December 9, 2007, 5:21 PM CT

Zolinza In Combination With Bortezomib

Results from two investigational Phase I trials of ZOLINZA (vorinostat) in combination with bortezomib provide preliminary anti-tumor activity in patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma. Data from one study showed that 10 of 21 (48 percent) evaluable patients had a partial or minimal response from the ZOLINZA and bortezomib combination therapy. Data from a second study, sponsored by the United States National Cancer Institute under a Clinical Trials Agreement with Merck & Co., Inc., demonstrated 10 of 23 (43 percent) evaluable patients had a partial response or greater from the combination therapy. These data were presented today at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (Abstracts #1168 and #1172).

These trials are the first to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ZOLINZA as part of a combination regimen in patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma. The primary objective of both trials was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of ZOLINZA in combination with bortezomib in these patients. Bortezomib is regarded as a standard therapy option against multiple myeloma; the use of ZOLINZA in this patient population is investigational.

With more than 50,000 men and women living with multiple myeloma, continued research is imperative, as patients eventually relapse after completing treatment, said Jose Garcia-Vargas, M.D., senior director, Clinical Oncology, Merck Research Laboratories. These data provide a preliminary evaluation of the combination of vorinostat with bortezomib in patients with advanced multiple myeloma, including those who've previously received bortezomib treatment. Larger clinical studies are needed to confirm these results......... Posted by: Jessica      Read more         Source

December 2, 2007, 8:55 PM CT

Post-treatment PET scans for cervical cancer

Whole-body PET (positron emission tomography) scans done three months after completion of cervical cancer treatment can ensure that patients are disease-free or warn that further interventions are needed, as per a research studyat Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

"This is the first time we can say that we have a reliable test to follow cervical cancer patients after treatment," says Julie K. Schwarz, M.D., Ph.D., a Barnes-Jewish Hospital resident in the Department of Radiation Oncology. "We ask them to come back for a follow-up visit about three months after therapy is finished, and we perform a PET scan. If the scan shows a complete response to therapy, we can say with confidence that they are going to do extremely well. That's really powerful."

Schwarz and his colleagues published their study in the Nov. 21, 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Without a test like PET, it can be difficult to tell whether therapy has eliminated cervical tumors, Schwarz says. That's because small tumors are hard to detect with pelvic exams, and overt symptoms, such as leg swelling, don't occur until tumors grow quite large. Furthermore, CT and MRI scans often don't differentiate tumor tissue from surrounding tissues, Pap tests can be inaccurate because of tissue changes induced by radiation treatment, and no blood test exists to detect the presence of cervical cancer......... Posted by: Jessica      Read more         Source

November 28, 2007, 10:05 PM CT

Cancer risks for urban African-American women grow

Women living in the inner city have difficulty meeting dietary goals that could help prevent cancer, as per a report from Johns Hopkins University researchers. In a study of African-American women living in public housing within Washington, D.C., the scientists observed that the majority met one or none of five dietary goals suggested to reduce the risk of developing cancer. In particular, these women were unlikely to eat a healthy diet that included the recommended amount of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Their analysis also linked high risk dietary behaviors with younger age, depression, smoking and being born within the District of Columbia. The scientists present their findings today in Atlanta at the American Association for Cancer Research conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, being held November 27-30.

African-American women, in general, face a worse cancer incidence and mortality rate than most other ethnic groups, and poor African-American women are at an even greater disadvantage, said Ann C. Klassen, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Health, Behavior, and Society at Johns Hopkins Universitys Bloomberg School of Public Health. Improving diet is one effective way to help these women lower their risk for developing cancer......... Posted by: Jessica      Read more         Source

November 18, 2007, 8:54 PM CT

Remote-control nanoparticles deliver drugs directly into tumors

MIT researchers have devised remotely controlled nanoparticles that, when pulsed with an electromagnetic field, release drugs to attack tumors. The innovation, published in the Nov. 15 online issue of Advanced Materials, could lead to the improved diagnosis and targeted therapy of cancer.

