Teams of investigators are at work throughout the College of Medicine, working to understand the basic science behind an array of diseases and conditions and discovering effective preventions, treatments and cures.
The third most commonly diagnosed cancer, which
claims tens of thousands of lives in the United States each year, starts
with intestinal growths, or polyps on the lining of the colon. In a recent
clinical trial, the Arizona Cancer Center's Eugene Gerner, PhD, and other
researchers found that a two-drug therapy reduced the risk of recurrent
colorectal polyps by as much as 95 percent. Stopping the polyps could
mean stopping the cancer.
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Understanding that rheumatoid arthritis comes in more than one form, researchers at the Arizona Arthritis Center are studying blood samples of patients who showed improvement during a recent clinical trial of a synthetic peptide. They hope to determine why these patients are more susceptible than others to the peptide by identifying genetic markers, thus enabling rheumatologists to personalize medications for an individual's particular type of RA. This research, led by AAC Director Salvatore Albani, MD, PhD, is expected to improve treatment for adults and for patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, as well, by making medications more effective with fewer side effects.
Neuroscience researchers at the UA suspect that cells found in the retina of a patient with Parkinson's can offer promise for treating the disease. Brian McKay, PhD, a UA assistant professor of ophthalmology and vision science and cell biology and anatomy, is studying the transplantation of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells to transplant RPE cells into the brains of patients with Parkinson's. Read more »
After decades of updates in the CPR guidelines failed to improve survival rates for victims of cardiac arrest, researchers at the UA Sarver Heart Center pioneered a new form of CPR. Emphasizing minimally interrupted chest compressions, the new protocol has been shown to increase survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by 300 percent. Read more »
Individuals with degenerative joint disease, or osteoarthritis, one day may find relief in their own fat. John Szivek, PhD, of the Arizona Arthritis Center, has been investigating methods of growing replacement cartilage for damaged or diseased joints. Hoping to make artificial joint replacements obsolete, he has developed a method of harvesting stem cells from a patient's fat, converting them to cartilage cells and implanting them in the affected joint to grow new cartilage. Read more »
Getting older and fatter are events known to contribute to increased heart disease, but researchers don't understand all the reasons for these associations. UA immunologists have identified one culprit, immune dysfunction, which is part of the aging process, and have patented novel peptides from the immune cells that can significantly normalize immune function in the aged. It supports a theory being studied at the UA that immune dysfunction promotes heart failure. Read more »
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