5/26/2004 Datamonitor Services GSK is awaiting the outcome of a Phase III trial to evaluate an anti-cervical cancer vaccine. GlaxoSmithKline's [GSK.L] four-year clinical trial of an HPV vaccine could have a significant affect on cervical cancer treatment, as HPV is a known contributory factor to the disease. However, GSK will need to consider how this product should be positioned, especially with regard to use in pediatrics, so as to maximize revenues. GSK's global Phase III PATRICIA HPV vaccine trial will involve 90 sites and approximately 13,000 young women aged 15-25 worldwide, lasting for approximately four years. HPV is associated with cervical cancer, the second most common cause of cancer in women worldwide, and the leading cause in the developing world. Furthermore, cervical cancer develops early in life, with a median age of 38 years. Although there are more than 100 different types of HPV, approximately 70% of all cervical cancers are associated with just two types, namely HPV 16 and HPV 18. It is against these oncogenic strains that the HPV vaccine is intended to confer protection. GSK's main challenge will be identifying the optimal target population. Judging by the proposed trial, it can be inferred that GSK anticipates its target population to be young women, from mid-teens to early twenties. This means that the HPV vaccine will not be included on the US pediatric immunization schedule, which is the most commercially attractive sector for vaccine manufacturers due to its large patient population and high compliance rates. Consequently, GSK will [...]

5/21/2004 Houston, Texas KPRC TV Studies Link Oral Sex To Cancer AIDS has been known for a long time as a sexually transmitted virus. Now, doctors are warning about a new virus that causes cancer and is spread through sexual contact, News2Houston reported Thursday. It's called human papillomavirus, also known as HPV. Out of the hundreds of different strains of human papillomavirus, doctors said No. 16 causes cervical cancer. Approximately 20 percent of people have a type of HPV at any one time, according to statistics. That means two of every 10 people are active carriers. "The human papillomavirus is very common today because of sexual practices," said Dr. Randal Weber, a head and neck surgeon at M.D. Anderson Hospital. "It is human-to-human contact and exchange of bodily fluids -- that's the way this is transmitted." Now doctors like Erich Sturgis at M.D. Anderson Hospital said it is also the culprit in another cancer. "The virus that is likely associated with head and neck cancer is the same virus associated with cervical cancer in women," Sturgis said. "Is this theory that you are speaking of or is it accepted in the medical community?" asked News2Houston's Krista Moreno. "I think it is accepted in the field of individuals who work in head and neck cancers, and I think it is also accepted in the field of individuals who work in human papillomavirus. But it is just not common knowledge among most physicians," said Dr. Maura Gillison, with Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer [...]

5/11/2004 Dave Kindred Golf Digest Hubert Green said, "That pine tree, the tall one, all the way to the left." He looked at the tree through a range finder. "It's 144, 145 yards." It was one of those bright winter days in Florida when the sun is betrayed by a chilling wind off the Gulf of Mexico. The breeze came past that pine tree, came against Green's face. Because he's diabetic, his hands and feet quickly get cold. He was uncomfortable. He wore shimmering blue slacks, a blue sweater over a blue long-sleeved shirt, and the wide-brimmed leather hat that is his trademark. He'd driven his golf cart onto the back practice tee at Hombre Golf Club, his home course in Panama City Beach. In a red plastic crate, he'd brought along a couple hundred Callaway reds, each ball marked with an inked circle and inside the circle the initials "HG." He hit five, six balls with a 9-iron. Earlier, he'd said he felt weak. Instead of the club hitting the ball, it was like the ball hit the club. A 9-iron might go 110 yards, a measure of strength so dispiriting that he said, "Right now I couldn't play on the LPGA Tour." On the practice tee, he moved to a 5-iron. A little draw, pretty enough. Nine, 10 swings. The balls fell 10, 15 yards short of that left pine tree. He turned and said to the only other player on the range, "Whatcha hitting?" "Five-iron," said Allen [...]

