Dartmouth Medical School Digest
April 2008

News for our community

In this issue

Clues to cystic fibrosis infections
New ways to attack the damaging lung infections that plague cystic fibrosis patients may be found through a novel airway cell model Dartmouth Medical School lung biologists have devised. Through their system, researchers led by George O'Toole and Bruce Stanton discovered that bacterial communities called biofilms are highly impervious to conventional antibiotics, and suggest that the intense therapy needed to combat the infections contributes to their tenacity and toxicity. The study, published online for the April Infection and Immunity, sheds light on understanding and treating one of the most devastating problems of the common inherited disorder.

Stopping pancreatic cancer
A combination of chemotherapy and radiation for pancreatic cancer patients before surgery can prevent return of the deadly disease, Dartmouth cancer researchers report. The preoperative treatment substantially lowered the risk of a local recurrence, especially compared to standard post-operative therapies and even patients initially too advanced for potentially life-saving surgery became eligible after the pre-operative combination. The study, led by Richard J. Barth, was published in the March Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Match madness
Dartmouth medical seniors celebrated Match Day, a national rite of passage when soon -to -be -physicians learn where they will head to begin residency training. For most the defining moment came during ceremonies at DHMC when they opened envelopes that contained the name of the program to which they were paired. This year's graduating medical students participated in a record-breaking Match with the most applicants ever vying for more than 22,000 slots across the country.


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