Skin Cancer & You

biospace med announced today that it has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to market the Company's sterEOS 2D/3D workstation for pediatric use in spine applications. The Company's EOS ultra-low-dose imager previously has been FDA-cleared for use in pediatrics and adults, while sterEOS has previously been FDA-cleared for adult use in spine...

Molecular dermatology research and development innovator DermaGenoma, Inc. released The HerpesDX Genetic Test for Frequent Genital Herpes. The new screening test will help doctors assess patients' risk for developing frequent Genital Herpes (HSV-2) outbreaks. "Until now, physicians have been unable to give patients an answer to the most common question asked by recently infected Genital Herpes patients: Will I have frequent outbreaks?," says DermaGenoma CEO Andy Goren. "Using the HerpesDX genetic test, a doctor can finally assess a patient's risk for frequent outbreaks...

Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company today announced the presentation of safety, pharmacokinetic and efficacy data from the Phase I portion of a Phase I/II clinical trial evaluating TAK-700 in patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). These data were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (ASCO GU), held March 5-7, 2010 in San Francisco, CA...

ImmunoGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMGN), a biotechnology company that develops targeted anticancer products using its antibody expertise and Targeted Antibody Payload (TAP) technology, announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to its IMGN901 compound when used for the treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). Through a separate process, the European Union (EU) Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) concurrently also granted IMGN901 orphan medicinal product designation for the treatment of MCC...

BG Medicine, Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement with Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) to extend its current development and commercialization collaboration to include the development of a galectin-3 test for Abbott Point of Care's i-STAT® System. Galectin-3 is a novel biomarker that may play a role in detecting the development and progression of heart failure...

The European Parliament has voted 618 votes to 17 for an extension to the transitional arrangements contained within the regulation on the non-commercial movement of pet animals (Reg. 998/2003) which afford the UK additional protection against rabies, ticks and tapeworms. The British Veterinary Association (BVA) and British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) have been lobbying MEPs to support the extension and have strongly welcomed this decision...

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society today announced the appointment of Helen Gordon as Chief Executive of the new Professional Leadership Body. Mrs Gordon will join the Society on the 1st of July. Mrs Gordon comes to the Society from her current position as Chief Executive of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Prior to leading the RCOG for the past five years, Mrs Gordon was Chief Executive of Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust from 2000-2005. RPSGB President, Steve Churton said: "I am delighted to welcome Helen to the Society at this pivotal time in its history...

Scientists in Australia found that when they studied insulin resistance in people with Hepatitis C little or none of it was in the liver and nearly all the insulin resistance occured in muscle, which surprised them because Hepatitis C is a liver disease that not only leads to cirrhosis and cancer, but also makes people three to four times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. You can read about the study that led to these findings in the March 2010 issue of the journal Gastroenterology, which is also available online...

Evaluating children for underlying heart problems before prescribing stimulant medications can identify children at risk for sudden cardiac death, but electrocardiogram (ECG) screening is of borderline cost-effectiveness compared to current practice, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association...

When a romantic relationship ends, an individual's self-concept is vulnerable to change, according to research in the February issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (published by SAGE). Self-concept is defined as a person's sense of "me." Romantic partners develop shared friends, activities and even overlapping self-concepts. Using three studies, the researchers examined self-concept changes that can occur after a breakup. They found that individuals have reduced self-concept clarity after a breakup. This reduced clarity can contribute to emotional distress...