A genetically targeted drug aimed at the BRAF mutation shrank tumors in 80 percent of metastatic melanoma patients in a study led by Keith T. Flaherty, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. Only two FDA-approved drugs currently treat the metastatic disease.
Laura King
Drug
Study: Herpes Drugs Don't Cause Birth Defects
Antivirals such as acyclovir, valacyclovir and famciclovir reduce the severity and duration of herpes symptoms and can suppress outbreaks, but their safety in the first trimester of pregnancy is poorly documented. About 2 in 1,000 US pregnancies are exposed to them in the first trimester.
Miscellaneous
Effective ADHD Treatment: CBT and Medication
Steven Safren's team randomized 86 adults already taking ADHD medication and found that twelve 50-minute sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy improved symptoms more than relaxation and generalized educational support, letting patients live and work more effectively.
Autoimmune Diseases
Mutation: HIV's Achilles' Heel
Rather than slowing HIV's rapid mutation, University of Minnesota researchers tried speeding it up. Screening FDA-approved drugs, they found the cancer drugs decitabine and gemcitabine together cut HIV infectivity by 73% in lab tissue, at concentrations with minimal antiviral activity alone.
Autoimmune Diseases
Controversy Surrounds Link Between CFS and HIV
Researchers from NIH, FDA and Harvard Medical School report in PNAS finding gene sequences from MRV-related viruses in the blood cells of 33 of 37 chronic fatigue syndrome patients, against 3 of 44 healthy people. Four earlier studies had failed to confirm a 2009 Science report of such a link.
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