10/25/2004 Rosemarie Bernardo starbulletin.com Through education and improving access to health care, a coalition of government and private health agencies has developed a strategy to reduce cancer rates in Hawaii. "If we detect it early, we can save lives," said Dr. Virginia Pressler, chairwoman of the Hawaii Comprehensive Cancer Program. The effort by 75 health and community agencies to fight the second-leading cause of death in Hawaii is made up of eight strategies that include prevention, early detection, uniform access and insurance coverage issues. "The reason why it's so important for everyone to become involved in cancer care is because almost everybody in the state has been touched by cancer in some way whether it's themselves, a family member, their friend. Everybody has a role to play," said Pressler. About 70 percent of all types of cancer could be prevented by not smoking, having a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables and being physically active, said Pressler. Gov. Linda Lingle, who had a breast cancer scare two years ago, joined representatives of the American Cancer Society, the Cancer Research Center Hawaii and other groups to announce the plan yesterday. "Too many women, as it relates to breast cancers, have reached a point in their mind where 'if I don't know it, can't hurt me mentality,'" said Lingle. "Of course, what you don't know can not only hurt you in this case, it can kill you." Lingle related how, during a mammogram, doctors detected abnormal cells that later turned out not [...]

10/25/2004 Yung-Liang Wan et al. American Journal of Neuroradiology 25:1608-1612, October 2004 Background and Purpose: An accurate diagnosis of a parotid gland mass is essential for adequate management. We determined the clinical efficacy of USCNB in diagnosing parotid gland masses by using cutting needles of different bores. Methods: We reviewed records for 40 benign and 13 malignant parotid lesions. USCNB was performed by using 14–20-gauge needles (mean, 16.6 gauge) with one to five (mean, 2.43) passes and a 15-mm throw or specimen notch. Final diagnoses were established on the basis of surgicopathologic results in 31 cases, and on the basis of histopathologic analysis of biopsy specimens, clinical data, and/or imaging studies in 22, with a follow-up of 12.2–77.5 months (mean, 33.6 months). Results: Compared with surgicopathology, USCNB had a sensitivity of 83%, a specificity of 100%, and an accuracy of 97% in providing specific tissue diagnoses and in differentiating malignant from benign masses. Its positive and negative predictive values were100% and 96%, respectively, in diagnosing malignancy. One patient (2%) had a local hematoma without sequela after surgical removal of a Warthin tumor. Core biopsy results were completely concordant with surgical findings in 30 (97%) of 31 cases. Conclusion: USCNB is a safe and efficient diagnostic procedure with an accuracy of 97% in the pathologic diagnosis of parotid masses. It can be performed in an outpatient clinic and enables specific tissue diagnosis to obviate intraoperative frozen biopsy and unnecessary surgery. An 18-gauge needle is sufficient for accurate and specific tissue diagnosis [...]

10/25/2004 Paul M. Sherman, David M. Yousem and Laurie A. Loevner American Journal of Neuroradiology 25:1603-1607, October 2004 Background and Purpose: The growth of cross-sectional imaging has increased the detection of nonpalpable head and neck masses. We sought to determine the reliability of CT-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) over 216 consecutive cases. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed histopathologic findings and notes from 216 consecutive head and neck CT-guided FNA procedures performed between 1993 and 2003. Types of needles used, passes required, lesion location, initial cytologic diagnosis, and final histopathologic or clinical diagnosis were reviewed. Results: Diagnostic samples were obtained in 195 (90.3%) of the lesions, with 21 (9.7%) inadequate samples. A correct diagnosis was made in 191 cases (88.4%). Final FNA diagnosis was discordant in four (1.9%) specimens, with the parapharyngeal space and parotid gland having the highest rate of inaccuracy. The range in number of passes required for final diagnosis was one to six (mode, 2.0 passes per specimen; median, 2.0; mean, 2.6; standard deviation, 1.13). In 135 (63%) of 216 cases, definitive surgical pathologic results, including findings for the four discordant specimens, were obtained. Of the nondiagnostic specimens, six (29%) of 21 went to surgery, five (83%) of six were neoplastic, and one (17%) of six was fibrous tissue. The remainder underwent clinical and imaging follow-up. Conclusion: CT-guided FNA is a safe, well tolerated, and accurate for the diagnosis of head and neck lesions. In our series, the percentage of diagnostic samples obtained improved compared with prior reports. The low [...]

