UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Study discovers how cancer cells spread

MONTREAL, April 22 (UPI) -- Canadian scientists say they've discovered cancer cells spread by releasing protein "bubbles" -- a finding that might alter our concept of how cancer works.

The discovery was made by Dr. Janusz Rak and colleagues at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center in collaboration with Dr. Ab Guha of the University of Toronto.

The researchers found cancer cells are able to communicate with their more healthy counterparts by releasing vesicles -- bubble-like structures containing cancer-causing proteins that can trigger specific mechanisms when they merge into non- or less-malignant cells.

Rak said the finding demonstrates that cancer is a multi-cell process, where the cells "talk" to one another extensively.

"This goes against the traditional view that a single 'mutated' cell will simply multiply uncontrollably to the point of forming a tumor," said Rak. "This discovery opens exciting new research avenues, but we also hope that it will lead to positive outcomes for patients."

The study appears in the online edition of the journal Nature Cell Biology.

Turtle believed extinct found in Vietnam

CLEVELAND, April 22 (UPI) -- U.S. biologists say a Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle -- thought to be extinct in nature -- has been found in northern Vietnam.

Vietnam researchers, sponsored by the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and the Cleveland Zoological Society, identified the only known specimen living in the wild of the critically endangered giant soft-shell turtle Rafetus swinhoei.

After three years of searching lakes and wetlands along the Red River in northern Vietnam, field biologist Nguyen Xuan Thuan found the turtle at a lake just west of Hanoi. He photographed the turtle as it basked on the lake's surface, allowing scientists to confirm the animal was the extremely rare Swinhoe's turtle.

"This is an incredibly important discovery because the Swinhoe's turtle is one of the most critically endangered species of turtle in the world," said Doug Hendrie, the coordinator of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's Asian Turtle Program.

The largest freshwater turtle in the world, the Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle -- also know as the Shanghai soft-shell turtle or the Yangtze soft-shell turtle -- can weigh up to 300 pounds, with some living more than 100 years.

Patients get heart valve without surgery

CHICAGO, April 22 (UPI) -- U.S. cardiologists say they've developed a transcatheter heart valve replacement procedure for congenital heart disease that eliminates open-chest surgery.

The interventional cardiologists from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago -- one of three sites participating in the study of minimally invasive pulmonic valve replacement -- said they successfully implanted the first three patients enrolled in the trial last Thursday.

"We were able to successfully implant the Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve percutaneously in the first three patients treated in this trial," said Dr. Ziyad Hijazi, director of the Rush Center for Congenital and Structural Heart Disease. "Patients with congenital right ventricular outflow tract problems typically face the burden of multiple open-heart surgeries throughout their lives, either to replace their 'native' diseased valves or, as they age, their bioprosthetic replacement valves."

Hijazi, Dr. Clifford Kavinsky and Dr. Zahid Amin used a bovine pericardial heart valve replacement in a procedure accomplished without requiring cardiopulmonary bypass or an open-chest incision.

The study of 30 patients at the three hospitals will enable the collection of safety and effectiveness data, ultimately in support of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration commercial approval application.

James Bond-type escape hood is developed

WASHINGTON, April 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says it has produced an emergency escape hood that can protect against nerve agents, as well as toxic chemicals.

The department's science and technology directorate said its goal was to obtain a "one size fits all" concealable hood weighing under a pound, folding to the dimensions of a DVD case and "donnable" in 10 seconds. Furthermore, the hood had to be maintenance-free, capable of filtering nerve, blood, and blister agents, remove toxic industrial chemicals and fit two-to-a-breast pocket.

Department officials said it contracted with a British company -- Avon Protection Systems -- that has offices in Cadillac, Mich., to develop and produce a mask designated the EH-15 (for Escape Hood-15 minutes). When packed, the mask is only 3/4-inch thick and provides at least 15 minutes of protection against chemicals and biologics and has a three-year shelf life.

DHS officials said 10 prototypes have been made so far and the first batch of EH-15 masks is to be produced during the next month.