A protein called isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH1) is present at high levels in lung cancers and can be detected in the blood, making it a noninvasive diagnostic marker for lung cancers, according to a new study.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women in the United States and worldwide. To detect lung cancer in blood, currently certain biomarkers including CEA, Cyfra21-1 and CA125 are used, but these markers are not very sensitive, according to He.

One subset of children frequently believed to have autism may be misdiagnosed because some of the social impairments associated with their developmental delay looks like features of autism, according to a new paper. 

The children have a genetic disorder called 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and their prevalence of autism has been reported as high as 50 percent, using what is called 'gold-standard' diagnostic criteria. But the researchers found that none of the children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome "met strict diagnostic criteria" for autism.  

Traditional peer review is not enough to ensure data quality amid the recent boom in scientific research findings and open access places to publish them, according to results of a 10-year collaboration between the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and five technical journals.

An archaeological dig on Jerusalem's Mount Zion has revealed the well-preserved lower levels of what the archaeological team believes is an Early Roman period mansion from the first century AD, possibly belonging to a member of the Jewish priestly caste, which may yield significant domestic details about the rulers of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus.

Particularly important in the discoveries were a buried vaulted chamber that has proven to be an unusual finished bathroom (with bathtub) adjacent to a large below-ground ritual cleansing pool (mikveh) -- only the fourth bathroom to be found in Israel from the Second Temple period, with two of the others found in palaces of Herod the Great at Jericho and Masada.

Researchers are reporting the first experimental determination of the weak charge of the proton, one of the four fundamental forces in our universe, along with gravity, electromagnetism and the strong force.

Although the weak force acts only on the sub-atomic level, we can see its effects in our everyday world. The weak force plays a key role in the nuclear reaction processes that take place in stars and is responsible for much of the natural radiation present in our universe. 

A team reports that they have shown scientifically what many women report anecdotally: that the breast cancer drug tamoxifen is toxic to cells of the brain and central nervous system, producing mental fogginess similar to "chemo brain."

Although tamoxifen is relatively benign compared to most cancer treatments, it nonetheless produces troubling side effects in a subset of the large number of people who take it. The good news is they also report they've discovered an existing drug compound that appears to counteract or rescue brain cells from the adverse effects of the breast cancer drug.