Posted on Wed, May 16, 2012
Interesting article addressing this question is now available as "Full Free Text" from Clin Cancer Res Published OnlineFirst April 29, 2011.
Original summary on MDLinx:
Holdhoff M et al. –Mutant tumor-specific DNA can be detected beyond the visible tumor margin, but never beyond 4 mm, even in patients whose tumors were larger prior to chemotherapy. These data provide a rational basis for determining the extent of surgical excision required in patients undergoing resection of liver metastases.
Methods
- Evaluated 88 samples of tumor margins from 12 patients with metastatic colon cancer who each underwent partial hepatectomy of one to 6 liver metastases
- Punch biopsies of surrounding liver tissue obtained at 4, 8, 12 and 16 mm from the tumor border
- DNA from these biopsies analyzed by sensitive PCR-based technique, called BEAMing, for mutations of KRAS, PIK3CA, APC, or TP53 identified in corresponding tumor
Results
- Mutations were identified in each patient's resected tumor and used to analyze the 88 samples circumscribing the tumor-normal border
- Tumor-specific mutant DNA was detectable in surrounding liver tissue in five of these 88 samples, all within 4 mm of the tumor border
- Biopsies 8, 12, and 16 mm from macroscopic visible margin were devoid of detectable mutant tumor DNA as well as of microscopically visible cancer cells
- Tumors with significant radiologic response to chemotherapy were not associated with any increase in mutant tumor DNA in beyond 4 mm of main tumor
Read the full article
here.
Posted on Mon, May 14, 2012
FDA issues drug safety annoucement for multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya (fingolimod).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed its evaluation of a report of a patient who died after the first dose of multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya (fingolimod). The agency also has evaluated additional clinical trial and postmarket data for Gilenya, including reports of patients who died of cardiovascular events or unknown causes. FDA could not definitively conclude that Gilenya was related to any of the deaths (see Data Summary, below). However, based on its reevaluation of the data, FDA remains concerned about the cardiovascular effects of Gilenya after the first dose. Data show that, although the maximum heart rate lowering effect of Gilenya usually occurs within 6 hours of the first dose, the maximum effect may occur as late as 20 hours after the first dose in some patients (See Data Summary).
For this reason, Gilenya is now contraindicated (FDA advises against its use) in patients with certain pre-existing or recent (within last 6 months) heart conditions or stroke, or who are taking certain antiarrhythmic medications. See CONTRAINDICATION section of the drug label.
FDA continues to recommend that all patients starting Gilenya be monitored for signs of a slow heart rate (bradycardia) for at least 6 hours after the first dose. FDA is now recommending hourly pulse and blood pressure measurement for all patients starting Gilenya. Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) testing should be performed prior to dosing and at the end of the observation period. Cardiovascular monitoring should continue until any symptoms resolve.
Read full release here.
Posted on Mon, May 07, 2012
Smartest Doc Challenge Winners
We are happy to announce the Smartest Doc winners in April:
Top 10 Smartest Docs in March:
| Quiz |
Winner |
| Top 10 Smartest Diabetes Experts |
Dr. Barry Vance (PA), Dr. Pedro Maldonado (PR), Dr. Patrick Lau (FL), Dr. Egils Bogdanovics (CT), Dr. Diane Minich (OH), Dr. Edward Supinski (FL), Dr. Bac Nguyen (NJ), Dr. Valentine Chikwendu (ND), Dr. Paul Weissman (NJ), Dr. Robert Fink (VA) |
| Top 10 Smartest Family Physicians |
Dr. Glen Kishi (AZ), Dr. Alvaro Jarquin (FL), Dr. Harold Fields (TX), Dr. Charles Lattuada (AL), Dr. James Weiss (ID), Dr. Kabet Sterk (MI), Dr. Mary East (GA), Dr. Lizbeth Porter (NM), Dr. William Hernandez (CT), Dr. Robert Borgman (IA) |
| Top 10 Smartest Internists |
Dr. Bamidele Ajibola (GA), Dr. Mike Lemay (CT), Dr. T. F. Tenczynski (TX), Dr. Elizabeth Andes (MO), Dr. David Gurka (IL), Dr. James Hanley (TX), Dr. Malek Al-Omary (TN), Dr. Michael Butler (NJ), Dr. Ira Willner (SC), Dr. Dominic Mazzocchi (NJ) |
| Top 10 Smartest Neurologists |
Dr. Hrayr Attarian (IL), Dr. Sander Bergman (WA), Dr. Linda Percy (PA), Dr. Michael Marmura (PA), Dr. Janet Lin-Torre (NJ), Dr. Lydia Weisser (MS), Dr. Daryl Watson (PA), Dr. Charles Baber (GA), Dr. Muaiad Kittaneh (FL), Dr. Neal Prakash (CA) |
| Top 10 Smartest Oncologists |
Dr. George Bahadue (FL), Dr. Hassan Ghazal (KY), Dr. Sumit Gaur (TX), Dr. Harry Yu (AL), Dr. Stan Schinke (CA), Dr. John Leighton (PA), Dr. Subhash Proothi (PA), Dr. Indermohan Sandhu (OH), Dr. Nasfat Shehadeh (OH), Dr. Evan Slater (CA) |
| Top 10 Smartest Pediatricians |
Dr. Kathleen Parente (VA), Dr. Andreas Sideridis (VA), Dr. Kathlene Waller (CO), Dr. Mark Patterson (VA), Dr. David Doyle (MA), Dr. Ernest Bertha (FL), Dr. Joseph Mahgerefteh (NY), Dr. Dana Leary (MI), Dr. Terry Brenneman (NC), Dr. Cindy Juster (GA) |
Compete in May
Take the Smartest Doc in America quiz today and pit your knowledge against other health care professionals in the US! Go to http://thesmartestdoc.com, login with your MDLinx login/password information, and start playing today for your chance to win !
