paclitaxel – Oral Cancer News

Plasmonic nanobubbles can detect and kill only cancer cells

Source: www.azonano.com Author: staff The first preclinical study of a new Rice University-developed anti-cancer technology found that a novel combination of existing clinical treatments can instantaneously detect and kill only cancer cells — often by blowing them apart — without harming surrounding normal organs. The research, which is available online this week Nature Medicine, reports that Rice’s “quadrapeutics” technology was 17 times more efficient than conventional chemoradiation therapy against aggressive, drug-resistant head and neck tumors. The work was conducted by researchers from Rice, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Northeastern University. “We address aggressive cancers that cannot be efficiently and safely treated today,” said Rice scientist Dmitri Lapotko, the study’s lead investigator. “Surgeons often cannot fully remove tumors that are intertwined with important organs. Chemotherapy and radiation are commonly used to treat the residual portions of these tumors, but some tumors become resistant to chemoradiation. Quadrapeutics steps up when standard treatments fail. At the same time, quadrapeutics complements current approaches instead of replacing them.” Lapotko said quadrapeutics differs from other developmental cancer treatments in that it radically amplifies the intracellular effect of drugs and radiation only in cancer cells. The quadrapeutic effects are achieved by mechanical events — tiny, remotely triggered nano-explosions called “plasmonic nanobubbles.” Plasmonic nanobubbles are non-stationary vapors that expand and burst inside cancer cells in nanoseconds in response to a short, low-energy laser pulse. Plasmonic nanobubbles act as a “mechanical drug” against cancer cells that cannot be surgically removed and are otherwise resistant to [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-06-03T06:07:14-07:00June, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Low-dose IMRT may be safe for patients with HPV-positive head and neck cancer

Source: www.oncologypractice.com Author: Laura Nikolaides Lower-dose radiation therapy may be safe for some patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer, decreasing the risk of often long-term side effects, such as trouble swallowing, dry mouth, loss of taste, neck stiffness, and thyroid problems, investigators reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Two-year overall survival and progression-free survival were 93% and 80%, respectively, among 62 patients with operable stage III/IVA HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous carcinoma who received lower-dose intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) after clinical complete response to induction chemotherapy, reported Dr. Anthony Cmelak, professor of radiation oncology at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., and medical director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center at Franklin. Overall, the phase II study enrolled 90 patients, median age 57 years, who all received induction chemotherapy with paclitaxel, cisplatin, and cetuximab. The response to induction chemotherapy determined IMRT dose. The 62 patients who had a complete clinical response received a reduced dose (54 Gy) of IMRT, and the rest of the patients received standard dose IMRT (70 Gy). All patients received standard cetuximab along with radiation. Two-year overall survival and progression-free survival for the higher-risk patients who received the standard dose of IMRT were 87% and 65% respectively. Among those patients receiving low-dose IMRT, survival was slightly higher for those with less than 10 pack-years of smoking and earlier-stage disease; in those patients 2-year progression-free and overall survival were 92% and 97%, respectively. However, Dr. Cmelak does not yet recommend modifying regimens for patients with [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-06-03T05:55:31-07:00June, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Positive data announced for Reolysin in head and neck cancers

Source: www.empr.com Author: staff Oncolytics Biotech announced positive top line data in its double-blinded randomized Phase 3 clinical study examining Reolysin in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel in second-line patients with platinum-refractory, taxane-naïve head and neck cancers. Reolysin is a proprietary formulation of the human reovirus. A first analysis compared the relative percentages of patients in the test and control arms with tumors that had either stabilized or exhibited shrinkage. For the purposes of this endpoint, the definition of tumor stabilization was restricted to 0% growth only. Of the 105 total patients with evaluable metastatic tumors, 86% (n=50) of those in the test arm of the study exhibited tumor stabilization or shrinkage, compared with 67% of patients (n=55) in the control arm. This was statistically significant, with a p-value of 0.025. A second analysis examined the magnitude of tumor response on a per patient basis using a comparison of percentage tumor shrinkage at six weeks in each patient with evaluable metastatic tumors. This analysis showed that Reolysin in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel was statistically significantly better than carboplatin and paclitaxel alone at stabilizing or shrinking metastatic tumors, yielding a p-value of 0.03

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-12-23T08:28:26-07:00December, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Use of carbon nanoparticles paves way to customized cancer therapy

