Primary source: Journal of the American Medical Association

Source reference:

Lu-Yao GL, et al “Outcomes of localized prostate cancer following conservative management” JAMA 2009; 302(11): 1202-1209.

Earn CME/CE credit
for reading medical news

Loyola University Medical Center has received a $2 million matching grant from The Coleman Foundation to renovate the hospital’s nationally known bone marrow transplant unit. Intended to encourage private donations for the project, the grant will match gifts up to $2 million on a dollar for dollar basis, through August 2010.

The bone marrow transplant unit is part of a patient care initiative to redesign and renovate a complete Oncology Acute Care Center on the sixth floor of Loyola Hospital. One of the center’s four wings will be devoted to bone marrow transplant patients and their families. Patients typically stay on the wing for three to four weeks.

The project will include the conversion of patient rooms to private from semi-private as well as the addition of exercise equipment in patient rooms; a group exercise room; a meditation room and a family room where family members can cook meals, watch movies and celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones. Additionally, new air filtration systems will allow for more efficient use of hospital space and enable patient access to additional therapeutic programs.

The total cost of the new design and renovation will be $15 million. Loyola already has raised $10 million from individual donors, including $5 million from the Donald P. and Byrd M. Kelly Foundation. Loyola will raise an additional $2 million from private donors to match The Coleman Foundation’s $2 million grant. Loyola University Medical Center will provide the remaining $1 million.

“Through the generosity of The Coleman Foundation and others, we will be able to create an environment that supports care of the mind, body and spirit for patients and their families,” said Dr. Patrick Stiff, Coleman Professor of Oncology, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and director of Loyola’s Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center.

The new bone marrow transplant wing will be named The Coleman Foundation Bone Marrow Transplant Center. “Since the 1980’s, The Coleman Foundation has actively funded programs to improve access to quality cancer care in the Midwest,” said Michael Hennessy, president and CEO of The Coleman Foundation. “Our prior grants to LUMC have focused on better outpatient services and research capabilities. The Foundation’s goals for this infrastructure investment include substantial gains in the delivery of patient care, especially in bone marrow transplantation services.”

The Chicago-based Coleman Foundation is a private, independent grantmaker that focuses on the Midwest and supports education, cancer care and services for the disabled. The foundation previously funded Loyola’s Coleman Foundation Image Renewal Center, which uses specially trained staff to provide products and services for cancer patients, such as breast prosthesis fittings, hair alternatives and skin care products. The foundation also established the Coleman Professorship in Oncology, which helps support the ongoing work and research of Dr. Stiff and the cancer center.

Loyola has treated more patients with transplants than any other center in Illinois, and has one of the largest unrelated donor transplant programs in the world. Loyola physicians have performed more than 2,500 transplants for patients with such cancers as leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Patients receive high-dose chemotherapy and/or radiation to kill cancer cells. Because these treatments also destroy immune system cells, patients are infused with stem cells derived from bone marrow or umbilical cord blood. These stem cells develop into new immune cells.

Loyola specializes in patients who can not find matching donors from either their families or the National Marrow Donor Program. Loyola receives referrals from throughout the Midwest, including other academic medical centers in Chicago. Stiff is among the first researchers to use umbilical cord donations for the treatment of certain adult cancers.

The redesign and renovation of the Oncology Acute Care Center will include:

– Private patient rooms with exercise equipment and plenty of space for family members to spend the night.

– An exercise room where patients can perform their required twice-daily exercises.

– A family room with a galley kitchen, wireless internet access and computers with webcams.

– A meditation room for reflection, prayer and private discussions.

– Relocation of the bone marrow transplant unit to an area more isolated from corridor traffic and noise.

– A centralized and expanded nursing station to provide patients and families with a one-stop location for registration and other services.

– Consult rooms where patients and family members can meet with doctors, nurses and other health care staff.

– A soothing ambiance, including artwork and waterfall features.

“This innovative redesign, with its home-like amenities, will provide a much more comforting environment for patients and their families,” said Heidi Huizenga, a two-time cancer survivor and member of the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center’s Visiting Committee.

Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, Loyola University Health System is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and 25 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 570-licensed bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Health & Fitness. Loyola’s Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 250-bed community hospital, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness Center and the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Care Center.

Source
Loyola University Medical Center

For decades, scientific meetings at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have been held in great esteem by scientists for their role in shaping the agenda of molecular biology. Their reputation for relevance continues, as evidenced by results of a survey of nearly 1,000 attendees of biology meetings over the last year. Published in the September issue of Genome Technology magazine, the survey identified two CSHL conferences in genomics as the best in their categories.

Based upon a variety of criteria such as quality of speakers, presentation of new data and scientific results, networking opportunities, quality of posters, and overall “bang-for-the- buck” impact, CSHL’s “Biology of Genomes” meeting held annually in early May was a standout winner, ranked as the “most recommended” among general genomics meetings. A second CSHL meeting, “Genome Informatics,” held at the end of each October, was the “most recommended” in the Bioinformatics/Information Technology category.

Excitement about 2nd ‘Personal Genomes’ meeting

These results were announced as preparations reached their final stages for another genomics-related meeting at CSHL. From the 14th to the 17th of September, the Laboratory will host the second annual “Personal Genomes” meeting, which, according to its organizers, will build upon the excitement generated at the inaugural meeting last October.

An editorial in the journal Nature appearing just after that gathering disbanded, late last October, confessed to initial skepticism about whether such a meeting was justified in view of the newness of the field and the paucity of results to date - at the time, the full genomes of only four people had been completed and made public. But, Nature assured readers after its reporter attended the meeting, participants came to understand that in fact the meeting was overdue, if for no other reason than the fact that “increasingly, private companies are offering personal genome scans and genetic tests for sale - and consumers are buying them.”

As Nature opined, reflecting the view of many at the Personal Genomes meeting, “scientists can and should help the public sift through” newly available (and often quite fragmentary) genomic information generated for sale by a growing number of start-ups. At the second Personal Genomes gathering, which begins this evening and continues until Thursday, it is almost certain that participants will discuss the news announced last week that a small firm called Complete Genomes of Mountain View, Calif., claims to have sequenced 14 individual genomes in their entirety and is offering the service commercially for as little as $20,000 per person for orders of eight genomes or more, and an eye-catching $5,000 for groups of 1,000 or more.

About the ‘Personal Genomes’ Meeting

About 200 participants are expected to attend the four day-long “Personal Genomes” meeting, which has been organized by a renowned team of scientists, including Dr. George Church from Harvard University, and Dr. Elaine Mardis from Washington University, among others. The meeting will open with introductory remarks by CSHL’s Dr. James Watson, whose own genome was the first to become publicly available, making him the subject of last year’s inaugural meeting.

Dr. Church, a genetics pioneer whose work integrates biosystems modeling with synthetic biology and personal genomics, will give an overview of the field’s status in available technology and its current applications. Other notable technology-oriented speakers include Dr. Jonathan Rothberg from Ion Torrent Systems, Inc., and Dr. Steven Turner of Pacific Biosciences, who will discuss “third-generation” sequencing platforms that will soon enter the marketplace.

Many genomics scientists working on breast cancer patients.

The keynote speech on Tuesday will be given by Dr. Thomas Caskey of University of Texas Health Science Center. “Dr. Caskey was one of the early planners of the Human Genome Project,” explains Dr. Mardis. “Now that we are at a stage when genomes are being sequenced in weeks and for medical purposes such as understanding disease causation, his talk will offer a very unique perspective on the past and the future of personal genomes.”

The line-up of speakers includes other preeminent scientists in the field such as Dr. Richard Gibbs, Director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center at the Baylor College of Medicine who will describe his group’s work on sequencing genomes of patients with disease caused by defects in single genes; Dr. Steven Brenner, of UC, Berkeley, who is developing a public database of human genetic variation and its effect, drawing from databases, diagnostic laboratories, and the scientific literature to interpret human genomics data; and many others. A session on the ethical challenges presented by personal genomes will feature a panel of scientists, ethicists and science writers.

