In patients with locally advanced prostate cancer and negative results on lymph node examination, immunochemical testing of the lymph node cells can spot the spread of cancer cells that are not detected at initial tissue examination, a study shows.

Moreover, the presence of hidden prostate cancer cells that have spread (metastasized) to the lymph nodes increases the risk of recurrence and death, the study investigators report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Therefore, when hidden lymph node metastases are detected in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer, “our results suggest they should be treated as high-risk patients,” advise Dr. Richard J. Cote and colleagues from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

They studied 274 patients with locally advanced prostate cancer who underwent surgery to remove the prostate and had cell samples taken from the lymph nodes in the groin, a common site of cancer metastases. Of these patients, 180 were diagnosed with lymph node-negative disease based on the results of routine tissue examination.

A total of 3,914 lymph nodes from the node-negative patients, an average of 21.7 nodes per patient, were then evaluated for hidden metastases using immunochemical methods, which looked for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and certain antibodies associated with this cancer.

The results revealed hidden tumor cells in 24 patients (13.3 percent), according to the team.

Compared with patients without hidden tumor cells in the lymph nodes, the presence of these cells more than doubled the risk of prostate cancer recurrence and mortality.

These findings may have “profound implications” for the early initiation of systemic treatment after prostate cancer surgery in patients with localized prostate cancer and whose lymph nodes appear to be negative using routine tissue analysis, Cote and colleagues conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology

High blood levels of iron coupled with high levels of very low density (VLDL) lipoprotein cholesterol appear to interact to increase the risk of cancer.

“Iron and lipids combine to create oxidative stress, and oxidative stress has a role in the development of cancer,” Dr. Arch G. Mainous III, of the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and colleague write in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The researchers examined the risk of cancer among 3278 subjects in the Framingham Offspring Study who had elevated iron and lipid levels.

The participants were at least 30 years of age when they enrolled in the study between 1979 and 1982, at which point their blood levels of iron and HDL, LDL, and VLDL cholesterol were measured. They were followed up for development of cancer until 1996 to 1997.

The team reports that elevated iron increased the likelihood of developing cancer by 66 percent, and high VLDL cholesterol increased the risk by 54 percent. Combining elevated iron with elevated VLDL increased the risk of cancer by 168 percent.

High iron plus low HDL (”good”) cholesterol also increased the risk to a similar degree.

“These findings support the hypothesis that iron-mediated oxidation of cholesterol increases oxidative stress, which can lead to cancer formation,” Mainous and colleagues conclude.

Assuming the finding is confirmed by others, they say, it suggests a need “to reduce iron and/or lipid levels in persons with dual elevations in these substance as a strategy to decrease cancer risk.”

Biotech company Dendreon Corp. (DNDN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it plans to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration later this year to market the prostate cancer drug Provenge.

The company said results of a Phase 3 study of the drug would appear in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Provenge is an active cellular immunotherapy designed to stimulate the immune system with minimal side effects.

Scientists say using DNA testing and conventional Pap smears could prevent cervical cancer in millions of women worldwide, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives each year. A study found the combination testing was most effective in identifying women at highest risk of developing cervical cancer.

In a perfect world, women would go to their doctors every year for a simple test, called a Pap smear, to detect cellular changes over a period of time that lead to cancer of the cervix, or opening to the womb.

But in much of the developing world where fewer resources are devoted to routine medical care, says Eduardo Franco, head of the division of cancer epidemiology at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, Paps are not a very reliable screening tool.

“To you to make an analogy here that the Pap test is just as good as a coin flip in correctly detecting cervical lesions, pre-cancerous lesions, that means to say that the false negative rate is about 50 percent,” he said.

Researchers say a genetics test for human papilloma virus, or HPV, is a more effective way of deterring whether a woman is at risk for cervical cancer.

HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that is responsible for cervical cancer.

Because of its sensitivity, Franco says the DNA test could be given every three to five years, instead of annually. The problem is occasionally, the results show a woman is infected with HPV when she’s not.

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A CANCER research team in Dundee are to receive a £1.5 million windfall from a scandal-hit charity.

The donation was approved yesterday by a judge at the Court of Session, where three years ago charity watchdogs exposed mismanagement at Paisley-based Breast Cancer Research (Scotland).

An accountant appointed to take over the running of the charity has gathered in funds of £2.15 million, and intends to give the money to Dundee University’s breast cancer research centre at Ninewells Hospital.

At yesterday’s hearing, Lord Glennie was asked for permission to make the initial payment of £1.5 million.

Breast Cancer Research (Scotland) was founded in 1996 and became the subject of an investigation by the Scottish Charities Office (SCO). In 2003, the SCO petitioned the court to have four individuals suspended from any role in the charity’s management: in the seven years since its formation, it had received more than £13 million but only £1.5 million had gone to charitable causes.

Criminal charges are pending against one man in relation to the charity.

