11/28/2005 Sydney, Australia Amy Lawson The Sydney Morning Herald (www.smh.com.au) Australian cancer experts are spearheading the trial of a new drug that is dramatically improving the survival rates of patients with aggressive head and neck cancers. The drug, which has ramifications for the treatment of other aggressive forms of cancer including those in the lungs, cervix and oesophagus, could be available as soon as the end of next year if given the green light by drug administrators. Professor Lester Peters, a world leader in cancer research from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, is leading the trial for the drug tirapazamine. The trial is in its final testing phase and has already had some astounding results. Sandy Bodecker, the former husband of runner Cathy Freeman, participated in one of the trials. He made a full recovery from the throat cancer he was originally told was inoperable. In the first phase of the trial, only two of the 16 patients with advanced head or neck cancers had a recurrence of their tumours after receiving treatment with the drug. "It can be a cure, but not in everyone," Professor Peters said yesterday in Sydney. "But a huge proportion of patients have had their tumours eradicated if they've been treated with this drug. "It's a very gruesome way to die - of uncontrolled cancer in the head and neck. If we can prevent that . . . we've done them a service." Head and neck cancers are almost always found in smokers [...]

11/28/2005 Mount Vernon, WA press release Send2Press (www.send2press.com) PreViser Corporation (www.previser.com) announces that effective November 1, 2005 it will no longer charge for use of its Internet-based tool to assess risk for oral cancer, a component of their Oral Health Information Suite(TM), software used by dental professionals worldwide. "Early detection of oral cancer is essential to a successful outcome of treatment for this serious disease," states Carl Loeb, PreViser CEO. "Once oral cancer is visible, the disease has advanced significantly. Using our tool to identify high-risk patients allows clinicians to recommend appropriate tests and exam frequency, improving the odds of catching the disease early enough for intervention. Since the dental professional is the first line of detection for this cancer, we made the decision to promote our tool's usage by offering the service free of charge in the sincere hope that it will result in earlier detection of the disease." The OHIS(TM) Oral Cancer Risk Assessment requires no expensive or unusual testing. Most information can be provided by the patients themselves on a printed data input form while they wait, then the clinician can complete the assessment and immediately produce a printed report for the patient with a numeric score and recommendations targeted to each risk factor to prevent or detect the disease in the earliest stages. Current users have organized special events focusing on oral cancer, offering free risk screenings to new patients. This is an effective way for dental professionals to raise consumer awareness of the importance of [...]

11/28/2005 staff cancerconsultants.com An international randomized trial has determined that Ethyol (amifostine) protects against xerostomia while not affecting long-term outcomes in patients with head and neck cancer who undergo radiation therapy. The details of this study appeared in the November 15, 2005, issue of International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics. Radiation therapy is commonly used to treat patients with head and neck cancers. Mucositis and xerostomia are common side effects of treatment of head and neck cancers. Ethyol has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for prevention of radiation induced xerostomia but there has been concern that this agent could increase the rate of recurrences. Ethyol has also been used to prevent mucositis and renal toxicity in patients receiving chemotherapy. The goal of the present trial was determine whether or not Ethyol increased the recurrence rate. This trial included over 300 patients who underwent radiation therapy for treatment of head and neck cancer. Approximately half of the patients received a dose of Ethyol administered 15–30 minutes prior to each dose of radiation therapy, while the other half underwent radiation only and did not receive Ethyol. -Overall, dry mouth was improved and long-term outcomes were not compromised with the use of Ethyol. -At over 2 years follow-up, use of Ethyol resulted in a significantly reduced incidence of xerostomia with a clinically meaningful increase in saliva production. -Overall survival, progression-free survival, and local control were not different between the patients who received Ethyol and those who did [...]

