The San Francisco heath department is mapping the city to show where the sickest AIDS patients live, part of an effort to identify where care should be focused.
Globally, breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in women, with some 327 000 deaths each year. There are 1·35 million new cases every year, and about 4·4 million women are believed to be living with breast cancer. An estimated 1·7 million women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020—a 26% increase from current levels—mostly in the developing world. Breast cancer is already the leading cause of cancer in southeast Asian women, and is second only to gastric cancer in east Asian women, and to cervical cancer in women in south-central Asia. In India, almost 100 000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and a rise to 131 000 cases is predicted by 2020. To meet this important and growing health challenge, a team of researchers has established a Global Task Force and hosted an international conference, entitled Breast Cancer in Developing Countries; Meeting the Unforeseen Challenge to Women, Health and Equity at Harvard School of Public Health (Nov 3–5). (November 6)
Last week, a Seoul court found the disgraced South Korean stem-cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk guilty of embezzlement of research funds, partial fabrication of results, and illegally trading human eggs. He was given a 2-year suspended prison sentence and a 3-year probationary period. The court did not uphold the charge of fraud, which in South Korea would be regarded as illegal only if he had used fraudulent data to obtain grant money. The court's verdict is curious and the sentence lenient, which does little to strengthen public trust in science. (November 6)
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prefers to approve drugs with a proven, clinically relevant endpoint (eg, prevention of stroke), but also considers surrogate endpoints (eg, reduction in blood pressure). This approach can be a double-edged sword. Although it might accelerate the approval of new treatment options for life-threatening illnesses, because of the uncertainty around clinical benefits, drugs could turn out to be ineffective or harmful to patients. Follow-up is crucial to ascertain whether a drug is actually clinically beneficial. But, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the FDA is failing to properly oversee postmarketing studies of drugs approved on the basis of surrogate endpoints. (November 6)
Patients with inherited congenital blindness (Leber's congenital amaurosis) have a severe handicap, even with modern support systems. In patients with Leber's congenital amaurosis due to mutations in the RPE65 gene, subretinal injections of adeno-associated viruses carrying a normal RPE65 cDNA (AAV–RPE65) have been found to be safe and led to moderate improvement of retinal function in seven of nine patients. These studies were in patients between 17 and 26 years of age. Infants with RPE65 mutations are severely affected from birth, but their vision in most cases further deteriorates when they are teenagers. (November 6)
A 13-year-old girl with a 20-month history of type 1 diabetes mellitus presented with depressed areas of skin at the sites of insulin injection (Panel A, arrows). The patient had been treated since diagnosis with . . .
