Katie Couric spent her summer traveling the country visiting with future CBS news fans and raising money for cancer awareness. Couric, whose husband Jay Monahan died of colon cancer in 1998 at the age of 42, has become a prominent spokesperson for colon cancer awareness. She underwent a colonoscopy on-air in March 2000 and inspired many others to get checked. In October 2005, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Couric broadcast her own mammogram on the Today Show in hopes of motivating women everywhere to get schedule their own mammograms. Her influence on both cancer fronts — known as the Couric Effect — demonstrates the fact that one powerful person can draw much attention to important causes. And perhaps her influence — soon to arrive on television screens everywhere — will continue as she takes the driver’s seat on the CBS Evening News beginning September 5 at 6:30 PM.

On her second day of work in her new job, Couric will interview President Bush at the White House as part of a primetime special. Other story plans include digging deeper into the stories of the day and answering questions viewers might have on all topics. Hopefully, cancer issues will continue to take priority in Couric’s life so that we all may benefit from her advocacy.

Source: The Cancer Blog

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 30 (HealthDay News) — The final word on whether the cox-2 painkiller Celebrex might be used to prevent colon cancer is a definite “no,” according to the long-awaited results of two major studies.

Both of the three-year trials found that the drug reduced the occurrence of precancerous polyps called adenomas in people at risk for colon cancer, but it more than doubled patients’ risk for heart attack and other serious cardiovascular events.

“The message is that celecoxib [Celebrex] has no role as a chemotherapeutic agent — in people with adenomas or in people among the general population. The risks far exceed the potential benefits,” said Dr. Bruce Psaty, a professor of medicine, epidemiology and health services at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Psaty co-authored an editorial on the two studies, both of which were expected to be published in the Aug. 31 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Both studies received funding from Pfizer Inc., the maker of Celebrex.

Cox-2 inhibitors are part of a class of analgesics called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which also include widely used medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen (Aleve). Prescription medications such as Celebrex were originally developed because they are safer on the stomach than other NSAIDs.

However, Celebrex is the only cox-2 inhibitor left on the market. Two other related drugs — Vioxx and Bextra — were withdrawn in 2004 and 2005, respectively, following reports of heightened cardiovascular risks.

As mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Celebrex now carries a special “black box” warning that advises consumers of the potential heart dangers.

Cox-2 inhibitors work by blocking cyclooxygenase enzymes, which are produced by the body in response to inflammation and are also produced in precancerous tissues.

The latter fact left cancer researchers pondering whether or not long-term use of Celebrex might cut risks for colon cancer.

Read the rest of this entry »

PHARMAC has announced it is to fund a taxane drug for use in early stage breast cancer.

The decision to fund Paclitaxel from tomorrow is expected to see up to 550 women with early breast cancer treated with the medicine.

Taxanes are a class of chemotherapeutic drug funded for a number of cancers including ovarian, fallopian and metastatic breast cancer.

Medical Director Peter Moodie says clinical data show using taxanes can help women with breast cancer live longer.

The widened funding will cost DHBs 12.5 million over five years.

Earlier this year PHARMAC decided not to fund Herceptin for early stage breast cancer sufferers.

ALEXANDRIA, VA, United States (UPI) — A protein in men can determine if they are likely to have a low or high risk of surviving prostate cancer, a new study finds.

The protein is prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, which is made by the prostate gland.

If men with prostate cancer have a low PSA level after drug therapy, they are more likely to survive the cancer than men with high PSA levels, a research team at the University of Michigan found.

Prostate-cancer patients with low PSA levels after androgen-deprivation therapy, which blocks male hormones, had only a 75 percent greater chance of surviving than men with higher PSA levels, reported the study, published in the Aug. 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Patients with undetectable PSA levels had an 80 percent chance.

The median survival was 13 months for high-PSA patients; 44 months for low-PSA patients; and 75 months for patients with nearly undetectable PSA levels; the study said.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

Source: Monster and Critics

BRITAIN is secretly considering whether to introduce a primary school vaccination program against cervical cancer.

Research has found parents have mixed feelings about vaccinating pre-teen girls against the human papilloma virus, which is spread by sex and causes cervical cancer.

Of the 3000 or so British women diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, more than a third die. Most cases are caused by HPV infection.

Experts want all girls and women aged between nine and 55 to receive vaccinations.

Scientists believe the vaccine should be given to girls before they become sexually active to maximise their protection, but there are ethical and moral concerns that vaccinating young girls would encourage sexual promiscuity.

Minutes from the Health Department’s expert committee on vaccination show that parents were “generally very positive”, but there were concerns about vaccinating children at primary school, with a preference instead for vaccinating young teenagers.

It is the first time evidence has emerged of Britain considering such a vaccination program at primary school level.

The vaccine, Gardasil, is 100 per cent effective against the two main virus strains that trigger most cervical cancers.

Cancer Research UK clinical consultant Anne Szarewski, who worked on the trials, advocated giving the drug to young girls, provided its efficacy could be proved to last into adulthood.

“There is an argument for giving it to toddlers, because you get away from any links between sexual activity and the whole ethical question that it poses,” Dr Szarewski said.

She said parents did not like to admit it but “children do have sex before the age of 16 and we know this vaccine can protect against cervical cancer”.