11/27/2005 San Diego, CA press release Medical News Today (www.medicalnewstoday.com) Inovio Biomedical Corporation announced today that the European Journal of Surgical Oncology published an article, entitled "The role of intratumour therapy with electroporation and bleomycin in the management of advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck." Co-authors of the article were Dr. David Bloom, now at the Department of Otolaryngology/ Head and Neck Surgery, Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia and Dr. Paul Goldfarb, Consulting Medical Director at Inovio Biomedical and Clinical Professor of Surgery at University of California, San Diego, California. The article reported the safety and efficacy of Inovio's Selective Electrochemical Tumor Ablation therapy, which uses electroporation in conjunction with bleomycin, in patients with head and neck advanced squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Two open-label, multicenter, single-arm Phase II studies enrolled 62 patients with 86 squamous cell carcinoma tumors of the head and neck. Twenty-five patients were treated with bleomycin alone. Fifty-four patients (17 initially treated with bleomycin alone) were treated with electroporation and bleomycin therapy. The local control rate of treatment for patients with recurrent HNSCC, consisting of surgery, radiation therapy and/or systemic chemotherapy, ranges between 10% and 20%. Thus, there is a need for alternative approaches. In this trial, 57% of patients had an objective response with either a partial or complete response to electroporation with bleomycin. Electroporation therapy in combination with bleomycin demonstrated a significantly (p<0.001) greater number of patients showing an objective response to the therapy when compared to bleomycin alone, which resulted in [...]

11/27/2005 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada staff Medical News Today (www.medicalnewstoday.com) The role of melatonin for the treatment of cancer is looking compelling, according to a new study published in the Journal of Pineal Research. Researchers say that the results are so compelling that cancer funding agencies should be eager to support clinical trials to evaluate its therapeutic role in a variety of cancers. Melatonin is a hormone naturally found in humans. Its association with cancer has been shown in many studies assessing links between shift work and cancer rates, and shown a consistent relationship. The association between melatonin levels and cancer progression has suggested to some that melatonin may be a modifier of cancer progression. In this latest study, researchers examined all clinical trials assessing the role of melatonin as a therapy for solid tumor cancers. They used a methodology called meta-analysis, a technique of analyzing multiple studies. The authors reviewed 10 randomized clinical trials that included a total of 643 cancer patients with a variety of different solid tumor cancers. The types of cancers involved included lung, brain, skin, renal and breast cancer. "In this analysis, the effects appeared to be consistent across studies" say the authors. The researchers examined the effect of large doses of melatonin (10-40mg/day) on survival rates at one year. Melatonin reduced the risk of death at one year by 34%. "Effects this large certainly warrant further clinical trials" say the authors. The study also showed that melatonin was predominantly safe and had a beneficial effect [...]

11/27/2005 Sweden BG Hansson et al. Acta Otolaryngol, December 1, 2005; 125(12): 1337-44 Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate a strong association between infection with high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) and oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OOSCC), suggesting that high-risk HPV types play a key role in carcinogenesis. The estimated proportion of OOSCC cases attributable to HPV infection was 35%. Objective: HPV appears to have an aetiological role in OOSCC, despite the fact that the reported prevalences of HPV in both OOSCC patients and healthy individuals have varied widely. We aimed to investigate the presence and spectrum of both high- and low-risk HPVs in all consecutive cases of OOSCC in a Swedish healthcare region over a 3-year period and in population-based, matched healthy controls. Material and methods: A total of 131 patients with OOSCC were studied. Samples taken from the surface of the tumour and from the tonsillar fossa using cotton-tipped swabs were investigated, together with exfoliated cells collected using a mouthwash. Tonsillar fossa and mouthwash specimens were collected in the same way from 320 matched controls. All samples were tested for HPV DNA by nested polymerase chain reaction using the primer pairs MY09/MY11 and GP5 + /GP6+, and in positive cases the HPV type was determined by DNA sequencing. Results: Infection with high-risk HPV was shown to be a strong risk factor for OOSCC (OR = 63; 95% CI 14-480). Forty-seven (36%) of the cancer patients had >/=1 specimen that was positive for a high-risk HPV [...]

11/26/2005 Australia staff The Age (theage.com.au) An Australian-developed cancer drug that is dramatically improving survival rates could be available to the public within 12 months. Tirapazamine had already cured humans suffering neck and head cancers, and could be used for lung, throat and cervical tumours, Fairfax newspapers reported. Researchers say Olympic gold medallist Cathy Freeman's former husband, Sandy Bodecker, had used the drug and made a full recovery from what was diagnosed as inoperable throat cancer. Professor Lester Peters, a world leader in cancer research from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, is leading the drug's trial. He told Fairfax the drug could be "a cure, but not in everyone". "But a huge proportion of patients have had their tumours eradicated if they've been treated with this drug." Prof Peters said tirapazamine worked by targeting cancer cells that were starved of oxygen, which were typically resistant to conventional treatment and particularly malignant. The drug is used with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Fairfax said the second stage of the human trials, involving 550 patients around the world, was under way and should be finished by June. If the final stage is successful, the drug can then be registered by the US Food and Drug Administration.

