September 11, 2006, 10:07 PM CT
Diagnostic Method For Multiple Myeloma
A researcher at the University of Navarra, Borja Sáez Ochoa, has proposed a new genetic diagnostic method for multiple myeloma (MM), a type of bone marrow cancer, which permits the detection of this disease in earlier stages.
The dissertation of this biologist, produced in the Department of Genetics of the School of Sciences of the University of Navarra, and in the Institute of Human Genetics of the University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, en Kiel (Germany), is oriented towards the study of the genetic base of this cancer, and the posterior development of cytogenetic diagnostic strategies for the detection of alterations with prognostic value.
For this purpose, he has analyzed, by means of statistical methods, the cytogenetic changes in a group of patients with MM. This methodology has permitted the discovery of associations between specific chromosomal changes, and thus the description of a new classification of the disease. In addition, the technique of hybridization in situ with fluorescence allowed him to identify new recurrent genetic changes that are involved in the appearance of this pathology.
A disease associated with old ageMultiple myeloma is a disease which primarily affects persons above 60 years of age. In 2001 in Spain, 1716 new cases were detected, and 1554 patients with the disease died, with 20 of these in Navarra. According to Borja Sáez, with the new methods of diagnosis developed through this research project, such as the FISH and FICTION strategies, we will be able to detect genetic alterations rapidly and easily in the early stages of the disease, permitting its early diagnosis. In addition, he emphasized that these procedures will promote the description of molecular targets for future, more effective treatments of MM.........
Posted by: Andria Permalink Source
September 9, 2006, 9:15 AM CT
Unusual Combo For Cancer
An experimental anti-cancer regimen combined a diuretic, a Parkinson's disease medicine and a drug ordinarily used to reverse the effect of sedatives. In research conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the unusual mixture inhibited the growth of aggressive prostate tumors in laboratory mice.
Although their drug choices may seem capricious, the researchers weren't randomly pulling drugs from their shelves. They made their discovery using sophisticated methods for delving into the unique metabolism of cancer cells and then choosing compounds likely to interfere with their growth.
"This study, led by Joseph Ippolito, a very talented M.D./Ph.D. student, demonstrates the importance of looking at tumor metabolism," says senior author Jeffrey I. Gordon, M.D, director of the Center for Genome Sciences at the School of Medicine. "Using a broad array of technology, we've obtained a view of the tumor cells' metabolome (the set of small-molecule metabolites found within cells) and revealed aspects that were not expected and could be exploited".
The findings, published in a recent article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, expand upon earlier work by the research group, which demonstrated that aggressive types of neuroendocrine tumors - seen in some types of lung, thyroid and prostate cancers - produce high amounts of a chemical called GABA, a neurotransmitter.........
Posted by: Andria Permalink Source
September 9, 2006, 7:00 AM CT
Olive Oil To Cut Prostate Cancer Risk
A trial at Columbia University in the US revealed the herbal supplement can reduce the rate at which prostate cancer cells grow and spread by nearly 80 per cent.
The results, reported in the medical journal Nutrition And Cancer, appear to confirm anecdotal evidence that the herbal mixture has powerful anti-cancer properties.
Called Zyflamend, the supplement is based on olive oil and ten different herbs.
by PAT HAGAN, Daily Mail........
Posted by: Andria Permalink Source
September 9, 2006, 6:49 AM CT
David Welch: Fight With Brain Cancer
Read the touching story of David Welch.
Diagnosed at age 38 with a lemon-sized brain tumor, David Welch has documented his journey since then -- from a Patient's Perspective. 38 Lemon is not a medical website. Rather, this is one patient's entire experience in dealing with brain cancer, from December 2004 to today.
Read a sample.01 September 2006.
Solid progress is being made using Temodar chemotherapy in the therapy of my brain cancer. Since my last update in May, here are some important updates:
1.) Neuro-oncologist Dr. Howard Fine at NIH has been able to use an innovative "co-registration" technique to measure initial signs of tumor shrinkage over the past 4 months. A slow-growing brain tumor grows, it does not shrink. Evidence of any type of shrinkage can only be attributed to my current Temodar chemotherapy therapy.
2.) My Hematology Reports (blood tests) are holding up. They essentially indicate that I am tolerating my Temodar chemotherapy medicine fairly well as I head into my 12th chemo cycle on Labor Day (9/4/06).
Thank you David Welch and all the best
For more visit his website.........
Posted by: Andria Permalink Source
September 9, 2006, 6:42 AM CT
Selecting Embryos With Low Cancer Risk
Prospective parents have been using the procedure, known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, for more than a decade to screen for genes certain to cause childhood diseases that are severe and largely untreatable.
Now a growing number of couples like the Kingsburys are crossing a new threshold for parental intervention in the genetic makeup of their offspring: They are using pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to detect a predisposition to cancers that may develop during the later part of life.
For most parents who have used pre- implantation diagnosis, the burden of the decision has been trumped by the near certainty that diseases like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia will afflict the children who carry the genetic mutation that causes them. The procedure has also been used to avoid passing on Huntington's disease, a severe neurological disease that spares no one who carries the mutation that causes it.........
Posted by: Andria Permalink Source
September 9, 2006, 6:29 AM CT
Cancer Rates Continue to Decline
Death rates from cancer continue to decline as per a new report by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, the American Cancer Society, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Death rates fell for eleven of the fifteen most common cancers in men and for ten of the fifteen most common cancers in women. This might come as a surprise to a number of activists alleging a current "cancer epidemic." You would believe that a report bearing such good news would be all over the headlines, but unfortunately it isn't. Hypothetical cancer deaths from pesticides and other chemicals often receive more attention. See our publication America's War on "Carcinogens".
