1/26/2007 Gaithersberg, MD press release BusinessWire (home.businesswire.com) GenVec, Inc. today announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase I/II trial with TNFerade™ for head and neck cancer at the University of Chicago Medical Center. GenVec is sponsoring two separate Phase I/II studies at the University of Chicago to explore the use of TNFerade as a second-line treatment for unresectable, recurrent tumors, and as a first-line treatment for elderly or frail patients. The trials are being funded by the National Cancer Institute. The two separate trials, which will be led by principal investigators Everett Vokes, M.D., and Tanguy Seiwert, M.D., could enroll up to 70 patients with unresectable, recurrent tumors and up to 60 elderly or frail patients with new onset, locally advanced disease. The investigators will first determine best dose in each indication, and will assess safety and locoregional control of the cancer following TNFerade treatment as a component of standard of care. “The start of these trials marks another milestone in our clinical progress with TNFerade,” stated Mark Thornton, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., GenVec’s senior vice-president of product development. “We know that local control is crucial for effective treatment of head and neck cancers, and is a respected regulatory endpoint. Since TNFerade is administered directly at the tumor site, it is ideally suited for these specific indications. TNFerade also has a well-established safety profile, so we believe it is a potentially appropriate treatment for elderly or frail cancer patients who cannot tolerate the cytotoxic effects of systemically [...]

1/26/2007 Salt Lake City, UT press release PharmaLive (www.pharmalive.com) BSD Medical Corp. today announced that BSD was among 29 companies selected to exhibit at the 3-day Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, an international symposium dedicated to treatment of head and neck cancers, just concluded in Rancho Mirage, California. The symposium was jointly sponsored by the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Head and Neck Society, partnering together for the first time in this meeting. At the symposium, attended by approximately 400 physicians, worldwide experts presented the latest advances in the management of head and neck cancer, focusing on treatment options, innovative technology, clinical management issues and supportive outcomes. BSD Medical representatives used the symposium to emphasize a study conducted by Riccardo Valdagni, MD and Maurizio Amichelli, MD at the Oncology Center of Ospedale Santa Chiara, Trento, Italy, comparing the results for head and neck cancer patients who were treated with radiation alone to those who received hyperthermia therapy plus radiation. The patients involved had inoperable Stage IV head and neck cancer with metastatic lymph nodes. The study concluded that hyperthermia added to radiation improved complete response (tumor disappearance) from 41% to 83%, local relapse-free survival from 24% to 68% and overall survival at 5 years from 0% to 53%, as compared to radiation treatments alone. The study, published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (see Vol. 28, pp. 163-169), was halted on an ethical basis at [...]

1/24/2007 Pittsburgh, PA Marilyn Brooks WTAE.TV (www.thepittsburghchannel.com) Slowly but surely, scientists are unraveling the mysteries of cancer, and they said some of the discoveries are truly surprising. The new study focuses on head and neck tumors, but it could have even wider implications. Researchers in Cleveland said they've made a breakthrough discovery that could help future cancer diagnosis not just in head and neck tumors but all types of cancers. Scientists study all types of cancer by examining the tumor. They've done that for years. But they made the recent discovery while looking at the DNA in tissue surrounding the tumor. "This is, for the first time, we have looked at the stroma, or the innocent, surrounding cells in head and neck cancer and have found genetic alterations that are very similar to the cancer itself, so that's a first and it's stunning," said Dr. Charis Eng. Researchers analyzed DNA from 122 people with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and found it similar to the DNA found in more common forms of skin cancer caused by sun exposure. Researchers believe this one is not sun-related but rather caused by smoking or other kinds of tobacco use. Head and neck cancers are difficult to treat, because it has already grown by the time the diagnosis is made. The American Cancer Society reports half of those diagnosed won't survive the disease. Eng said she hopes her findings will one day improve survival rates. "We have now uncovered a new target for [...]

