GENETICS:
MicroRNA Regulates Tumor Stem Cells
Most tumors harbor chemotherapy-resistant stem cells, thought to be responsible
for the aggressive growth, spread, and recurrence of cancers. Chinese researchers
Erwei Song and Fengyan Yu (right), working with Judy Lieberman (left), have identified
a key genetic switch that gives breast cancer stem cells their deadly properties.
Their finding, reported in the Dec. 14 Cell, implicates the microRNA let-7 in
stem cell maintenance and suggests a much-needed strategy for killing cancerous
stem cells using therapeutic RNAs.
SURGERY:
A Formula for Errors
Current efforts to make surgery safer include shuttling patients to high-volume
hospitals and referring them to the most experienced surgeons, particularly
for complex, high-risk surgeries. But while experience does pay off for
certain procedures, a study published in the November Annals of Surgery suggests
that these approaches will not have a broad impact on public health.
Atul Gawande (right) and Scott Regenbogen found that a common class of
error occurs most often with experienced surgeons performing routine
operations. “If we want to understand how to save more lives in
the health care system, we have to understand why experienced surgeons
doing routine operations have complications,” Gawande said.
PATIENT
INFORMATION: Personally Controlled Health Records: Coming Down the
Track
If a growing number of health insurers, employers, government agencies,
and businesses have their way, many Americans will soon be managing their
own electronic medical record containing their entire medical history—every
blood test, prescription, diagnosis, possibly every doctor’s note.
Before long, it might hold the entire contents of a person’s genome—every
SNP, point mutation, and chromosomal inversion. It could even record what
they had for breakfast, whether they exercised, and how many hours they
slept on a particular day.
This changing shape of things to come was the subject of the second annual Personally
Controlled Health Record Infrastructure meeting, held at HMS on Nov. 27 and 28.
Co-organizers included Kenneth Mandl (left) and Isaac Kohane.
Copyright 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College