Superior Tumor Detection For Dense Breasts Provided By Gamma Imaging
A study revealed at SNM's 58th Annual Meeting is comparing the breast-tumor detection capabilities of two very different imaging technologies - breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI), which provides functional images of breast physiology, and ultrasound - for women with complex breast imaging cases that require further evaluation. Many women who have dense breast tissue (radiodense breasts) are difficult to image using mammography, currently the gold standard of breast imaging. For women whose mammograms are not clear enough to determine whether cancer is present, support methods such as BSGI and ultrasound are used to answer any remaining diagnostic questions.
Tengion Announces FDA Orphan-Drug Designation For Neo-Urinary Conduit
Tengion, Inc. (Nasdaq: TNGN) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan-drug designation to the Company's Neo-Urinary Conduit™ , for treatment of bladder dysfunction requiring incontinent urinary diversion. "This designation is another important step in advancing the development of our Neo-Urinary Conduit, our lead clinical product candidate, currently being studied in patients with bladder cancer, " said Sunita Sheth, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Tengion.
Gene Fault Could Predict Ovarian Cancer Drug Success
FAULTS in a gene commonly inactivated in many different types of cancer could be used to predict which drug combination ovarian cancer patients are most likely to benefit from, according to results presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology. The study - funded by Cancer Research UK and the Medical Research Council (MRC) and led by researchers from Newcastle University, the UCL Cancer Institute and the MRC - found that women with faults in a gene known as p53 were 50 per cent less likely to survive following treatment with carboplatin alone, but tended to be more likely to show survival benefit from the addition of the drug paclitaxel to the standard treatment of carboplatin.