London Metropolitan University medical ethicist Jacqueline Laing said drug makers’ interests should not outweigh “the rights and safety of children”.

Telegraph

MORRISVILLE, N.C. – Sicel Technologies has signed on two cancer centers in Florida as the first commercial users of their implantable radiation sensor technology.

Boca Raton Community Hospital’s Lynn Cancer Institute and Melbourne Internal  Medical Associates will use Sicel’s Dose Verification System as part of their treatment programs. The system includes an implantable radiation sensor and a hand-held reader to measure the dose of radiation delivered to a tumor and surrounding tissue.

Sicel recently closed on $12 million in new financing. The company, which was founded in 1999, now employs 31 people.

“Radiation oncologists will now know with certainty that a patient is receiving the correct dose of radiation,” said Tim Williams, chair of the radiation oncology department at Lynn Regional Cancer Center. “This is just one example of our hospital’s commitment to staying on the edge of technology and investing in what is best for the patient.”

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the DVS for use in breast cancer and prostate cancer victims. Shortly after winning the FDA approvals, Sicel closed on the additional financing.

“Both Lynn Cancer Institute and MIMA have a history of providing the best care for their cancer patients by being among the first centers to adopt cutting edge technologies,” said Michael Riddle, Sicel’s chief technology officer. “We are extremely pleased to have two such prestigious institutions as our first users in the United States.”
Sicel utilizes technology licensed from North Carolina State University.

Source: WRAL Local Tech Wire

Lung cancer survival rates in Northern Ireland could be doubled in the next 10 years if more action is taken, experts claimed today.

And SDLP leader Mark Durkan, who has been selected to be a Parliamentary Lung Cancer Champion, will now work with the UK Lung Cancer Coalition (UKLCC) to raise awareness of the disease which is still Northern Ireland’s biggest killer.

Speaking as he toured the state of the art facilities at the Belfast City Hospital’s Cancer Centre today, Mr Durkan said: “Lung cancer is the biggest killer cancer – responsible for more one in every six deaths from cancer.

“The figures are startling: someone in these islands dies from lung cancer every 15 minutes; only one person in four diagnosed with it will live for more than one year and people living in deprived areas are two and a half times more prone to getting lung cancer than those in affluent areas.

“I am delighted to help apply political pressure to ensure that resources are allocated where they are needed and that service provision is improved to meet people’s needs.

“The fact is, with relatively little action, survival rates from lung cancer could be drastically improved, as could the quality of life for sufferers.”

Lung cancer is the most common cancer in the world, claiming the lives of 33,000 people in Britain every year and more than 800 in Northern Ireland.

Survival rates remain low and less than half of all patients with the disease are alive six months after diagnosis.

But the UKLCC believes that thousands of lives could be saved if the best standards of care were rolled out.

Speaking as she gave a tour of the cancer centre to Mr Durkan, Dr Yvonne Summers explained: “If the best standards of care already being demonstrated in some parts of the country were rolled out UK-wide, we could double one-year and five-year lung cancer survival rates. This would save many thousands of lives.”

Glioblastoma Multiforme is usually only has a survival rate up to one year after diagnosis. This primary brain tumor’s standard treatment is surgery to remove as much as the cancer as possible, radiation and or chemotherapy. Even with the most aggressive forms of treatment the patients do not survive.Researchers are trying to improve survival of patients diagnosed with Glioblastoma. The results of a phase III clinical trial published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology tried to improve survival rates by using a treatment consisting of cisplatin, carmustine and radiation therapy. Unfortunately this regimin produced more adverse side effects and did not improve survival.

My uncle died of a brain tumor. He died in 1987. I do not think that this disease has any better cure rate then it did back then. He died a little over a year after he was diagnosed. It doesn’t seem that chemotherapy or radiation works for this type of cancer but it’s all we got so we try new combinations.

The Cancer Blog 

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is uncommon in adults between 15 and 50 years of age but occurs more frequently in individuals over 50 years of age. The Philadelphia chromosome is a specific gene mutation that occurs in about 20 percent of all ALL cases. The Philadelphia chromosome occurs when specific genetic information is switched. Patients who are Philadelphia chromosome positive typically do not respond well to standard therapies.Researchers want to find new strategies to improve outcomes for Philadelphia chromosome positive ALL patients. Gleevec has shown some anticancer responses in these patients who no longer responded to standard treatments.

According to a study was done and published in the journal Leukemia, the survival at one year was 66 percent for those patients who received chemotherapy and Gleevec. Among comparison subjects the survival at one year was 43 percent.

What also sounded very promising was that the probability of surviving for one year without a relapse was 58 percent for those in the study and only 11 percent among comparison patients.

Source: The Cancer Blog

Apoptosis is a mechanism that causes programmed cell death in our bodies. It all has to do with proteins and enzymes. The cancer cell mechanism is somehow broken and the enzyme that initiates programmed cell death does not work. This allows the cancer cell to grow into tumors.Scientists have found a way to trick the cancer cells into committing suicide by using a synthetic compound that induces apoptosis. Paul J. Hergenrothers, a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois states “By bypassing the broken pathway, we can use the cells’ own machinery to destroy themselves.”

The scientists think that this can lead to personalized anti-cancer therapy.