1/24/2007 Usurbil, Spain press release Basque Research (www.basqueresearch.com) A researcher of the University of Navarra Beatriz Honorato has developed a panel of markers which distinguish those patients with squamous cell cancer of the head and neck who have the best survival rates. Her doctoral dissertation, defended at the School of Sciences and developed in the Biotechnology Laboratory of the University Hospital, may help to optimize chemotherapy and X-ray treatments, according to the current situation of each patient. For her dissertation, the scientist analyzed the response mechanisms to the therapies against tumorous tissues. In this way, knowing that the DNA repair systems are involved in the response to chemotherapy or X-ray therapy, Dr. Honorato has made advances in the study of the phenomena of resistance to these therapies in order to predict which patients will respond best. In speaking of resistance phenomena, we are referring to the absence of response to the treatment, which translates into the fact that the tumor either does not reduce in size, or else increases in size. Despite recent advances in the struggle against this disease, those patients with locally advanced cancers constitute a group with a poor prognosis, and this situation has not improved over the last ten years. With the objective of halting this tendency, her research has examined the involvement of these repair systems in the prognosis of all types of cancer patients. More than 4,000 new cases each year in Spain Head and neck cancer is one of the tumors with the [...]

1/24/2007 Boston, MA Dr. Deanna Lites WHDH (www.whdh.com) Every hour someone in this country dies of oral cancer. One of the reasons: it's often not detected until it's too late. But new technology approved by the FDA is hoping to change that. Dentist Steven Spitz is performing a cancer screening. An oral cancer screening is part of a routine dental exam where dentists look for abnormal tissue, but there are limitations with the naked eye. That's why some dentists, like Dr. Spitz, are turning to high tech equipment for help. It's called Velscope and can help dentists find oral cancer in its earliest stage. "The Velscope uses a natural fluorescence of light to excite the tissues and give a fluorescence of tissue back so that we can see the different colors," Dr. Steven Spitz, of Smileboston, said. Normal tissue looks pink to your eye. When you look at healthy tissue with the Velscope it will appear green and if it's abnormal it will be dark. "This black area, that's an area of concern telling us there's abnormal tissue," Dr. Spitz said. "We can see things that we never would have looked at or given a second thought of before." Dentists aren't the only ones happy with the quick and painless test. Joanne Finnegan's oral screening was A-okay. "I think it's great it was so simple and to be able to find that information before it becomes more advanced it's a great tool," Joanne said. Not all insurance companies cover the [...]

1/23/2007 Salt Lake CIty, UT press release biz.yahoo.com BSD Medical Corp. today announced that BSD was among 29 companies selected to exhibit at the 3-day Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, an international symposium dedicated to treatment of head and neck cancers, just concluded in Rancho Mirage, California. The symposium was jointly sponsored by the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Head and Neck Society, partnering together for the first time in this meeting. At the symposium, attended by approximately 400 physicians, worldwide experts presented the latest advances in the management of head and neck cancer, focusing on treatment options, innovative technology, clinical management issues and supportive outcomes. BSD Medical representatives used the symposium to emphasize a study conducted by Riccardo Valdagni, MD and Maurizio Amichelli, MD at the Oncology Center of Ospedale Santa Chiara, Trento, Italy, comparing the results for head and neck cancer patients who were treated with radiation alone to those who received hyperthermia therapy plus radiation. The patients involved had inoperable Stage IV head and neck cancer with metastatic lymph nodes. The study concluded that hyperthermia added to radiation improved complete response (tumor disappearance) from 41% to 83%, local relapse-free survival from 24% to 68% and overall survival at 5 years from 0% to 53%, as compared to radiation treatments alone. The study, published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (see Vol. 28, pp. 163-169), was halted on an ethical basis at 41 [...]

1/22/2007 Tel Aviv, Israel press release Weizman Institute of Science A simple blood test may be able to identify those most at risk for developing head and neck cancer as a result of smoking. This was the finding of a recent study by Prof. Zvi Livneh, Head of the Weizmann Institute’s Biological Chemistry Department, Dr. Tamar Paz-Elizur of the same department, and their research team that worked in collaboration with Dr. Rami Ben-Yosef of Tel Aviv-Sourasky Medical Center, Prof. Laurence Freedman of Sheba Medical Center and Prof. Edna Schechtman of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Livneh’s research deals with repair mechanisms for DNA, the material of genes. Cells maintain sophisticated repair systems to prevent the accumulation of mutations that might lead to cancer. In these systems, molecular detectors scan the DNA for injury. A sort of local operation is then performed to cut out and dispose of the damaged segment and replace it with a new one. In their study, which appeared in Cancer Research, the scientists asked whether a reduced individual ability (non-inherited) to repair DNA damage increases chances of getting head and neck cancer. Smoking damages DNA and is known to be a major cause of this disease, which can affect the throat, mouth and larynx. The researchers focused on a DNA repair enzyme called OGG1, for which they had previously developed a blood test to measure activity levels. By comparing OGG activity in healthy people with those in head and neck cancer patients, the research team found [...]

