Where there?s wildfire smoke, there?s toxicity

The health threat to city dwellers posed by Southern California wildfires like those of November 2008 may have been underestimated by officials. Detailed particulate analysis of the smoke produced by previous California wild fires indicates that the composition posed more serious potential threats to health than is generally realized, according to a new paper analyzing particulate matter (PM) from wildfires in Southern California. The paper, entitled ?Physicochemical and Toxicological Profile of Particulate Matter (PM) in Los Angeles during the October 2007 Southern California Wildfires,? will appear in Environmental Science and Technology. It confirms earlier studies by air polllution specialist Constantinos Sioutas of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, who is also co-director of the Southern California Particle Center. For the study Sioutas and colleagues from USC, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and RIVM (the National Institute of Health and the Environment of the Netherlands) analyzed the particular matter gathered during the fall 2007 blazes.  More »


Very Low Birth Weight is a Risk Factor for One Cause of CKD

Individuals who were underweight at birth are at increased risk of developing a condition called secondary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, according to a study appearing in the January 2009 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). Because birth history is often overlooked by kidney specialists who take care of adult patients, this risk factor is likely to be under-recognized. Patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis develop scarring of glomeruli, the filtering units of the kidney. This development can cause a decline in kidney function and leakage of protein into the urine. Low birth weight (less than 5.5 pounds) caused by prematurity or slow growth prior to birth is a risk factor for adult hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other diseases. However, its association with the development of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis has not been reported.  More »


OncoVAX, Other Vaccines Provide Hope For Colorectal Cancer Treatment, Prevention

NEW YORK, NY -- Propelled by advances in molecular biology, the treatment of colorectal cancer is on the verge of dramatic change and a promising future as innovative vaccines will replace chemotherapy. According to a new report from Kalorama Information, "Cancer Vaccines: Market Forecasts, New Developments and Pipeline Analysis," this market, lead by OncoVAX, is poised for unprecedented growth, creating countless opportunities for market participants. More than 1.2 million cases of colon cancer are diagnosed worldwide each year with more than 529,000 deaths, which displays a considerable medical need. In the United States colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer, accounting for approximately 50,000 d... More »


Watson Announces The NDA For A 6-Month Formulation Of Trelstar Accepted For Filing By FDA For The Treatment Of Advanced Prostate Cancer

CORONA, Calif. -- Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced that its New Drug Application (NDA) for a 6-month formulation of TRELSTAR(R) (triptorelin pamoate), a luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist, has been accepted for filing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Watson is seeking marketing approval of this TRELSTAR(R) formulation for the palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Watson anticipates that FDA will take action on its application in the third quarter 2009. The sustained-release formulation of TRELSTAR(R) is designed to suppress the production of testosterone in men with advanced prostate cancer over 6 months. Prostate can... More »


HPV Virus Helps Cervical And Head And Neck Cancers Resist Treatment And Grow And Spread

The human papillomavirus (HPV) allows infected cervical and head and neck cancer cells to maintain internal molecular conditions that make the cancers resistant to therapy and more likely to grow and spread, resulting in a poor prognosis for patients, researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center found. Virtually all human cancers experience a state called intratumoral hypoxia, or a low amount of oxygen within the tumor. In the UCLA study, researchers showed that the HPV-positive cancers adapted to and took advantage of the hypoxic environment by expressing a protein that activates a cell signaling pathway that helps the cancers survive, grow and spread. The study is published in the Nov. 4, 2008 issue of the journal Cancer Cell. Th... More »


Silencing A Protein Could Kill T-Cells, Reverse Leukemia

Blocking the signals from a protein that activates cells in the immune system could help kill cells that cause a rare form of blood cancer, according to physicists and oncologists who combined computer modeling and molecular biology in their discovery. Researchers say the breakthrough could provide more efficient ways of targeting diseases such as leukemia, and help in the potential development of vaccines for viruses that cause AIDS. The human immune system has a two-part strategy when dealing with infections. It generates antibodies that bind with bacteria and viruses to neutralize them. For a short time, the immune system also produces large numbers of a type of white blood cell, cytotoxic T-cell that kills other infected cells.... More »



