US Department Of Health And Human Services Grants Orphan Drug Status To Biocancell's Ovarian Cancer Drug

TEL AVIV, Israel -- Tikcro Technologies today announced that the United States ("US") Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") has granted orphan drug status to BioCancell's BC-819 drug, currently in Phase I/IIa clinical trials, for its use in treating ovarian cancer. Tikcro holds 36% of Biocancell (after conversion of notes and exercise of warrants), and 27% on a fully diluted basis. The US Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") defines an orphan drug as one that treats a disease affecting less than 200,000 people each year. The main benefit received under orphan drug status is the right to market the drug exclusively for 7 years from the date it is approved. Additional benefits include certain tax benefits and w... More »


PharmaGap Releases Compelling Results For GAP-107B8 From The U.S. National Cancer Institute

OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- PharmaGap Inc. ("PharmaGap" or "the Company") is pleased to announce results from the initial testing of its lead cancer drug GAP-107B8 by the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI). The NCI data clearly demonstrates significant inhibition of cancer cell growth at a low drug concentration (10 micronsM) across a wide range of human cancer cell lines that comprise the NCI-60 panel. As currently configured, the NCI-60 panel is comprised of 57 human cancer cell lines derived from 9 different cancers (breast, prostate, renal, ovarian, CNS, colon, lung, melanoma and leukemia). The Company is very pleased to report that in this test, GAP-107B8 demonstrated greater than 50% inhibition in cancer cell growth in 26... More »


Seattle Genetics Completes Enrollment Of Brentuximab Vedotin (SGN-35) Pivotal Trial For Patients With Hodgkin Lymphoma

BOTHELL, Wash., -- Seattle Genetics, Inc. today announced that it has completed enrollment of its pivotal clinical trial of brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35) for relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma. Brentuximab vedotin is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeted to CD30 utilizing the company's proprietary ADC technology. "Strong interest in brentuximab vedotin from investigators and patients has allowed us to rapidly complete our target enrollment of 100 patients in the pivotal trial in six months, emphasizing the substantial unmet medical need in the relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma setting," said Clay B. Siegall, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Seattle Genetics. "The pivotal trial allows for pa... More »


FDA Accepts To File Cell Therapeutics' New Drug Application For Pixantrone

SEATTLE -- Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and has filed for review the Company's New Drug Application (NDA) for pixantrone as treatment for relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). A Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date will be established by the FDA regarding the review of the pixantrone NDA by September 4th 2009. "The FDA's acceptance to file our pixantrone NDA represents a significant milestone for CTI and for patients with relapsed and refractory aggressive NHL. We look forward to working with the FDA and their final decision on our request for priority review," noted James Bianco, M.D., Chief Executive Officer... More »



Cellphones Cause Brain Tumors, Says New Report By International EMFCollaborative

BERKELEY, Calif. & SUTTON COLDFIELD, England -- A new report, "Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern, Science, Spin and the Truth Behind Interphone," was released today by a collaborative of international EMF activists. Groups affiliated with the report include Powerwatch and the Radiation Research Trust in the U.K., and in the U.S., EMR Policy Institute, ElectromagenticHealth.org and The Peoples Initiative Foundation. Download the report. The expose discusses research on cellphones and brain tumors and concludes: -- There is a risk of brain tumors from cellphone use; -- Telecom funded studies underestimate the risk of brain tumors, and; -- Children have larger risks than adults for brain tumors. Thi... More »



Long-Term Tamoxifen Use Linked To Rise In Second Breast Cancer, Study Finds

TORONTO -- A new study suggests long-term use of tamoxifen is linked to an increased risk of a second type of breast cancer. U.S. researchers looked at more than 700 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and compared them to nearly 400 diagnosed with both a first and second breast cancer. Tamoxifen is an estrogen-blocking drug researchers say has been shown to reduce the risk of dying of breast cancer. Researchers found women who received tamoxifen for five or more years lowered their risk of developing the more common type of breast cancer that responds to estrogen-blocking therapy. But the study found the risk of another rare subtype of the disease increased by more than 400 percent. Lead author Dr. Christopher Li... More »



Patterns Of Breast Cancer Presentation In The United States: Does Geography Matter?

Distribution of breast cancer varies widely throughout the United States. The factors that influence this geographic variability have not been completely defined. In addition, though a number of studies look at regional and state-to-state variability, few studies have examined this issue with regard to the nation as a whole. State-specific breast cancer data were available from the American College of Surgeons National Cancer Data Base in a series of Benchmark Reports. These data were reviewed and stratified with regard to: age at the time of presentation, race, and stage at the time of presentation. The data were further collected into regional cohorts that corresponded to the United States Census Bureau regions. Statistical analyses we... More »


Gardasil: Recommended For Females Ages 11 To 26 As Routine

When it comes to the health of their children, parents have one simple desire: to protect them from as many diseases as possible. So when a vaccine with irrefutable benefits is introduced into the market, most of us welcome it with open arms. Our enthusiasm can sometimes be dampened, however, by the flurry of negative stories that often follow, leading to feelings of fear, doubt and apprehension. Such is the case with Gardasil, the vaccine against the most common sexually transmitted virus -- the human papilloma virus (HPV). The vaccine prevents against the majority of cervical cancers and several other HPV related diseases. As it is preventive in nature, it is recommended for routine immunization of girls between the ages of 11-12... More »


Evaluating More Lymph Nodes May Not Improve Identification Of Late-stage Colorectal Cancer

Surgically removing and evaluating an increasing number of lymph nodes does not appear to identify a greater number of patients with stage III colorectal cancer, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, according to background information in the article. More than 80 percent of newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients will have locoregional disease (limited to a small region) and will be offered surgery that may cure their illness. The status of lymph nodes near the cancer has been recognized as the most powerful prognostic factor for recurrence and... More »


