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New Imaging Technique: Toward Spinal Cord Regeneration?
The axon is a part of the neuron through which nerve impulses are transmitted, and at the end of which is located the synapse, which connects it to another neuron. In the event of a lesion, the axon is the component which must be regenerated in order to restore the connections between the different neurons and re-form the nerve.

Obama Highlights Health Care Reform Progress In Weekly Address
In his weekly radio and Internet address, President Obama discussed efforts by congressional leaders and health care industry groups on health care reform legislation, The Hill reports. He said that "while there remains a great deal of difficult work ahead, I am heartened by what we have seen these past few days: a willingness of those with different points of view and disparate interests to come together around common goals -- to embrace a shared sense of responsibility and make historic progress" (Youngman, The Hill, 5/16). He said, "I have always believed that it is better to talk than not to talk, that it is far more productive to reach over a divide than to shake your fist across it," which has "been an alien notion in Washington for far too long, but we are seeing that the ways of Washington are beginning to change."In the Republican radio and Internet address. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), a cardiovascular surgeon, said that a "government takeover of health care will put bureaucrats in charge of health care decisions that should be made by families and doctors." He added, "It will limit treatment options and lead to rationed care," and "to pay for government health care, your taxes will be raised." Boustany, a member of the House Republican Health Care Solutions Group, said, "That is something we cannot support, and frankly, it would clearly violate some of the principles the president himself has endorsed" (Superville, AP/Washington Post, 5/16). In related news, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag on Sunday said on CNN"s "State of the Union" that the administration might support taxing health care benefits to health pay for health care reform (Barr, Politico, 5/17). Timeline
News of the day
Altus Pharmaceuticals Reports Dosing First Patient In A Phase 2 Trial Of ALTU-238 For Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency
Altus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTU) announced that patient dosing in its Phase 2 trial for ALTU-238 in growth hormone deficiency pediatric subjects began on June 2, 2009. ALTU-238 is a long-acting, extended-release formulation of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH, somatropin), which is being developed utilizing Altus" proprietary protein crystallization technology. ALTU-238 is a ready-to-use liquid suspension of crystallized rhGH that preserves the structure of the rhGH molecule without the need for pegylation, polymerization, or encapsulation and enables administration through a fine gauge needle. The Phase 2 ALTU-238 pediatric trial is being conducted in approximately 18 clinical sites in the U.S. and targets enrolling 36 growth hormone deficient pediatric patients. ALTU-238 has been studied in a series of Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies in healthy and GH deficiency adults.
Oncology

Dialing Up The Degrees To Fight Cancer

"My wish is simple, but I wouldn"t have given it a second thought this time last year," Joe Castelli said as his eyes welled up with tears. "I want to see my children grow up. I have two daughters who are nine and seven." This longing began soon after he felt pain on his left side last summer. After taking Ibuprofen for a couple of weeks, his physician did a CAT scan. Looking back, Castelli remembers hearing, "There is a spot we are worried about." The day after Thanksgiving he had his diagnosis: stage 4 pancreatic cancer. "I was stunned. First I experienced disbelief, then just fear," said Castelli, a 41-year-old marathon runner. "My next step was to take control of my treatment options." Using the group called Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Castelli and his wife, who live in Ohio, learned about thermal therapy to fight cancer. At the Center for Thermal Therapy Cancer Treatment at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Castelli found Joan Bull, M.D., professor of oncology. "Thermal therapy is using heat. We"re evoking what the body does to defend itself," says Bull. "When the body is heated, a danger signal is sent to your immune cells to go out and multiple and destroy the invader." After various tests in January, Castelli was approved as a candidate for Bull"s Phase 2 clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health. The center is currently accepting patients with the following stage 4 cancers: small cell lung, non-small cell, neuroendocrine, pancreatic, gastric, breast, endometrial and cervical cancers. Bull"s recent research on thermal therapy is published in the December 2008 issue of the International Journal of Hyperthermia. "God knows what I would be doing now if I hadn"t made it into the study," said Castelli. His only other option for thermal therapy was to travel to Germany. In the United States, Bull"s clinical trial is the only one approved for pancreatic cancer. By April, Castelli had received two treatments of chemotherapy along with thermal therapy at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center as part of the therapy. Once inside a heavy-duty sleeping bag, he was warmed by infrared heat lamps to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, which is equivalent to a high fever, all while under a light sedation. "I would be tired for the first few days after the treatment, but I sure did feel better. Before I went to Dr. Bull, the cancer had already caused me to lose about 25 pounds. In just one month following my first thermal therapy treatment, I gained 10 pounds," said Castelli. "Preliminary research has shown that heat increases the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs in fighting tumors," Bull said. "The heat also jumpstarts the immune system just like a normal fever does when you are sick." Recently, imaging showed that Castelli"s tumor on his pancreas has been reduced by about one-third. He will be back to continue his treatments in May. "My goal is to live for the next 14 years so I can see my youngest daughter turn 21," said Castelli in a voice filled with emotion. "I am headed in the right direction." University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston


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