|
|
|
LARYNGOLOGY: New Techniques in Vocal Cord Surgery Spare the Voice
Improvements in vocal cord surgery have increased the chances of eliminating early cancers and other abnormalities from the delicate surface of the vocal folds without harming the voice. Steven Zeitels of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary has been a leader in developing more and more precise phonosurgical techniques. He details much of the past decade of these innovations in two papers in the December Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology.
|
 |
DERMATOLOGY: Sun May Cause Cancer by Targeting Rb Pathway
A team of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers has made a discovery that could help solve a longstanding mystery in cancer biology: how a sunburn acquired during a childhood day at the beach can develop into a deadly melanoma decades later. Lynda Chin and her colleagues report in the Feb. 4 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that the ultraviolet rays of the sun direct their cancer-causing darts to a specific molecular cascade inside the young skin cell, the Rb pathway, impairing its ability to regulate cell proliferation. In fact, ultraviolet radiation may specifically target this pathway.
|
 |
EPIDEMIOLOGY: No Cancer Risk Found for Acrylamide
A study by Lorelei Mucci and other researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in collaboration with Swedish scientists found no link between the consumption of foods with high levels of the chemical acrylamide and risk of colorectal, bladder, and kidney cancer. Their work appears in the Jan. 28 British Journal of Cancer. Earlier research had found that many baked and fried starchy foods like potato and bread products contain unexpectedly high acrylamide levels. The chemical causes neurological problems in exposed workers, produces cancer in lab animals, and may be a human carcinogen at higher doses.
|
 |
CLINICAL RESEARCH: Statistical Approach Speeds Up Stent Trials
New statistical methods developed by James O'Malley and colleagues may allow smaller, faster clinical trials of improved stents for coronary disease--with greater scientific validity and accountability. The technique can replace some of the control part of a study with computations of relevant data from previous clinical trials of similar stents. Based on Bayesian statistics, the method may result in more precise estimates of effectiveness and safety parameters.
|
 |
Copyright 2003 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
|
|
