Cancer
Women Underrepresented In Most Cancer Research
Women continue to be under-enrolled in cancer clinical trials, according to a new review, published in the July 15, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study's results suggest that greater efforts are needed to ensure that oncologists know the true effects of treatments and medical procedures in female patients. In 1993, the National Institutes of Health called for clinical trials to include adequate representation of women. To define better the representation of women as subjects in the full range of high-impact, clinical cancer research published currently, Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and colleagues reviewed cancer clinical research appearing in eight... More »
Seattle Genetics Reports Data From SGN-35 Every Three Week Dosing Phase I Trial In Lymphoma
Seattle Genetics, Inc. reported data from a phase I clinical trial of SGN-35 administered every three weeks to patients with Hodgkin lymphoma and other CD30-positive hematologic malignancies. Data highlights include longer median duration of response than previously reported and concordance between investigator-assessed and independent review of responses. The data were presented at the 14th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) being held in Berlin, Germany. "These maturing phase I data continue to reinforce our belief in the therapeutic potential of SGN-35," said Thomas C. Reynolds, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer of Seattle Genetics. "The lengthening duration of responses and the high level of concordance between in... More »
Chemgenex's Omacetaxine Kills Leukemic Stem Cells In Human CML Models
ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited, announced that the results of pre-clinical research that demonstrated that omacetaxine kills model human leukemic stem cells were presented at the 14th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) in Berlin, Germany on Sunday. Human leukemic stem cells are known to be insensitive to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), the drug family currently approved to treat Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). The work was carried out in collaboration with Professor Tessa Holyoake at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Ms. Elaine Allan, Clinical Scientist of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service working at the Paul O'Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre, University of Glasgow in Scotland, UK delivered... More »
Single Dose Palonosetron Prevents Emesis Induced By Chemotherapy In non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Patients
Single dose palonosetron is effective and safe in preventing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas who undergo moderately emetogenic chemotherapy. New data presented today at the EHA (European Haematology Association) Congress in Berlin show that a single dose of palonosetron, a second generation 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, is effective and safe in preventing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. (CINV) in patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), treated with cytotoxic agents. The result comes from a study conducted in Italy on behalf of the Italian Group of Study on Lymphomas (GISL) by a multicentric team coordinated by Dr. Nicola Di Renzo of the Vito Fazzi Ho... More »
Clear Cell Adenocarcinoma of the Urinary Bladder: a Short Review
Clear cell adenocarcinoma (CCA) usually arises from the female genital tract. However, CCA is sometimes found in the lower urinary tract in women, most commonly involving the urethra,1 where it may arise in paraurethral ducts or diverticula.2,3 Clear cell adenocarcinoma of the urinary bladder is rare and primarily affects women.4 Its cytologic and ultrastructural features are similar to those of CCA arising in the female genital tract.5 The findings of most previous studies of CCA of the urinary tract suggest mullerian differentiation. 5 Morphologic changes suggestive of endometriosis, or mesonephric or nephrogenic differentiation, may also be observed; however, some authors do not believe that CCA of the urinary bladder originates fr... More »
UPCI Joins ExCell Research Study Using Stem Cells For Leukemia And Lymphoma Patients
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, and JERUSALEM, Israel -- The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the Gamida Cell - Teva Joint Venture announced today that the Institute has joined an elite group of cancer centers in Europe, the United States and Israel that are now enrolling patients to participate in the ExCell research study. The phase III study is assessing the safety and efficacy of StemEx(R), an investigational product derived from stem cells, as an alternative treatment to bone marrow transplants for hematological malignancies, including leukemia and lymphoma. StemEx is a graft of expanded stem/progenitor cells taken from a single unit of umbilical cord blood and then transplanted in combination with non-... More »
Low-Fat Diet May Help Avoid Liver Cancer
PHILADELPHIA -- Low-fat diet helps genetically predisposed animals avoid liver cancer, U.S. researchers found. In a study comparing two strains of mice -- one susceptible to developing cancer and the other not -- researchers found that a high-fat diet predisposed the cancer-susceptible strain to liver cancer. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Case Western Reserve University found that by switching to a low-fat diet early in the experiment, the same high-risk mice avoided the cancer malignancy. The switched mice were lean rather than obese and had healthy livers at the end of the study. The investigators studied hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer that is one of the le... More »
Galapagos Initiates Clinical Studies With GLPG0187, A Candidate Drug For Bone Metastasis
MECHELEN, BELGIUM -- Galapagos NV announced that today it has initiated Phase I clinical development of its integrin receptor antagonist (IRA), GLPG0187. This is the second small molecule therapeutic from Galapagos' internal drug discovery program to enter the clinic in 2009. Candidate drug GLPG0187 could offer a promising new therapeutic approach for treating cancer patients. Initial development will focus on bone metastases from prostate and breast cancer. Strong anti-cancer therapeutic profile in pre-clinical models GLPG0187 offers a potentially highly competitive therapeutic profile compared to currently available agents to treat bone metastasis, a severe aspect of many cancers. GLPG0187 blocks five integrin receptor... More »
Immunomedics Reports New Antibody For Pretargeted Imaging And Therapy Of Colorectal Cancer
TORONTO -- Immunomedics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing monoclonal antibodies to treat cancer and other serious diseases, today reported that TF2, a proprietary pretargeting antibody, produced tumor-specific PET imaging and prolonged survival in a human colorectal cancer model. Results from two studies were presented at the 56th annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine. TF2 is an antibody constructed using the Company's proprietary protein engineering platform technology, called Dock-and-Lock (DNL). It specifically targets the carcinoembryonic (CEA or CEACAM5) antigen expressed in many human cancers, including colorectal cancer. Unlike conventional antibodies which can only attach to one... More »
3rd Study Confirms Anesthesia Improves Outcomes In Colonoscopies-2 Key Factors: How Deep Sedation, Who Administers Sedation
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- More pre-cancerous polyps were found in colonoscopies performed with deep sedation primarily using Propofol than with milder sedation in which patients remained conscious, according to a recent study conducted by Katherine Hoda, M.D. of Oregon Health and Science University. This improvement in cancer detection will save lives and reduce the number of patients requiring surgery and chemotherapy. The retrospective review of nearly 105,000 procedures shows doctors found polyps larger than 9mm or suspected colorectal tumors at a 25% higher rate in patients under deep sedation. This research further bolsters the near identical findings of two studies completed by the University of Pennsylvania and State U... More »