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ROCKVILLE, Md. -- An FDA advisory panel has recommended that the agency expand post-marketing surveillance of oral contraceptives and require that their manufacturers study safety and efficacy in wide-ranging populations.

IRVINE, Calif. -- Male breast cancer is comparatively rare, but its diagnosis carries an elevated risk of second primaries, found epidemiologists here.

WOLVERHAMPTON, England -- Diuretics offered no clear benefit for preventing preeclampsia in pregnant women and should not be used to prevent its onset, Cochrane reviewers concluded.

HAIFA, Israel -- The phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors led to a 26.7% successful intercourse rate, compared with controls, for men with diabetes-related erectile dysfunction, according to a meta-analysis.

BASEL, Switzerland -- Contrary to a previous report, the presence in the blood of two types of antibodies to myelin is neither diagnostic of multiple sclerosis, nor of risk of progression to MS, according to European and Canadian investigators.

GLASGOW, Scotland -- Among women with symptomatic fibroids, the faster recovery after uterine-artery embolization must be weighed against the possibility of needing further treatment, researchers here reported.

SEATTLE -- Gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease has been significantly reduced following allogeneic stem-cell transplants by the use of a common topical corticosteroid that was reformulated into pill form, according to researchers here.

BALTIMORE -- A bit of pre-op prophylactic palaver after the patient is anesthetized is being advocated as a way to prevent wrong-site surgery.

SYDNEY, Australia -- After an initial low-trauma fracture from a simple fall, both older men and women are equally likely to have a subsequent significant fracture, researchers here reported.

NEW YORK -- Certain patients with epilepsy appear to know when a seizure is imminent, suggesting that they could take pre-emptive precautionary measures such as avoiding driving, researchers here have found.

ORLANDO -- Treatment-refractory advanced gastric cancers may respond to combination therapy with Erbitux (cetuximab) and Camptosar (irinotecan), researchers reported here.

ORLANDO -- If all things were equal, a new liver would offer the best chance of long term survival for hepatocellular carcinoma -- but these patients make up a heterogeneous group.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Radiation therapy for most women 65 and older with stage I or II breast cancer helps prevent recurrences or second primaries, determined a multicenter team of investigators.

ORLANDO -- The addition of Avastin (bevacizumab) to Gemzar (gemcitabine) did not improve survival of advanced pancreatic cancer in a randomized trial, researchers here reported.

ORLANDO -- Avastin (bevacizumab) added to an Eloxatin (oxaliplatin)-based chemotherapy regimen modestly extended progression-free survival in metastatic colorectal cancer, according to results of a randomized phase III trial.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Older women with moderately impaired renal function are at increased risk for hip fractures, particularly trochanter breaks, researchers here reported.

ORLANDO -- More that a third of colorectal cancer survivors surveyed said they would be willing to undergo a repeat course of highly toxic therapy for even a minuscule reduction in the risk of recurrence, researchers reported here.

ORLANDO -- Adjuvant chemotherapy with S-1, an oral prodrug of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), improved survival compared with surgery alone, according to results of a phase III trial of 1,059 gastric cancer patients here reported here.