“Fostering this type of cross-disciplinary discussion and debate is one of the strengths of CSHL’s meetings program,” says David Stewart, Executive Director of Meetings and Courses at CSHL. “This is where different fields are brought together and driven forward.” The results of Genome Technology’s survey would seem to bear him out.

http://www.cshl.edu/

Source:
Hema Bashyam or Peter Tarr

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Particle beam radiation therapy, a technology used to treat several types of cancer, is considered by some clinicians to be better than traditional radiation, but there is limited evidence about its safety compared with other types of radiation therapy, according to a new comparative effectiveness report funded by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

“As technologies develop and new clinical interventions arise, it is important to balance access to potentially beneficial new technologies with ongoing research and evaluation to determine whether the technologies deliver what they promise,” said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. “Increased funding for comparative effectiveness research is an exciting opportunity to continue important research on medical therapies and interventions.”

Particle beam radiation therapy also known as charged particle radiation therapy or proton beam radiation therapy uses beams of protons or other charged particles for cancer radiation treatment. Particle beam radiation therapy is an alternative to other types of cancer radiation therapy such as external radiotherapy with ionizing photon (X- or gamma-ray) beams or brachytherapy with implanted radioactive sources.

All types of radiation therapy can harm both cancerous and healthy tissues, so clinicians strive to target the radiation to the cancer while avoiding adjacent healthy tissues. This is particularly important for tumors adjacent to critical body parts such as those in the eye, brain, head and neck. Particle beam radiation therapy can target the radiation with a high degree of precision, but its potential advantages over other radiotherapy alternatives have not been verified in long-term outcome studies, according to the new AHRQ technical brief.

Particle beam radiation therapy was introduced as an experimental treatment in the 1950s but was not cleared for widespread use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration until 2001. The technology is very expensive an estimated $175 million for each device and is usually only available in large academic medical centers. Only seven centers in the United States currently provide the therapy, with an additional center currently under construction and expected to be operational by 2010. Although details have not been disclosed, several other hospitals are considering developing smaller treatment facilities based on upcoming technologies that have not yet been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration .

The technical brief did not indicate that particle beam radiation therapy is riskier than conventional radiation therapy. However, most studies about the therapy were conducted on small numbers of patients and did not compare the safety of particle beam radiation therapy against other therapies. For many cancers other than head and neck cancers, there are not enough comparative studies in the literature to base an evaluation of the clinical or cost effectiveness of particle beam radiation therapy compared with other treatments. AHRQ is currently reviewing scientific studies on radiation therapies for head and neck cancers that will evaluate the clinical effectiveness of particle beam radiation therapy for those cancers.

The report is the Agency’s first in a series of technical briefs rapid-turnaround reports that summarize key issues regarding emerging treatments. Technical briefs highlight where more research is needed and where research may be sufficient to warrant a full systematic review. Technical briefs are produced by AHRQ’s Effective Health Care program. Future technical briefs will describe the evidence on fetal surgery, stereotactic surgery for non-brain cancers and percutaneous heart valves.

AHRQ’s new report, Technical Brief: Particle Beam Radiation Therapies for Cancer, is the newest research review from the Agency’s Effective Health Care program. That program, authorized by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, represents an important federal effort to compare alternative treatments for health conditions and make the findings public. The program is intended to help patients, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others choose the most effective treatments.

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

The recipients of The 2009 Lasker Awards, represent the dramatic advances achieved in biotechnology research that have led to a revolutionary stem cell therapy for regenerative medicine. Such advances portend a potential $700 million global market for new therapies within less than five years, according to Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News .

The Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for 2009 recognizes discoveries in the process that instructs specialized adult cells to form stem cells, and will be presented to Sir John Gurdon, DPhil, DSc, FRS, Emeritus Professor and Group Leader, Gurdon Institute of Cancer & Developmental Biology, University of Cambridge, and Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, Kyoto University.

The 2009 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award honors outstanding therapeutic research on chronic myeloid leukemia, and will be given to Brian J. Druker, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Leukemia Center, Oregon Health Sciences University, Nicholas B. Lydon, PhD, formerly of Novartis, and Charles L. Sawyers, MD, Head of the Laboratory in Human Oncology and Pathogenesis, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Providing insight and expert commentary on the awards in an article appearing on the GEN website are prominent scientists Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, editor of the journal Cloning and Stem Cells, and Graham Parker, PhD, editor of Stem Cells and Development. Also providing authoritative perspectives are Maria Freire, PhD, president of the Lasker Foundation, Peter C. Johnson, MD, president and CEO of Scintellix and executive vice president and chief medical officer at Entegrion, and Linda Powers, co-founder and managing director of Toucan Capital, which manages a portfolio that includes 16 stem cell or regenerative medicine companies.

