11/6/2003 Scotland Control & Instrumentation Finding oil and gas reservoirs has just become a matter of following your nose - or rather a super-sensitive electronic nose developed by researchers in Scotland. The device, which measures tiny quantities of the gas ethane, can also be used as a breathalyzer to sniff out lung cancer in its early stages. Prospecting for oil and gas is usually an expensive and laborious process, involving bouncing sound waves through rock layers to see if they might be capable of trapping hydrocarbons. Results can take 6-12 months to interpret, and even then there is no guarantee that the rocks do contain oil - just that they have the potential to do so. Drilling new sites is therefore an expensive gamble for oil companies. But oil and gas reservoirs naturally leak tiny traces of hydrocarbons such as ethane into the atmosphere. Dr. Bill Hirst and colleagues at Shell Global Solutions realized that detecting and tracking down the sources of these faint whiffs of underground gas could help improve the success rate of prospectors. To improve their first 'Light Touch' prototype sensor Shell contacted Professor Miles Padgett and his colleagues in the Optics Group at the University of Glasgow. The Glasgow team developed a sensor system that fits into a Landcruiser and can sniff out ethane in the air at less than one part per billion. The ethane sensor continuously sucks air into a chamber where the gas is measured using an infrared laser. By measuring the amount [...]

11/5/2003 UK and the Netherlands University of Wales College of Medicine A prosthesis that will dramatically improve the quality of life for throat cancer patients, making it easier for them to speak after undergoing radical surgery, has been developed by researchers in the UK and the Netherlands. The Newvoice valve - created by researchers at the University of Wales College of Medicine, UK medical polymer specialists Principality Medical and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands - consists of a sound-producing cylinder integrated into a one-way valve made from bacteria-resistant silicone rubber. Worldwide around 30,000 throat cancer patients each year must undergo a laryngectomy to save their lives. The procedure involves removing the larynx, vocal cords and epiglottis, then connecting the windpipe to the outside of the neck where it is sewn into the skin to leave a hole through which patients breathe. The voice is restored using a one-way valve that prevents food and drink entering the trachea. To speak, patients must close the hole in their throat with a finger, forcing air through the valve and into the esophagus where the tissues vibrate to produce sound. Over a relatively short time these valves tend to malfunction due to a build-up of bacterial and fungal contamination from food and drink. The device may need replacing as often as every four months, requiring another operation each time. As the silicone rubber used to make the Newvoice valve is already resistant to bacteria and fungus it does not need to be [...]

11/4/2003 Boston e4engineering.com The George R. Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory in the School of Science at MIT has been awarded a Bioengineering Research Partnership grant to develop and implement spectroscopic techniques for imaging and diagnosing dysplasia -the precursor to cancer - in the uterine cervix and the oral cavity. Cervical and oral cancer account for approximately 11,000 deaths in the United States each year. Detection of the precancerous state of human tissue is crucial for ease of treatment and greatly improved survival, but it is often invisible and difficult to diagnose. The new techniques are said to provide a method for visualization and accurate diagnosis based on spectroscopic detection and imaging. Clinical screening for cervical and oral precancer are multibillion-dollar industries which currently rely on visual detection of suspicious areas followed by invasive biopsy and microscopic examination. Given that visually identified suspicious areas do not always correspond to clinically significant lesions; spectroscopic imaging and diagnosis could prevent unnecessary invasive biopsies and potential delays in diagnosis. Michael S. Feld, professor of physics and director of the Spectroscopy Lab, says the laboratory has developed a portable instrument that delivers weak pulses of laser light and ordinary white light from a thin optical fiber probe onto the patient's tissue through an endoscope. This device analyses tissue over a region around 1 millimeter in diameter and has shown promising results in clinical studies. It accurately identified invisible precancerous changes in the colon, bladder and esophagus, as well as the cervix and oral cavity. The second [...]

