PHILADELPHIA -- The FDA has approved a once-daily formulation of Lialda (mesalamine) for active mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis, Shire PLC announced.

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Defects in the receptor for leptin are rare but should be considered when diagnosing obese patients with uncontrolled appetites, according to researchers here.

TORONTO -- Extensive density revealed by a mammogram sharply increases the likelihood of a lurking breast cancer but, at the same time, makes the lesion significantly harder to find on the film.

WATERTOWN, Mass. -- Instead of popping pills, men with erectile dysfunction may be able to improve their performance through weight loss and getting in shape.

BOSTON -- The fallout of New York State's rules discriminating against benzodiazepine prescriptions for older Medicaid patients was a nearly two-thirds drop in their use but no reduction in hip fracture rates, reported Harvard researchers.

BOSTON -- Smokers run a higher risk than non-smokers of having latent or active tuberculosis and of dying from the disease, according to researchers here.

LEEDS, England -- Increasing the intensity of chemotherapy for osteosarcoma of an extremity does not improve overall or progression-free survival despite improvements in histologic response, according to a large European trial.

ROYAL OAK, Mich. -- Citing "catastrophic complications" if dual-antiplatelet therapy is halted during the 12 months after implanting a drug-eluting stent, five professional societies signed off on a stern advisory aimed at reducing the risk of thromboses.

TORONTO -- The analytic method used to correct for selection bias in observational studies can mean the difference between a 50% treatment effect and a 16% treatment effect, researchers here reported.

BERLIN, Germany -- After complete resection of pancreatic tumors, chemotherapy with Gemzar (gemcitabine), which is FDA-approved for locally advanced or metastatic malignancies, significantly delayed disease recurrence, researchers here reported.

BOSTON -- Men with periodontitis and tooth loss, or both, had an overall 64% greater risk of cancer of the pancreas than men with good oral health, according to data from Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

BOSTON -- An investigational drug aimed at making recurrent glioblastomas more vulnerable to chemotherapy and radiation seems to restore a normal vasculature to the tumor, at least temporarily, show preliminary results of a Phase II trial.

TORONTO -- A second gene as a possible accessory in the development of late-onset Alzheimer's disease has been identified by an international team of researchers.

LONDON -- As a quick screening tool, the ratio of a patient's white blood cell types differentiated acute purulent tonsillitis from infectious mononucleosis, researchers here reported.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. -- Despite the sturm and drang over the thrombosis threats posed by the two first generation drug-eluting coronary stents, there is unflagging enthusiasm for new and improved devices.

NEW YORK -- For reasons that are unclear, black patients in New York State who had a coronary bypass in 1999 were more likely than whites to have surgery without a cardiopulmonary pump -- but by surgeons not well experienced in the demanding technique.

LEICESTER, England -- One of the apparently myriad benefits of statins in coronary artery disease may be to retard the shortening of telomeres, the bits of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes.

BOSTON -- Few of the safeguards routinely used for infusion chemotherapy have been adopted for oral chemotherapy at major U.S. cancer centers, according to an analysis.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. -- Although the problem of stent thrombosis has been acknowledged, it is not at all certain what the circumstances are that trigger formation of a thrombus.

BOSTON -- An endoscopic surgical procedure to treat symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) was safe and effective over a three-year follow-up, found researchers here.