personalized medicine

Blood-borne HPV antibodies indicate head, neck cancer prognosis

Source: medicalxpress.com Author: provided by Brown University People with head and neck cancers with evidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection generally have a better prognosis than people without evidence of infection. A new study in JAMA Oncology suggests that to produce a strong, reliable prognostic signal, all that's needed is a blood serum test for two specific HPV antibodies, rather than lab work on a biopsy. Further, the researchers said, the study shows that this blood-based biomarker is predictive of outcome for all types of head and neck cancer. The human papillomavirus causes not only cervical cancer but also cancers of the head and neck. Credit: National Cancer Institute "What this adds is that it helps us know how best to measure clinically the HPV contribution to this disease," said study senior author Karl Kelsey, a professor of epidemiology and of pathology and laboratory medicine at Brown University. Kelsey collaborated with lead author Heather Nelson of the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center in making the findings. Moreover, Nelson, Kelsey and their colleagues wrote, referring to the common HPV16 strain of the virus: "These data are among the first to demonstrate a convincing relationship between HPV16 and improved patient survival for tumors of the larynx and oral cavity." Appraising antibodies The study examined blood serum samples and five-year survival rates among more than 1,000 Boston-area head and neck cancer patients diagnosed between 1999 and 2011. Overall, those who tested positive for antibodies to the oncogenic HPV proteins E6 [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2016-12-11T09:48:32-07:00December, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

Roche scientist provides a look at drugmaker’s early pipeline

Source: www.nj.com/ Author: Susan Todd/The Star-Ledger Jean-Jacques Garaud, who heads Roche’s pharmaceutical research and early development efforts in Switzerland, visited the drugmaker’s Nutley campus in mid-December and spent some time speaking with The Star-Ledger about the company’s efforts in the laboratory. The talk with Garaud provided a rare glimpse of the giant Swiss drugmaker’s early-stage pipeline and highlighted the heavy bets it’s making on personalized medicine (drugs that are tailored to treat individuals whose genes or enzymes show specific biological signs of disease). If the strategy succeeds, Roche could eventually push out some breakthrough drugs for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and depression. Garaud, a French-American who joined Roche five years ago, also opened up about a discovery made in Nutley that may represent a novel cancer treatment and the high hopes behind a project with the promise of altering the lives of individuals born with a syndrome that causes mental retardation. During the interview, Garaud talked about some medicines so early in development that they are still referred to by strange-sounding laboratory names. Q. Where do things stand with gantenerumab, the monoclonal antibody Roche is developing as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease? A. This is in phase 2 and this is testing a patient population in the early stages of the disease or suffering from mild cognitive impairment. We believe this particular type of intervention may be more beneficial when it happens early in the disease so that it delays progression. This antibody targets the abnormal material called amyloid that deposits [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2012-01-02T06:41:44-07:00January, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

A personalized and integrative approach to cancer care

Source: www.mdnews.com Author: staff With the recent move to a newly renovated office and infusion center at the corner of Tank Farm Road and Broad Street in San Luis Obispo, Tom Spillane, M.D.; Jim Malone, M.D.; and Deborah Villa, M.D., have renamed the practice Coastal Integrative Cancer Care (CICC), in order to reflect their commitment to a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to the treatment of cancer. The group, along with Tim Souchek, PA-C, and a dedicated professional oncology-nursing staff, has been the provider of state-of-the-art medical oncology and hematology care in San Luis Obispo County for more than 10 years. However, the new CICC is now able to maximize patients’ treatment outcomes by integrating the latest scientific and technologic information with complementary therapies. Integrative medicine refers to the fusion of complementary therapies (for which there is evidence of safety and effectiveness) with standard Western medical treatments. The term “integrative oncology” has been developed to describe the integration of mainstream cancer care with nonpharmacologic, evidence-based complementary therapies, examples of which include: dietary changes, exercise, physical therapy, naturopathic medicine, chiropractic medicine, acupuncture, massage therapy, aromatherapy, Reiki, Yoga, meditation, guided imagery/hypnotherapy, expressive arts, Tai Chi, Qigong, resistance training, aerobic training programs and dietary interventions. CICC incorporates these interventions through a host of local providers and resource centers, including the Hearst Cancer Resource Center and The Wellness Community. CICC makes every effort to tailor treatments to individual patients based on science and clinical research. The term “personalized medicine” has also been recently coined to describe [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-13T14:48:00-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

New test genetically fingerprints tumors

Source: online.wsj.com Author: Ron Winslow In a fresh advance for the burgeoning field of personalized medicine, researchers have developed a blood test based on the DNA of tumors that could help tailor treatment for individual cancer patients. The report, announced Thursday, represents one of the most tangible examples yet of how the ability to sequence a person's entire genetic code could have a direct impact on patient care. There have been a flurry of reports on new sequencing technology that is yielding enormous amounts of information about genetics and disease, but that has yet to deliver much in the way of new treatment strategies. "For cancer patients there hasn't been much utility so far. This may prove to be one of the first useful approaches," said Victor Velculescu, co-director of the cancer biology program at Johns Hopkins University's Kimmel Cancer Center and senior author of the new study. Much research involving whole-genome sequencing is aimed at finding differences in the individual letters that make up the genetic code. The belief is that those small alterations will point to molecular pathways that regulate disease, which would be potential targets for drug therapies. The Hopkins researchers, writing in the journal Science Translational Medicine, took a different approach. They scanned the DNA of tumors taken from six patients with breast or colon cancer, looking not for tiny DNA changes, but what they call rearrangements in large sections of the genome of tumor cells. The DNA of tumors varies genetically from that of normal [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-02-20T22:29:37-07:00February, 2010|Oral Cancer News|