In earlier work the team, led by Sangeeta Bhatia, M.D.,Ph.D., an associate professor in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology (HST) and in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, developed injectable multi-functional nanoparticles designed to flow through the bloodstream, home to tumors and clump together. Clumped particles help clinicians visualize tumors through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

With the ability to see the clumped particles, Bhatias co-author in the current work, Geoff von Maltzahn, asked the next question: Can we talk back to them?

The answer is yes, the team found. The system that makes it possible consists of tiny particles (billionths of a meter in size) that are superparamagnetic, a property that causes them to give off heat when they are exposed to a magnetic field. Tethered to these particles are active molecules, such as therapeutic drugs.

Exposing the particles to a low-frequency electromagnetic field causes the particles to radiate heat that, in turn, melts the tethers and releases the drugs. The waves in this magnetic field have frequencies between 350 and 400 kilohertzthe same range as radio waves. These waves pass harmlessly through the body and heat only the nanoparticles. For comparison, microwaves, which will cook tissue, have frequencies measured in gigahertz, or about a million times more powerful......... Posted by: Jessica      Read more         Source

November 14, 2007, 8:46 PM CT

Drug may limit radiation kidney damage

Scientists at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have observed that the risk of radiation injury in normal tissue after exposure may be reduced by a drug in common use. Their study in press appears in the on line issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics.

It suggests that long-term administration of the drug captopril, starting at three weeks after patients receive total body irradiation in preparation for bone marrow transplantation (BMT), showed a favorable trend for better long-term kidney function and better long-term patient survival. Chronic kidney failure continues to be a major complication in these patients caused by radiation injury.

The research holds promise, not only for protection of healthy tissue during radiation treatment, but also because it may lead to strategies for protection from radiation injury after nuclear accidents, says Eric P. Cohen, M.D., professor of medicine in the division of nephrology, and principal investigator for the study. Our findings overturned the former dogma that normal tissue radiation injury is untreatable, he says.

Kidney failure is a well known and serious complication of BMT and occurs in up to 50 percent of patients within the first 30 days after transplantation, increasing early mortality. Chronic kidney failure is also common and affects the health and well being of people otherwise cured of the cancer for which the BMT waccording toformed......... Posted by: Jessica      Read more         Source

November 13, 2007, 9:41 PM CT

Survival Markers in Breast Cancers

New research suggests that the presence or absence of two proteins may be important markers for long-term survival in some breast-cancer patients.

One of the proteins, called ErbB-4, is important for the growth and differentiation of several types of cells in the body. The second protein, called Wwox, is a tumor suppressor - it helps prevent cells from becoming cancerous - and it is missing in many breast cancers. Scientists don't yet understand how it works.

The research shows that the two proteins work together, and that their absence is associated with shorter survival in breast cancer. Furthermore, the study shows that Wwox keeps ErbB4 on the cell surface, and that this is associated with better survival.

The study was done by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in collaboration with researchers in Finland, and it was published in a recent issue of the journal Cancer Research.

"Our findings suggest that the interaction of these two proteins is clinically important in breast cancer," says first author Rami I. Aqeilan, research assistant professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics at Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"The findings must be verified, but they suggest that we can use these proteins as clinical markers that predict better survival. Therapeutically, perhaps we can design drugs or inhibitors that interact with ErbB-4 to help control the growth of these tumors"......... Posted by: Jessica      Read more         Source

November 12, 2007, 10:08 PM CT

How to switch off cancer cell genes

A new study led by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) identifies how genes are silenced in cancer cells through distinct changes in the density of nucleosomes within the cells.

The findings, published in the Nov. 13 issue of the journal Cancer Cell, will enable researchers to explore new therapies to switch the genes back on and may lead to novel treatments for human cancers, says study lead author Peter A. Jones, Ph.D., D.Sc., director of the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Distinguished Professor at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

"The study shows for the first time exactly how genes get shut down in cancer cells," Jones says. "It identifies what the target looks like so that new therapies can be designed to turn them back on".

