What's Hot In Medicine> 2011
Year: 2011
The Top Ten lists in Medicine feature papers published during the last two years (excluding review articles) that were most cited in current journal articles indexed by Clarivate during a recent two-month period. Papers are ranked according to the latest bimonthly citation count. The articles below are accompanied by expert discussion and analysis (including comments from the papers’ authors) written by one of four veteran scientist-journalists and longtime ScienceWatch.com contributors.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
Nasty Microbes Show Persistence in Resistance
by David W. Sharp
Among medicine’s most-cited recent papers are two
examinations of drug resistance. One of these discusses the mechanism
of the enzyme New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, which confers drug
resistance on certain Gram-negative bacteria. The other study examines
the emergence of resistance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria to
artemisinin-based combination therapies. Counterfeit drugs and patient
non-compliance are just two of the factors complicating this
matter.View Article
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011
Genome Studies Inform Prognosis and Treatment
by David W. Sharp
Genome-wide association studies continue to inform
knowledge and clinical treatment in various medical conditions. Recent
studies, for example, have examined variations in hepatitis C and how
these variations predict the response to antiviral therapies. Genetic
insights have also illuminated treatment for melanoma, by helping to
identify mutations in which the anticancer drug vemurafenib acts as an
inhibitor. Such successes maintain the progress toward genetically
tailored treatments for cancer and other diseases.View Article
JULY/AUGUST 2011
New Agents Boost Therapy for Glioblastoma and Melanoma
by David W. Sharp
Two anti-cancer agents have shown positive results in
two particularly intractable cancers: glioblastoma and metastatic
melanoma. In the first instance, evidence suggests that combining the
drug temozolomide with radiotherapy improves two-year survival.
Meanwhile, in metastatic melanoma, the monoclonal antibody ipilimumab,
combined with glycoprotein 100 (gp100), was demonstrated to boost
survival, compared to those patients taking gp100 alone.View Article
MAY/JUNE 2011
Obesity Trends in the U.S.: Are Waistlines Stabilizing?
by David W. Sharp
A 2010 report in the Journal of the American Medical
Association examines trends in obesity among adults in the United
States over a recent ten-year period. Evidence indicates that roughly
two-thirds of U.S. adults can be classified as overweight, and half of
those as obese, with some extrapolations predicting that by the year
2020, 45% of the U.S. population might qualify as obese. The current
study, however, suggests that obesity rates might be reaching a
plateau.View Article
MARCH/APRIL 2011
Stress and Depression: Do Genes Factor In?
by David W. Sharp
Following up on work published nearly a decade ago,
researchers have attempted to determine if the role of stress in
depression is influenced by variation in the promoter region of a
specific serotonin-transporter gene. A recent meta-analysis failed to
find evidence that the genotype is involved in the interaction between
stress and depression, but a subsequent assessment of multiple studies
did interpret a link, so the question, and the optimal means of
evaluating it, remains open.View Article
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011
Exploiting DNA-Repair Defects to Inhibit Tumors
by David W. Sharp
Recent trials of anti-cancer agents have centered on
inhibiting poly (adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerases, or PARPs,
as a strategy against tumor growth in breast cancer and other
malignancies. These agents included olaparib and veliparib, In one
trial, anti-tumor activity was observed in patients carrying the BRCA
mutation, although recent evidence suggests that the efficacy of PARP
inhibitors might not be restricted to patients with the BRCA
mutation.View Article
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