Platinum today: News/Industrial and Medical

Platinum compound offers 'significant' cervical cancer treatment advance

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A platinum-based molecule can offer considerable improvements in the treatment of patients with cervical cancer, according to new research.

Dr Paul Symonds from the Department of Cancer Studies and Molecule Medicine at the University of Leicester studied case histories on 1,412 patients collected between 2001 and 2002.

He measured the use of cisplatin, which affects DNA strands within cancerous cells, in combination with radiotherapy against tests involving radiotherapy alone.

Although the better results of adopting the former method were already known to represent an improvement, the long-term effects of the treatment were less certain.

However, Dr Symonds, supported by colleagues in London and Manchester and the Medical Research Council, noted that the combination technique reduced the likelihood of death in cervical cancer patients by 23 per cent.

The findings are now set to be published in the September issue of the publication Clinical Oncology.

Dr Symonds said: "The addition of cisplatin to radiation has literally saved the lives of hundreds of women with locally advanced cancer in the east midlands.

"What the national audit has shown is that the addition of cisplatin improves survival. As this is curative treatment we can genuinely say that this is a reduction in the odds of death."

Platinum-based chemotherapies have been tested on a wide range of cancer patients in recent years, such as those with small cell lung cancer.

Source:

Significant advance announced in treatment of cervical cancer (20/08/10)

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Platinum foil forms part of new 'pharmacy' microchip

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Platinum is playing a key role in a new type of 'pharmacy' chip which could help to treat diabetes, osteoporosis and cancer, it has been confirmed.

Following 17 years of research, MicroChips has formulated a testing device about the size of a pager which can be safely implanted in sick patients, Forbes.com reports.

The chip contains a membrane of platinum foil - which is about a third as thick as a human hair - sandwiched between two layers of titanium.

Making use of a flat antenna on one side that can pick up radio signals coming from inside the body, the device houses a silicon wafer which can store and deliver drugs upon command.

"When you understand the patient's genetic profile, you could figure out all the right drugs and timing and administer them directly," commented Robert Langer, co-founder of MicroChips.

The company's first trial will be to ascertain whether the device can be used to replace the year of daily injections required by the bone-building osteoporosis drug Forteo.

Mr Langer and his business partner John Santini believe their chip could also allow multi-drug treatments to be administered to cancer patients by placing it near tumours.

Similarly, blood sugar monitors can only measure levels for about a week before being contaminated at present, but the MicroChips design offers numerous foils which would allow it to function for about a year.

Mr Langer even speculated that the device could be used in conjunction with iPhone-esque apps in the future for tracking and administering drugs as required.

"You could track whether patients are taking their medicines," he concluded.

"'Did I take my cholesterol drug today?' You could have a permanent record."

Source:

Built-In Medicine Cabinet (12/08/10)

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Iron-platinum alloy approach 'could boost hard drive storage'

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

New technology involving iron-platinum alloys could be the key to dramatically increasing the storage capacity of hard disk drives, it has been suggested.

At present, most drives make use of perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR), which involves the magnetisation of small grained materials orientated vertically in the recording medium.

Mark Re, Vice-President of Recording Operations at hard drive manufacturer Seagate, told ConceivablyTech.com that PMR could push areal density to 1Tb per sq in.

But he also explained that this limit could be reached in two to three more generations of products - possibly between 2013 and 2015 - as companies make increasingly quicker drives.

Shingle writing, which uses partially overlapping tracks to boost density, has been highlighted as a temporary fix capable of pushing capacity ten to 50 per cent higher, Channel Register reports.

However, Seagate appears to be hedging its bets on a longer-term solution known as heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), which sees the tiny pieces of material heated to have their magnetic direction changed.

The company has manufactured some prototype drives using the HAMR approach - incorporating iron-platinum alloys and standard read/write heads - although it is not particularly cost-effective at present.

Mr Re revealed that this could push areal density up to 50Tb per sq in, with further improvements possible by combining HAMR with another technique, bit-patterned media recording.

This involves placing an insulating doughnut-shaped ring around pieces of material laid out in a "very precise and very hard to produce medium", according to ConceivablyTech.com.

Seagate is the largest manufacturer of hard drives and storage solutions in the world.

Sources:

Seagate pushes HAMR as next big thing (10/08/10)

Next-Gen HDD Tech To Enable 200-300 TB Storage Space (09/08/10)

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Hydrogel-based coil offers encouraging aneurysm treatment results

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A new interventional neurovascular coil offers better results for treating cerebral aneurysms than its platinum-based counterparts, according to new research.

MicroVention's HydroCoil Embolic System features a non-bioactive coil which links greater aneurysm volume filling features with biologically inert scaffolding for natural tissue proliferation.

The company ran an 18-month test on 500 patients and found that the HydroCoil, which is based on a microporous expandable hydrogel, surpassed bare platinum as a durable solution for endovascular occlusion of aneurysms.

Angiographic data revealed that the new design offered a statistically significant 8.6 per cent less aneurysm recurrence than had previously been provided by alternative treatments.

"These are outstanding results on the safety and effectiveness of HydroCoil and confirm our belief that HydroCoil is the optimal device for treating a broad spectrum of cerebral aneurysms as compared to bare platinum coils," said Richard Cappetta, President and Chief Executive of MicroVention-Terumo.

"It's also important to note that these positive results were attained on patients with more large and complex aneurysms."

MircoVention estimates that 50,000 patients are treated for cerebral aneurysms in the US every year, with a further 100,000 across the globe either undergoing surgery or endovascular treatment.

Source:

Study Demonstrates HydroCoil Embolization System's Superior Safety and Efficacy in Treating Cerebral Aneurysms (03/08/10)

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