Results from a new meta-analysis have found that an anticoagulation regimen of bivalirudin vs. heparin increases the rate of MI and stent thrombosis while decreasing the risk for major bleeding in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The extent of bleeding reduction with bivalirudin was dependent on concomitant glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor use, according to the researchers. 

The research suggests that testing the temperature of breath could be a simple and non-invasive method to either confirm or reject the presence of lung cancer.
Many research teams have been looking at the possibility of using breath tests for a number of cancers. This is the first study looking at breath temperature as a marker in lung cancer
The researchers enrolled 82 people in the study who had been referred for a full diagnostic test after an x-ray suggested the presence of lung cancer. 40 patients received a positive diagnosis, while 42 patients had the diagnosis rejected. Researchers measured the temperature of exhaled breath in all patients using a breath thermometer device, known as an X-Halo device.
The results demonstrated that the patients with lung cancer had a higher breath temperature than those without. The temperature also increased with the number of years a person had smoked and the stage at which their lung cancer had developed.
The researchers also identified a cut-off value in the measurement of temperature, which they proved could identify lung cancer with a high level of accuracy. 
Professor Giovanna Elisiana Carpagnano, lead author of the study from the University of Foggia, Italy, said:

A new mobile app developed by researchers at the Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI) at BC Children

Around three-quarters of cancer patients who have major depression do not currently receive treatment for their depression, new research led by Oxford University has found. But the researchers show that a new treatment programme is strikingly more effective at reducing depression and improving quality of life among cancer patients than current care.

The team analysed data from more than 21,000 patients attending cancer clinics in Scotland and found that major depression is substantially more common in cancer patients than in the general population.

Major depression was most common in patients with lung cancer (13%) and lowest in those with genitourinary cancer (6%). Moreover, nearly three quarters (73%) of depressed cancer patients were not receiving treatment for their depression.

To address the problem of inadequate treatment, the researchers evaluated the effectiveness of a new treatment programme called ‘Depression Care for People with Cancer’ (DCPC) in a randomised trial called SMaRT Oncology-2.

The DCPC treatment programme is delivered by a team of specially trained cancer nurses and psychiatrists working in collaboration with the patient’s cancer team and general practitioner, and is given as part of cancer care. It is a systematic treatment programme that includes both antidepressants and psychological therapy.

The trial involved 500 adults with major depression and a cancer with a good prognosis (they had a predicted survival of more than 12 months), and compared DCPC with usual care.

The researchers found that the Depression Care for People with Cancer programme was strikingly more effective at reducing depression.

Professor Michael Sharpe from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford said: ‘The huge benefit that DCPC delivers for patients with cancer and depression shows what we can achieve for patients if we take as much care with the treatment of their depression as we do with the treatment of their cancer.’

At 6 months, 62% of the patients who received DCPC responded to treatment (at least a 50% reduction in the severity of their depression) compared with only 17% of those who received usual care. This benefit was sustained at 12 months.

DCPC also improved anxiety, pain, fatigue, functioning, and overall quality of life. Moreover, the cost of providing DCPC was modest (

Studies by vascular biologists at The Johns Hopkins Hospital could lead to new treatments for vascular disease.
This work was led by Dan Berkowitz, M.B.B.Ch., and Lewis Romer, M.D., both professors of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The studies focus on the balance between (good) nitric oxide, and (bad) oxidants