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Rates of renal mass biopsy have been historically low in patients with kidney cancer, but are steadily rising, shows an analysis of Medicare data.

Proteomic analysis has identified significant differences between the proteins expressed in renal cell carcinoma samples and in healthy renal tissue, UK researchers report.

Cytoplasmic expression of hypoxia inducible factor-2α is associated with poor prognosis in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma, study findings indicate.

Positive vascular wall margins are not associated with systemic recurrence or cancer-specific survival in patients with nonmetastatic renal cell carcinoma with tumour thrombus, US research shows.

Researchers have generated and validated a clinical rule that accurately stratifies patients hospitalized for community acquired pneumonia according to their risk for cardiac complications.

Researchers have identified immune cells in patients with narcolepsy that react against hypocretin, the lack of which causes the disorder.

Low vitamin D status is a marker of ill health rather than an underlying cause of disease, say the authors of a systematic review published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.

Study findings reveal the significant burden of disease among patients with antineutrophil-cytoplasm antibody associated vasculitis, with many individuals showing irreversible damage shortly after diagnosis.

The BEACON trial of the synthetic triterpenoid bardoxolone methyl was halted prematurely due to safety concerns, shows research published in the

New England Journal of Medicine

.

Outreach programs designed to increase awareness of and support for organ donation among Hispanic Americans have been successful, research suggests.

Researchers say that physicians should address sexual issues in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as a matter of course, after finding that over three-quarters of men with the condition have some level of erectile dysfunction.

Targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 mediated signaling is an effective strategy against advanced gastric cancer, results from the REGARD trial demonstrate.

Early research suggests that patients with periocular basal cell carcinoma may benefit from treatment with a drug targeting the Hedgehog signaling pathway.

The recommendation to delay noncardiac surgery for a year after receipt of a drug-eluting stent, compared with just 6 weeks for a bare-metal stent, may be too conservative, suggests research indicating that stent type does not influence the longer term risk for major adverse cardiac events.

Obese people with bipolar disorder should not be denied bariatric surgery because of their psychiatric condition, say US researchers.

Data from the Swiss population show that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who are hospitalized experience poorer outcomes than patients without COPD, even if the condition was not the reason they were admitted.

The results of INTERACT2 show that blood pressure in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage can be reduced to within the normotensive range without excess adverse effects.

Obese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are significantly less likely to die in hospital, or to be readmitted following an exacerbation than normal weight patients, show the results of Spanish research.

Results from a proof-of-concept study point to a role for sodium nitroprusside in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Treatment with a heatshock protein 90 inhibitor may induce loss of EML4-AKL expression in non-small cell lung cancer cells, preliminary results suggest.