Malaysian medicine cuts chemo resistance

MONTREAL (UPI) -- A Canadian, U.S. and Austrian study has discovered a Malaysian folk medication reduces resistance to cancer chemotherapy treatments.

McGill University researchers said the study focused on a class of natural products known as cyclopenta benzofuran flavaglines, or CBFs. Working with mice genetically modified to mimic human leukemias, they found the CBF compound silvestrol can make tumors susceptible to the killing effects of anticancer drugs.

Silvestrol is a natural compound derived from a large genus of trees and shrubs found in Malaysia, South China and some Pacific islands, the scientists said. It's been used in Malaysian folk medicine for generations, but never as a cancer therapy.

The researchers cautioned trials in humans and possible treatments are still many years away.

The results of the study that included Boston University, the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the University of Vienna and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute are published in the June issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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Minimally invasive surgery reduces risks

SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists say a new study shows laparoscopic surgery reduces the risk of nosocomial infections by 52 percent when compared with open surgery.

Ethicon End-Surgery Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, conducted a retrospective study of more than 11,000 patients undergoing one of three surgical procedures: hysterectomy, cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) and appendectomy. The researchers said they found laparoscopic surgery was associated with reduction of the risk of nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections during gallbladder removal by 66 percent, and during hysterectomy by 52 percent compared with open surgery.

The study showed the reduction rates of nosocomial infections during laparoscopic appendectomy were not statistically significant.

"This study gives more definitive evidence that laparoscopic surgery reduces the risk of nosocomial infection compared to open surgery, which may lead to improved patient care and potential reductions in costs to the healthcare system, " said Dr. Andrew Brill, director of minimally invasive gynecology at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, one of the lead investigators of the study.

The research appears in the journal Surgical Endoscopy.

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Copyright 2008 by United Press International