4/8/2006 Iowa City, IA staff CancerConsultants.com According to an article recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, therapy with low-dose isotretinoin (13-cis-retinoic acid) does not reduce the rate of developing subsequent cancers in patients with head and neck cancer. Approximately 40,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with head and neck cancer every year. Cancers of the head and neck comprise several types of cancers affecting the nasal cavity and sinuses, oral cavity, nasopharynx (upper part of throat, behind ear), oropharynx (middle part of throat, including soft palate, base of tongue, and tonsils), and other sites throughout the head and neck. In 2005 the American Cancer Society estimated that 11,000 people would die from head and neck cancer. Patients with early head and neck cancer, or cancer that has not spread far from its site of origin, may be susceptible to developing another cancer (second primary tumor) in the head and neck area or in another area in the body. Research continues in an effort to reduce these patients’ risk of developing a second primary tumor. Isotretinoin is a derivative of vitamin A. Results from studies evaluating high doses of isotretinoin have produced some encouraging results. These results prompted researchers from several medical institutions in the U.S. and Canada to conduct a trial to evaluate low doses of isotretinoin in patients with early head and neck cancer. This trial included 1,190 patients with early head and neck cancer who had been treated with surgery and/or radiation therapy. [...]

4/6/2006 Phoenix, AZ staff News5Phoenix (www.kpho.com) Results from preclinical studies show that the anti-cancer compound AV-412 -- a EGFR/HER2 kinase inhibitor -- demonstrated anti-tumor activity against tumors that were both sensitive and resistant to Tarceva (erlotinib) and Iressa (gefitinib). The findings were announced Tuesday by AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. During the preclinical studies, the drug was tested in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines and in mice. The company says AV-412's mechanism of action may prove beneficial to patients with non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, head and neck cancer, and hormone refractory prostrate cancer. The drug is slated to enter clinical trials this year to test i6s safety and efficacy in treating solid tumors.

4/6/2006 Bethesda, MD Press Release - Ariel Whitworth Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 98, No. 7, 425, April 5, 2006 Taking a vitamin A derivative called isotretinoin did not reduce the risk of second primary tumors or improve survival in patients with stage I or II head and neck squamous cell cancers (HNSCC), according to a study in the April 5 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. In addition, current smokers had an increased risk of second primary cancers and death. HNSCCs are the fifth most common cancers and sixth leading cause of cancer related death today. In 2002, there were 600,000 new cases diagnosed worldwide. Some studies have suggested that vitamin A derivatives called retinoids may halt or even reverse growth of head and neck tumors. A clinical trial of high doses of a retinoid called isotretinoin, widely used to treat cystic acne, in patients with HNSCC found that those receiving isotretinoin developed fewer second primary tumors, particularly smoking-related tumors. However, there were substantial side effects among those who received the high-dose isotretinoin, and subsequent studies of the compound have shown mixed results. To assess the effect of lower, more tolerable doses of isotretinoin on the development of second primary tumors and survival among patients with early-stage HNSCC, Fadlo R. Khuri, M.D., of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and colleagues conducted a randomized clinical trial of 1190 patients diagnosed with stage I or II HNSCC. Patients were randomly assigned to receive [...]

4/6/2006 Adelaide, Australia Christopher Russell The Advertiser (www.theadvertiser.news.com.au) Adelaide medical research company Bionomics will proceed to human clinical trials of an anti-cancer drug after receiving a $3.7 million grant from the Federal Government. "The Bionomics project has the potential to become a significant new weapon in the fight against cancer," federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said in announcing the Commercial Ready grant yesterday. Bionomics is developing a drug which shuts down the blood supply to a tumour, starving it of oxygen and nutrients. Bionomics chief executive Deborah Rathjen said yesterday patients in the trial would "have a variety of solid tumours such as breast, colon, head and neck cancers". "Our drug has a fairly broad use because it can be used to treat anything that is a solid tumour," she said. "Solid tumours need a lot of blood vessels to grow and spread." The drug was a "breakthrough in the treatment of solid tumours". Bionomics will lodge applications to conduct the trials in the U.S. and Australia - probably in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide - from next year. If the trials and subsequent commercial development are successful, the drug could be in use by patients within five to seven years. The company will match at least dollar for dollar the $3.7 million grant which Dr Rathjen said was "one of the largest biotech grants awarded under Commercial Ready".

4/6/2006 London, England M. Pitchers and C. Martin British Journal of Cancer (2006) 94, 955-958 Squamous carcinoma of the oropharynx presents with symptoms common to many benign diseases, and this can cause delay in referral to secondary care. We investigate delay in referral, defining this as the time from symptom-onset to date of general practitioners referral letter to secondary care, and the effect of that delay, using a retrospective case notes based study of patients presenting at our institution with oropharyngeal squamous carcinoma between 1995 and 2005. Using correlation analysis and ordinal regression, we examined the relationship between increased referral delay from primary care, clinical stage at presentation, and survival. Increasing time from symptom onset to referral to secondary care was positively correlated with more advanced disease stage at presentation (rs=+0.346, P=0.004). This was confirmed with ordinal regression modelling (delay estimate=0.045, P=0.042). Patients with delay of less than 6 weeks had significantly improved survival compared to those with a delay of greater than 6 weeks (P=0.032). For every 1 week of delay in referral, we estimate that the stage of presentation will progress by 0.045 of 'a stage'. Authors: M Pitchers1 and C Martin2 Authors' affiliations: 1School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK 2Department of Oncology, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust, Norwich, UK

4/6/2006 Washington, DC press release tradingmarkets.com IMPAX Laboratories Inc. said that U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the Abbreviated New Drug Application for a generic version of Salagen 5 and 7.5 mg Tablets. MGI Pharma Inc. markets Salagen Tablets for the treatment of symptoms of dry mouth from salivary gland hypofunction caused by radiotherapy for cancer of the head and neck; and for the treatment of symptoms of dry mouth in patients with Sjogren's Syndrome.