11/3/2003 Japan Mainichi Shimbun Medical organizations and antismoking groups are up fuming over a trial "tobacco gum" product that is being sold in Japan, demanding that health authorities remove it from shelves. Mainichi Shimbun A packet of the controversial tobacco gum. The Firebreak brand tobacco gum, a Swedish-produced product, is legally classified as tobacco but has similar shape and flavor to chewing gum. The Ministry of Finance approved the product on Sept. 11 and about 60,000 packets have already been imported into the country. Since the gum doesn't produce any smoke it is being marketed as a product that allows people to enjoy tobacco without having to worry about others. One piece of gum contains one milligram of nicotine, and each piece is advertised as being the equivalent of one cigarette, but lasting for about 20 minutes. The gum has a mint flavor, but a spicier flavor comes out when it is chewed. However, critics say that since the ingredients of the tobacco go straight into people's mouths, harmful ingredients are more easily absorbed compared with rolled tobacco. They say this could lead to oral cancer. On Nov. 4, the Japanese Society for Dental Health and the Japanese Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons requested that the Finance Ministry withdraw approval of the product. Representatives of an antismoking association also demanded that the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which deals with food product safety, take measures against the gum as a harmful product. Kazunori Nakakuki, a part-time lecturer at [...]

11/2/2003 Alabama Monique Curet University of Alabama Pat Sullivan loaned his name to campaign against smokeless tobacco as part of his fight against oral cancer Pat Sullivan is no stranger to the Iron Bowl, the annual match-up between Auburn and Alabama. The 1971 Heisman Trophy winner continues to rank as one of the top passers in Auburn's history, and he also spent six years as an assistant coach at the school. Now a coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, 53-year-old Sullivan is fighting a new opponent: oral cancer. He was diagnosed in September with cancer that was at the base of his tongue and spread to the lymph nodes in his neck. A two-decade smokeless tobacco user, Sullivan has decided to lend his name and support to the Alabama Department of Public Health's campaign against smokeless tobacco use. We all think we're invincible, but we're not, Sullivan said, adding that he hopes to raise awareness among young people. Sullivan started coaching at UAB in 1999 and is the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Cancer of the mouth and throat is the sixth most common cancer among males, according to the health department. Each year in Alabama, 600 new cases of oral cancer are diagnosed, and 150 people die from it, the agency reports. Because its rate of oral cancer has increased over the past 20 years, Alabama received a grade of D-minus on the 2003 Oral Health America Report Card. Recent studies have indicated that about 30 [...]

11/1/2003 Austin American City Business Journals Inc Austin-based Introgen Therapeutics Inc. [Nasdaq: INGN] will study the effectiveness of its leading cancer drug candidate Advexin as a mouthwash for oral lesions, Introgen announced Thursday. Introgen develops gene therapy drugs. The study is the first trial to investigate the effective of Advexin on pre-malignancies that could develop into full-blown cancer. Advexin was granted "fast track" designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for head and neck cancer. "One of our goals is to treat earlier stage disease, even prevent disease if possible, in the hopes of improving outcomes for cancer patients," says Robert Sobol, Introgen's senior vice president of medical and scientific affairs. Patients with pre-malignant lesions will be treated for up to six months with the Advexin oral rinse, according to Introgen. The study is being conducted under an agreement between Introgen and the Bethesda, Md.-based National Cancer Institute. Tobacco smoking and alcohol use are contributing factors to the development of oral cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that 30,000 new cases of oral cancer will be diagnosed this year in the United States.

10/19/2003 Cleveland PRNewswire Eszterhas Takes Aim at Smoking in Movies: 'Don't Let People Like Me Kill You' U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona Commends 'Join Joe' Campaign -- Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas has written and filmed a 30-second public service announcement to be shown in movie theaters which warns audiences "not to get suckered into smoking byHollywood." "I glamorized smoking in my movies," Eszterhas says on screen to moviegoers. "Then I got throat cancer. Maybe that's my punishment. Please, don't let people like me kill you." The announcement, filmed on a Hollywood soundstage, funded by The Cleveland Clinic and directed by American History X director, Tony Kaye, will be shown on more than 30 screens in the Cleveland area, where Eszterhas lives. Jonathan Forman, president of Cleveland Cinemas, said, "I only hope other exhibitors nationwide will have the courage to take this vital message to the masses of people who are killing themselves with tobacco." "We're working around the clock with Joe and Jon Forman to get this message into as many theaters as possible across America," said Angela Calman, chief communications officer for The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. "Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, resulting in more than 440,000 deaths each year. When it comes to smoking, quitters are winners," said U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona. "I commend the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout and the 'Join Joe' Eszterhas campaign for helping people to quit smoking and begin living longer, healthier lives." "Hollywood [...]