Seeking Good Ways To Give Bad News: All Too Often, Doctors Are Insensitive To Patients' Emotional Needs

One of the hardest jobs in medicine doesn't require high-tech devices or sure hands. It's that painfully awkward moment when a doctor has to deliver bad news. Generally, patients want the facts cushioned by compassion and encouragement. Yet as simple as that sounds, the right words often go unspoken. Bill McLaughlin of Clarence, for instance, recalls how his urologist called on the telephone with the results of a biopsy that confirmed prostate cancer. "It was his way of not having to face me," he said. McLaughlin likes to say he "fired" the doctor after the encounter. Rose Hauser of West Seneca still talks angrily about the neurologist who sat her down, pointed out a brain tumor on an MRI scan and told her... More »


Everyone Is At Risk For Deadly Oral Cancer; A Fast And Painless Exam Could Save Your Life

PHOENIX -- Oral cancer kills one American every hour, largely due to late detection. It used to be known as a disease of older men with histories of heavy smoking or drinking. But today's oral cancer victim is often younger and female. Oral cancer among people in their 40's nearly doubled from 1973-2004, and researchers think they know why. The human papillomavirus (HPV), long known as the primary cause of cervical cancer, turns out to be an equal-opportunity killer, causing oral cancer in men as well as in women. Oral cancer strikes three times as many Americans as cervical cancer, and kills twice as many per year. As reported recently on ABC TV's Good Morning America, 39% of today's oral cancer cases stem from HPV... More »


Zila Demonstrates Effectiveness Of Photosensitizing Agent In Animal Model

PHOENIX -- Zila, Inc. today announced encouraging preliminary results of an in vivo animal study which showed evidence of photodestruction of premalignant lesions and squamous cell carcinoma when treated with Zila's patented pharmaceutical grade toluidine blue, both a diagnostic adjuvant and a photosensitizer for DMBA-induced precancers and cancers in the hamster cheek pouch model. Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common form of oral, cervical and, esophageal cancers. "We are extremely encouraged by the results of these first animal tests," said Dr. Mark Bride, Vice President of Medical Affairs for Zila. "These results confirm that a topical application of our toluidine blue, rather than the traditional systemic admi... More »


Landmark Study Demonstrates Potential Of Radioimmunotherapy For Treatment Of Indolent B-cell Non-hodgkin's Lymphoma

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) announced that the Journal of Clinical Oncology has published the results of the First-line Indolent Trial (FIT) demonstrating that use of Zevalin(R)([90Y]-ibritumomab tiuxetan) in consolidation therapy after remission induction in previously untreated patients with follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma provided important patient benefits including a significant improvement in progression free survival. A companion editorial discussed the growing evidence for the efficacy of radioimmunotherapy (RIT) in B-cell lymphomas. Cell Therapeutics has submitted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use of Zevalin in first-line consolidation therapy based on the... More »


On The Trail Of A Targeted Therapy For Blood Cancers: Exploring Protein Critical To Blood Cell Development

Investigators from the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine are focusing on a family of blood proteins that they hope holds a key to decreasing the toxic effects of chemotherapy in children and adults. Their findings may one day help in the development of targeted therapies for leukemia, multiple myeloma and other cancers of the blood. The researchers, led by Kristin T. Chun, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics and of biochemistry and molecular biology, studied how the cullin family of proteins affects the degradation of proteins that control the development of blood cells. Their work was published in the July 15 issue of Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology... More »


Tamoxifen Chemoprevention Associated With Earlier Diagnosis Of ER-Negative Breast Cancer

Women at elevated risk of breast cancer who had been randomly assigned to tamoxifen treatment and then developed estrogen receptor (ER) negative breast cancer were diagnosed earlier than women who had been randomly assigned to take a placebo and then developed ER-negative disease, according to a study published online October 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Tamoxifen has been shown to reduce the risk of ER-positive breast cancer in women at high risk of disease. The drug does not alter the risk of ER-negative disease. In the current study, Yu Shen, Ph.D., of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and colleagues performed a retrospective analysis of the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial to deter... More »


