A small study has indicated that patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer can safely take an experimental oral drug intended to protect healthy tissue from the effects of radiation, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. The study, published in this month's Human Gene Therapy, supports further clinical testing of manganese superoxide dismutase.

Pedtriac patients who present to the emergency department with blunt head trauma and initial Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 14 or 15 and normal CT results generally do not require hospitalization, according to a study published online June 17 in Annals of Emergency Medicine.

In a grant underwritten by Siemens Healthcare, the Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF) has awarded $20,000 to Dimitrios Papanagnou, MD, director of medical simulation and medical student ultrasound course director at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., to fund point-of-care ultrasound research in emergency settings.

The synthetic amino acid analog radiotracer anti-1-amino-3-18F-fluorocyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid (anti-3-18F-FACBC) with PET/CT is more sensitive than 111In-capromab pendetide in the detection of recurrent prostate carcinoma.

The University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., has completed installation of ABT Molecular Imaging's Biomarker Generator at the College of Pharmacy, enabling researchers at the university to have local access to PET radioisotopes.

The New York Times reported June 17 that hundreds of U.S. hospitals unnecessarily conducted two CT chest scans in succession in 2009, based on the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) claims data expected to be released next month.

The FDA is notifying the public that the smoking cessation drug varenicline (Chantix, Pfizer) may be associated with a small, increased risk of certain cardiovascular adverse events in patients who have cardiovascular disease.

Starting July 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will begin using predictive modeling technology from Nothrop Grumman, a provider of advanced information tools, to fight Medicare fraud.