10/7/2003 New York Robert Dominguez New York Daily News Playing Berra Off-B'way: Ben Gazzara Fifty years after dazzling Broadway audiences with a series of intense leading roles - he played Brick in the original production of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 1955 - Ben Gazzara is coming back to the stage this month. It's like dèjá vu all over again in more ways than one - he's playing New York Yankees great Yogi Berra in a one-man show, "Nobody Don't Like Yogi." Gazzara, four years removed from a bout with oral cancer, won his first Emmy last month for a supporting role in the HBO film "Hysterical Blindness." After years of toiling in obscure foreign films and TV movies, the award capped a period of steady work as a character actor in which he was "rediscovered" by independent-film directors - including David Mamet, Vincent Gallo, Todd Solondz, Spike Lee and the Coen brothers - who were familiar with Gazzara's collaborations with indie icon John Cassavetes in the 1970s. "Yogi" is set on opening day at Yankee Stadium in 1999, when Berra ended his self-imposed exile following his dismissal as manager by team owner George Steinbrenner. "It's a personal portrait of Berra that's funny, but it's also very touching," says Gazzara. "It doesn't depend on 'Yogi-isms' like 'It ain't over 'til it's over' or that kind of nonsense to fill an evening." Berra does not plan to see the show, a spokesman tells The News. Gazzara, who [...]

10/5/2003 New Zeland New Zeland Herald Cigarette packs will soon carry graphic horror stories but, asks CATHERINE MASTERS, will smokers take any notice? Every smoker knows what to do when confronted with the hard evidence of why they should not. Justify - might get run over tomorrow, got to die one day. Defend - it's my choice. Turn the pack over. Put the lighter on top of the warning. They have all seen the warnings on the packs and managed to ignore them. But soon the warnings are going to get bigger and nastier. The Smoke-free Environments Amendment Bill, likely to be passed before Christmas, does not stop with banning smoking in bars and clubs. It includes other measures to get rid of the cigarette. No longer will you be able to light up while you watch your child play sport within the school grounds, for instance. Then there are the warnings, likely to take up half the pack and be much more graphic: images of rotting lungs and hearts, brains with blood clots, infected teeth - unavoidable, graphic and nasty. But will they make a blind bit of difference to smokers already immune to warnings of impending doom? Walk into any pub and ask. So, John May, a burly Scottish cop working in Auckland, drinking a beer and smoking Marlboro Lights in a pub in central Auckland, what do you think when you see the warning already on your pack? May, 41, from Torbay, glances at the pack, which [...]

10/4/2003 Boston MIT The George R. Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory in the School of Science at MIT has been awarded a Bioengineering Research Partnership grant to develop and implement spectroscopic techniques for imaging and diagnosing dysplasia -the precursor to cancer - in the uterine cervix and the oral cavity. Cervical and oral cancer account for approximately 11,000 deaths in the United States each year. Detection of the precancerous state of human tissue is crucial for ease of treatment and greatly improved survival, but it is often invisible and difficult to diagnose. The new techniques are said to provide a method for visualisation and accurate diagnosis based on spectroscopic detection and imaging. Clinical screening for cervical and oral precancer are multibillion-dollar industries which currently rely on visual detection of suspicious areas followed by invasive biopsy and microscopic examination. Given that visually identified suspicious areas do not always correspond to clinically significant lesions; spectroscopic imaging and diagnosis could prevent unnecessary invasive biopsies and potential delays in diagnosis. Michael S. Feld, professor of physics and director of the Spectroscopy Lab, says the laboratory has developed a portable instrument that delivers weak pulses of laser light and ordinary white light from a thin optical fibre probe onto the patient's tissue through an endoscope. This device analyses tissue over a region around 1 millimetre in diameter and has shown promising results in clinical studies. It accurately identified invisible precancerous changes in the colon, bladder and oesophagus, as well as the cervix and oral cavity. The second [...]