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“The Cutting Edge of Science Fact and Science Possibilities”
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Good Morning, TGIF

Today’s articles deal with Artic Sea Ice Coverage,
New ovarian cancer treatment and Genetic profile
linked with cleft palate. Enjoy and Have A Great
Weekend.
Until Monday,
Erin

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        NASA: Arctic sea ice at 2008 low point

The U.S. space agency says satellite data shows Arctic
sea ice coverage appears to have reached its lowest
extent for 2008. The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration and the National Snow and Ice Data Center
in Boulder, Colo., said the sea ice coverage is the
second-lowest amount seen since the dawn of the satel-
lite era. “While slightly above the record-low minimum
set Sept. 16, 2007, this season further reinforces the
strong negative trend in summer sea ice extent observed
during the past 30 years,” NASA said in a statement.
“Before last year, the previous record low for September
was set in 2005. In March, when the Arctic reached its
annual maximum sea ice coverage during the winter, scien-
tists from NASA and the data center reported thick, older
sea ice was continuing to decline. According to NASA-
processed satellite microwave data, that perennial ice
used to cover 50 percent to 60 percent of the Arctic, but
this winter it covered less than 30 percent. Perennial
sea ice is the long-lived layer of ice that remains even
when the surrounding short-lived seasonal sea ice melts
to its minimum extent during the summer. The National
Snow and Ice Data Center will issue an analysis of the
possible causes behind this year’s Arctic sea ice con-
ditions during the first week of October.

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       New ovarian cancer treatment is developed

A U.S. scientist says a combination of the new drug tra-
bectedin with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin provides
clinical benefit for relapsed ovarian cancer. University
of California-Irvine Associate Professor Bradley Monk
said the combination, which does not include a platinum
drug, challenges the current standard of treatment for
women whose cancer recurs at least 6 months after first-
line treatment. “This trial, which included almost two-
thirds such women, challenges this traditional paradigm
and suggests that a non-platinum doublet is also effec-
tive in this setting,” he said. “Trabectedin represents
a new chemical entity in North America and, if approved
by the FDA, would be an important new option for women
with recurrent ovarian cancer.” Trabectedin, a synthetic
version of a compound first isolated from sea-squirts,
has been granted marketing approval in Europe for the
treatment of patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma.
Monk made the statement in Stockholm, Sweden, while pre-
senting his study during the 33rd Congress of the
European Society for Medical Oncology.

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       Genetic profile linked with cleft palate

U.S. researchers say they have identified a series of
genetic mutations that appear linked with significant
risk for cleft palate and other dental disorders. The
University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine
researchers said cleft palate and similar abnormal-
ities are devastating conditions that cause tremendous
social isolation, and are associated with decreased
lifespan, a higher risk of cancer and increased suscept-
ibility to psychiatric disorders. Dr. Alexandre Vieira,
an assistant professor, led the researchers who collect-
ed and evaluated genetic material from the saliva and
blood of more than 500 individuals in families with two
or more siblings affected with cleft lip or palate, and
an additional 100 people from unrelated families whose
samples were used for general population comparison
data. “We found a group of more than a dozen gene muta-
tions that appear to be significantly associated with
cleft lip and palate, as well as other dental abnormal-
ities — predominantly at the locations for ERBB2, CDH2
and IRF6,” said Vieira. “Here we report, for the first
time, an extensive candidate gene analysis for cleft
susceptibility — a crucial step that may allow for
better estimates of recurrence risk in individual
families.” The findings appear in the journal Gene-
tics in Medicine.

Tags: causes, links, treatments

This entry was posted on Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 12:01 am and is filed under Newsletters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.