Scientists have discovered that the spleen, long consigned to the B-list of abdominal organs and known as much for its metaphoric as its physiological value, plays a more important role in the body’s defense system than anyone suspected.Reporting in the current issue of the…

Injecting oxygen into cancerous tumours significantly boosts the chances of recovery, a ground-breaking study has revealed. Scientists at Oxford University found slightly increasing the supply strengthened blood vessels in cancer cells, making chemotherapy more effective. Cells which are damaged and weak had a constricted…

A cancer vaccine with a twist is making headway in clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Rather than targeting a cancer-related virus–the way Gardasil targets human papillomavirus to prevent some cervical cancers–the new vaccine triggers the immune system to attack…

One of Britain’s leading eye experts has developed a technique to reverse the disabling effects of age-related macular degeneration AMD, which leaves many older people unable to read, drive or live independently, and eventually robs them of sight in one or both eyes. Professor…

Australian scientists have developed a “trojan horse” therapy to combat cancer, using a bacterially-derived nano cell to penetrate and disarm the cancer cell before a second nano cell kills it with chemotherapy drugs. The “trojan horse” therapy has the potential to directly target cancer…

For decades scientists have known that people with Down syndrome, who have an extra copy of chromosome 21, get certain types of cancer at dramatically lower rates than normal. Now, partly by using stem cells derived from the skin of an individual with Down…

What if checking for cancer was as easy as a pregnancy test? Soon, it will be. Catching cancer early is the most crucial step to providing effective and proactive treatment against it. But most folks won’t undergo expensive and inconvenient testing until symptoms start…

Big news in the medical world: scientists in Australia have found a way to stop the body from attacking organ transplants, greatly decreasing the possibility of organ rejection. The last major hurdle of transplantations is the body itself. When a new tissue is introduced, one’s immune…

Swedish children who live in homes with vinyl floors are more likely to have autism, according to a new study, but what’s behind the link is unclear. Children who live in homes with vinyl floors, which can emit chemicals called phthalates, are more likely…

One of the greatest hopes in the medical research community is that tissues will one day be grown and implanted into the human body to replace aging or defective tissues and organs. Now researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory…