ScienceCache
Vol. 205
Oct. 18, 2005
ROCHESTER PROFESSOR LEADS GLOBAL HIV VACCINE EFFORT
A University expert on HIV vaccines is leading a worldwide study of a
preventive vaccine that targets several types of HIV found around the
world. Michael Keefer, associate professor of medicine and principal
investigator of the HIV Vaccine Trials Unit, is leading the study of
480 subjects that is planned at 13 sites around the world, including
Rochester. The vaccine will be tested in volunteers in Africa, North
America, South America and the Caribbean through the HIV Vaccine Trials
Network funded by the National Institutes of Health. The unique vaccine
combines synthetically modified elements of four HIV genes found in
subtypes A, B and C of the virus – the subtypes commonly found
in Africa, the Americas, Europe and parts of Asia. These subtypes represent
about 85 percent of HIV infections worldwide. It’s the first
Phase II study of a vaccine that targets such a broad array of strains.
Researchers plan to recruit healthy, uninfected volunteers from populations
particularly hard-hit by AIDS, including African Americans and other
ethnic minorities. Since 1988, Rochester’s effort to find a vaccine
to prevent HIV infection has enrolled more than 850 study participants.
Full story
COLD TREATMENT PROTECTS AGAINST INFANT DISABILITY, DEATH
A study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine found
that lowering infants’ body temperature to about 92 degrees Fahrenheit
within the first six hours of life reduces the chances of disability
and death among full-term infants who failed to receive enough oxygen
or blood to the brain during birth. The infants were cooled by placing
them on a soft plastic blanket through which water circulates; the blanket’s
temperature is regulated by computer. After 72 hours had passed, the
infants were gradually warmed to a normal body temperature. Infants in
both the hypothermia group and the control group received standard newborn
intensive care, including monitoring of vital signs, and were watched
carefully for signs of organ dysfunction. When the infants were examined
at 18 to 22 months of age, 44 percent of those in the hypothermia group
had developed a moderate to severe disability or had died, compared to
62 percent in the control group. The research was conducted through the
16-site Neonatal Research Network funded by the National Institutes of
Health; the team included neonatal intensive care physicians Ronnie Guillet
and Nirupama Laroia of Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong.
Full story
PRECISION RADIATION THERAPY YIELDS RARE SUCCESS FOR LIVER TUMORS
Shaped-beam radiation therapy is a promising treatment for life-threatening
metastatic liver tumors, according to researchers who report an 88 percent
success rate for controlling the lesions. This is the first evidence
that doctors can treat these tumors with radiation, and the results doubled
the average length of survival. “Radiation therapy has not been
a recommended treatment for liver metastases because of the poor results
when whole-liver radiation was used,” says Alan Katz, lead researcher
of the team at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center. “High-dose, precision
radiation therapy is proving to be a promising therapy for metastatic
liver disease and provides an effective treatment options for patients
who previously didn’t have any.” The team is leading the
effort to expand shaped-beam radiation therapy - originally designed
to treat brain tumors - to target metastatic liver tumors with pinpoint
accuracy. Initial treatment results were presented today at the American
Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s annual meeting
in Denver. The average survival for the 72 patients in the study was
13 months. Says Katz: “This is remarkable. For people who are facing
this deadly disease, doubling the length of survival brings hope to our
patients and that is so important.”
Full story
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