20 October 2005

Health News

A new "drug, Herceptin, targets only diseased cells and is already used for advanced cancer. But in three studies involving thousands of women with early-stage disease, it cut the risk of a relapse in half." In works for an aggresive type of breast cancer found in 20% of patients. "A year of Herceptin could cost $48,000 even at wholesale prices." Initial estimates are that it will save 7,000 lives per year when widely used. (This is the Denver Post's front page story, and is from the AP, but I couldn't find it on their webpage. I used the Drudge Report.)

Anti-bacterial soaps don't work any better than regular ones. They may also help drug resistant bacteria evolve.

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