Deaths from cancer have been in decline for years. In fact, two years ago ACSH commented on a similar report issued by the American Cancer Society and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rates of colorectal cancer, uterine cancer, stomach cancer, and cervical cancer all continued to fall in 2003, the report found. The fall in cancer deaths can be attributed to lower rates of smoking, better screening, and more effective therapys. Among men, lung cancer death rates have fallen, while they have risen among women, since smoking rates among men fell earlier. Smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable cancer deaths. See our publication on smoking cessation, Kicking Butts in the 21st Century.........
Posted by: Andria Permalink Source
September 9, 2006, 6:06 AM CT
The Creation of PINC
My name is Elizabeth Dill-Isgro. I am 35 years old and a three year breast cancer survivor.
On January 18, 2002, while taking a leisurely bath, I found a lump the size of a golf ball under my right breast.
No one in my family has had cancer, let alone breast cancer, so I thought maybe it was just a cyst. To be safe, I called my doctor and got an appointment that day. And then began the roller coaster ride.
First came the mammogram, then a breast biopsy and as each test went by, the tumor was growing in my breast. It had now gone from the size of a golf ball to the size of a baseball. On February 18, 2002, I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Each time I went to my surgeon I brought a friend, but on that day I went alone.
My doctor walked in the room and said *Oh you came alone today* and that was all she had to say. As she spoke I felt like I was having an out of body experience. I could hear this person talking to me saying things like cancer, surgery, mastectomy and chemotherapy, I felt like I would faint. I left the office, called my sisters and asked them to drive to my Mothers to tell her as I feared what the news might do to her and I did not want her to be alone. They scheduled me for a mastectomy the following week
(From Elizabeth Dill-Isgro)........
Posted by: Andria Permalink Source
September 9, 2006, 5:38 AM CT
How Gene Is Linked To Skin Problems, Cancer
Xiao-Jing Wang, M.D., Ph.D., professor of otolaryngology/head and neck surgery, Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine
Scientists from Oregon Health & Science University have uncovered a pathway through which a gene's over-expression causes skin stem cells to switch from creating hair follicles to creating sebaceous glands.
The discovery by the laboratory of Xiao-Jing Wang, M.D., Ph.D., professor of otolaryngology/head and neck surgery, OHSU School of Medicine, and member of the OHSU Cancer Institute, points to a new pathway that could some day be used as a therapeutic target for not only treating hair loss and oily skin, but prevent and treat cancer.
The study's results are reported in the current issue of the journal Developmental Cell.
Epidermal stem cells give rise to the outer layer of the skin that serves as a barrier for the body, as well as follicles that produce hairs and sebaceous glands that produce lipid oil to lubricate the skin. In aged skin, a protein called Smad7 is overproduced, which triggers hair loss and sebaceous gland growth.
The Developmental Cell study is the first to definitively link Smad7 over-expression and the pathological changes that occur in aged skin.
"In humans, researchers and medical doctors documented the aging skin phenotype a long time ago, and the Smad7 over-expression in aged skin was reported a few years ago, but nobody knew whether these two events had any link," said Wang, who also serves in the OHSU departments of Cell and Developmental Biology, and Dermatology. "We found the mechanism that links these two together".........
Posted by: Andria Permalink Source
September 6, 2006, 8:26 PM CT
More Than 340 Immunotherapy Drugs
Research and Markets has announced the addition of Immunotherapy in Oncology: Drug Pipeline Update 2006 to their offering.
The immunotherapy field in cancer has never been more potent than it is right now, including block buster drugs like Avastin, Erbitux, and Rituxan. Antibodies are making the headlines but cancer vaccines are not far away. The recent approval of Gardasil, a cervical cancer vaccine, will certainly become a strong representative of its kind. Future challenges for the industry lie in discovering strong antigens, effective immunomodulators and developing suitable delivery technologies.
Today, there are more than 200 companies developing more than 340 immunotherapy drugs in more than 600 clinical trials targeting around 40 different cancer indications. Top five cancer indications in the field are: Melanoma, Breast, Lung, Prostate, and Colorectal.
Read more below how Immunotherapy in Oncology: Drug Pipeline Update is organized:.
Investigators Includes more than 200 principal researchers and a number of more collaborators.
Drug name & Synonyms Lists commercial, generic and code names for drugs. In several hundreds of synonym names.
Developmental stage Contains more than 340 drugs in development:.........
Posted by: Andria Permalink Source
September 6, 2006, 8:13 PM CT
Cancer Survivors Reach Kilimanjaro Summit
Kilimanjaro
Adelaide adventurer Duncan Chessell has led a team of Australian cancer survivors to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa.
Chessell and one of his guides managed to get six of the 10 climbers in his group to the summit of the 5,986 metre peak in Tanzania just before 1pm (CST) on Tuesday.
The four others were forced to return to the expedition's base camp after finding the going too tough.
Chessell's wife Jo Arnold said conditions had been reasonably kind to the group and weather on the summit was clear but cold.
"They had a few issues with wind on the way in but it's been quite fine on summit day," she said.
The expedition marks the 21st birthday of cancer support group CanTeen.
The climbing group included many people who were celebrating five years of being cancer free.........
Posted by: Andria Permalink Source
Older Blog Entries
