NEWS & NOTES

Bloodstream genetic data can diagnose tumor cells

Tiny sacs released from tumor cells and circulating in the blood carry genetic information about the tumor, offering a new way to track and treat the cancer, U.S. researchers said recently. “They contain a little piece of the tumor cell in the blood stream. If you just look at these packets, you basically know what kind of mutations are in the tumor cell,” said Xandra Breakefield of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, whose study appears in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

Study says group therapy helps lengthen lives

Psychological group therapy for women with breast cancer may help them not only to cope better with their disease but also live longer, U.S. researchers said this week. The idea that such therapy can extend survival in cancer patients has been controversial for two decades. Past studies have yielded conflicting results.

Protein deficiency linked to blood pressure risk

Lower blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, a protein that provides a measure of vitamin D in the blood, are independently associated with an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, according to findings published in Hypertension. Studies have shown 25(OH)D levels and skin exposure to UVB radiation are associated with lower blood pressure, but definitive studies are limited, Dr. John P. Forman and colleagues from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston wrote.