10/24/2004 Onlypunjab.com Team Onlypunjab.com The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) has received a five-year, $10 million Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) federal grant to examine innovative treatment strategies designed to improve survival outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer. The grant, awarded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is the second SPORE awarded to UPCI – the first was awarded to the cancer institute's Lung Cancer Program in 2001 – and is one of only four SPORE grants in head and neck cancer awarded nationally. "Head and neck cancer is one of the most physically and emotionally debilitating cancers," said Jennifer Grandis, M.D., principal investigator of the grant and professor of otolaryngology and pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and director of UPCI's Head and Neck Cancer Program. "Treatment options are limited and often leave a patient with disabling side effects that can have a devastating impact on quality of life. This grant will enable us to enhance the quality of life for head and neck cancer patients and greatly improve their prognoses through the collaborative efforts of our researchers in the laboratory and clinic." The grant funds four major translational research projects that focus on genetic changes that are potential risk factors for head and neck cancer, intracellular signaling proteins activated during head and neck cancer, and new treatment strategies designed to reduce the morbidity and mortality from head and neck cancer. According to Dr. Grandis, each project within the grant has two co-leaders, one [...]

10/15/2004 Landis K. Griffeth, MD, PhD Cure Magazine, Fall 2004 PET/CT is the latest innovation in oncology imaging, but is, in reality, just the combination, in a single device, of the two most useful imaging instruments in cancer care. In order to understand the benefits of a PET/CT device, we first must consider the two pieces separately. Computerized tomography (CT) scanning has been the primary tool of oncologic imaging for three decades. It is unrivaled in demonstrating the precise anatomy of the structures within the body, including tumors. CT works by passing X-rays through the body, while the X-ray source and the X-ray detector (on the opposite side of the body) swing in a circle around the patient’s body. The scanner measures the absorption of the X-rays along all these angles passing through the body and, using special computer programs, constructs images that are “slices” through the body, showing great anatomical detail. A general term for imaging slices of the body is tomography. Virtually all tomographic types of imaging studies today are computerized, but CT was the first of this type. Advances in CT scanners in recent years have made it such that these scanners can now make very high-resolution images (very thin slices through the body) and can cover large parts of the body very quickly as the patient on the table travels through the “doughnut” of the CT scanner gantry. The limitation of CT is that, as accurate as it is for showing the internal anatomy of the [...]

10/22/2004 Seattle, WA Press Release Introgen Therapeutics, Inc Introgen Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: INGN - News) today announced preclinical data demonstrating the promise of its INGN 225 therapy as a cancer vaccine. The data were presented yesterday at the Third Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, being held in Seattle. INGN 225 is a therapeutic consisting of a cancer patient's own immune cells treated with an adenovector carrying the human p53 gene, Ad-p53. INGN 225 is currently in Phase 1/2 trials in patients with small cell lung cancer and breast cancer. Introgen is also developing Ad-p53, or ADVEXIN®, in phase 3 clinical trials for head and neck cancer, and for a variety of other cancers. Previous studies have shown that p53 is a critical tumor suppressor gene, whose function is to prevent tumor formation. Mutations in p53 are required for tumor formation. These characteristics make p53 protein an ideal target for a cancer vaccine. In normal cells, p53 is found at very low levels and its expression is very tightly controlled. In cancer cells however, p53 fails to function normally and often accumulates to high levels. This high level of abnormal expression of p53 is used by the immune system to identify and destroy tumor cells following INGN 225 vaccination. "We believe that these studies highlight the great potential of INGN 225 for the treatment of cancer, and we are equally excited by the prospect of using this technology to prevent cancer," said Sunil Chada, Ph.D., Introgen's [...]