The Dundee centre had been one of the beneficiaries of the charity, receiving about £500,000 before the court action. Lord Glennie was told that William Cleghorn, the accountant put in charge of the charity, had decided with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator that it was the most suitable recipient of the recovered funds.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. A Nashville TV reporter who covered Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan has died after a battle with cancer.

Dana (DA’-nuh) Kaye had worked at W-T-V-F T-V. She died this morning at age 50.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Kaye survived a recent bout with breast cancer and had returned to work at the Nashville C-B-S affiliate. Last summer, she was reporting live from downtown when she suddenly had trouble speaking. Doctors found an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Before joining W-T-V-F, she was a reporter for Baton Rouge, Louisiana T-V stations W-B-R-Z and W-V-L-A, and K-L-T-V T-V in Tyler, Texas.

A scholarship fund has been set up for Kaye’s daughter. The family is also urging donations to the American Cancer Society.

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals is beginning a phase IIb trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the investigational drug seliciclib as a third-line treatment in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

The trial is being initiated following FDA and central institutional review board (IRB) approval of the trial protocol. The study builds on the observation of prolonged stable disease experienced by heavily-pretreated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients enrolled in a phase I study of single agent seliciclib.

Approximately 160 patients from 20 centers in the US will participate in the study. The trial’s primary efficacy endpoint is progression free survival, while secondary endpoints include overall survival, response rate, response duration, safety and tolerability.

Patients who achieve stable disease after three cycles will be randomized to continue on seliciclib or receive placebo with best supportive care. Patients in the placebo group whose disease progresses will be given the option to cross-over and receive seliciclib treatment again.

“We have been interested in evaluating seliciclib, our lead cell cycle inhibitor, as a treatment for lung cancer for some time. The APPRAISE study is a key next step in our program to assess the antitumor activity of seliciclib as a monotherapy for lung cancer,” said Spiro Rombotis, president and CEO of Cyclacel.

A CANCER sufferer planning a gruelling fundraising trek along the Great Wall of China has been left devastated after thieves stole her collection box.

Heather Morrison, 40, is undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with breast cancer for the third time.

The librarian from Portobello is trying to raise £6000 with her husband Jim, 46, for the Maggie’s Centre at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.

The couple, who married last year, is to take part in a trek along a remote section of the wall in September. Heather has been overwhelmed by the support she has received from the local community and has already raised £4000 for the centre, which helps to support cancer sufferers.

But last week, the collection box containing an unknown sum was snatched from the counter of Portobello Library where she works.

Heather, a mother-of-two who is at home while she undergoes treatment, said: “It’s very sad. Someone must be absolutely desperate to steal a box for a cancer support charity.

“Luckily I empty it regularly. The most I have had in there before was £59 in cash. The people of Portobello have been amazing. One woman even put in a £100 cheque.”

Heather, who has two sons, Oscar, 11, and Isaac, seven, hopes to start taking training walks this summer, but is waiting for her white blood cell count to improve.

The keen musician is set to fly to China on September 23 with a group of people raising money for the centres, then drive four hours north of Beijing to a rarely-visited section of the wall. Heather said she expected the ten-day trip to be a massive challenge.

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A new study finds that rates of cancer and cancer-related death are especially high among survivors of the Holocaust in Israel.

An Israeli research team found that Holocaust survivors who emigrated from Europe to Israel following World War II are at higher risk for cancer compared to European Jews who moved there before the war began.

Much of the difference can be attributed to cancers found among the youngest Holocaust survivors. Specifically, male and female immigrants born in Europe between 1940 and 1945 faced the highest odds of developing breast or colorectal cancers, the researchers found.

While the findings may have implications for survivors of mass atrocities in general, they are of immediate concern to the 238,600 Holocaust survivors still living in Israel, said study co-author Dr. Micha Barchana.

“The bad news is that Holocaust survivors are at a higher risk to get cancer, but the good news is that we can do something [about it],” he said. “We are focusing on the practical implementation of the research results: the need for survivors to participate in early-detection programs that are offered in Israel as well as in most modern countries, due to the finding that classifies them as a high-risk population,” he explained.

Barchana serves as the director of the National Cancer Registry in the Israeli Health Ministry and is also a senior lecturer in the school of public health at the University of Haifa in Israel.

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Scottish researchers are reporting that they have developed a method that can identify in a much better manner to see if people are at risk of receiving types of hereditary colon cancer.

More than 100,000 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States alone. Colon cancer is the third most common cancer. More than 55,000 Americans die each year from the disease.

“The method [we developed] allows rapid assessment of predicted likelihood that any given patient newly diagnosed with bowel cancer has a mutation,” said one of the study’s authors, Dr. Malcolm G. Dunlop, a professor of coloproctology and head of the Colon Cancer Genetics Group at Western General Hospital at the University of Edinburgh.