New Discovery May Offer Cure for Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J., Nov. 29, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --Tamir Biotechnology, Inc. (Pink Sheets: ACEL) (formerly Alfacell Corporation) announced today that scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) reported test results confirming two of our lead compounds showed excellent in vitro antiviral activity and no cellular toxicity at dose levels tested for Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Testing was performed using the HPV 11 strain, which along with HPV type 6, is responsible for ninety percent of genital or anal warts. According to the scientist performing the test, the results were among the top one to two percent seen by the researcher for testing of HPV type 11. The report states the following: "Excellent antiviral activity and no cellular toxicity at doses tested." Within the last several months, we have reported significant results for our compounds against Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, SARS, CMV, and now HPV. We are on the cusp of building an impressive antiviral portfolio that will be targeting viruses where there is currently an unmet need.  Besides the fact that our drugs have shown significant antiviral activity against the viruses mentioned above, equally impressive is the fact that very low concentrations of our drugs were needed in order to show this significant antiviral activity. It is important to realize that Onconase®, our lead compound, has been in clinical studies for other oncology indications and has proven itself to be well tolerated in over 1,000 patients treated to date.  We cannot stress enough how significant our drug [...]

2010-12-06T11:50:03-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

HPV vaccination of young women may protect men through herd immunity

Source: www.medscape.com Author: Laurie Barclay, MD High coverage of quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in young Australian women resulted in a lower frequency of genital warts, which might protect heterosexual men through herd immunity, according to the results of an analysis of national sentinel surveillance data published online November 9 in Lancet Infectious Diseases. "The natural history of cervical and HPV-associated diseases is slow," Mark H. Einstein, MD, MS, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and women's health, and director of clinical research for women's health and gynecologic oncology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Albert Einstein Cancer Center, Montefiore Medical Center, in New York City, told Medscape Medical News when asked for independent comment. "This is the first registry-based study that has already shown the declines after vaccinating a large population of vaccine-eligible adolescents and young adults. This prospectively shows what all the models have been predicting all along." The annual incidence of genital warts has been increasing for decades and is currently about 1% in young, sexually active people. Up to 90% of cases of genital warts are caused by HPV types 6 and 11, which are 2 of the 4 types targeted by the quadrivalent HPV vaccine used in Australia (Gardasil; CSL Biotherapies). "While it will probably be as effective as the quadrivalent HPV vaccine at preventing anogenital and other cancers, the bivalent HPV vaccine (Cervarix, GSK) used in the UK national program provides no protection against genital warts," lead author Basil Donovan, MD, head of [...]

2010-11-21T12:53:34-07:00November, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

FDA panel backs new use for Gardasil vaccine

Source: TherapeuticsDaily.com WASHINGTON -- A federal health panel says evidence supports expanding use of Merck's Gardasil vaccine to prevent anal cancer in young men and women. The panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers said a 4,000-patient study conducted by Merck & Co. Inc. shows the vaccine lowers the risk of anal cancer in men. They said these results can also be applied to women. Anal cancer is relatively rare, affecting about 5,000 people in the U.S. each year. Gardasil, Merck's top-selling vaccine, already is approved for prevention of cervical cancer and genital warts in girls and women aged 9 to 26. It's also approved for preventing genital warts in boys and men aged 9 to 26. The vaccine works by blocking four of the most common strains of human papilloma virus, or HPV.

2010-11-18T10:12:07-07:00November, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Does framing human papillomavirus vaccine as preventing cancer in men increase vaccine acceptability?

Source: PubMed.gov BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is now approved for use in males in the United States to prevent genital warts. We conducted an experiment to see whether framing HPV vaccination as also preventing cancer in men would increase men's vaccination willingness. METHODS: We conducted an online survey in January 2009 with a national sample of men ages 18 to 59 years who self-identified as gay/bisexual (n = 312) or heterosexual (n = 296). In the within-subjects experiment, men read four randomly ordered vignettes that described hypothetical vaccines that prevented either genital warts alone, or genital warts and either anal cancer, oral cancer, or penile cancer. We analyzed data using repeated measures ANOVA and tested whether perceived severity or perceived likelihood mediated the effect of disease outcome framing on men's HPV vaccination willingness. RESULTS: Although only 42% of men were willing to receive HPV vaccine when it was framed as preventing genital warts alone, 60% were willing to get it when it was framed as preventing cancer in addition to genital warts (P < 0.001). The effect of outcome framing was the same for heterosexual and gay/bisexual men and for the three cancer types examined. Perceived severity of disease partially mediated the association between disease outcome and HPV vaccination willingness. CONCLUSIONS: Men may be more accepting of HPV vaccine when it is framed as preventing cancer, regardless which of the three most common HPV-related cancers in men is described. IMPACT: Study findings may be useful in developing health communication messages that maximize HPV vaccine [...]