Breast Reconstruction Techniques After Mastectomy Depend On Many Factors

Decisions made after losing one or both breasts to cancer are as unique as the women making them. "It is a very individual process," said Vivian Hussey of Fulton, 52, whose right breast was removed after her breast cancer diagnosis three years ago. Some women are happy with prosthetics, while others opt for reconstruction. In Hussey's case, the reconstruction she desired was delayed for several months because of an unrelated health problem. In the meantime, "I did get a prosthetic breast," she said. "When I was without the breast, I would cross my arms. Now it's perfectly natural. I feel like a whole person again." Reconstruction is a quality of life issue, said plastic surgeon Dr. Bob Buckley of the Tupelo Plast... More »


Brain Fitness Program Offers Hope For Breast Cancer Survivors Suffering From Chemobrain

SAN FRANCISCO -- Researchers at 28th annual National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN) Conference in New York City this weekend will present data to help physicians understand more about cognitive remediation training in breast cancer survivors affected by "Chemobrain". Chemobrain is a well documented phenomenon of patients with varying types of cancer. It is associated with reduced cognitive abilities; impairing memory, concentration, decision-making ability, quality-of-life, and the ability to process information rapidly. Declines in processing speed and memory often diminish the confidence of patients with Chemobrain; causing them to withdraw from interactions with their family, peers or co-workers at a time when suppo... More »


Breast Cancer Cells Recycle To Escape Death By Hormonal Therapy

Many breast cancer cells facing potentially lethal antiestrogen therapy recycle to survive, researchers say. About 70 percent of breast cancer cells have receptors for the hormone estrogen, which acts as a nutrient and stimulates their growth. Patients typically get an antiestrogen such as tamoxifen for five years to try to starve them to death, says Dr. Patricia V. Schoenlein, cancer researcher in the Medical College of Georgia Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies. "About 50 to 60 percent of these women really benefit from hormonal therapy," says Dr. Schoenlein. Why others don't has been asked for at least two decades. One reason may be breast cancer cells switch into a survival mode that normal cells also use when faced with s... More »


New Compounds Aimed at Muscular Dystrophy

Scientists have identified a promising set of new compounds in the fight against muscular dystrophy. Using a drug-discovery technique in which molecules compete against each other for access to the target ? the strand of toxic RNA that causes the most common form of muscular dystrophy in adults ? a team at the University of Rochester Medical Center has identified several compounds that, in the laboratory, block the unwanted coupling of two molecules that is at the root of the disease. The work was published online November 7 by the Journal of the American Chemical Society. ?This discovery gives us, for the first time, a molecule that targets the wayward RNA at the root of myotonic muscular dystrophy,? said Benjamin Miller, Ph.D., the chemist who led the study. ?This is a first step toward developing a drug-like molecule that perhaps could be used someday to treat the disease. This lead molecule provides a framework for moving forward.? More »


Scientists are High on Idea that Marijuna Reduces Memory Impairment

The more research they do, the more evidence Ohio State University scientists find that specific elements of marijuana can be good for the aging brain by reducing inflammation there and possibly even stimulating the formation of new brain cells. The research suggests that the development of a legal drug that contains certain properties similar to those in marijuana might help prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer?s disease. Though the exact cause of Alzheimer?s remains unknown, chronic inflammation in the brain is believed to contribute to memory impairment. Any new drug?s properties would resemble those of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive substance in the cannabis plant, but would not share its high-producing effects. THC joins nicotine, alcohol and caffeine as agents that, in moderation, have shown some protection against inflammation in the brain that might translate to better memory late in life. More »



One More Reason to Quit: Smoking Causes Bladder Cancer

One More Reason to Quit: Smoking Causes Bladder Cancer

The Great American Smokeout is this Thursday, and the American Urological Association (AUA) gives smokers another good reason to quit: Smoking causes bladder cancer. Only about 33 percent of people know that smoking is a leading risk factor for the disease, according to a new study published in The Journal of Urology®, the official journal of the AUA. The American Cancer Society estimates that smokers are twice as likely to get bladder cancer as nonsmokers. Bladder cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in men and eighth most common in women. About 53,000 men and woman are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year and about 14,000 die annually of the disease. In recent decades, there has been a steady increase in the incidence of bladder cancer. Along with smokers, people who work with dyes, metal, paints, leather, textiles and organic chemicals may be at a 20 to 25 percent higher risk. People who have chronic bladder infections may also be at higher risk. There are several symptoms of bladder cancer, but painless blood in the urine (hematuria) is the most common. Because blood in the urine can be an indication of other conditions, it is important to seek medical attention. Other symptoms of bladder cancer may include frequent urination and pain upon urination (dysuria).  More »


