7/5/2008 New York, NY Karla Gale Reuters (www.reuters.com) Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16), which has been linked to cervical cancer, can be detected in human breast milk collected during the early period after a woman delivers her baby, doctors from Finland report. It is possible that HPV DNA present in breast milk may be transmitted to the infant during breast feeding, study chief Dr. Stina Syrjanen suggested in correspondence with Reuters Health. In previous research, Syrjanen, a pathologist at the University of Turku, and colleagues found evidence of transmission of HPV from an infected mother to her newborn infant. This led to the Finnish HPV Family Study, the goal of which is to elucidate the transmission modes of HPV between family members. For their current report, Syrjanen's team looked for HPV in cervical scrapings obtained from 223 mothers, and in oral scrapings from the mothers and 87 fathers prior to delivery and at 2, 6, and 12 months after delivery. They also looked for HPV in breast milk expressed on postpartum day 3. High-risk HPV DNA was detected in 10 milk samples (4.5 percent), the team reports. DNA sequencing from nine samples confirmed that the virus was high-risk HPV-16. The detection rate of high-risk HPV was 12 to 15 percent in cervical samples, 20 to 24 percent in oral samples from mothers, and 21 to 26 percent in oral samples from fathers. The team also observed a significant link between HPV in milk and the presence of high risk-HPV in [...]

7/4/2008 web-based article Matthew Dennis cancerdrugnewsblog.blogspot.com Introgen Therapeutics has submitted a BLA to the FDA, while simultaneously Gendux Molecular (Introgen) has submitted an MAA to the EMEA, both seeking marketing approval for Advexin (INGN 201), the company's targeted p53 tumour suppressor gene therapy, to treat recurrent, refractory head and neck cancer. INGN 201 represents the first in a new class of tumour suppressor cancer therapy and is the first of its kind to be submitted for regulatory approval in the US and Europe. Introgen has requested priority review from the FDA for INGN 201, meaning that the treatment could be on the market in early 2009. INGN 201 therapy harnesses the body's natural tumour suppression mechanisms to fight cancer, without the toxicities associated with conventional cancer treatments. Abnormalities in protective tumour suppressor p53 pathways are associated with the majority of all solid cancers. Designed to restore patients' ability to fight cancer, INGN 201 delivers large doses of the normal p53 gene to target abnormal p53 function present in tumour cells, which triggers natural tumour suppression mechanisms in cancer without harming normal cells. According to Dr Jack Roth, inventor of Advexin and professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: "This is an important milestone in the clinical application of gene therapy for cancer patients. With the use of p53 biomarkers, Advexin will provide more effective and less toxic treatment for head and neck cancer patients who have limited treatment options." The submissions are based on pivotal Phase II [...]

7/4/2008 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Sarah Schmidt Canada.com Graphic health warnings on cigarette packages are failing to move the majority of smokers to quit, a new government survey has found. Over the last five years, the percentage of smokers who say the warnings are ineffective at getting them to try to kick the habit has increased, according to the newly released Health Canada poll. More than half - 57 per cent - say they are unmoved by these graphic warnings, up five points from five years earlier. Among potential quitters - smokers who are seriously thinking of quitting - the percentage who characterize the campaign as not very effective or not at all effective in getting them to try to quit has also increased in this period, to 43 per cent from 40 per cent. Only 14 per cent of smokers and 20 per cent of potential quitters said the health warnings are very effective at getting them to try to quit smoking, also down from five years ago, when 18 per cent of smokers and 25 per cent of potential quitters described the campaign in these terms. Health Canada commissions the annual Environics poll to track the effectiveness of health warning messages on cigarette packages. In 2001, Canada became the first country in the world to require tobacco companies to put photos of cancerous lungs, diseased hearts and mouth cancer among others on cigarette packages with text messages such as "Cigarettes Cause Lung Cancer" and "Cigarettes Cause Strokes." The photos [...]

7/3/2008 Salt Lake City, UT press release The Earth Times (www.earthtimes.com) BSD Medical Corp. today announced the addition of seven new BSD-500 hyperthermia systems purchased by major cancer treatment center in the United States. The most recent purchase by the Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University located in Richmond, Virginia joins in a number of recent hyperthermia system sales in the United States. Other notable cancer care hospitals that have also purchased or installed BSD hyperthermia systems this year include: 1 Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute in Cleveland, Ohio 2 William Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe, Michigan 3 Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois 4 Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona 5 Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) in Tulsa, Oklahoma 6 Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan These prestigious cancer treatment centers have a long-standing tradition of offering world-class cancer care and treatment in the United States. The addition of hyperthermia therapy to each institution as an adjuvant to traditional cancer treatment demonstrates leadership in cancer awareness, diagnosis and management. The BSD-500 systems purchased by these cancer institutions are employed to treat various types of cancer. Hyperthermia is used to make cancer cells more sensitive to radiation as well as destroy cancer cells directly. In Phase III clinical trials where hyperthermia was combined with radiation, hyperthermia improved 2-year local control of melanoma from 28% to 46%, complete response for recurrent breast cancer from 23% to 68% and the [...]

7/3/2008 web-based article staff MedicalNewsToday.com GlaxoSmithKline on Monday said it does not expect to receive FDA approval for its human papillomavirus vaccine Cervarix until late 2009, Reuters reports. GSK said it has decided to wait until results from a Phase III trial of the vaccine are available before seeking U.S. approval. The study results likely will be submitted to FDA in the first half of 2009, with an FDA decision expected no more than six months later. GSK is competing with Merck for HPV vaccination contracts around the world (Hirschler, Reuters, 6/30). Cervarix and Merck's FDA-approved vaccine Gardasil in clinical trials have been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 6/20). Both vaccines are designed to be given to girls and young women but have different properties (Reuters, 6/30). According to Reuters, Cervarix uses a "novel adjuvant," or additive, that GSK says makes it longer lasting. Cervarix has been approved in 67 countries, including Australia, European Union countries and Mexico (Debreczeni, Dow Jones, 6/30). FDA in December 2007 requested additional information about the vaccine before issuing a decision on GSK's application for Cervarix (Deighton, Thomson Financial/Forbes, 6/30). GSK CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier in February said that the company will provide FDA with the requested information by the third quarter of 2008 (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/11). The company said it decided to wait until the results from the Phase [...]

7/1/2008 Austin, TX staff Biocompare (news.biocompare.com) Mechanical engineering Assistant Professor Adela Ben-Yakar at The University of Texas at Austin has developed a laser "microscalpel" that destroys a single cell while leaving nearby cells intact, which could improve the precision of surgeries for cancer, epilepsy and other diseases. "You can remove a cell with high precision in 3-D without damaging the cells above and below it," Ben-Yakar says. "And you can see, with the same precision, what you are doing to guide your microsurgery." Femtosecond lasers produce extremely brief, high-energy light pulses that sear a targeted cell so quickly and accurately the lasers' heat has no time to escape and damage nearby healthy cells. As a result, the medical community envisions the lasers' use for more accurate destruction of many types of unhealthy material. These include small tumors of the vocal cords, cancer cells left behind after the removal of solid tumors, individual cancer cells scattered throughout brain or other tissue and plaque in arteries. A commercially available femtosecond laser system and microscope was developed recently for LASIK and other eye surgeries, but the system's bulk limits its usefulness. Ben-Yakar's laboratory has overcome technological challenges to create a microscope system that can deliver femtosecond laser pulses up to 250 microns deep inside tissue. The system includes a tiny, flexible probe that focuses light pulses to a spot size smaller than human cells. Ben-Yakar's experimental system and its use to destroy a single cell within layers of breast cancer cells grown in [...]