A recent study carried out at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN reveals that small breast tumors of less than 2 cm in size can easily be detected by a dual-headed gamma camera set up for molecular breast imaging (MBI). The study is published in the December issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology. Lead author of the study Carrie B. Hruska MD and his colleagues have developed a dual-head MBI system using 2 cadmium zinc telluride detectors to concurrently attain opposing breast views and reduce lesion-to-detector distance.

Mayo Clinic researchers gave a presentation 12/11/08 at the 31st annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium that further confirms the importance of the liver enzyme CYP2D6 in individualizing tamoxifen dosing in breast cancer patients. Tamoxifen is often prescribed to block the effects of estrogen in breast tissue preventing breast cancer recurrence in ER+ (estrogen receptor positive) cancers which require estrogen to grow and spread.

Mayo Clinic report: Statins ok in rituxan users

Mayo Clinic researchers have published a paper outlining a risk-adapted strategy to treating CLL. This is the first trial asking whether some patients with the disease are better served by taking chemotherapy soon after diagnosis or waiting. CLL is an abbreviation of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. This illness is characterized by an overproduction of white blood cells known as lymphocytes. The disease probably starts out as an abnormal activation of the immune system by some stimulus probably infectious agents.

A malignant growth of cells in the large intestine is called colorectal cancer or Rectal Cancer.  People over the age of 50 have the higher risk of getting this disease.  In the United States this is the fourth most common cause of caner in men and women.  Colon cancer develops from the abnormal growths called polyps and can be detected by radiography.  If detected early the disease is curable.

Popular rheumatoid arthritis drugs which work by blocking a protein linked with inflammation have been shown to not raise the overall cancer risk according to new information from Spanish researchers released on Saturday. The medication in question known as TNF blockers suppress the immune system through a blockade of activity of an inflammatory protein known as tumor necrosis factor.

The 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Orlando saw several studies presented relating to the efficacy and safety of using probiotics in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Probiotics were found both to alleviate symptoms and help normalize the frequency of bowel movements for patients suffering diarrhea or constipation relating to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Dr. Paul Moayyedi and colleagues of several universities undertook a meta-analysis which was then presented at the ACG Annual Scientific meeting in Orlando.

Patients who are obese have a higher incidence of cardiovascular risk related factors. These have been shown to be improved following bariatric surgery. However it still remains unclear if bariatric surgery lowers the risk of long-standing risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota performed a methodical study of research that was already published and the cardiovascular risk model utilized in a previously published validation cohort.

A study expected to be unveiled at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Breast Cancer Symposium says that women who receive an MRI after an initial diagnosis of breast cancer are delaying their treatment and are more likely to require a mastectomy rather than some other type of breast conserving surgical intervention. In spite of this very clear evidence regarding the benefits of MRI the authors of the study say that the use of the MRI is definitely on the rise. "There was no rhyme or reason as to when MRIs are being used " said the author of the study Dr. Richard J.

A newly developed scoring system that will help to assess the patients risk of death after undergoing angioplasty has been confirmed as effective according to the researchers at the Mayo Clinic who were the developers of the new system. The MCRS or the Mayo Clinic Risk Score used just seven very simple and non invasive methods to help them predict the death risk for the patient after undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention which is the most often used method of heart revascularization that is done in the United States today. In 2005 alone US physicians did more than a million PCI's.