9/14/2005 Burlington, VT Maranda Hitti, reviewed by Brunilda Nazaro, MD Cancer, Sept. 1, 2004; vol 101: pp 1058-1064 Vitamins and minerals may appear to be safe because they are sold as over-the-counter remedies. But a new study shows that vitamin supplements may affect chemotherapy -- for better or worse. Patients may think supplements are safe because they're "natural" products, but there is growing evidence that they can intensify or weaken the effects of chemotherapy drugs, say the researchers. With many supplements on the market, scientists don't yet know how each affects chemotherapy. But the pool of knowledge has now expanded with a new study from the University of Vermont in Burlington. Immune Effects In a small study of 49 women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, researcher Richard Branda, MD, of the University of Vermont's department of medicine and Vermont Cancer Center asked the women what supplements they took. The women were at various stages of their disease. Some were newly diagnosed; others had been battling breast cancer's advanced stages. Most women (71%) in the study took supplements, and the average number of supplements taken was three. But some took as many as 20 different supplements per day. The three that were most commonly used were multivitamins, vitamin E, and calcium. Supplementation with vitamins, especially vitamin E, has been recommended to decrease the toxicity of cancer drugs, according to the authors. Much of the toxicity associated with chemotherapy is related to a decrease in cells that help fight infection, leaving victims [...]

9/14/2005 St. Louis, MO press release PR Newswire (www.prnewswire.com) Introgen Therapeutics Inc. and its collaborators presented new data from its INGN 007 program in oncolytic viruses for the treatment of cancer this past weekend at the American Society of Gene Therapy 8th Annual Meeting. Three abstracts were presented by Introgen collaborator William S.M. Wold, Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and founder and chief executive officer of VirRx, describing the activity of Introgen's portfolio of oncolytic viruses, as well as preclinical pharmacology and safety data with INGN 007 its leading oncolytic viral product candidate. Results show that INGN 007 has a favorable safety profile and significantly inhibits primary tumor growth as well as metastatic disease. The oncolytic virus data were presented in abstracts #1021, #1022 and #1023. "We have been impressed with the efficacy of INGN 007 that significantly inhibited tumor growth and metastasis in these studies. Importantly, the safety of INGN 007 was similar to that of other adenoviral products that are derived from a naturally occurring and benign virus to which many people have been exposed," said Louis A. Zumstein, Ph.D., Introgen's associate vice president of Research. Dr. Zumstein continued, "The preclinical models also tolerated a very high dose of INGN 007, suggesting a good margin of safety with this product. Taken together, these data provide a strong rationale for advancing INGN 007 and our other oncolytic viruses into the clinic and support their potential utility as [...]

9/13/2005 Cambridge, MA press release PRNewswire (www.prnewswire.com) OmniGuide, Inc. announced today the successful completion of the first three head and neck surgeries in patients using the OmniGuide Fiber, a revolutionary hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber for delivery of CO2 laser energy. The procedures were performed by Dr. Randal Weber, the Chairman of the Department of Head & Neck Surgery and by Dr. Chris Holsinger, Attending Surgeon at the Department of Head and Neck Surgery at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. OmniGuide Fibers enhance existing surgical procedures and enable new minimally invasive treatments that cannot be performed with existing medical tools. The fiber, enabling flexible delivery of a CO2 laser, was used to remove a vocal cord pre-cancerous lesion, to ablate vocal cord carcinoma in- situ (stage 0 cancer), and to perform a base of tongue biopsy on a cancer patient. The laryngeal cases required very delicate ablation and removal of a thin mucosal layer while the biopsy case required quick cutting through thick tissue. In all cases the fiber was used through a rigid laryngoscope and manipulated by use of a malleable hand-piece. Dr. Weber said: "We were very pleased with the performance of the fibers and the superb tissue interaction, which allowed very efficient, safe, and precise application. We anticipate that the OmniGuide Fiber will serve as a very useful tool in our specialty in both laryngeal and oral cavity cases, and we will publish the results on these first cases as soon as [...]