“The 2009 Lasker Awards for basic and clinical research underscore the enormous impact that scientific research and translational medicine will have on human health,” said John Sterling, Editor in Chief of GEN. “In the areas of embryonic and adult stem cells, this international recognition of the implications for nuclear reprogramming techniques and the ability to produce stem cells capable of regenerating tissues and organs damaged by disease, trauma, or age, will ignite new research ventures and collaborative partnerships and spark investment across the life sciences sector.”

“Both embryonic and adult stem cells offer enormous promise for new treatments and cures,” said Mary Ann Liebert, president and CEO of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. “It is urgent that any health care reform policy ensures coverage for stem cell therapies, gene therapies, tissue engineering, and other regenerative therapeutics and technologies,” she said.

Source:
John Sterling

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

Many human diseases - including Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, cancer, and cardiovascular disease - are caused by multiple genetic variants and the interaction of those variants with the environment. Because such diseases lack a clear-cut inheritance pattern, sophisticated technological approaches and statistical analyses are required to determine their underlying cause. These approaches and their theoretical basis are the subject of a new book published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Genetics of Complex Human Diseases: A Laboratory Manual.

The book is edited by Ammar Al-Chalabi (MRC Centre for Neurodegeneration Research, King’s College London) and Laura Almasy (Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Texas), the lead instructors of the Genetics of Complex Human Diseases course, which is held every other year at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Each chapter is contributed by a former speaker at the course.

“In putting this book together, we have aimed to bring together the tools that geneticists use to find disease genes with the genetic concepts and statistical theories that underpin them,” write the editors in the introductory chapter of the book. “Anyone with an interest in human genetics or who uses genetic techniques in research will find this book useful, particularly if studying diseases with complex inheritance.”

The book’s chapters combine practical information and strategic advice about the molecular technologies and statistical tools currently in use with reviews of each topic, providing both the how and the why of complex disease analysis. Topics covered include basic genetics and Mendelian inheritance, statistical methods, genetic epidemiology, linkage studies, transmission disequilibrium test analysis, variance components analysis, genome-wide association studies, copy-number variation, methods for high-throughput genotyping, the complexity of RNA editing, and genetic computer programs.

About the book: Genetics of Complex Human Diseases: A Laboratory Manual, edited by Ammar Al-Chalabi and Laura Almasy, is available in hardcover (ISBN 978-087969882-9) and paperback (ISBN 978-087969883-6) and is 220 pp. in length. For more information, see http://www.cshlpress.com/link/gchdp.htm.

Source:
Ingrid Benirschke

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

The study brings hope that a drug will be developed to fight the spread of cancer, known as metastasis, which is responsible for 90 per cent of all cancer patient deaths.

The interaction between the Rho family of proteins and the DOCK family of proteins is critical for the cancer cells to change shape and spread through the body. DOCK proteins are known to activate, or switch on, Rho proteins, but until now scientists have not understood exactly what was happening between these molecules.

In a study funded by Cancer Research UK, ICR Professor of Molecular Biology David Barford and his team mapped the interaction between one DOCK protein and a corresponding Rho protein in three dimensions. They created detailed images of how the molecules slot together at each step of the process.

“We’ve known for some time that DOCK proteins help control the movement of cancer cells when they try to spread throughout the body and invade other organs, making them a very attractive target for the development of new drugs to prevent metastasis,” Professor Barford says.

” Yet despite their important biological role, little was understood about how exactly DOCK proteins operated. By unravelling this mechanism, we have paved the way for the development of a drug that could effectively stop metastasis.”

