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Prostate Cancer Translational Research In Europe Meeting: Search For Biomarkers Continues
Collaboration in prostate cancer translational research in Europe is not only vital to sustain the progress achieved in recent years but also to streamline current efforts between researchers and clinicians and avoid duplication or overlaps. This was amongst the goals of the two-day Prostate Cancer Translational Research in Europe (PCTRE) Meeting which opened recently in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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Oculus Innovative Sciences Receives FDA Clearance For Microcyn(R) Skin And Wound Gel
Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: OCLS), a healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a family of products based upon the Microcyn® Technology platform, today announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its Microcyn® Skin and Wound Gel as both a prescription and over-the-counter formulation. The Rx product, under the supervision of a health care professional, is intended for management of exuding wounds such as leg ulcers, pressure ulcers, diabetic ulcers and for the management of mechanically or surgically debrided wounds. This is the first hydrogel product based upon the Microcyn Technology platform and is reimbursable by both Medicare and Medicaid.
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New Ovarian Transplant Technique Could Expand Use Of Procedure To Preserve Fertility
Two recent advancements in ovarian transplant techniques could potentially expand the availability of the procedure for women seeking to avoid fertility problems as they age, researchers reported Monday at a meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, the AP/Yahoo! News reports. According to the AP/Yahoo! News, ovary transplants traditionally have been performed on women with cancer as a method of preserving fertility after chemotherapy or other treatments that can affect the reproductive system. The procedure involves removing the ovaries before treatment and re-implanting them after treatment is complete. Because only a handful of these procedures have been successful, ovarian transplants have been an option only for women with serious diseases. However, as more women delay having children until their 30s or 40s, researchers say the new techniques, in theory, could make it simpler for healthy younger women to have an ovary removed, frozen and then re-implanted later in life when they are ready to have children.The first study examined how many eggs were lost or preserved in fresh and frozen ovarian tissue of 15 young women prior to the start of cancer treatment. According to the study, there was no difference in the quantity of eggs in the fresh tissue and in the ovaries frozen using a new ultra-fast technique. The study found that about 50% of a woman"s eggs were lost using the traditional, slow-freezing methods of preserving the ovaries.The second study reported on a new surgical technique to restore an ovary"s function after transplantation. For the study, Pascal Piver of Limoges University Hospital and colleagues divided the transplant process into two separate procedures in an attempt to more quickly re-establish blood and hormone supplies to the ovary. In the first procedure, the researchers performed a graft of small pieces of ovarian tissue to prompt blood vessels to grow. They performed the ovary transplant three days later. The technique was successful in a woman who lost fertility because of treatment for sickle cell anemia.Sherman Silber, director of the St. Louis Infertility Center in Missouri and a researcher for the first study, said the new techniques "could dramatically expand our reproductive life span." He added, "This is not an experimental procedure for cancer patients anymore. The question is whether more women should be able to have this option" (Cheng, AP/Yahoo! News, 6/29).
Endocrinology

Families Struggle In Low-, Middle-Income Countries To Pay For Health Care, Study Shows

IRIN examines a Health Affairs report that found "one in four families living in the world"s poorest countries borrows money or sells assets in order to afford health care" (7/15). The study authors used information about low- and middle-income countries obtained by the World Health Survey (WHS) - "a set of nationally representative, standardized household surveys designed to assess health status, health care financing, health care use, and levels of satisfaction with countries" health systems" - to calculate how people paid for health care. The data, the authors write, "represented a combined population of 3.66 billion, or 58 percent of the world"s population" (Kruk et. al, Health Affairs, 7/09). From 2002 to 2004, 26 percent of those represented by the survey - "most often the poorest households with little or no health insurance - used "hardship financing" ò€¦ to cover health costs," IRIN/allAfrica.com reports. Health Affairs cites a 2007 study of global health insurance programs that shows "out-of-pocket payments accounted for 70 percent of health payments in low-income countries compared to less than 15 percent in richer countries." The IRIN article also examines recent efforts by the governments of Liberia, Ghana and Burkina Faso to lessen the burden of health services on the poor, including the implementation of a national insurance program in Ghana and free health services for children under age five with "severe forms of malaria" in Burkina Faso (7/15). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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