One in twelve physicians - and nearly one in five family medicine physicians - accepted payments from pharmaceutical companies related to opioids, according to a new study out of Boston Medical Center's Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine. This is the first large-scale, national study of industry payments involving opioids and suggests that pharmaceutical companies may have a stronger hold than previously known on how doctors prescribe the powerful drugs.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide, with almost 300,000 deaths occurring each year. More than 80 percent of these deaths occur in developing nations. The advent of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines has significantly reduced the number of those who develop and die from cervical cancer. And thanks to an international effort to improve the vaccine, the medical community is one step closer to preventing more HPV-associated diseases.

A group of researchers has developed an approach to efficiently produce antibodies that can bind to two different target molecules simultaneously, a long-desired innovation in the field of cancer immunotherapy. Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system that specialize in recognizing and binding to molecular targets unique to bacteria, viruses or other foreign cells.

Parkinson's disease is a chronic disease with unknown causes. The disease destroys the brain cells that control body movements. Shivering, stiff arms and legs and poor coordination are typical symptoms of Parkinson's. The symptoms may develop slowly, and it sometimes takes time to make a correct diagnosis.

Immunotherapy is an emerging field in the global fight against cancer, even though scientists and clinicians have been working for decades to find ways to help the body's immune system detect and attack cancerous cells. Doug Mahoney's lab at the University of Calgary recently discovered an immunotherapy that uses existing cancer drugs in a whole new way.

In most clinical trials for cancer therapy, investigators test treatments in patients with advanced disease. But a recent cardiovascular secondary prevention study has given researchers a unique opportunity: to explore the effectiveness of giving a drug to patients before cancer emerges. At the European Society of Cardiology meeting, Paul M. Ridker, MD, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at BWH, and colleagues presented findings from CANTOS (Canakinumab Anti-inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes Study).

It's been well established that obesity is a contributor to cancer risk, but how it actually causes cancer is still a question that hasn't been fully explained. A new Michigan State University study now offers new details showing that a certain protein released from fat in the body can cause a non-cancerous cell to turn into a cancerous one. The federally funded research also found that a lower layer of abdominal fat, when compared to fat just under the skin, is the more likely culprit, releasing even more of this protein and encouraging tumor growth.