Category Health/Medical

Metformin

In one study (abstract 1569), the first to examine the effect of metformin on survival rates for breast cancer patients, researchers examined clinical outcomes for 1,215 patients who were diagnosed and underwent surgical treatment for breast cancer between 1997 and 2013. 97 patients examined reported using metformin before their diagnosis, and 97 reported use of the drug after diagnosis.

Results of the study showed that patients who used metformin before being diagnosed with breast cancer were more than 2X likely to die than patients who never used the drug, while patients who began using metformin after their cancer diagnosis were almost 50% more likely to survive than non-users.

“While use of the drug may have a survival benefit for some breast cancer patients, those who develo...

The new active ingredient consists of DARPins (red and orange) bend the HER2 receptors (blue) so no more growth signal is transmitted into the cell interior (below the cell membrane in yellow). Credit: © UZH

An active substance that kills the cancer cells very effectively without harming healthy cells has now been developed. In Switzerland alone, >5,700 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, and almost 1,400 of those affected die of the disease. In many very invasive forms of breast cancer, the cells have too much of the receptor HER2 on their surface. This leads to uncontrolled growth of the cells. Various antibodies such as trastuzumab and pertuzumab, which recognize the HER2 receptor, have been used in breast cancer therapy for many years now...

After living more than a year with a wearable total artificial heart device, Stan Larkin, 25, returned to the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center for a heart transplant. Credit: University of Michigan Health System

Over a year after leaving hospital without a human heart, Stan Larkin, 25, trades his wearable total artificial heart for a real one. The first patient in Michigan ever discharged with a SynCardia temporary total artificial heart in 2014, Larkin was back at the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center in May for a heart transplant. The surgery performed by Jonathan Haft, M.D., was a unique national triumph in efforts to replace the failing heart as heart disease grows and donor hearts remain scarce.

“It was an emotional rollercoaster,” Larkin, 25, sa...

Dentin’s biological structure: tubules and mineral nanoparticles are embedded in a network of collagen fibers. Credit: Jean-Baptiste Forien, © Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Why it is superior to any synthetic filling material at making teeth last. Dentin is one of the most durable biological materials in the human body. Researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin were able to show the reason for this can be traced to its nanostructures and specifically to the interactions between the organic and inorganic components...