4/6/2006 Hudson, NY Mike Toner Times Herald-Record (recordonline.com) They're right there on the tip of your tongue - taste buds. Scientists are learning that how many of those little fungiform papillae you have - and how they work - may play a role in whether you develop cancer, heart disease or diabetes. "We live in different taste worlds and how things taste has a lot to do with whether we eat them or not," Yale University psychologist Linda Bartoshuk told the American Chemical Society in Atlanta last week. Although it was once thought that tastes for food were acquired, scientists now know that the world of taste is divided, partly by genetic differences, into three parts: supertasters, nontasters and everyone else. Supertasters have about six times as many taste buds as nontasters, and scientists are beginning to learn how differences in their perception of taste, especially of fats and sweets, can effect a diet and health. "Supertasters experience all tastes two to three times more intensely that the rest of us," says Bartoshuk. "Because of that intensity, they tend not to like fat, and they don't eat as much of it. They also tend to avoid highly salted foods. Not surprisingly, they are less likely to be obese and more likely to have lower rates of cardiovascular disease." Because supertasters also perceive sweetness more intensely, they are less likely to crave highly sweetened food and beverages. Less sugar means fewer calories, less weight and a reduced risk of diabetes. Surveys [...]

4/5/2006 Woburn, MA press release Pharmalive.com ArQule, Inc. today reported results from a Phase 1 monotherapy trial with its lead product, ARQ 501, which provided evidence of clinical tolerability and promising anti-tumor activity in cancer patients with advanced solid tumors who had failed prior treatments with chemotherapy. Data from this trial were presented by the study's principal investigator, Dr. Geoffrey I. Shapiro of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute / Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Chiang J. Li, senior vice president and chief scientific officer of ArQule, in the late-breaking poster session at the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Washington, D.C. "The exciting data presented today, combined with the potent and selective anti-cancer activity of ARQ 501 seen in a broad range of pre-clinical models, provide a strong rationale for initiating a Phase 2 clinical development program," said Dr. Stephen A. Hill, president and chief executive officer of ArQule. "These encouraging data also begin to define the clinical profile related to ARQ 501's novel mechanism of action." "ARQ 501 is being developed to selectively and broadly target cancer cells by directly activating checkpoint pathways," said Dr. Li. "We are excited by what we have seen with this novel mechanism of action. Among the patients who are evaluable for efficacy, almost half showed evidence of tumor regression or stable disease. This is particularly encouraging given that the data are from a Phase 1 dose escalation trial among patients who have failed other therapies." Study summary Subjects [...]

4/4/2006 Washington, DC Randolph E. Schmid apnews.myway.com Lung-cancer patients who use nicotine supplements such as patch or gum to help them quit smoking may undermine their chemotherapy. Nicotine is not known to cause cancer, but it can protect cancer cells from some of the most widely used chemotherapy drugs, researchers reported Sunday at a cancer meeting. Srikumar Chellappan of the University of South Florida and colleagues studied the effects of nicotine on lung cancer cells that were treated with three commonly used drugs in cancer therapy - gemcitabine, cisplatin and taxol. The laboratory research focused on human nonsmall cell lung cancer, which accounts for 80 percent of all lung cancers. In chemotherapy, exposure to the chemicals causes cancer cells to self-destruct in a process called apoptosis. When nicotine was present, the cells increased production of a pair or proteins, XIAP and survivin, that protected the cells from apoptosis. "Our findings are in agreement with clinical studies showing that patients who continue to smoke have worse survival profiles than those who quit before treatment," the researchers said. "They also raise the possibility that nicotine supplementation for smoking cessation might reduce the response to chemotheraputic agents," they added in a report appearing in next week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings also were being presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington. For smokers with lung cancer, "the best thing is to stop as soon as they can," Chellappan said [...]

4/3/2006 Houston, TX M. D. Anderson Cancer Center emaxHealth.com Studying thousands of people, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have documented a 25 percent increased risk of developing one of a number of cancers in first-degree relatives of lung cancer patients who have never smoked compared to families of people who neither smoke nor have lung cancer. Researchers say their study, one of the largest ever done and the only one to include both men and women, strongly suggests that these lung cancer patients and their affected relatives share an inherited genetic susceptibility to cancer development. "This study demonstrates the importance of familial factors in the general development of cancer," says the study's first author, Olga Gorlova, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology. "These susceptibility factors can be environmental, but are more likely to be influenced by genetic factors, because genes control pathways common to a number of cancers." Such marked cancer susceptibility also likely explains why patients in this study, who never smoked but might have been exposed to secondhand smoke, developed lung cancer in the first place, she says. Gorlova will present the study at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The research team, headed by Margaret Spitz, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology, looked at whether 2,465 first-degree relatives of 316 lung cancer patients who never smoked developed cancer. They also established a matched comparison group of 2,442 first-degree relatives of 318 [...]