2010-11-08T13:52:28-07:00November, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Vaccines might help fight throat cancer, but hurdles are high

Source: www.npr.org Author: Chao Deng There's been a big and controversial push to protect girls from cervical cancer by vaccinating them against the human papillomavirus. Turns out, the same vaccine might also protect boys from developing throat cancer later in life. Researchers estimate HPV causes more than 11,000 cases of throat cancers in the U.S. each year. Many are cropping up in younger people, especially in white men. Changes in sexual behavior have led to an increase in that could mean more than 20,000 cases annually by 2015, Forbes reports. So wouldn't you think that a growing market like that would be attractive to makers of HPV vaccines? Not so much, it turns out. Merck's Gardasil vaccine is approved for use in boys, but only to protect against genital warts. And a company spokeswoman told us in an email that Merck isn't looking to pursue approval of a throat-cancer indication anytime soon because of "competing research and business priorities." Same goes for Glaxo, according to Forbes. A big hurdle is that doctors can't screen for throat cancer the way they can for cervical cancer with a Pap smear. Without a simple test, it's harder to show the HPV vaccine reduces the risk of throat cancer. And that, in turn, makes it harder for vaccine makers to run a study that will pass muster with the Food and Drug Administration. But the outlook isn't completely bleak. Ohio State researcher Maura Gillison, who got funding for a pilot vaccine study [...]

Why men’s health is a feminist issue

Source: www.msmagazine.com Author: Adina Nack Jorge (not his real name) feared his girlfriend would dump him. He’d been diagnosed with genital warts before meeting her, and hadn’t yet told her about his infection. Jorge was being careful—no skin-to-skin sexual contact—but the disclosure was looming. So he’d done some research and learned what caused genital warts. Armed with that knowledge, he hoped that his girlfriend wouldn’t reject him, especially since he knew she could be protected from contracting warts “because of the Gardasil vaccine.” It never occurred to Jorge that Gardasil, made by the pharmaceutical company Merck, could also have protected him. But that’s probably because it was only last October that the Food and Drug Administration approved a “male” Gardasil for preventing genital warts. And the FDA has yet to put its stamp on another promising usage of the vaccine for men: preventing cancer, especially highly prevalent oral cancers. Since Gardasil was FDA-approved in 2006, it has received a huge marketing push for preventing cervical cancer in women. It has come into frequent—if sometimes controversial—use for females 9 to 26 years old because it’s designed to guard them, before they ever have sex, against contracting a virus that has been linked to cervical cancer. That virus is HPV, human papillomavirus, which causes one-third of all sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S. Gardasil offers protection against four of the 30 to 40 types of sexually transmissible HPV. While it’s fear of cervical cancer that have motivated young women to get [...]

Two doctors explain their support of the Gardasil vaccine

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com Author: Marcia G. Yerman As parents contemplate whether or not they should have the Gardasil vaccine administered to their daughters, one of the first places that they turn is to their doctors. In this segment, I posed questions to two doctors supporting the vaccine. Dr. Margaret Lewin, M.D., F.A.C.P., is the Medical Director of Cinergy Health, an insurance benefits provider. She advises the board on patient related issues and public health concerns. Lewin is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology. Lewin is affiliated with New York Presbyterian Hospital and the Hospital for Special Surgery. Dr. Alan Gibstein, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.C.O.G., is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at NYU School of Medicine. He is board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and is affiliated with North Shore University Hospital. He was president of the LIJMC medical staff from 1982-9183. In addition to his work as an attending gynecologist, he has been actively involved in medical and residency teaching. On why they supported the vaccine: Dr. Lewin wrote: "The evidence clearly shows that the quadrivalent HPV vaccine prevents cervical intraepithelial neoplasia caused by 70% of known HPV subtypes as well as preventing genital warts - both of which are highly contagious (even without sexual penetration), cause significant distress, substantial cost, and cannot reliably be permanently eliminated. There are published reports of oral cancer caused by the HPV virus. Oral cancers and their treatment are devastating, and the ability to avoid HPV-related oral cancers strongly increases my support [...]

