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More Camden, N.J., Residents Using Needle Exchange Programs
A pilot needle exchange program in Camden, N.J., - one of four in the state - "was off to a slow start" when it began 18 months ago, but "now, 976 drug users have registered with the program - more people than those at the other pilot sites in Atlantic City, Newark or Paterson," the Cherry Hill Courier-Post reports. "In Camden, 854 people are living with HIV/AIDS, the eighth-highest number among New Jersey municipalities, according to the latest data from the state Department of Health and Senior Services. About a third of them were infected by dirty needles," the Courier-Post reports. Bob Baxter, who oversees Newark"s program, said needle exchanges provide "the most immediate benefit at the cheapest cost," in reducing the spread of blood-borne diseases. "While there"s no way to count the number of people who are no longer sharing needles because of the program, organizers say they hope to see their success correlate to lowered communicable disease rates," the article states (Hirsch, 7/20).
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Farmed Fish May Pose Risk For Mad Cow Disease
University of Louisville neurologist Robert P. Friedland, M.D., questions the safety of eating farmed fish in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer"s Disease, adding a new worry to concerns about the nation"s food supply.
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Existing Parkinson's Disease Drug May Fight Drug-Resistant TB
Existing drugs used in the treatment of Parkinson"s disease could be repositioned for use in the treatment of extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis, which kills about 2 million people each year, according to a study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego. The rise of these strains of TB throughout the world, including industrialized countries, poses a great threat to human health.
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Cooperativity Of TMPRSS2-ERGwith PI3-Kinase Pathway Activation In Prostate Oncogenesis

UroToday.com - Two papers in the May 5, 2009 edition of Nature Genetics link ERG chromosomal gene translocations with loss of PTEN and the PI3-kinase pathway in the early stages of prostate cancer (CaP) progression. Both are reviewed by Urotoday. In this paper from the group of Dr. Charles Sawyers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, transgenic mouse models are used to study The TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene, the most common chromosomal rearrangement found in localized prostate cancer (CaP) tumors. The authors point out the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene is not common in PIN, even when adjacent to fusion positive prostate cells. The investigators designed TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene constructs, and identified methionine 40 in the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion as the principle start site for ERG expression. This construct was controlled by the probasin promoter and 17 transgene-positive founder mice were generated, with 4 showing stable germline transmission of the transgene. Two lines were expanded and the prostates from the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene mice were harvested at 2, 6, 12 and 14 months and compared with littermate controls. In the TMPRSS2-ERG mice, no PIN or CaP was found, suggesting that TMPRSS2-ERG is by itself insufficient to initiate CaP and those interactions with other oncogenes are needed. They evaluated 121 human tumors for alterations in PTEN and MYC by array-based comparative genomic hybridization. Tumors with PTEN loss were highly enriched for ERG rearrangement. MYC amplification was not associated with ERG rearrangement. TMPRSS2-ERG mice crossed with PTEN mice all demonstrated PIN at 6 months of age. TMPRSS2-ERG mice were crossed with prostate specific AKT transgenic mice, which develop low grade PIN but not invasive cancer. All bigenic mice developed cancer. These observations along with those of the Carver paper suggest that cooperativity between PI3K-pathway activation and ERG aberration result in PIN but additional events are required for the development of invasive cancer. King JC, Xu J, Wongvipat J, Hieronymus H, Carver BS, Leung DH, Taylor BS, Sander C, Cardiff RD, Couto SS, Gerald WL, Sawyers CL Nat Genet. 2009 May; 41(5):524-6 doi: 10.1038/ng.371 Written by UroToday.com Contributing Editor Christopher P. Evans, MD, FACS UroToday - the only urology website with original content written by global urology key opinion leaders actively engaged in clinical practice. To access the latest urology news releases from UroToday, go to: www.urotoday.com Copyright © 2009 - UroToday


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