Posted on Sun, May 06, 2012
Based on a
meta-analysis conducted by the Drug-Eluting Stent in Primary Angioplasty Cooperation, sirolimus- and paclitaxel-eluting stents (DES) were associated with decreased target vessel revascularization than bare metal stents (BMS) in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for STEMI (12.7% vs. 20.1%). The analysis involved 11 of 13 randomized trials and included 6298 and 2318 patients who received DES and BMS, respectively. After a mean follow-up of 1201 days, there was also decreased mortality, reinfarction, and stent thrombosis in the DES recipients.
Posted on Wed, May 02, 2012
MDLinx is proud to announce our collaboration with Cleveland Clinic on The Smartest Doc!
As a Smartest Doc player, you’re already familiar with the educational value of our daily quizzes. Now, Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Continuing Education will provide questions and related content for Smartest Internist and Smartest Family Physician quizzes!
This collaboration will enhance your Smartest Doc experience and increase the competitive spirit of the daily quiz.
Play today’s quiz, then let us know what you think!
From the Pressroom:
Washington, DC, April 2, 2012 – MDLinx (www.mdlinx.com), one of the nation’s top physician websites, and Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Continuing Education today announced an agreement to collaborate on “The SmartestDoc,” MDLinx’s unique and fast-growing educational quiz product. The SmartestDoc quiz is played every day by Internists, Family Physicians, Oncologists, Pediatricians, Diabetes Experts, and Neurologists. Cleveland Clinic will provide quiz questions and related content for Internal and Family Medicine physicians. Physicians can visit The SmartestDoc at www.mdlinx.com/smartestdoc.
“This is an exciting development for The SmartestDoc,” said Stephen Smith, Chief Marketing Officer for M3 USA, the owner of MDLinx. ”Cleveland Clinic is highly recognized for their top-tier medicine and education. Including their educational content in The SmartestDoc will help us ensure the highest-quality product, and will add to the already excellent education that SmartestDoc offers busy physicians.”
“Our experience shows that physicians learn in many different ways, and use different methods to keep up with medical knowledge,” said William D. Carey, M.D., director of Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Continuing Education. “SmartestDoc takes advantage of emerging technology. Our principal role in this collaboration is to ensure that high quality, up-to-date clinical information is at the core of this experience. This collaboration will allow Cleveland Clinic to share more educational content with physicians to get speedy, evidence-based clinical information."
MDLinx provides physicians up-to-date information on new developments in medical treatments. Recognized by ComScore as the #2 and fastest-growing physician website and by Oncology Business Review as the #1 visited site for U.S. oncologists, MDLinx also has a growing number of vertical specialization areas including Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Diabetes, Neurology, and Pediatrics.
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. It was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. About 2,800 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 11,000 nurses represent 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic Health System includes a main campus near downtown Cleveland, eight community hospitals and 15 Family Health Centers in Northeast Ohio, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Cleveland Clinic Canada, and opening in 2013, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. In 2010, there were 4 million visits throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system and 155,000 hospital admissions. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 100 countries. Visit us at www.ccfcme.org.
Follow us at www.twitter.com/ClevelandClinic.
Posted on Fri, Apr 27, 2012
Medical Job Postings - Search Candidates
Post a Medical Job
Post a single job or many! Unlimited job posting packages available.
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Search through new and current CVs from physicians and other medical professionals in the U.S.
750,000 unique monthly visitors! Over 11 million monthly page views!
Established in 1999, MDLinx is an award-winning, practical tool that busy physicians and healthcare professionals use to stay up to date with the latest research in the medical field. The company aggregates medical articles and research from more than 2,000 peer-reviewed journals and leading news media on a daily basis. Our physician editors sort this content into 32 medical specialty sites, 36 patient sites, and more than 800 subspecialty sections, all available online. Recognized by ComScore as the #2 and fastest-growing physician website and by Oncology Business Review as the #1 specialist site, MDLinx also has a growing number of vertical areas including Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Diabetes, Neurology, and Pediatrics.
In addition to the MDLinx Career Center, current physician product offerings include The M3 Global Research + Epocrates Difference with a combined panel of more than 1.7 million verified, worldwide physicians differentiated into more than 800 subspecialties. M3 Messages, which, in an era of plummeting access to physicians, uniquely reengages busy clinical practitioners with brand messaging, renews the rep-to-physician connection, and reaches "low-see/no-see" physicians. And, The Smartest Doc, a daily quiz competition played by over 25,000 physicians that makes the need to keep current more fun. Thousands of quiz questions are available for self-directed continuing medical education, ensuring users regularly return to MDLinx.
For more information please contact our Recruitment Advertising Department
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Posted on Fri, Apr 27, 2012
The Smartest Dermatologist Challenge from MDLinx is here. Don’t miss your opportunity to start competing against your peers for the coveted title of Smartest Dermatologist in America.
What is The Smartest Dermatologist in America?
A 1-minute quiz to test and sharpen your Dermatology IQ – and let you compete vs your peers.
Why compete to be The Smartest Dermatologist in America?
It’s fast, fun and useful! Get an instant ranking to see how your speed and accuracy compares with that of your colleagues.
What’s in it for you?
Winners get national recognition on the website and in the daily player newsletters.
How and what can you win?
Earn points for each quiz you take. US physicians with the highest points will be recognized each month, and receive personalized awards or certificates.
What is the Super Bowl of Dermatology?
A team competition that allows you to play with up to 4 of your Smartest friends or colleagues against other teams. Your individual quiz scores are combined with your teammates’ scores and standings are updated live on the Team Leaderboards.
Where do I Play?
Simply click here
Posted on Sun, Apr 22, 2012
As published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health have reported that tanning bed exposure during the high school and college years is associated with an increased risk of basal cell carcinoma (BCC; HR=1.73) compared to tanning bed exposure between the ages of 25 and 35 years (HR=1.28). During a 20-year follow-up of 73,494 female nurses with tanning bed exposure during high school/college or between 25 and 35 years of age, 5,506, 403, and 349 developed BCC, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and melanoma, respectively. The HRs for BCC, SCC, and melanoma for tanning bed use (4x/y) were 1.15, 1.15, and 1.11, respectively. Compared to nurses with tanning bed use (6x/y) between the ages of 25 and 35 years (HR=1.28), high school/college exposure was associated with increased risk (HR=1.73). Tanning bed exposure increases the risk of BCC, especially when the exposure is at a younger age.
Posted on Mon, Apr 16, 2012
In a
study (Diagnosing Ovarian Cancer Early [DOvE]) funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, women
> 50 years of age with symptoms of ovarian cancer were offered CA-125 and transvaginal ultrasound screening. Of 1455 women enrolled in the DOvE study, 11 invasive ovarian cancers were diagnosed, 9 of which were high-grade serous cancers (HGSCs). This corresponds to a prevalence of 1 in 132 women, which is 10-fold higher than reported rates. The women in the DOvE study were generally younger, better educated, and English-speaking, compared to clinic patients. Further, the women in the DOvE study had decreased tumor burden and were more likely to have complete resections than clinic patients (73% vs. 44%). Because 78% of the HGSCs originated outside the ovaries, the CA-125 levels were not as highly elevated as clinic patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and the ovaries had an essentially normal appearance on sonography, the authors recommend focusing on low-volume disease rather than early-stage disease.
Posted on Wed, Apr 11, 2012
Time to start thinking about Asthma camps
Now that winter is moving into Spring, it is time to start thinking about sending some of your young asthma patients to an asthma camp. These camps were set up for children with asthma who might not be able to go to a regular camp; the reasons for this could be: animal allergies (i.e., horses); or the fact that their asthma might flare up due to the physical activities at the camp; or the asthma may worsen with the exposure to... Read more
Read more asthma arrticles in Pulmonology at MDLinx