9/9/2005 Atlanta, GA Russell A. Jackson Nanobiotech News Vol. 3, No. 26, July 13, 2005 Researchers in Germany are set to launch in 2007 a cancer treatment using targeted nanoparticles, heat and electromagnetism. The therapy, its developers say, is painless and side effect free. The MFH 300F therapy system, developed by Berlin’s MagForce Nanotechnologies GmbH, “generates an extremely homogeneous magnetic field, which changes its polarity 100,000 times a second,” explains Andreas Jordan, CEO. “The MagForce iron oxide-containing nanoparticles follow those changes in magnetization. Due to the high field homogeneity, all the particles take the same amount of energy out of the magnetic field, thus generating the same amount of heat. That’s crucial to obtaining a lasting therapeutic effect on the overall tumor volume.” MagForce, through its Center of Biomedical Nanotechnology, uses that heat for cancer therapy at high temperatures or to increase the efficacy of drugs and radiation at lower temperatures. The therapy system -- dubbed MFH300F -- is safe for the patient and medical personnel, he adds. To date, researchers have observed some 300 treatments on 50 or so patients with “no pain and no burns or other severe side effects.” MFH stands for “magnetic fluid hyperthermia.” The MagForce nanoparticles consist of an iron oxide core of 15 nm with at least one shell made of proprietary organic-anorganic compounds. The coating is adaptable to different tumor types, and the shell structure leads to uptake of the particles into tumor cells but not into normal cells of the same type [...]

9/9/2005 Houston, TX staff CancerWise (www.cancerwise.com) Goal is to Predict, Prevent Return of Stage I, II Disease Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States and worldwide, but a rising tide of research focused on increasing survival and preventing recurrence hopes to change that sobering statistic. Armed with a five-year grant from the Department of Defense, M. D. Anderson is conducting a clinical trial to increase screening of lung cancer and head and neck cancer survivors, and to test adjuvant therapies that may keep cancer from coming back. Long-time smokers with skin or lung cancer targeted The two-part clinical trial is known as VITAL: Vanguard Investigations of Therapeutic Approaches to Lung Cancer. It focuses on current or former smokers who have completed treatment for Stage I or II non-small cell lung cancer or head and neck squamous cell cancer. Trial participants must have: Stage I/II lung or head and neck cancer A smoking history of at least 20 years Completed either of the following: Surgery or radiation no less than six months earlier Chemotherapy (adjuvant) no less than three months earlier “We want to focus on this population of patients because they are at risk of developing recurrences and new primary cancers largely based on their high-risk profile including smoking history,” says the trial’s co-principal investigator Edward Kim, M.D., an assistant professor in M. D. Anderson’s Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology. Survival statistics emphasize the need for the trial Even if patients [...]

9/9/2005 SS Ingram et al J Am Geriatr Soc, September 1, 2005; 53(9): 1504-9 Objectives: To describe the long-term effects of oral health problems on quality of life (QoL), functional status, pain, and general health in older male cancer patients. Design: Secondary analysis of a prospective observational study. Setting: Community dwelling cancer patients served by a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. Participants: One hundred fifty male cancer patients responded to the question "Do you have tooth or mouth problems making it hard to eat?" The relationship between patients answering "yes" and the following parameters was assessed: demographics, comorbid conditions, habits, activities of daily living, pain, anxiety, depression, social support, spirituality, QoL, and overall health ratings. Measurements: Chi-square contingency tables for dichotomous variables, Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel for ordered categorical variables, and t tests for associations with continuous variables. Results: The median age of respondents was 67. Those reporting tooth or mouth problems had had their cancer diagnosed on average 2.9 years before, and 83.3% were found clinically to be cancer free. Patients with these problems had significantly lower global (P=.003) and subscale scores on QoL analysis and higher levels of anxiety (P<.001) and depression (P=.01) than those without tooth or mouth problems; they also had significantly more pain (P<.001) and lower physical functioning (P<.001) and were more impaired in activities of daily living (P<.001). Those with tooth or mouth problems were more likely to describe their overall health as fair or poor (P=.01). Having cancer located in the head and neck region related [...]

