past studies. Researchers who analyzed results from trials conducted between 1989 and 2011 said the benefits tied to creative arts therapies were small, …

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is planning a mental health conference next month in response to gun violence.

By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Ovarian cancer rates in the U.S. began to decline faster in 2002 around the time many older women went off hormone replacement therapy, according to a new study. That year, the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) found that estrogen or estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy, prescribed …

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German drugmaker Bayer and its development partner Algeta won approval from U.S. regulators for a prostate cancer drug that could eventually generate more than 1 billion euros ($1.31 billion) in annual sales. The Food and Drug Administration, which has reviewed Xofigo under its priority program, said …

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German drugmaker Bayer said on Wednesday it initiated a Phase III trial of its potential blockbuster drug regorafenib in patients with advanced liver cancer. The drug, also known as Stivarga, will be tested in the third and last phase of trials required for marketing approval on patients with inoperable …

PARIS (Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi SA said it and U.S. firm Regeneron Pharmaceuticals have started recruiting patients for two new trials of their arthritis treatment sarilumab. The drug is seen as one of several promising treatments in the pipeline for Regeneron, a biotech company based in the New York suburb of …

SUPPORT GROUP Covenant Health will host a support group for cancer survivors from 7-8 p.m. Thursday, May 16, at the Joe Arrington Cancer Center chapel.

By Caroline Copley ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche hopes data published this week will show it has a viable follow-on product to help fend off cheaper competition for its best-selling cancer drug, which loses patent protection in Europe later this year. Roche is set to present full results early on Thursday of …

By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oscar-winning film star Angelina Jolie revealed on Tuesday that she underwent a double mastectomy after learning she had inherited a high risk of breast cancer and said she hoped her story would inspire other women fighting the life-threatening disease. Jolie, an actress who has long …

(Reuters) - U.S. health regulators on Tuesday approved a test developed by Roche for a specific gene mutation present in about 10 percent of non-small cell lung cancers, and said the company's drug Tarceva could be used as an initial treatment in patients with the mutation whose cancer has spread beyond the lungs. This …

CHICAGO (AP) — One of the world's most glamorous women had an operation that once was terribly disfiguring — removal of both breasts. But new approaches are dramatically changing breast surgeries, whether to treat cancer or to prevent it as Angelina Jolie just chose to do. As Jolie said, "the results can be beautiful."