Males can get HPV vaccine Gardasil thanks, in part, to Gulfport cancer survivor

Source: St. Petersburg Times Author: John Barry David Hastings' crusade to inoculate boys against a cancer-causing virus that afflicts women — but threatened him, too — has scored a victory. But it's not quite the one he has been fighting for in the past three years. A panel of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week allowed a vaccine to be given to boys and young men that is already used to protect girls and young women from human papillomavirus, HPV, which causes cervical cancer. The panel's vote followed the Food and Drug Administration's recent okay of the vaccine for boys as a protection against genital warts. The vaccine, Gardasil, was approved only for females, ages 9 to 26, in 2006. But research has since linked HPV to many oral cancers in men. Hastings, who owns the Habana Cafe in Gulfport with his wife, Josefa, testified before the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. He told them how HPV was found in a deadly carcinoma in his throat in 2006. It took seven weeks of simultaneous chemotherapy and radiation at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa to arrest the cancer. Ever since, he has spread the message that HPV is a threat to men. He urged the CDC panel to recommend routine vaccinations for boys, as it already does for girls. Hastings and other proponents argued that only 17 percent of girls are completing the series of three doses needed for protection. "We rely on females [...]

2009-10-30T10:58:18-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

HPV vaccine fails to get nod for routine use in boys

Source: Medscape.com Author: Robert Lowes October 21, 2009 — Despite hearing impassioned pleas to protect both men and women from cancer, a federal advisory panel today declined to recommend that a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine be routinely administered to boys to prevent genital warts. Instead, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) issued a "permissive" recommendation stating that physicians have the option of vaccinating boys with the HPV vaccine Gardasil(Merck) for genital-wart protection. ACIP noted that boys should receive the vaccine "before exposure to HPV through sexual contact." In 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Gardasil for use in girls and young women to prevent cervical and other cancers as well as precancers caused by HPV types 16 and 18. Last week, the FDA also approved Gardasil for use in males aged 9 through 26 to prevent genital warts. In making its recommendation today, ACIP appeared to be swayed in part by published research questioning the cost-effectiveness of routine vaccination of boys with Gardasil. The committee's decision has far-reaching economic effects because third-party payers typically pay for vaccinations that are recommended for routine use, but not those coming with a permissive recommendation. More at Stake Than Genital Wart Prevention Proponents of routine vaccination of boys with Gardasil told the committee Wednesday during the public comment period that more was at stake than merely preventing genital warts. They underlined the need to also prevent oral, throat, penile, and anal cancers caused by HPV. David Hastings, a spokesperson for the [...]

2009-10-26T09:22:06-07:00October, 2009|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

US advisers decline to push Gardasil for boys

Source: Reuters.com Author: Maggie Fox * Committee advises that doctors free to use vaccine * Says needs more evidence of cost benefit * Did not consider value in preventing cancer (Updates throughout, adds quotes, share price) WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - U.S. vaccine advisers declined to press for the use of Merck & Co's (MRK.N) Gardasil in boys and men, opting instead on Wednesday to simply advise doctors they are free to use it. Despite some impassioned pleas from patients and doctors alike, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted almost unanimously for "permissive" use of the vaccine for boys. It protects against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes a variety of cancers and genital warts. But the committee did recommend including Gardasil for eligible boys aged 9 to 18 in the Vaccines For Children program, a government-funded system that provides vaccines to children eligible for the state-federal Medicaid health insurance plan and other uninsured children. Merck's shares were down 1.7 percent at $33.16 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends Gardasil for girls 11 and 12 years old and women 13 to 26 who have not been vaccinated. Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Gardasil for preventing genital warts in boys and men ages 9 through 26. The main reason the vaccine was approved was to prevent cervical cancer, which kills 4,000 women a year in the United States alone. But various [...]

2009-10-21T14:45:00-07:00October, 2009|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|
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