Professor Chris Marshall, study co-author and Director of the Cancer Research UK Centre for Cell and Molecular Biology at the ICR, added: “Understanding and tackling metastasis is one of the most important areas of our research. DOCK proteins are key components of metastasis and our new knowledge of how they operate will help us achieve our vision for people to live their lives free from the fear of cancer as a life threatening disease.”

Source
The Institute of Cancer Research

The biopharmaceutical company Antisense Pharma GmbH has announced that it has received orphan drug designation from both the European Medicines Agency EMEA and the US Food and Drug Administration FDA for its investigational drug trabedersen in the treatment of pancreatic carcinoma. Trabedersen has already been granted orphan drug designation by both authorities in the treatment of high-grade gliomas in 2002. This underlines the high potential of trabedersen to treat various aggressive tumors.

Orphan drug designation can be applied for if the disease is life-threatening or chronically debilitating and affects not more than five in 10,000 persons in the European Community (equals around 250,000 people) and fewer than 200,000 people in the United States, respectively, in case that no other satisfactory therapy exists or the medicinal product is expected to provide significant benefit over existing therapies.

The orphan drug designation is meant to encourage pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for diseases that meet the above criteria by providing them scientific advice, reduction or waiver of registration fees and market exclusivity in addition to patent protection.

This is another important milestone in the development of trabedersen, a first-in-class, targeted compound based on antisense technology for the treatment of various aggressive tumors.

Highly promising preliminary efficacy data

In an ongoing clinical Phase I/II study, trabedersen has shown a good safety and tolerability profile and encouraging survival data in patients with advanced pancreatic carcinoma. “The preliminary clinical data are quite impressive” states the Committee on Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) of the EMEA in its report.

23 patients received single agent trabedersen intravenously as second-, third-, or fourth-line treatment either in a 7-day on/7-day off or 4-day on/10-day off schedule.

Median overall survival (mOS) for patients in the first schedule was 6.8 months (status Aug 2009). Moreover, one patient with recurrent advanced pancreatic cancer (after surgical resection and three chemotherapies) and liver metastases had a complete response and is still alive 45.6 months after receiving trabedersen therapy (as of Feb 2009).

The current mOS for pancreatic carcinoma patients in the first cohort of five patients in the second schedule is 13.4 months (as of Aug 2009). One patient is still alive 19 months after start of study treatment (as of April 2009).

In the same study good safety, tolerability and encouraging first efficacy data for trabedersen was observed also in patients with advanced malignant melanoma or colorectal carcinoma. Of five malignant melanoma patients treated with trabedersen, one from the first schedule showed stable disease and lived for 13.8 months.

Incentives for development and competitive advantages

Orphan drugs generally follow the same regulatory development path as any other pharmaceutical product. However, incentives such as scientific advice and reduction or waiver of registration fees may be given in an effort to maintain development momentum. In addition, Antisense Pharma may sell trabedersen without competition for seven years in the US and for ten years in the EU following market approval, in respect of a medicinal product containing a similar active substance for the same indication; unless a similar product would demonstrate superior therapeutic benefit.

“We are delighted to have received the orphan drug status from the EMEA and FDA for the treatment of pancreatic carcinoma. This further accelerates our efforts to make trabdersen available to those who need it as quickly as possible” says Dr. Karl-Hermann Schlingensiepen, Chief Executive Officer of Antisense Pharma. “Pancreatic carcinoma is one of the most aggressive and devastating cancers. Despite various therapeutic approaches including surgery, radio- and chemotherapy, the prognosis for the patients remains poor. Based on the results of several clinical studies, we expect trabedersen to significantly improve the therapeutic outcome not only of patients with pancreatic carcinoma but also of patients suffering from high-grade gliomas, malignant melanoma or colorectal carcinoma. Indeed, with its unique mode of action, we believe that trabedersen has the potential to lead to a paradigm shift towards tackling malignant tumors at their roots while providing a better quality of life for patients.”