Source: www.azonano.com Author: Cameron Chai A research study by Jeffrey Myers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and James Tour from the Rice University has reported that a combination of carbon nanoparticles and existing drugs has the capability to improve head-and-neck cancer treatment, particularly when coupled with radiation therapy. The novel technique encapsulates chemotherapeutic drugs using carbon nanoparticles, which sequester the drugs until their delivery into the targeted cancer cells, opening the door to develop customized therapies based on the requirements of individual patients. The researchers have developed a simple technique to mix Cetuximab, a targeting agent, and paclitaxel, a hydrophobic active chemotherapy agent marketed as Taxol, with hydrophilic carbon clusters that are functionalized with polyethylene glycol or PEG-HCC. According to the researchers, Cetuximab, paclitaxel and PEG-HCC ingredients combine easily and form a water-soluble compound that targets tumors more effectively than Taxol, while eliminating the toxic effects of Cremophor EL and paclitaxel on neighboring healthy cells. Cremophor EL is a carrier based on castor oil that makes the hydrophobic paclitaxel into a water-soluble compound and delivers it to patients intravenously. Tour commented that the novel technique utilizes a very small quantity of chemotherapy drug. Myers informed that tests involving the use of Cetuximab, paclitaxel and PEG-HCC ingredients and radiation therapy on mice demonstrated a substantial increase in destroying tumors. The researchers’ hypothesis is paclitaxel detects the tumor cells to the radiation effects and Cetuximab and PEG-HCC augment the delivery of paclitaxel into the cancer cells, Myers [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-02-19T10:42:23-07:00February, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Taking out a cancer’s co-dependency: novel compound selectively kills cancer cells by blocking response to oxidative stress

Source: www.eurekalert.org Author: public release A cancer cell may seem out of control, growing wildly and breaking all the rules of orderly cell life and death. But amid the seeming chaos there is a balance between a cancer cell's revved-up metabolism and skyrocketing levels of cellular stress. Just as a cancer cell depends on a hyperactive metabolism to fuel its rapid growth, it also depends on anti-oxidative enzymes to quench potentially toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by such high metabolic demand. Scientists at the Broad Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have discovered a novel compound that blocks this response to oxidative stress selectively in cancer cells but spares normal cells, with an effectiveness that surpassed a chemotherapy drug currently used to treat breast cancer. Their findings, based on experiments in cell culture and in mice, appear online in Nature on July 13. The plant-based compound piperlongumine (PL), derived from the fruit of a pepper plant found in southern India and southeast Asia, appears to kill cancer cells by jamming the machinery that dissipates high oxidative stress and the resulting ROS. Normal cells have low levels of ROS, in tune with their more modest metabolism, so they don't need high levels of the anti-oxidant enzymes that PL stymies once they pass a certain threshold. "Piperlongumine targets something that's not thought to be essential in normal cells," said Stuart L. Schreiber, a senior co-author and director of the Broad's Chemical Biology Program. "Cancer cells have a greater dependence on ROS [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-07-20T05:21:06-07:00July, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Plant stem cells pave way for low-cost cancer drug

Source: sify.com Author: saff A new study has suggested that a well-known cancer drug could be produced cheaply and sustainably using stem cells derived from trees. University of Edinburgh researchers have isolated and grown stem cells from a yew tree whose bark is a natural source of the anticancer compound paclitaxel. The development could enable the compound to be produced on a commercial scale at low cost, with no harmful by-products. Scientists and engineers behind the development say the drug treatment - currently used on lung, ovarian, breast, head and neck cancer - could become cheaper and more widely available. Currently, an extract from yew tree bark is used to industrially manufacture the compound paclitaxel. However, this process is expensive, requires supplies of mature trees, and creates environmentally damaging by-products. Researchers claim that using stem cells-self-renewing tree cells which can be manipulated to produce large amounts of the active compound-would effectively create an abundant supply of the drug. Scientists behind the project have also cultured stem cells from other plants with medical applications, indicating that the technique could be used to manufacture other important pharmaceuticals besides paclitaxel. The study was published in Nature Biotechnology.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-26T08:33:51-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Neck response to chemoradiotherapy

Source: Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2009;135(11):1133-1136 Author: Alexander Langerman, MD et al. Complete Radiographic Response Correlates With Pathologic Complete Response in Locoregionally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer Objective: The role of neck dissection following chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for locoregionally advanced head and neck cancer is an area of active debate. Patients who have a complete radiographic response may not need dissection, and the extent of neck dissection necessary for those patients with residual disease is unclear. Design: Retrospective review of data from a prospectively collected database of patients with locoregionally advanced head and neck cancer treated as part of a phase 2 study of induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent CRT. The results of post-CRT neck computed tomography (CT) imaging and pathologic analysis of the neck dissection specimens were compared to evaluate correlation between radiographic and pathologic response. Results: Forty-nine patients underwent 61 hemineck dissections. Overall, 209 neck levels were dissected. Radiologic complete response in the neck was achieved in 39 patients, all of whom had pathologic specimens negative for tumor cells. Ten patients (20%) had a total of 14 neck levels with residual disease on CT imaging. Five (50%) of these 10 patients were found to have residual tumor cells on pathologic analysis. Tumor cells were contained only to those levels found positive on CT imaging; they were present in 7 (50%) of the 14 positive levels. Conclusions: Neck levels with residual disease on post-CRT CT imaging warrant removal. However, neck levels without evidence of disease on post-CRT CT imaging [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-17T19:34:20-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Oncolytics’ Phase III borrows adaptive design in SPA trial