Expectations Drive Patient Preferences for Treatment of Spine Problems

For patients with low back pain caused by a herniated disk, expectations of good results without surgery are the main factor affecting the preference for nonsurgical treatment, reports a study in the November 15 issue of Spine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry. However, once patients overcome their reluctance to undergo surgery, they strongly prefer surgical treatment?generally for reasons that are ?clinically sensible,? according to the new study, led by Dr. Jon D. Lurie of Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, N.H. As part of a larger trial comparing the results of surgical versus nonsurgical treatment, the researchers studied preferences and expectations for treatment in 740 patients with pain and other symptoms caused by herniated disks in the lower back (lumbar spine). The current study included only those patients who had declined to be randomly assigned to surgery or nonsurgical treatment. More »


Drug-related preference in cocaine addiction extends to images

When given a choice between viewing pictures of cocaine and a variety of other images, cocaine addicted individuals, as compared to healthy, non-addicted research subjects, show a clear preference for the drug-related images. Findings from this study, which was conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy?s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, will be presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington D.C. on Sunday, November 16, 2008, at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time, by Scott Moeller, a psychology graduate student at the University of Michigan who worked with the Brookhaven Lab Neuropsychoimaging group (director, Rita Goldstein) on this research. ?This behavioral study demonstrates for the first time that drug-related choice in cocaine addiction extends to abstract, non-pharmacological stimuli, facilitating the study of choice behavior in addiction without using actual cocaine,? Moeller said. Previously, scientists have had to administer the actual drug (cocaine), or drugs that are pharmacologically similar to cocaine, to test its effects on brain and behavioral functions. Now, the tasks developed by Moeller while training with Goldstein?s team could help clinicians monitor choice behavior ? for example, to follow the effectiveness of treatment ? in addicted individuals who are currently abstaining from drugs. In the first task of the experiment, both healthy control subjects and cocaine-addicted individuals digitally selected one of four face-down card decks and could select a card again from the same deck or switch decks. Unknown to the subjects, each deck contained mostly one image type: cocaine-related images, pleasant images, unpleasant images, or neutral ones. This test of choice is considered implicit because subjects were not necessarily aware of their tendency to choose one type of image over the others. In the second, explicit choice task, subjects repeatedly selected between two side-by-side, face-up images taken from the four decks. More »



Metabolic Syndrome Ups Colorectal Cancer Risk

In a large U.S. population-based study presented at the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, metabolic syndrome patients had a 75 percent higher risk of colorectal cancer compared to those without metabolic syndrome. Dr. Donald Garrow and Dr. Mark Delegge of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston analyzed data of patients who reported a history of metabolic syndrome and colorectal cancer from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a comprehensive nationally representative study conducted each year by the National Center for Health Statistics. Metabolic syndrome was defined as having a combination of three common chronic medical conditions: hypertension, diabetes and elevated... More »


Mayo Clinic Study Shows Stool DNA Testing For Colorectal Cancer Has Potential, But Challenges Remain

The first generation of a stool DNA test to identify early colorectal cancer has limitations, according to a Mayo Clinic-led study published in the Oct. 7, 2008, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. Results did not corroborate findings of an earlier multicenter study that showed stool DNA testing was more accurate than fecal blood testing for colorectal cancer detection. "But the concerns we identified with stool DNA testing are all solvable," says David Ahlquist, M.D., lead researcher in the study that included 4,482 participants and 22 academic medical centers. Researchers have hoped that stool DNA testing could be the user-friendly and accurate screening tool that would increase screening numbers (see also Mayo Clinic). More than... More »