May 17, 2011 by MassDevice staff
New research suggests stimulating patients' white blood cell counts might make the difference for nearly one-third of women with breast cancer.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL | Australian researchers identified how Herceptin (trastuzumab), a common and very costly breast cancer treatment, works so well for 20 to 30 percent of patients.
A specific human growth protein is over-expressed and causes cancer cells to spread in those patients. Herceptin blocks the growth protein; the researchers found that it also stimulates the production of interferon proteins by the immune system in mice.
Interferons normally protect the body from pathogens by "interfering" with viral replication, but they also activate white blood cells. The study supports the view that a combination of Herceptin and a white-blood-cell-boosting therapy could help close to one-third of breast cancer patients, although it has yet to be run through a human trial.
It was conducted by researchers at the CHUM Research Centre and The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Australia and funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the Victoria Breast Cancer Research Consortium (Australia).
Spending too much on blood tests? A simple reminder will do
Unnecessary laboratory blood tests are costing hospitals millions, but the solution may be as simple as reminding staff that the tests are costly.
Researchers followed three surgical patients at Rhode Island Hospital, tracking per-patient blood-testing costs and overall costs. For 11 weeks researchers kept staff updated about spending via weekly announcements, finding that per-patient lab test costs dropped by nearly a third.
At the end of the 11 weeks, the hospital had saved about $55,000. Per-patient costs dropped from nearly $150 per day to about $110 per day.
The study appears in the May issue of the Archives of Surgery.
Obama approves 200 new health care reform waivers
More than 1,300 health care reform waivers have been granted, fueling criticism that the Democratic reform law is fundamentally flawed.
The waivers are temporary and apply only to one facet of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, a provision that health plans must offer at least $750,000 in annual benefits before cutting patients off.
"The fact that over 1,000 waivers have been granted is a tacit admission that the healthcare law is fundamentally flawed," Energy & Commerce chairman and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) told The Hill.
Officials from the Obama administration say the waivers protect the insurance system from disruption prior to a stem-to-stern overhaul slated for 2014.
HHS slashes CDC, medical education budgets
The Dept. of Health & Human Services released new details on more than $2.5 billion in cuts it authorized last month.
The Centers for Disease Control are out about $740 million, or 11 percent of the total budget, with $96 million coming out of state and local emergency preparedness and response programs.
"The cuts could erase a decade of advances we've made in preventing diseases and preparing for health emergencies," CDC executive director Jeff Levi told The Hill.
HHS also announced a $48 million cut to the Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education Payment program, which covers about 450 pediatric residents. National Assn. of Children's Hospitals president & CEO Lawrence McAndrews told The Hill that the reductions put children's health at risk.
"It could heighten a pediatric workforce crisis impacting the medical care for?generations of our children," McAndrews said.
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