ASCT Foundation recognizes student case presentations
American Society for Cytotechnology

Front row left to right: Catherine Smith (ASCT Education Chair), Shawana Washington, Jazmin Culpepper, Elaine Smith (3rd place), Kristen Ball; Back row left to right: Donald Hughes (1st place), Adrian Robles, Matthew Tarin

The ASCT Foundation congratulates the 18 students who participated in the 2013 ASCT Student Case Presentation Competition held on April 20, during the ASCT Annual Conference, in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The ASCT Foundation presented the Warren R. Lang Student Awards to the top three presenters:



1st place: Donald Hughes, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas
"It's Rare, It's Scary, It's Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma"
Award $150

2nd place: Jennifer Albert, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
"Lung Cancer in a young patient accompanied by FISH for diagnosis"
Award $100; Jennifer received our first voice-over presentation award!

3rd place: Elaine Smith, UCLA School of Cytotechnology, Los Angeles
"Hide in Plain Sight; Metastatic Cancer in a Lymph Node"
Award $50

The winning presentations will be available on the ASCT website, in the Student Forum.

"Thank you ASCT Foundation for allowing me to be part of the annual ASCT conference in Scottsdale. I had a wonderful time further learning about the profession and talking to other cytotechnologists from across the U.S. about their ever-evolving role in cytology. I'm grateful to be an ASCT member and like the new motto says 'Keep calm and cytology on.' "
— Adrian Robles, UCLA School of CytotechnologyMore

2 doses of HPV vaccine may be as good as 3
MyHealthNewsDaily via NBC News
Two doses of the vaccine against human papilloma virus may work just as well as the recommended three doses in protecting against infection, a new study from Canada suggests. In the study, girls who received two doses of the HPV vaccine had just as good of an immune response to the vaccine as women who received three doses, even three years after vaccination. More

Cancers share gene patterns, studies affirm
The New York Times
Scientists have discovered that the most dangerous cancer of the uterine lining closely resembles the worst ovarian and breast cancers, providing the most telling evidence yet that cancer will increasingly be seen as a disease defined primarily by its genetic fingerprint rather than just by the organ where it originated.More

Medicare panel to mull genetic cancer tests
MedPage Today
Genetic tests to help oncologists determine the previously unknown origin of metastatic tumors work moderately well, members of a Medicare coverage advisory committee were told. However, analytic and clinical evidence is limited on another category of genetic tests: those that search for DNA from high-risk, cancer-causing human papillomavirus to detect cervical cancer earlier.More

Research: Urine cytology barely aids hematuria investigation
HealthDay News via HCP Live
Urine cytology adds little to the diagnostic value of standard hematuria investigations, according to a study published in The Journal of Urology. Said F. Mishriki, M.D., from the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, in the United Kingdom, and colleagues analyzed data from 2,778 consecutive patients investigated for hematuria at a U.K. teaching hospital from January 1999 to September 2007. More

Study finds no fertility drugs, ovarian cancer link
Reuters
Despite lingering concerns that using fertility drugs might raise a woman's chances for later developing ovarian cancer, new research suggests the drugs don't contribute any added risk. Research on fertility drugs and cancer risk has yielded conflicting results. Some studies, especially in the 1990s, showed an increased likelihood of the cancer among women who took fertility drugs. Additionally, a Dutch report from 2011 found an increase in borderline tumors — those with abnormal cells that might not turn into cancer.More

Bioengineers build open source language for programming cells
Wired
Drew Endy wants to build a programming language for the body. Endy is the co-director of the International Open Facility Advancing Biotechnology — BIOFAB, for short — where he's part of a team that's developing a language that will use genetic data to actually program biological cells. More

Green cleaning and healthcare facilities
By Stephen P. Ashkin
In its simplest terms, green cleaning means cleaning to protect health without harming the environment. It refers to the use of cleaning chemicals, tools, equipment and other products that have a reduced impact on health and the environment when compared to conventional cleaning products used for the same purposes. While the adoption of green cleaning strategies has moved quickly in some industries, such as education, commercial offices and hotel/hospitality, it has moved at a slower pace in many healthcare locations.More

Federal panel: Everyone 15 to 65 should have HIV test
Los Angeles Times
Citing recent evidence that HIV infections are best managed when treated early, an influential panel of medical experts has finalized its recommendation that all people ages 15 to 65 be screened for the virus that causes AIDS. The recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force seeks to address one of the key challenges in the fight against HIV/AIDS: The window during which patients respond best to treatment is also the time when symptoms of the disease are least noticeable.More

Danish scientists on brink of HIV cure
The Telegraph
Danish scientists are expecting results that will show that "finding a mass-distributable and affordable cure to HIV is possible." They are conducting clinical trials to test a "novel strategy" in which the HIV virus is stripped from human DNA and destroyed permanently by the immune system.More

Doctors: Cancer drugs should cost less
MIT Technology Review
A group of more than 100 cancer experts have called out drug companies for the high prices of cancer drugs. The doctors, all specialists in chronic myelogenous leukemia or CML, published their opinion on what they call "astronomical" prices recently in the scientific journal Blood. More