Researchers in the multidisciplinary PanCuRx research initiative at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and University Health Network's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, led by Dr. Faiyaz Notta and Dr. Steven Gallinger, have published new findings that challenge current beliefs about how and why pancreatic cancer is so aggressive. This deadly disease often strikes "out of nowhere," and the cancer is often inoperable by the time the patient experiences symptoms.

A key protein that causes heart failure has been revealed through new research from a collaboration based in Kumamoto University, Japan. The protein ANGPTL2 (Angiopoietin-like protein 2) is secreted by cardiac muscle cells and decreases the contraction force of the heart by reducing energy production and the regulating function of the calcium concentration in cardiac muscle cells.

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and the Data Science Institute at Columbia University have uncovered a potentially dangerous drug interaction using data science. Their findings were published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Safe when taken on their own, some prescription drugs become deadly when combined. Many of these interactions are well known, but others remain hidden to doctors, drug companies, and patients.

In the first controlled clinical trial of nicotinamide riboside (NR), a newly discovered form of Vitamin B3, researchers have shown that the compound is safe for humans and increases levels of a cell metabolite that is critical for cellular energy production and protection against stress and DNA damage. Studies in mice have shown that boosting the levels of this cell metabolite - known as NAD+ - can produce multiple health benefits,

Connections between industry and clinicians exist and a new study published online by JAMA Dermatology used publicly available data to analyze the nature and extent of industry payments to dermatologists. Marie Leger, M.D., Ph.D., of the Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, and coauthors used the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Sunshine Act Open Payment database, which records payments to physicians from manufacturers or group-purchasing organizations that make products reimbursed by a government-run health program.

A study published online today in Nature by Albert Einstein College of Medicine scientists suggests that it may not be possible to extend the human life span beyond the ages already attained by the oldest people on record. Since the 19th century, average life expectancy has risen almost continuously thanks to improvements in public health, diet, the environment and other areas.

Antibiotics save millions of lives. But their tendency to kill helpful and harmful bacteria alike, coupled with the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, means that they are not without their downside. Probiotics consisting of beneficial microorganisms, meanwhile, have the potential to deliver the benefits of antibiotics minus the pitfalls. Yet up until now, evidence of their efficacy has been largely anecdotal, their mechanisms of action poorly understood.