Additional Information

About pancreatic carcinoma

Pancreatic carcinoma is one of the most aggressive cancers with high unmet medical need. It has a dismal prognosis, with one of the highest mortality rates:

Worldwide, pancreatic cancer causes 227,000 deaths annually and is the eighth most common cause of death from cancer.1

In Europe, cancer of the pancreas is the 10th most frequent cancer, accounting for about 65,000 deaths each year.2 European data show that the incidence rate of pancreatic cancer is approximately 5 to 9 (female/male) per 100,000 of the population per year.2

The American Cancer Society estimated for the US that of about 1.5 million new cases of cancer diagnosed in 2009, 44,380 people of both men and women will have pancreatic cancer and that 33,740 would die of the disease, making this type of cancer the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the US.3

Current therapies comprise surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy. Despite recent advances, the prognosis for these patients is still poor, with a high proportion dying within one year after initial diagnosis.

How trabedersen works

Trabedersen is a first-in-class, targeted, antisense compound (a phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotide) designed to selectively downregulate the production of a protein known as transforming growth factor-beta 2 (TGF-?2) at the translational level.4,5 Various aggressive tumors such as high-grade gliomas, advanced pancreatic cancer, malignant melanoma and advanced colorectal cancer cells produce an excessive amount of TGF-?2, which plays a critical role in tumor progression (proliferation, angiogenesis and metastasis) and acts as a shield that protects the tumor from the body’s immune system.4,5,6 By inhibiting TGF-?2, trabedersen has multiple antitumoral effects: it hinders tumor progression, angiogenesis and metastasis.4,7 In addition, trabedersen restores the body’s immune system, by breaking down the protective shield so that the immune system can recognize and destroy the tumor cells.

Targeted therapies drive market growth

Unlike non-specific therapies, e.g. chemotherapy or radiotherapy, targeted therapies act specifically at the molecular roots of the disease. Commanding up to 80% of the growing oncology market, the targeted therapies like trabedersen substantially drive the growth of the pharmaceutical market8. A marketing authorization would make trabedersen the first TGF-beta targeting drug for the treatment of cancer.

Clinical studies

For more information on the clinical Phase I/II study in advanced pancreatic carcinoma, malignant melanoma or colorectal carcinoma please visit the website http://www.krebsstudien.info (only in German).

For more information on the clinical Phase III SAPPHIRE trial in recurrent or refractory anaplastic astrocytoma please visit the website http://www.anticancer.de.

References

1. Parkin DM (2005) CA Cancer. J Clin 55(2):74-108
2. Cascinu S et al. (2009) Pancreatic Cancer ESMO Clinical Recommendations. Ann Oncol 20 (Suppl. 4): iv37-iv40
3. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org last accessed 08/2009.
4. Schlingensiepen KH et al. (2006) Cytokine Growth Factor Rev 17(1-2):129-”139
5. Tsamandas, AC, Kardamakis, D et al. (2004) The potential role of TGFbeta1, TGFbeta2 and TGFbeta3 protein expression in colorectal carcinomas. Correlation with classic histopathologic factors and patient survival. Strahlenther Onkol 180(4):201-8
6. Kouvidou, C, Latoufis, C et al. (2006) Expression of Smad4 and TGF-beta2 in colorectal carcinoma. Anticancer Res 26(4B):2901-7
7. Schlingensiepen R et al. (2005) Oligonucleotides 15(2):94-104
8. IMS Health

Source
Antisense Pharma GmbH

Breakthrough Breast Cancer scientists have discovered that a new cancer treatment could be used for more types of cancer than previously thought, potentially helping thousands of cancer patients in the UK each year.

PARP inhibitors, including the new drug, olaparib, which Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) scientists helped develop, are already showing considerable promise in clinical trials for cancer linked to BRCA mutations, including some breast and ovarian cancers.

Scientists from the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre at the ICR have now shown that PARP inhibitors can also kill cancer cells with a faulty PTEN gene. Results published today (16 September) in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine showed that cells with faulty PTEN genes were up to 25 times more sensitive to PARP inhibitors than cells with normal PTEN.

Faults in the PTEN gene are common in a range of cancers, accounting for between 30 and 80 percent of breast, prostate, melanoma (skin), endometrial (womb) and colon cancers. Nearly 46,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year, with just under 12,000 women dying of the disease.

Professor Alan Ashworth, Director of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre at the ICR, said: “These results are exciting because they show that PARP inhibitors are potentially a powerful targeted treatment with few side effects which may help a broad range of cancer patients.