5/11/2004 HILARY WALDMAN Hartford Courant Cancer patients often leap two gigantic hurdles in the race against disease. First comes treatment to stay alive. Next is life after treatment. And for patients such as Sandra Smith, who lost most of her jaw and the floor of her mouth to oral cancer, living now includes smiling, speaking clearly and chewing tender meat with replacement parts that move and function almost as well as the originals. Smith and about 6 million other people nationwide are beneficiaries of advances in reconstructive surgery that some doctors say they could not have imagined 10 years ago. The ability to create Smith's new, living jawbone; to rebuild breasts without destroying abdominal muscles; and to restore function to limbs or fingers damaged by accident hinges on the relatively newfound ability of doctors to stitch together veins and arteries whose diameters are about the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. "Reconstructive surgery has never been more exciting," said Dr. Allen Van Beek, a Minnesota plastic and reconstructive surgeon and president of the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation, an arm of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. "It goes well beyond what would have been possible without the advent of microsurgery." Most people have heard the term microsurgery when a person loses a finger in an accident and the severed digit is placed in an ice-filled baggie and rushed to the hospital along with the patient. A surgeon in Boston started experimenting with replacing and restoring function to severed [...]

5/10/2004 NEW YORK , NY Reuters Health Puffing on one cigar may be enough to harden the body's main artery for hours afterward, a small study shows. Researchers say the findings add to evidence that, far from being a "safe" alternative to cigarettes, cigars increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. The study of 12 healthy men who smoked cigarettes and cigars found that shortly after smoking a cigar, the men showed evidence of greater stiffness in the aorta, the main artery carrying blood from the heart to the rest of the body. The degree of stiffness in large arteries is key in how well the heart's main pumping chamber can work and blood can flow. The new findings provide the first evidence that cigar smoking immediately increases stiffness in large arteries, according to the study authors, led by Dr. Charalambos Vlachopoulos of Athens Medical School in Greece. They report the findings in the American Journal of Hypertension. Tobacco use in its various forms has long been known to carry serious health risks. Yet there's been a popular perception that cigars, which enjoyed a surge in popularity starting in the 1990s, offer a safer way to smoke. But research shows that cigar smoking does boost the risk of heart disease, stroke and several types of cancer, including lung and oral cancers. In the new study, the researchers used a measure called pulse wave velocity to gauge aortic stiffness in 12 young, male smokers for two hours after they smoked a cigar, [...]

5/2/2004 Arizona Odeen Domingo The Arizona Republic He's seen it. The hurt it could create. The damage it could cause. Spit tobacco facts INGREDIENTS Nicotine: a poisonous and highly addictive drug. Carcinogens: cancer-causing agents. Abrasives: wear down teeth and allow nicotine and other chemicals to get directly into blood system. INCREASES THE RISK OF: Mouth cancer: cancer of cheeks, gums, lips and tongue. Throat cancer: cancer of the voice box and esophagus. Heart disease: heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure. Dental diseases: stained teeth, tooth decay, receding gums and gum disease. Stomach problems: ulcers, increased bowel activity and stomach cancer. Source: Saskatchewan Health and National Cancer Institute Diamondbacks center fielder Steve Finley has seen it almost destroy his good friend Pete Harnisch. "It" is spit tobacco. It's also commonly known as smokeless tobacco, chewing tobacco or dip. Whatever it's called, it almost ended Harnisch's career. Harnisch, a one-time All-Star pitcher who last pitched in the major leagues in 2001, was diagnosed with clinical depression in 1997 at the time when he was trying to quit a 13-year-old habit he knew was dangerous. So when Finley was asked recently to do commercials sponsored by the National Spit Tobacco Education Program (NSTEP), which is headed by Hall of Fame baseball announcer Joe Garagiola Sr., he didn't hesitate. "(Garagiola) asked me if I'd be a part of (the anti-spit tobacco campaign) and help the organization," said Finley, 39, a non-user. "It's a bad habit . . . it caused a big brush [...]