GenderBiology.net

Abbott Enrolls First Patient In World's First Clinical Trial Designed To Study Drug Eluting Stent Treatment In Women

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE:  July 21, 2007

EXCERPT: "Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced that the first patient was enrolled in its XIENCE V SPIRIT WOMEN clinical trial, the world's first clinical trial designed to study the safety and effectiveness of drug eluting stent treatment in women.    ..."With more women dying of cardiovascular disease than men, it is tragic that women comprise only 25 percent of participants in all heart-related research studies," said Marie-Claude Morice, M.D., Institute Jacques Cartier, Massy, France, and principal investigator for XIENCE V SPIRIT WOMEN.     ... Women with CVD may be under-treated because disease diagnosis is more challenging in women than in men. Women typically exhibit different symptoms than men, and their symptoms often are more gradual and subtle.   XIENCE V SPIRIT WOMEN will include approximately 2,000 women from about 100 sites throughout Europe, Asia-Pacific, Canada and Latin America. The trial will evaluate patient and disease characteristics specific to women such as menopausal status and hormonal profiles, as well as treatment outcomes."    more

RELATED LINK:

Abbott Enrolls First Patient in World’s First Clinical Trial Designed to Study Drug Eluting Stent Treatment in Women

Study Looks At Gender Difference In Talkativeness

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE:  July 9, 2007

EXCERPT:  "New research challenges the notion -- frequently communicated in major publications, broadcast media and popular entertainment -- that women talk significantly more than men."  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Mehl MR, Vazire S, Ramirez-Esparza N, Slatcher RB, Pennebaker JW. Are women really more talkative than men? Science. 2007 Jul 6;317(5834):82. PMID: 17615349

Timing of Breast Cancer Drug Affects Cardiac Risk: Study

SOURCE:  MedlinePlus (HealthDay)

DATE:  July 5, 2007

EXCERPT:  "New research suggests that the timing of when a woman receives the breast cancer drug Herceptin can influence its effect on her heart.  ....   Herceptin (trastuzumab) can be a powerful cancer suppressor for certain women, although its cardiovascular side effects are known. Now, Canadian research suggests that giving the drug concurrently with chemotherapy carries less cardiac risk than giving it after the chemo.  ... The study, which is published in the July 5 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, underlines the fact that patients "need to have proper cardiac monitoring" while on Herceptin, said one outside expert, Dr. Edith Perez, professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.  ...  The new findings are similar to those found in clinical trials that compared the two treatment approaches, added the study's lead researcher Dr. Heather L. McArthur, now a special fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. "It's reassuring that the results for concurrent treatment are similar to that found in clinical trials," she said."  "

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

McArthur HL, Chia S. Cardiotoxicity of trastuzumab in clinical practice. N Engl J Med. 2007 Jul 5;357(1):94-5. No abstract available