“Clinical trials have already shown the potential of PARP inhibitors for patients with tumours caused by faulty BRCA genes. We now need to test whether the promising results from this study can be matched in the much larger group of patients with PTEN-related tumours.”

The use of PARP inhibitors is part of a novel approach to cancer therapy called synthetic lethality. A cell with a PTEN fault relies on a protein called PARP to keep its DNA undamaged. PARP inhibitors work by blocking PARP, and when combined with defective PTEN, causes the cancer cell to die. This means the tumour should either stop growing or get smaller. Due to the drug working in a targeted way, it kills cancer cells while leaving healthy cells relatively unaffected, which means fewer side effects for patients.

Patients with inherited forms of advanced breast, ovarian and prostate cancers - caused by faulty BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes - have already benefited from PARP inhibitors in a recently published Phase I clinical trial. Despite having previously received many standard therapies, more than half of the patients’ tumours shrank or stabilised, with one of the first patients to be given the treatment still in remission after two years. BRCA-related tumours make up about 5 percent of breast cancer cases.

Dr Chris Lord, who led the research with Prof. Ashworth at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre at the ICR, said: “This new class of drugs could potentially make a big difference for many thousands of cancer patients, including some with very limited treatment options. It shows Breakthrough’s focus on turning lab research into patient benefit as quickly as possible is having an impact.”

Professor Peter Rigby, Chief Executive of the ICR, said: “This is an exciting development in the use of PARP inhibitors, showing that they could benefit far more patients than previously believed. The ICR is proud to have been involved in all stages of the development of these drugs and we look forward to further clinical trials and to identifying patients with other types of cancers who could benefit.”

Breast Cancer

- Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK - nearly 46,000 women and around 300 men are diagnosed every year.
- Breast cancer accounts for nearly 1 in 3 of all female cancers and one in nine women in the UK will develop breast cancer at some point in their lifetime.
- The good news is that more women than ever in the UK are surviving breast cancer thanks to better awareness, better treatments and better screening.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer

Breakthrough Breast Cancer funds ground-breaking research, campaigns for better services and treatments and raises awareness of breast cancer. Through this work the charity believes passionately that breast cancer can be beaten and the fear of the disease removed for good.
Under the directorship of Professor Alan Ashworth FRS, the Breakthrough Research Centre now has 120 world-class scientists and clinicians tackling breast cancer from all angles - from understanding the normal growth and development of the breast, how breast cancer arises and how the cancer spreads, to treatment and ultimately disease prevention. Scientists at the Breakthrough Research Centre have a range of expertise and approaches and together they are working towards a common goal: a future free from the fear of breast cancer.
Find more information at http://www.breakthrough.org.uk or call free on 08080 100 200.

The Institute of Cancer Research

The Institute of Cancer Research is Europe’s leading cancer research centre with expert scientists working on cutting-edge research. In 2009, the ICR marks its 100 years of groundbreaking research into cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The ICR is home to the world’s leading academic drug development team, which has developed many drugs now used as standard cancer treatments. It continues to be at the forefront of drug development, discovering an average of two preclinical candidates each year over the past five years. In December 2008, the ICR was ranked as the UK’s leading academic research centre by the Times Higher Education’s Table of Excellence, based on the results of the Higher Education Funding Council’s Research Assessment Exercise. The ICR is a charity that relies on voluntary income, for more information visit http://www.icr.ac.uk.

EMBO Molecular Medicine

EMBO Molecular Medicine is a peer-reviewed journal, dedicated to the publication of original, cutting-edge research in the field of Molecular Medicine. Molecular Medicine is a rapidly-growing area of research at the interface between clinical research and basic biology. The Journal publishes research articles and reviews relevant to all fields of clinical medicine and their related research areas in basic biology. The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) promotes excellence in molecular life sciences in Europe by recognising and fostering talented scientists, empowering them to advance the field of molecular biology. For more information please visit http://www.embomolmed.org.

EMBO

The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) promotes excellence in molecular life sciences by recognizing and fostering talented scientists, empowering them to advance the life sciences to understand how life works and share knowledge to help address the challenges of a changing world. For details about EMBO and its activities please visit http://www.embo.org.