Source: www.bioworld.com Author: Catherine Hollingsworth Oncolytics Biotech Inc. reached agreement with the FDA on the design of a Phase III trial of Reolysin in head and neck cancer, marking the first such agreement for an intravenously administered oncolytic virus. The Phase III trial will be conducted in two stages and will cost an estimated $15 million, Matt Coffey, Oncolytics' chief operating officer, told BioWorld Today. The Calgary, Alberta-based company has the cash to get through the first half of the study on its own, but it hopes to secure a partner to take Reolysin the rest of the way, he said. The trial uses an adaptive design in which "the endpoint is not fixed going in," CEO Brad Thompson said during a conference call. He said it was "a major advantage" getting the FDA to sign off on the study design up front under a special protocol assessment. Thompson said that the adaptive design already is in use in the area of infectious disease, and he said he believes that there will be "a big push" by the FDA for more adaptive trials to be conducted in oncology. The trial will assess the intravenous administration of Reolysin with the chemotherapy combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin vs. chemotherapy alone. The drug likely will be studied in about 275 patients whose cancer has progressed while on or after prior platinum-based chemotherapy. The first stage of the trial is nonadaptive and is designed to enroll 80 patients. The second stage is adaptive, and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-10-05T04:59:16-07:00October, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Early postoperative Taxol® may improve outcomes in high-risk head and neck cancer

Source: professional.cancerconsultants.com Author: staff Researchers involved in the RTOG 0024 study have reported that the administration of early adjuvant Taxol® (paclitaxel) followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy may improve local control and improve disease-free survival in patients with high-risk head and neck carcinoma. The details of this study appeared in the Journal of Clinical Oncology early online on August 31, 2009.[1] There have been several randomized and non-randomized clinical trials that suggest that the concomitant administration of platinum-based chemotherapy and radiotherapy (RT) is superior to RT alone for the treatment of patients with advanced head and neck cancer for local and regional control. Most, but not all, have also shown a survival advantage for combined treatment. An intergroup trial with participation of RTOG, ECOG, and SWOG compared post-operative radiotherapy alone or with concurrent Platinol® (cisplatin) for patients with high-risk head and neck cancer. This study showed that the addition of adjuvant Platinol decreased local recurrences but had no significant impact on metastatic disease or overall survival. An EORTC trial showed that the addition of Platinol to RT improved progression-free and overall survival by 10% and improved overall survival by the same degree. The current study (RTOG 0024) sought to improve the results of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy in high-risk head and neck cancer patients by administering Taxol postoperatively on weeks 2, 3, and 4 prior to RT. Taxol and Platinol were administered concomitantly with RT after week 4. This study was compared to the previous RTOG trial 9501, which administered Platinol alone with RT. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-09-13T04:51:10-07:00September, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Oncolytics Biotech(R) Inc. collaborators present positive head and neck results in phase I/II combination

Source: pr-canada.net Author: press release Oncolytics Biotech Inc. announced that interim clinical results from its Phase I/II U.K. trial of Reolysin(R) combined with paclitaxel/carboplatin for patients with advanced cancers were presented at the Fifth International Meeting on Replicating Oncolytic Virus Therapeutics. The meeting is being held in Banff, Alberta from March 18th to 22nd, 2009. The principal investigator for the trial is Dr. Kevin Harrington of The Institute of Cancer Research. To date, fifteen head and neck cancer patients have been treated in the Phase I/II trial. All but one patient had prior platinum treatment. Of 12 patients evaluable for clinical response, five have experienced Partial Response (PR) and four have experienced Stable Disease (SD) ranging from two to six months. For patients who have been followed for at least six months since their initial treatment, the median progression-free survival (PFS) is currently six months, while the overall survival is currently seven months. The literature suggests that platinum refractory patients typically have a PFS of approximately two months and a median survival ranging from 4.5 to 6.5 months. The overall survival figure may evolve as many of the patients are still alive. "In patients previously treated with platinum agents, where the response rate (PR and Complete Response (CR)) is generally in the 3-10% range, a response rate of 42% and a 75% clinical benefit rate (SD, PR, and CR) are dramatic," said Dr. Karl Mettinger, Chief Medical Officer for Oncolytics. The Phase I/II trial has two components. The first is [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-03-23T06:53:05-07:00March, 2009|Oral Cancer News|