Some 5.8 million Americans suffer from heart failure, a currently incurable disease. But scientists at Temple University School of Medicine's (TUSM) Center for Translational Medicine have discovered a key biochemical step underlying the condition that could aid the development of new drugs to treat and possibly prevent it.

Researchers have discovered how oxidative stress can turn to the dark side a cellular protein that's usually benign, and make it become a powerful, unwanted accomplice in neuronal death. This finding, reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could ultimately lead to new therapeutic approaches to many of the world's debilitating or fatal diseases.

The largest randomised study of the vitamin niacin in patients with occlusive arterial disease (narrowing of the arteries) has shown a significant increase in adverse side-effects when it is combined with statin treatment. Results from the HPS2-THRIVE study (Heart Protection Study 2 - Treatment of HDL to Reduce the Incidence of Vascular Events), including the reasons patients stopped the study treatment, are published online in the European Heart Journal.

Inspired by a chemical that fungi secrete to defend their territory, MIT chemists have synthesized and tested several dozen compounds that may hold promise as potential cancer drugs. A few years ago, MIT researchers led by associate professor of chemistry Mohammad Movassaghi became the first to chemically synthesize 11,11'-dideoxyverticillin, a highly complex fungal compound that has shown anti-cancer activity in previous studies.

Preclinical, laboratory studies suggest a novel immunotherapy could potentially work like a vaccine against metastatic cancers, according to scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center. Results from a recent study show the therapy could treat metastatic cancers and be used in combination with current cancer therapies while helping to prevent the development of new metastatic tumors and train specialized immune system cells to guard against cancer relapse.

A recombinant Newcastle disease virus kills all kinds of prostate cancer cells, including hormone resistant cells, but leaves normal cells unscathed, according to a paper published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology. A treatment for prostate cancer based on this virus would avoid the adverse side effects typically associated with hormonal treatment for prostate cancer,

A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that cortisone - a hormone used in certain medicines - increases the risk of acute pancreatitis. The results are published in the scientific journal JAMA Internal Medicine. According to the researchers, they suggest that patients treated with cortisone in some forms should be informed of the risks and advised to refrain from alcohol and smoking.