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Bone From Blood: Circulating Cells Form Bone Outside The Normal Skeleton
The accepted dogma has been that bone-forming cells, derived from the body"s connective tissue, are the only cells able to form the skeleton. However, new research shows that specialized cells in the blood share a common origin with white blood cells derived from the bone marrow and that these bloodstream cells are capable of forming bone at sites distant from the original skeleton. This work, published online this month in the journal Stem Cells, represents the first example of how circulating cells may contribute to abnormal bone formation.
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Sotomayor Nomination Lacks Controversy GOP Had Hoped To Generate
Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor has not become the "political lightning rod" Republican senators hoped for, leaving doubt among some members of the GOP that the nomination process will be controversial enough to help them or hurt Democrats in the 2010 elections, Politico reports. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said that "at least so far" Sotomayor "doesn"t have the punch put there in terms of fundraising and recruiting." Thune said that one reason the GOP response to Sotomayor has been relatively quiet is that she is nominated to replace retiring Justice David Souter, rather than a more conservative justice. "When one of the conservatives leaves the court, then I think you"ll have a huge fight, and I think that will be very galvanizing," Thune said. Similarly, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said he does not foresee Sotomayor"s nomination becoming a major issue in the 2010 campaigns. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said that the GOP would use witnesses at Sotomayor"s confirmation hearing to present some opposition arguments (Raju, Politico, 6/22). Sessions and other Senate Republicans are preparing a series of speeches to highlight their concerns about Sotomayor, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to a Senate Republican aide, the focus of Sessions" speech will be Sotomayor"s role in the group LatinoJustice PRLDEF, for which she served as a board member from 1980 to 1992. Unless new information surfaces, there are few doubts that Sotomayor will be confirmed, the Journal reports (Bravin, Wall Street Journal, 6/22).
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GM, UAW Nearing Deal To Use Company Stock For Half Of VEBA Obligation, s Say
General Motors and the United Auto Workers are close to finalizing a deal that would reduce the automaker"s cash obligation to a retiree health care trust fund, according to people with knowledge of the matter, the Wall Street Journal reports. UAW in 2007 agreed to establish the voluntary employees" beneficiary association, totaling $35 billion, that would cover health care costs of retired GM workers and their spouses starting in 2010. GM has paid about $15 billion into the fund, but under the deal now being discussed, the remaining $20 billion obligation could be paid using about $10 billion in cash and a 39% equity stake in the restructured GM that will be formed under the Treasury Department"s "controlled bankruptcy" plan for the firm. The deal would be subject to approval by UAW"s 60,000 GM members, who likely would face "steep cuts" in pay and benefits as a result, as well as 20,000 additional layoffs, according to the Journal. Union officials also have expressed concern that the GM stock making up the equity stake is "illiquid and hard to value, posing a big risk for UAW members," the Journal reports. GM and UAW could agree to a final version of the deal "as early as next week," according to the Journal (Stoll, Wall Street Journal, 5/15). Chrysler
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Non-Surgical Treatment For Pre-Cancerous Condition Of Esophagus Is Effective And Reduces Risk For Cancer Development

Results from a clinical study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine reveal that ablative therapy using the HALO system (BARRX Medical, Inc.) is highly effective for complete eradication of a pre-cancerous condition of the esophagus called Barrett"s esophagus afflicting more than 3.3 million Americans. Additionally, ablative therapy using the HALO system reduced the risk of progression to cancer in the highest risk cohort studied (compared to control) from 19.0% to 2.4%. The study entitled "Radiofrequency Ablation in Barrett"s Esophagus with Dysplasia" is authored by lead investigator Nicholas J. Shaheen, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. "This is a well-designed trial conducted in a rigorous manner at 19 expert U.S. centers, each having experience in the management of Barrett"s esophagus, dysplasia, and cancer," said Dr. Shaheen. "Our results reported in the Journal are very promising, demonstrating superiority of ablation therapy for eliminating Barrett"s and dysplasia, as well as reducing the rate of disease progression to more severe forms of dysplasia and esophageal cancer. This and data from other recent trials may ultimately change the paradigm for how gastroenterologists manage their patients with this disease." As a result of chronic injury from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), the normal esophageal lining is replaced with abnormal cells (Barrett"s tissue), predisposing the patient to a higher risk for developing cancer of the esophagus. Patients with Barrett"s who develop cancer, typically do so through a series of steps, starting with early Barrett"s, then low-grade dysplasia or high-grade dysplasia, and then finally cancer. The present study included patients with the later stages of low- and high-grade dysplasia. Beginning in 2006, the AIM Dysplasia Trial enrolled 127 patients having a diagnosis of Barrett"s esophagus with dysplasia, the most advanced stage of this condition. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either endoscopic ablation with the HALO system or a sham intervention (control, no treatment). Tissue samples (biopsies) were obtained from the esophagus at regular intervals for one year after enrollment to assess for the presence of early Barrett"s, dysplasia, and esophageal cancer. Comparison of the biopsy results at one year served as the primary outcome for the trial. The study endpoints were the eradication of all early Barrett"s and, separately, all dysplasia in each group, as well as occurrence of new esophageal cancers. At one-year follow-up, patients treated with ablation had a significantly higher complete eradication rate for both early Barrett"s and dysplasia as compared to the control group. More than three quarters of treated patients had no detectable Barrett"s at the end of the treatment period, compared to sham patients where 98% had persistent disease. The overall rate of disease progression to more severe forms of dysplasia and cancer was significantly lower in the ablation treatment group (3.6%) as compared to the control group (16.3%). In the highest risk cohort (high-grade dysplasia), ablative therapy significantly reduced the risk of progression to cancer by nearly 90% compared to control (2.4% in treated patients versus 19.0% in untreated controls). New England Journal of Medicine


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