September 25, 2006, 10:00 PM CT

Gene Therapy For Prostate Cancer

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) are hoping a new gene therapy that takes a gene called RTVP-1 directly into the prostate tumor will prove effective in preventing recurrence of the disease.

The first phase of the study is designed to test the safety of the treatment and determine the proper dosage of gene, said Dr. Dov Kadmon, professor of urology at BCM. It will be carried out in the department of urology at BCM as well as at Ben Taub General Hospital, The Methodist Hospital and Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

"We are treating patients who are scheduled for a prostatectomy (prostate removal) but who also have a high risk that their disease will recur (or come back)," said Kadmon. "The operation itself is highly successful in eradicating local tumors (in the prostate)".

The design of the study is simple, said Kadmon.

"One injection into the prostate that should take no more than 10 minutes, although patients will be monitored in a special unit of the hospital for 23 hours to make sure there are no side effects. After that, they come to the unit for a check-up once a week".

After about 30 days, the subjects undergo their surgery, which has already been scheduled, he said. He said the hope is that the gene therapy will reduce the risk that cancer will recur at or near the site of the tumor as well as in distant points in the body.........

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September 25, 2006, 4:52 PM CT

A Drop Of Blood Is All That Takes

Stomach cancer has no symptoms in its early stages, so getting a jump on therapy is difficult. That is why stomach cancer is the fifth-most common cancer in Taiwan. But now, a team of scientists at National Taiwan University Hospital have improved our abilities to detect stomach cancer earlier. After years of hard work, they discovered a toxic factor "GroES" that causes stomach cancer. In the future, a simple blood test will give a positive or negative result for the presence of this substance, allowing immediate access to endoscopic examinations for patients for whom this is indicated. In this way, cancers can be detected and treated earlier.

World Health Organization statistics show that stomach cancer attacks some 800,000 people worldwide each year. The cancer usually attacks people in their 50s and 60s, and is the most frequently-occurring cancerous tumor type. Since the disease shows no symptoms in its early stages, commonly the cancer is already in Stage III before it is detected. Consequently, Zhou Lupin, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at National Taiwan University, is now heading up a team that is using immunological analysis to detect the cancer-causing "GroES" factor. The test has already achieved a 65 percent accuracy rate.

Zhou says that if the human body is infected with GroES, it produces antibodies to the factor. This can cause chronic inflammation of the stomach, causing the endothelial cells to rupture and proliferate. This long-term inflammation can also cause stomach cancer. As a result, in the future it will be necessary only to test for the presence of "GroES" to identify patients in a high-risk group for developing stomach cancer. Patients who test positive can be counseled to have an endoscopic examination as soon as possible, and if cancer is found, early therapy can begin.........

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September 25, 2006, 4:37 PM CT

Breast Cancer Risk Factor Reeavaluation

Breast density has been recently been found to be a major risk factor for the development of breast cancer. In a recent issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute this issue is highlighted. The discussion revolves around the question: should breast density be added to the Gail model in predicting breast cancer occurrence?

The Gail model is a breast cancer prediction tool that is widely used. Gail model estimates a woman's risk of developing breast cancer taking into account several factors like age, family history of breast cancer, reproductive history and history of prior biopsies. This model is widely used to identify the group of women who have high risk of developing breast cancer. This model was originally introduced for evaluation of Caucasian women and is yet to be validated in other ethnic groups.

Scientists have recently identified other risk factors like breast density and postmenopausal hormone replacement treatment. In continuing effort to improve the accuracy of the Gail model experts are suggesting that these new risk factors should be included in calculation of the risk.

The term breast density refers to the extent of glandular and connective tissue in the breast. Breasts with more glandular and connective tissue are denser by definition. A mammogram gives an estimate of breast density. Increased breast density is associated with increased risk of breast cancer. Breast density is estimated on a scale of one to four, with one being "almost entirely fat" and four being "extremely dense".........

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September 24, 2006, 10:29 PM CT

Chemotherapy And Hearing Loss

Children receiving chemotherapy might be very suseptible to hearing loss. These childeren who lose hearing due to the toxic effects of chemotherapy might one day be able to get their hearing back through pharmacological and gene therapy, thanks to work done with mouse models at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Mice with a variety of genetic mutations that disrupt different parts of the ear will also help scientists understand age-related hearing loss in adults, as well as hearing loss caused by long-term exposure to loud noise, according to the researchers.

The scientists took the first step toward these ambitious goals by identifying 17 families of mice whose offspring carry one or more of a variety of mutations that cause them to lose the ability to hear high-frequency sounds, according to Jian Zuo, Ph.D., associate member of the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology. Zuo is senior author of a report on this work that appears in the recent issue of Hearing Research.

These models will help scientists understand what happens in the ears of children who suffer ototoxicity (toxic damage to the inner ear due to chemotherapy) and eventually, which genes are responsible for that damage. "Our ongoing study of these mouse models will advance understanding of age-related and noise-induced hearing loss in humans--such as long-term exposure to loud music--which are similar to the damage that occurs in children receiving chemotherapy," Zuo said.........

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September 20, 2006, 8:45 PM CT

Mariska's Dad Mickey Hargitay Dies at 80

Mickey Hargitay, the 1955 Mr. Universe and father - with late sex symbol Jayne Mansfield - of actress Mariska Hargitay, died of multiple myeloma Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Ellen, his wife of 38 years, tells the Los Angeles Times. He was 80.

"Words cannot express how saddened we are by the loss of Mickey," his family said in a statement, the Associated Press reports. "At the same time, we are so grateful for who he was and is to all of us, and for the love he gave us in our lives. He will continue to be our source of inspiration and strength."