10/22/2004 Linda Marsa The Grand Rapids Press Because the early signs of oral cancer -- white spots or red areas in the mouth -- are painless and difficult to detect, diagnosis usually occurs only after the disease has reached the point of requiring aggressive, disfiguring treatments. Half of those diagnosed will die of the disease. But a soy-derived experimental treatment is being tested that could reduce this deadly toll by stopping oral cancers from developing. "Mortality rates haven't changed in 40 years because we don't have any good treatments beyond surgery and no way of preventing cancers from returning," says Dr. Frank L. Meyskens Jr., an oncologist at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California (Irvine) Medical Center. Meyskens and other scientists hope if the drug proves effective, it may be used to protect against oral cancer in people who are at increased risk. "This approach seems promising," says Sol Silverman, a professor of oral medicine at the University of California (San Francisco) Medical School and spokesman for the American Dental Association. About 30,000 Americans are diagnosed with oral cancer each year, and only 57 percent survive more than five years. Tobacco use is the culprit behind about 75 percent of oral cancer cases, and alcohol also is a major contributing factor. Oral cancer is the leading cancer among men in India, and incidence rates can be as high as 40 percent in Southeast Asia, where people chew betel nuts, which contain lye, or tobacco laced [...]

10/22/2004 no attribution Datamonitor NewsWire Biopharmaceutical oncology therapeutics developer Viventia Biotech has filed for orphan drug designation with the FDA for its lead armed antibodies drug candidate, Proxinium, for the treatment of head and neck cancer. Proxinium is a targeted therapeutic consisting of a proprietary antibody fragment conjugated with a cancer-killing payload. It targets a cell surface protein found on most head and neck cancers and has been designed to deliver a therapeutically potent anticancer payload directly to tumors, avoiding healthy, normal tissue. If the application is approved by the FDA, under the US Orphan Drug Act, Proxinium will be entitled to various incentives, which may include a waiver of regulatory filing fees, access to potential grant funding for non-clinical and clinical research, and seven years of market exclusivity if it is subsequently approved by the FDA In addition, many orphan drugs receive expedited regulatory review because they have been developed to treat serious or life-threatening illnesses, and as such the approval time for orphan drugs has historically been considerably shorter than for other drugs. "Obtaining orphan drug designation from the FDA is an important step in Viventia's strategy to rapidly develop Proxinium as a treatment for patients with advanced head and neck cancer," said Dr Glover, president and CEO of Viventia Biotech.

10/21/2004 Austin, TX no attribution Austin Business Journal Austin-based Introgen Therapeutics Inc. has licensed a patent that covers several methods for administering its anticancer therapy to patients. The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued patent number 6,805,858, entitled "Methods for the Administration of Adenovirus p53," to the Board of Regents of the University of Texas System. The patent is exclusively licensed to Introgen. In 2003, Introgen's investigational drug, Advexin, was granted "fast track" designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for head and neck cancer. The new patent covers methods by which Advexin can be administered. The patent is directed to various routes of administration of adenoviral p53, including nearly all the routes currently being used for adenoviral delivery, such as direct administration to the tumor or body region where the tumor is located, as well as systemic, intravenous or intratracheal delivery. "This patent represents yet another important step in our Advexin portfolio development, which has been to issue both broader and narrow patents covering all aspects of adenoviral compositions and clinical therapy," says David Parker, Introgen's vice president of intellectual property. Unlike other viral delivery systems, adenoviruses, which have been used for years in the vaccine field, do not mix with a patient's DNA, according to Introgen. Instead, they are genetically altered so they are unable to replicate in humans. Adenoviruses also have properties that allow for commercial scale manufacturing. Introgen develops biopharmaceutical products for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. The company [...]

10/21/2004 San Diego, CA Press Release Genetronics Biomedical Corporation Genetronics Biomedical Corporation is a late stage biomedical company focused on building an oncology franchise based on its proprietary electroporation therapy. The therapy targets a significant unmet clinical need: the selective killing of cancer cells and local ablation of solid tumors while preserving healthy tissue. The company is moving its lead product, the MedPulser® Electroporation Therapy System, through pre-marketing studies for head and neck cancer in Europe, where it has CE Mark accreditation, and a U.S. Phase III pivotal study for recurrent head and neck cancer. Merck, Vical, Chiron, the US Navy and other partners are also employing Genetronics' electroporation technology, which enhances local delivery of drugs and DNA, in their development of novel DNA vaccines and gene therapies. Genetronics is a leader in electroporation, with over 240 patents worldwide that are issued, allowed or pending.