Thalidomide Does Not Improve Survival In Small Cell Lung Cancer

Treating patients with thalidomide in combination with chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) did not improve their survival but did increase their risk of blood clots, according to a new study published online July 16 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Siow Ming Lee, M.D., of the Department of Oncology, University Hospital in London, and colleagues randomly assigned 724 SCLC patients to take either a placebo or thalidomide. Used in treating some other cancers, thalidomide is an anti-angiogenic drug, i.e., it targets and suppresses the formation of new blood vessels that tumors need to survive and grow. In this randomized double-blind trial, patients received 100-200 milligrams daily for up to two years. The resea... More »


Beta-blockers and stroke?new insights into their use for older people

A University of Leicester-led study may have uncovered the reason why Beta-blockers are less effective at preventing stroke in older people with high blood pressure, when compared to other drugs for high blood pressure. The research, carried out by Bryan Williams, Professor of Medicine at the University of Leicester, and his colleague Dr. Peter Lacy, has been published in the prestigious Journal of the American College of Cardiology and has been cited on the MDLinx.com site as currently the world?s number one leading finding in its field. Professor Williams? research shows that lowering heart rate in older people, as Beta blockers do, can have a potentially detrimental effect on central aortic pressures (pressures in the large arteries close to the heart). More »


Europe is Ahead of U.S. in Global Drug Discovery

A new analysis of 20 years of data contradicts previously published claims that United States pharmaceutical companies are better innovators than their European counterparts, and questions whether Americans actually benefit from the higher prices they pay for many prescription medications. The re-analysis by Donald W. Light, PhD, a professor of social medicine and comparative health systems at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic medicine, appears in the current Health Affairs-web exclusive. The study shows that, dollar for dollar, European pharmaceutical researchers outdo their American colleagues in ?innovative performance or the introduction of first-in-class, biotech, and orphan products,? a finding that could have enormous implications for the current debate over the cost of reforming health care in the United States. ?One implication is simply that American research teams need to figure out why they are not as productive,? said Light, who is also the current Lorry Lokey Visiting Professor at Stanford University. More »


It?s Not Time to Panic, but Time to be Aware of Swine Flu

Much like an unwelcomed visitor who vows to return, swine flu is gearing up for another long visit this fall. Doctors say it?s not time to panic, but it is time to be aware. ?The concern among researchers is that if the swine flu virus, mutates it could cause significant problems,? said Dr. Ashley Drews, an infectious disease expert with The Methodist Hospital in Houston. ?With kids back in school, this opens up the possibility of the disease spreading rapidly.? H1N1, more commonly known as the swine flu, is a novel virus in the influenza A family. The symptoms: fever, body aches, nausea and abdominal pain are virtually the same as regular seasonal influenza. One major difference with swine flu is that it is showing up more in children than in adults. More »


New Data Show Significant Misuse of Pain Medication Among Chronic Pain Population

A study published in the August issue of the peer-reviewed journal Population Health Management revealed that the majority of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain were unlikely to be taking their medicine in a manner consistent with their prescribed regimen. In the study, titled ?Inappropriate Drug Use in the Chronic Pain Population,? 938,586 urine toxicology tests conducted on over 500,000 patients prescribed chronic opioid therapy were analyzed using proprietary and state of the art screening methods offered by Ameritox®. The analysis showed that 38% of patients had no detectable level of their prescribed medication (typically an opioid or benzodiazepine type drug); 27% had a drug level higher than expected; 15% had a drug level lower than expected; 11% had major illicit drugs such as cocaine or methamphetamines detected in their urine; and 29% had a medication in their system that the doctor was likely unaware of. In summary, urine toxically testing showed that only 25% of the patients were definitively taking their medications as prescribed, with no evidence of illicit drug use or misuse of prescribed drugs. ?This large-scale, comprehensive study sheds light on how beneficial pain medication monitoring can be for identifying whether prescribed opioids are appropriately being used by patients and, as a result, whether they are achieving optimal pain management,? said Harry L. Leider, M.D., M.B.A., Chief Medical Officer of Ameritox and one of the study investigators. More »


Restricting a child?s eating may not thwart obesity

Trying to control your child?s weight by making certain foods off-limits? That oft-used and seemingly common-sense approach can backfire, especially for kids who have difficulty with impulse control, new research in The Journal of Pediatrics shows. While young girls in the study who had a hard time controlling their impulses were at greater risk of being heavy later on than their more self-controlled peers, those who also saw their parents as being strongly restrictive about food were at even greater risk, Stephanie L. Anzman and Dr. Leann L. Birch of the Center for Childhood Obesity Research at Pennsylvania State University in University Park found. The results, Anzman and Birch say, support the idea that helping children learn to regulate their own eating, rather than create strict rules, may help them to maintain a healthy weight. And for children who do need guidance, Anzman adds in a press release from the journal, parents should offer their children healthy choices, and simply avoid having junk food in the house. More »


UCF discovery could open door to obesity, diabetes treatments

At a time of alarming increases in obesity and associated diseases?and fiery debates about the cost of health care?a UCF research team has identified a new genetic mechanism that controls the body?s fat-building process. The discovery could open the door to new treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes, and it has the potential to help hundreds of millions of people and dramatically cut health care costs. A research team led by Pappachan Kolattukudy, director of UCF?s Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences in the College of Medicine, found that a gene called MCPIP (Monocyte Chemotactic Protein-1 Induced Protein) controls the development of fat cells. Until now, a different protein, known as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma), has been universally accepted as the master controller of fat cell formation, known as adipogenesis. More »