Melanoma patients not attending recommended check-ups – June 4, 2015

New study data released by Australia’s largest melanoma research and treatment centre, Melanoma Institute Australia, reveals many early-stage melanoma patients are not fulfilling the recommended medical check-ups within the first year post- diagnosis. According to an article published in Australian Doctor (June 3, 2015), “only 34 per cent of stage I patients and 14 per…

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PBAC advises biosimilar medicines suitable for substitution at pharmacy level – June 2, 2015

In late April, 2015, The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) pledged to consider marking biosimilar medicines equivalent to originator medicines, to which they are referenced against in Australia. This process would involve “a flagging”, whereby the biosimilar would be compared to the originator, in order to identify any significant differences in clinical efficacy or safety.…

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7.9 month improvement in metastatic bowel cancer patients following microsphere radiotherapy and chemotherapy – June 2, 2015

As published on Bowel Cancer Australia’s website today, results from an Australian-led global study have shown that treatment with radiation microspheres and chemotherapy (chemo-radiotherapy) improved progression-free survival in the liver by around eight months among metastatic bowel cancer patients. The SIRFLOX study – the world’s largest study of its kind involving 530 metastatic bowel cancer patients…

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Protect against pneumococcal pneumonia – May 24, 2015

“Pneumococcal pneumonia is a severe lung infection caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae, responsible for a large proportion of pneumonia cases among those aged 65 years and above” – A/Prof Lucy Morgan.  According to Lung Foundation Australia’s ‘Lungs4Life’ research released this week, fewer than one-in-seven Australians (14 per cent) aged 18 to 74 who have…

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