1/22/2007 Rancho Mirage, CA staff sciencedaily.com Patients with early stage oral cancer may benefit from a more advanced screening process allowing for a more accurate diagnosis, according to a study presented at the plenary session today at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Rancho Mirage, Calif., co-sponsored by the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Head and Neck Society. "By combining conventional techniques with more modern techniques, we were able to better diagnose and determine the best options for patients with oral cancer," said J.B. Epstein, lead author of the study and Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "This approach to diagnosing oral cancer may lead to easier identification of serious pathology, significantly lessening the need for unnecessary biopsies without additional risk of false negatives." Patients with early stage oral cancer are typically examined by their doctor for suspicious areas in the mouth and throat area. Doctors in this study wanted to test the value of two diagnostic aids in evaluating lesions in the oral cavity. Chemiluminescent light, or brand name Vizilite and toluidine blue, a pharmaceutical grade dye, were used in addition to the conventional, visual and manual observations of the patient. Patients were given routine visual examinations under incandescent light for suspicious lesions. The lesions that were deemed suspicious were then assessed with Vizilite, followed by the toluidine blue dye and then biopsied. Doctors then compared the findings from the conventional exam to the [...]

1/22/2007 Rancho Mirage, CA Health News Editor earthtimes.org Patients with head and neck cancer given both chemotherapy and radiation therapy may result in many avoiding additional surgery, says a U.S. study. "Our goal is to cure the cancer as effectively as we can while using as few treatments as possible," said lead author Dr. Ramesh Rengan of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. This study is so exciting because it demonstrates that giving patients with head and neck cancer a non-invasive regimen of cisplatin-based chemotherapy and radiation therapy effectively treats many advanced head and neck cancers, meaning some patients can safely avoid an invasive surgery.The study, performed at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, instead focused on treating the patients with chemotherapy and radiation and then measuring the patients' response to the therapy to see if they still needed the follow-up neck surgery. Eighty percent of the patients with advanced head and neck cancer who participated in this study had a complete response to chemoradiation alone with elimination of any detectable disease in the neck, according to the study performed at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The findings were presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

1/21/2007 Boston, MA Howard Koh et al. http://blog.psych.andress.com/blog/_archives/2007/1/19/2665905.html A reanalysis of nicotine yield from major brand name cigarettes sold in Massachusetts from 1997 to 2005 has confirmed that manufacturers have steadily increased the levels of this agent in cigarettes. This independent analysis, based on data submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) by the manufacturers, found that increases in smoke nicotine yield per cigarette averaged 1.6 percent each year, or about 11 percent over a seven-year period (1998-2005). Nicotine is the primary addictive agent in cigarettes. In addition to confirming the magnitude of the increase, first reported in August, 2006 by MDPH, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) extended the analysis to: 1. ascertain how manufacturers accomplished the increase -- not only by intensifying the concentration of nicotine in the tobacco but also by modifying several design features of cigarettes to increase the number of puffs per cigarette. The end result is a product that is potentially more addictive. 2. examine all market categories -- finding that smoke nicotine yields were increased in the cigarettes of each of the four major manufacturers and across all the major cigarette market categories (e.g. mentholated, non-mentholated, full-flavor, light, ultralight). Findings from the report "Trends in Smoke Nicotine Yield and Relationship to Design Characteristics Among Popular U.S. Cigarette Brands" will be presented at Harvard School of Public Health, Bldg 3/Rm 203, on Thurs., Jan. 18, 2007, 12 p.m.. The presentation is open to the media. The analysis was performed [...]