Source
The Institute of Cancer Research

Canada’s patchwork system of drug coverage is leading to financial hardship for many cancer patients, says a Canadian Cancer Society report released today.

The report - Cancer Drug Access for Canadians - shows that 1 in 12 Canadians face catastrophic drug costs, defined as more than three per cent of a household’s net income.

The Canadian Cancer Society report sets the stage for an important symposium about cancer drug access taking place tomorrow (Tuesday, September 15) in Ottawa. As well, the Society hopes to see this crucial healthcare topic addressed at the annual conference of provincial and territorial health ministers taking place in Winnipeg on Thursday, September 17 and Friday, September 18.

“The Canadian Cancer Society strongly believes that all Canadians must have access to cancer drug treatments without financial hardship, no matter where they live in this country,” says Dan Demers, Director, Public Issues, Canadian Cancer Society. “During cancer treatment a person needs to focus on their health. It is not a time for a patient to worry about how they are going to pay for the drugs. This is simply unacceptable.”

While cancer drugs create treatment options for cancer patients, the newer generation of medications can be costly. If drugs are administered in a hospital they are free - paid for by Canada’s publicly-funded health system. However, if drugs are taken at home, which is increasingly the case, they are paid for by the patient. Not all Canadians are insured for these costs. Low income, seasonal and self-employed workers often do not have access to affordable insurance.

The Canadian Cancer Society report shows that:

- About 50 per cent of newer cancer drugs are taken at home and, as a result, patients are responsible for the cost

- About three-quarters of cancer drugs taken at home cost over $20,000 per year

- The average cost of a single course of treatment with more recent cancer drugs is $65,000 - almost as high as the average annual income of Canadians

“The gaps and disparities that currently exist within Canada’s health system to reimburse patients for drug costs can cause financial hardship for many cancer patients,” says Paul Lapierre, Vice President, Public Affairs and Cancer Control, Canadian Cancer Society. “In some cases, it can mean that patients forgo treatment because they can’t afford it.”

The report highlights the critical need for the federal government to take action to alleviate the patchwork approach to drug coverage in this country.

“The Society is urging the federal government to establish a national catastrophic drug program before this situation worsens,” says Demers. “It’s time for the federal government to step up to the plate and show they are serious about Canadians’ health and are committed to universal health care.”

The events taking place this week are:

Cancer Drug Access Symposium, Tuesday, September 15
The Society’s report will be discussed at an important public policy forum taking place in Ottawa on September 15. Optimizing Cancer Drug Access will bring together numerous stakeholders to build action plans around major issues related to cancer drug access. The Society has been pivotal in organizing this symposium, which is hosted by the Public Policy Forum.

Annual conference of provincial and territorial health ministers, Thursday, September 17 and Friday, September 18

The Society is urging the health ministers to continue to push the federal government to show leadership in determining a coordinated, consistent approach to drug access in Canada.

In 2008, the health ministers expressed a clear need for federal government leadership to improve drug access within Canada’s publicly-funded system. They called on the federal government to work with them to create solutions.

“One year later, our country is still facing the same issues with catastrophic drug costs,” says Demers. “Action must be taken so that Canadians’ confidence in our universal healthcare system doesn’t erode.”

Patchwork approach

Progress to address catastrophic drug coverage has been made, but an uncoordinated approach has resulted in a patchwork approach across Canada.

Many provincial governments have established catastrophic drug programs to provide at least some protection for their residents.

Private insurers have increased the maximum payouts for claims to reflect the new drug cost realities. However, more than one in six private plans has an annual or lifetime cap, many of which are below the costs of newer cancer drugs.

There are no agreed-upon standards for how much a cancer patient should be expected to pay for prescription drugs.

There are significant disparities between provinces and between public and private insurers about which specific cancer drugs are covered. This leads to situations where a patient in one province may not have access to drugs that a resident in another province can obtain.
“More needs to be done to ensure consistency of drug coverage for all cancer patients in Canada,” says Lapierre.

Available for interviews: a family member of a cancer patient who struggled to pay for expensive chemotherapy treatment.

Source
Canadian Cancer Society

« Older Posts — Newer Posts »