The study showed that silencing of transcription start sites in some cancer cells involves distinct changes in nucleosomal occupancy'or the density of nucleosomes'in the cell. Researchers found that three nucleosomes, almost completely absent from the start site in normal cells, are present in the methylated and silenced promoter, suggesting that epigenetic silencing may be accomplished by the stable placement of nucleosomes into previously vacant positions.

DNA cytosine methylation'the addition of a group of specific chemicals to a stretch of DNA that can lock or silence a gene'may ultimately lead to silencing by enabling the stable presence of nucleosomes at the start sites of cancer-related genes, the study suggests......... Posted by: Jessica      Read more         Source

November 12, 2007, 9:51 PM CT

Cell response to stress signals predicts tumors in women

A specific biological response to cellular stress may predict the likelihood of future tumor formation of the most common, non-invasive form of pre-cancerous breast cancer-- ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS.

This information could potentially be used in a clinical setting to determine which women should receive more or less aggressive treatment when initially diagnosed with DCIS, as per a research studyled by scientists from the University of California, San Francisco.

The research results are also significant because traditional tests available today are not strong enough to predict whether or not a woman will develop a future cancer after diagnosis with DCIS. By identifying this particular biological response in patients, physicians may now be able to predict subsequent tumor formation years before it actually occurs.

The study is the cover story of the November 13, 2007 issue of Cancer Cell. It is a translational study that brings together an integrated team of basic and clinical researchers in an attempt to find molecular markers to aid women and their physicians in determining the best therapy option following a diagnosis of DCIS.

We were very excited by the results, said senior author Thea Tlsty, PhD, professor of pathology and co-leader of the Cell Cycling and Signaling Program of the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center. Until now, little has been known about the molecular pathways that may cause a differential risk in women diagnosed with this type of breast pre- malignancy......... Posted by: Jessica      Read more         Source

November 1, 2007, 10:07 PM CT

New way to predict survival in older women with lung cancer

Scientists at UCLAs Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered a novel mechanism to predict survival in older women with early stage lung cancer. The finding may have significant implications for new therapy approaches.

For the first time, UCLA scientists linked higher levels of aromatase, an enzyme that naturally makes estrogen from another hormone called androgen, to more aggressive disease and lower survival rates in women over 65 with Stage 1 or 2 lung cancer. The discovery not only gives physicians a possible new tool to predict survival but may also provide a target for treatment using aromatase inhibitors, already approved for the therapy of breast cancer.

The study, conducted as part of the Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in lung cancer at UCLA, appears in the Nov. 1 issue of the peer-evaluated journal Cancer Research.

"All indications suggest that this is a very powerful prognostic marker that lets us predict which patients have a higher likelihood of prolonged survival versus death from lung cancer," said the study's senior author, Lee Goodglick, an associate professor in the UCLA Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher. "If doctors know that a woman has a higher probability of longer-term survival, they may choose a more strategic course of action, in comparison to a woman with a more aggressive form of lung cancer, where doctors might choose a more aggressive course of treatment. Another notable finding from this study is that were able to predict survival at a relatively early stage of the disease, when we have more therapy options......... Posted by: Jessica      Read more         Source

November 1, 2007, 10:01 PM CT

Increase in multiple myeloma survival

Multiple myeloma is one of the most common and devastating bone marrow cancers in the U.S., but survival rates have risen dramatically over the past decade. Recent analyses suggest that this trend may be attributed to new types of drugs and aggressive therapeutic interventions such as stem cell transplantation, as per the results of two studies prepublished online in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a neoplasm of plasma cells, a type of cell that resides in the bone marrow and produces antibody proteins. Survival rates for MM have traditionally been grim, with most patients dying within two to three years after diagnosis. However, within the last decade, a group of new therapies has been developed and approved for use in MM patients, including thalidomide (Thalidomid), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and bortezomib (Velcade). Used alone or paired with traditional chemotherapy, these drugs have been shown to be highly effective in recently diagnosed and relapsed MM patients. Also, over the past decade high-dose chemotherapy and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation has been increasingly used for therapy of MM, particularly in younger patients. Two recent studies analyzed outcomes in large populations of MM patients, comparing results with regard to diagnosis date, age, and gender......... Posted by: Jessica      Read more         Source