Born Miklos Hargitay in Hungary, he emigrated to the United States after World War II. His bodybuilding - he was named Mr. Universe, Mr. America and Mr. Olympia in 1955 - helped popularize the sport and landed him a role in Mae West's Las Vegas revue.........

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September 20, 2006, 8:38 PM CT

Fatty Fish Consumption Protects Women From Cancer

Context The epidemiological evidence that fatty fish consumption may be linked to the lower risk of several cancers is not consistent and no studies of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) exist.

Objective To examine the association between fatty and lean fish consumption and risk of RCC in women.

Design, Setting, and Participants The Swedish Mammography Cohort, a population-based prospective cohort study of 61 433 women aged 40 to 76 years without prior diagnosis of cancer at baseline (March 1, 1987-December 14, 1990). Participants filled in a food frequency questionnaire at baseline and in September 1997.

Main Outcome Measure Incident renal cell carcinoma.

Results During a mean of 15.3 years (940 357 person-years) of follow-up between 1987 and 2004, 150 incident RCC cases were diagnosed. After adjustment for potential confounders, an inverse association of fatty fish consumption with the risk of RCC was found (P for trend =.02), but no association was found with lean fish consumption. Compared with no consumption, the multivariate rate ratio (RR) was 0.56 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.35-0.91) for women eating fatty fish once a week or more. Compared with women consistently reporting no fish consumption, the multivariate RR was 0.26 (95% CI, 0.10-0.67) for those women reporting consistent consumption of fatty fish at baseline and 1997 (based on a subset of 36 664 women who filled in the baseline and 1997 questionnaires, with 40 incident RCC cases during the 1998-2004 follow-up period).........

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September 20, 2006, 8:35 PM CT

More Lymph Nodes The Better

Latest research shows that the more number of lymph nodes removed, the better result with fewer recurrence of breast cancer.

Among women with node-negative breast cancer, those who had fewer than six lymph nodes removed during axillary lymph node dissection were more likely to experience a cancer recurrence than women who had a larger number of nodes removed. These results were published in the Annals of Oncology.

Axillary lymph node dissection refers to the removal of axillary (underarm) lymph nodes in order to determine whether breast cancer has spread. Understanding the extent to which cancer has spread plays an important part in treatment planning.

Among women with node-negative cancer (cancer that has not spread to lymph nodes), some women will eventually experience a cancer recurrence. In order to better predict risk of recurrence, researchers are evaluating the relationships between tumor and treatment characteristics and patient outcomes.

In order to determine whether the number of lymph nodes removed during axillary lymph node dissection influences subsequent risk of recurrence, researchers in Spain conducted a study among 1606 women with node-negative breast cancer. All of the women had undergone axillary lymph node dissection. The number of lymph nodes removed ranged from one to 54. Half the women had more than 12 nodes removed.........

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September 20, 2006, 8:31 PM CT

Cancer Scientist Animal Rights Activist Jailed

A cancer research specialist described as "brilliant" was today jailed for three years after he pleaded guilty to leading a double life as an animal rights saboteur.

Joseph Harris, 26, a doctor of molecular biology who has been working on a therapy for pancreas cancer at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, waged a campaign of vandalism against three companies which carried out work for Huntingdon Life Sciences, an animal testing firm.

His girlfriend had threatened to dump him because his research was leading him to the point where he was going to have to test his findings on animals, his defence lawyer claimed.........

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September 20, 2006, 8:27 PM CT

Lobbying for cancer research

Lobbying for cancer is a worthwhile effort.

More than 3,300 cancer patients, survivors, friends and relatives fanned out across Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby Congress for more money for cancer research and detection.

Aiming to visit the offices of every member of Congress, the group also appealed to lawmakers to reauthorize a program that provides breast and cervical cancer screening and therapy for uninsured women.

President Bush's proposed budget for the fiscal 2007 year beginning Oct. 1 would cut the National Cancer Institute's budget by $40 million.

Wendy Selig, the American Cancer Society's vice president for legislative affairs, said the institute needs a 5 percent increase - $240 million - in its $4.8 billion budget this year just to keep pace with medical inflation.

National Institutes of Health estimates for disease research show cancer funding staying fairly flat in recent years, with annual increases of $115 million and $92 million between 2003 and 2005, followed by a $49 million drop this year.........

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September 20, 2006, 8:15 PM CT

Detecting Cancer with Silica Nanoparticles

Using silica nanoparticles labeled with the molecule guanine, scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have now created a simple and inexpensive electrochemical method that detects tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) at clinically useful levels. Moreover, this assay is amenable to miniaturization, suggesting that it could be easily incorporated into a microfluidics-based assay system.

Reporting its work in the journal Analytical Chemistry, a research team headed by Yuehe Lin, Ph.D., loaded guanine molecules onto the surface of silica nanobeads that also contained a chemical anchor known as avidin. They also attached biotin, which binds with extraordinary strength to avidin, to an antibody that binds to the TNF-æ protein. The scientists attached a second antibody, one that binds to a different part of the TNF-æ protein, to a carbon electrode, which functions as the electrochemical sensor.

When TNF-alpha is present in a solution added to the antibody-labeled electrode, it binds to the antibody. Adding the second antibody produces a sandwich around the TNF-alpha molecule. At this point, the scientists then added their labeled silica nanoparticle, which binds to the antibody-TNF-alpha sandwich. In a final step, the researchers added a molecule that reacts with the guanines on the nanoparticle, creating an electrical current that the electrode senses. The current flowing into the electrode is proportional to the amount of TNF-alpha bound to the first antibody. Experiments with this system showed that the limit of detection for the device is approximately 2 picomolar, well within the range needed to detect physiological levels of TNF-alpha.........

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