11/25/2005 Europe Wai Lang Chu in-Pharma Technologist (www.in-pharmatechnologist.com) Increasing knowledge about how to manage the risks of gene therapy is set to usher in a new era in disease therapies, with the prospect of developing treatments in treating rare, inherited, or life-threatening diseases very real. Gene therapy has gone to great pains to deal with the toxicological complications and poor therapy efficacy that have hampered the growth of this sector. So much so that the US gene therapies market, reveals that revenues expect to reach approximately $125 million (€106 million) in 2006 growing to approximately $6541 million in 2011. This is not to say that gene therapy has not seen its fair share of clinical failures. Poorly regulated trials, and high levels of clinical attrition have seen the promise of gene therapy suffer from negative coverage and unsubstantiated claims. Despite these remarkable strides, the fact remains that most biotech companies are still years away from having an approved and marketed product. The only exception to this is the China-based company Shenzhen SiBiono GeneTech, whose product Gendicine, made news in October 2003 by becoming the first gene therapy in the world approved for marketing. The treatment consists of an adenovirus designed to insert a gene called p53. This gene codes for a protein that triggers cell suicide when cells start to run amok, preventing them becoming cancerous. Many tumours arise after the mutation or inactivation of p53, and in cancers of this type restoring the protein should kill the tumour cells. [...]

11/25/2005 Surrey, United Kingdom Peter Miller et al. Alcohol and Alcoholism, doi:10.1093/alcalc/agh245 Aims: To examine clinical implications of findings on the relationship between continued alcohol consumption in patients after diagnosis and treatment of upper aerodigestive tract cancer. Methods: Clinical research literature on the prevalence and effects of alcohol consumption after oral cancer diagnosis was reviewed. Since limited research is currently available on this important clinical topic, all published studies were considered regardless of size and methodology. Results: Between 34 and 57% of oral cancer patients continue to drink alcohol after cancer diagnosis. Continued drinking increases complications from surgery, increases the likelihood of recurrent cancer, and reduces disease-specific survival. Older patients and those with a longer and heavier drinking pattern prior to diagnosis are more likely to continue drinking after diagnosis. Conclusions: Findings indicate that routine alcohol screening of newly diagnosed oral cancer patients as well as brief intervention and/or treatment referral is warranted. Monitoring of alcohol consumption for the first year after diagnosis and treatment is recommended. Authors: Peter M. Miller(1), Terry A. Day(2), MIchele Carter Ravenel(3) Authors' Affiliations: (1) Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA (2) Department of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA (3) Department of Stomatology, College of Dental Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA

11/25/2005 United Kingdom staff Life Style Extra (www.lse.co.uk) Cancer deaths in Britain are falling while the number of new cases of the disease is remaining stable, according to new figures released today. Overall, the number of patients aged between 35 and 69 who have been dying has dropped by about 2.4 per cent each year over the past decade, the annual Britain Against Cancer conference at Westminster was told. The number of people dying of bowel cancer has fallen considerably. Rates fell by 22 per cent in men and 26 per cent in women. And mortality from breast cancer fell by a quarter over the past ten years, in spite of an increase in incidence. The statistics published by Cancer Research UK and the UK Association of Cancer Registries (UKACR) also reveal that lung, breast, bowel and prostate cancers will continue to be the most common types by far. However, the number of new cases of lung cancer in women is falling among the age group, suggesting we are approaching the peak of the disease in women. Lung cancer rates are already falling in men. But the incidence of some less common cancers is rising according to the study, the first time such data has been available over a ten year period for the whole of the UK. Professor David Forman, Cancer Research UK researcher at the University of Leeds and chair of the UKACR, and colleagues analysed the latest trends among people aged between 35 and 69. The team [...]