When blood is flowing rapidly, scientists have found that cells cling together tightly, reducing vascular leaks. The discovery could become a consideration in heart surgery or influence drugs to treat high cholesterol.

A new drug under development for the treatment of the childhood leukemia T-ALL has had success in the first round of pharmaceutical testing. An experimental new drug known as CAL-130 is a dual enzyme inhibitor, blocking two forms of an enzyme used in the out of control growth involved in leukemia. The drug successfully stopped the enzymes phosphoinositide-3 kinase gamma and delta in testing, effectively stopping cancer growth. Ask your oncologist about clinical trials available to you. Testing of the dual inhibitor took place first in mice, and then again in samples of leuk...

It's a common concept. If one dose works well, then two doses may work even better. This theory was tested recently in patients being treated for chronic myeloid leukemia ( CML ), and it didn't work.

Researchers believe that targeting the cancer gene FLT3 could cure one type of leukemia, and say results from their research explain the failure of several drugs currently used. Scientists studying the genetic relationships involved in acute myeloid leukemia have used the genetic data produced in their research to refine the search for a new drug, and testing of one candidate is underway. Ask your oncologist about clinical trials available to you. The group from the University of California in San Francisco announced that the gene FLT3 was being investigated as a possible target...

Leukemia research has had some of the best results for effective pharmaceutical treatment, with the majority of cancers going into remission. Scientists are now researching how to best attack that remaining stubborn minority of leukemias . As a cell matures, it changes from a very basic, undifferentiated cell to developing characteristics that make it easier to recognize, and susceptible to specialized targeted drugs such as Gleevec ( imatinib ). But cells early in the development process may be unaffected by cancer treatments. Ask your oncologist about beta catenin inhibito...

Regular physical activity benefits the body in many ways, from weight loss to improved blood pressure. Those with the sickle cell trait might find an added benefit -- longevity and fewer complications. Unlike sickle cell disease, a painful inherited condition in which red blood cells are an abnormal crescent shape, those with the sickle cell trait inherit only one copy of the disease and have a mixture of normal and misshapen red blood cells. They tend to suffer from an increased risk of sickness and higher death rate. Ask your doctor about exercise if you suffer from sickle cel...

Patients with certain types of atrial fibrillation, a common heart arrhythmia, are at a high risk of stroke and blood clots if they temporarily stop their blood thinning medication before surgery or permanently because of side effects.

Hospitalized patients who undergo surgery aren't the only ones at risk of suffering a dangerous blood clot. Patients undergoing outpatient procedures also are at risk.

Over the last few decades, the ability of doctors to successfully treat childhood leukemias has risen dramatically. For the small group of patients that don't respond to initial therapy, figuring out why has become an important research topic.

Cancer cells are extremely versatile and adaptable. They find ways to wiggle out of any attempts to restrain them. Researchers are working with the very mechanism that cancer uses to avoid death to develop a potentially powerful therapy for lymphoma.