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ASGS Issues Position Statement Supporting TIF Natural Orifice Surgery For GERD
EndoGastric Solutions (EGS), the recognized leader in the emerging field of Natural Orifice Surgery (NOS), announced that the American Society of General Surgeons (ASGS) has published a position statement endorsing its Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF) procedure for the treatment of GERD. ASGS is the preeminent society of general surgeons with membership exceeding 2,000.
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New Ovarian Transplant Technique Could Expand Use Of Procedure To Preserve Fertility
Two recent advancements in ovarian transplant techniques could potentially expand the availability of the procedure for women seeking to avoid fertility problems as they age, researchers reported Monday at a meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, the AP/Yahoo! News reports. According to the AP/Yahoo! News, ovary transplants traditionally have been performed on women with cancer as a method of preserving fertility after chemotherapy or other treatments that can affect the reproductive system. The procedure involves removing the ovaries before treatment and re-implanting them after treatment is complete. Because only a handful of these procedures have been successful, ovarian transplants have been an option only for women with serious diseases. However, as more women delay having children until their 30s or 40s, researchers say the new techniques, in theory, could make it simpler for healthy younger women to have an ovary removed, frozen and then re-implanted later in life when they are ready to have children.The first study examined how many eggs were lost or preserved in fresh and frozen ovarian tissue of 15 young women prior to the start of cancer treatment. According to the study, there was no difference in the quantity of eggs in the fresh tissue and in the ovaries frozen using a new ultra-fast technique. The study found that about 50% of a woman"s eggs were lost using the traditional, slow-freezing methods of preserving the ovaries.The second study reported on a new surgical technique to restore an ovary"s function after transplantation. For the study, Pascal Piver of Limoges University Hospital and colleagues divided the transplant process into two separate procedures in an attempt to more quickly re-establish blood and hormone supplies to the ovary. In the first procedure, the researchers performed a graft of small pieces of ovarian tissue to prompt blood vessels to grow. They performed the ovary transplant three days later. The technique was successful in a woman who lost fertility because of treatment for sickle cell anemia.Sherman Silber, director of the St. Louis Infertility Center in Missouri and a researcher for the first study, said the new techniques "could dramatically expand our reproductive life span." He added, "This is not an experimental procedure for cancer patients anymore. The question is whether more women should be able to have this option" (Cheng, AP/Yahoo! News, 6/29).
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Abbott HIV Test Demonstrates Earlier Disease Detection
Research presented at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry annual meeting shows that an assay developed by Abbott for simultaneous detection of both HIV antigens and antibodies reduced the detection window by zero to nine days in this study compared to HIV antibody-only assays. Earlier detection was shown on four of the five panels tested.
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AltheaDx Receives CLIA Certification

AltheaDx, a world leader in the development of companion diagnostics and biopharma services, announced that they have successfully passed the State of California survey for CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) certification. AltheaDx is offering high-quality patient and biopharma molecular testing services from their state-of-the-art, GMP, GLP, and now CLIA compliant facility located in the Sorrento Valley, San Diego. "We are excited about the addition of clinical laboratory testing to the suite of services in our offering," said David Macdonald, CEO of AltheaDx. "We are now able to extend our success into later stage clinical trials and provide broader market access for our assays. Our CLIA certification is an important milestone in realizing our strategy of bringing theranostics into clinical use." AltheaDx provides its customers with a full range of molecular biopharma services: from biomarker discovery, clinical studies, diagnostic translation, through to reporting clinical results. AltheaDx will immediately provide clinical genotyping services from their CLIA certified laboratory for the K-RAS gene, along with a menu of other high-value molecular tests. K-RAS testing allows clinicians to screen patients for mutations in the K-RAS gene, which are found in 35-45% of metastatic colorectal cancer cases as well as a variety of other cancers including breast, lung, and ovarian. K-RAS mutations have been shown to be predictive of limited clinical response and poor prognosis. Data announced at last year"s ASCO conference has led to a need for colorectal cancer patients to be screened for mutations in the K-RAS gene in order to identify the most appropriate therapy. Patients carrying mutations in the K-RAS gene do not respond to a class of drugs known as EGFR inhibitors -- such as Vectibix® and Erbitux®. AltheaDx


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