9/9/2005 Kwok seng Loh et al Head Neck, August 31, 2005 Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the detection rate of lung metastasis or a synchronous lung primary tumor in patients with newly diagnosed head and neck mucosal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and to determine factors that are associated with positive findings. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of 102 patients with head and neck mucosal SCC diagnosed in a tertiary cancer center. Chest x-rays and a CT scan of the thorax were performed. An indeterminate nodule on CT scan was followed with either a repeat scan to assess progression or a CT-guided needle biopsy. Metastasis or synchronous lung primary tumor were determined by CT scan. The findings were correlated with age, sex, duration of symptoms, site of primary tumor, grade of tumor, T classification, and N classification. Results: A CT scan of the thorax showed abnormalities or suspicious nodules in 20 patients (19.6%). With either follow-up scans or CT-guided biopsy, 10 patients were eventually proven to have pulmonary metastasis and one a synchronous lung primary tumor. Of those eleven patients (10.8%), seven had normal chest x-ray. Eight (72.7%) of 11 patients with a positive CT scan had N2 or N3 disease in contrast to 32 (35.2%) of 91 patients with a normal CT scan (p = .02). Seven patients (63.6%) with a positive CT scan had T4 disease, whereas 34 (37.4%) with a normal CT scan had T4 disease (p = .08). Primary tumors arising [...]

9/9/2005 Houston, TX staff Medical News Today (medicalnewstoday.com) A new study has found that the farnesyltransferase inhibitor SCH66336, which inhibits the growth of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), appears to inhibit the angiogenic activities of NSCLC and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cells. Despite therapeutic advances, the outcomes for people diagnosed with aerodigestive tract cancers such as NSCLC and HNSCC remain poor, and most patients with these cancers die from metastatic disease. SCH66336, in combination with other receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, has been shown to inhibit the growth of NSCLC cells. Ho-Young Lee, Ph.D., of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues investigated whether SCH66336 also inhibits angiogenesis of aerodigestive tract cancer cells. They found that SCH66336 appears to inhibit angiogenic activity of NSCLC and HNSCC cells by inhibiting the interaction between hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha and heat shock protein 90 and thus decreasing hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha expression. The authors conclude that their results provide a new rationale for the use of farnesyltransferase inhibitors as inhibitors of tumor angiogenesis in aerodigestive cancer.

9/9/2005 New Rochelle, NY press release Business Wire (home.businesswire.com) China set a new milestone in the history of gene therapy with its approval of Gendicine, a recombinant adenovirus encoding human p53 tumor suppressor gene, for the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and Gendicine is now the core of the country's active clinical gene therapy program, according to a report in the September 2005 issue (Volume 16, Number 9) of Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The paper is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/hum. Zhaohui Peng, Ph.D., M.D., Chairman and CEO of SiBiono GeneTech, the company that produces Gendicine, and author of the report describes the activities leading up to the successful commercial launch of Gendicine, the educational campaign aimed at helping the general public understand gene therapy, the establishment of a production facility, and the technology and quality control measures employed to ensure the production of a safe and effective gene therapy product. In the paper, entitled, "Current Status of Gendicine in China: Recombinant Human Ad-p53 Agent for Treatment of Cancers," Peng emphasizes the importance of the Chinese government's supportive policy toward research and development efforts in human gene therapy. The review offers valuable new insights into the development of Gendicine as it provides a summary of clinical data supporting the recombinant adenoviral product, most of which has been published only in the Chinese literature and has not been easily accessible to researchers worldwide. "I was delighted that Dr. Peng was [...]

9/6/2005 New York, NY editorial Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 12, 729 (2005) By now everyone ought to know that smoking is bad for you. Even the United States government is seeking to hold tobacco companies accountable for the health risks of their products. Why, then, do so many people continue to use tobacco? Simply put, nicotine can make a person feel happy and relaxed, and it is as addictive as heroine and cocaine. While over 30% of smokers say they want to quit, most relapse within a few days of avoiding their tobacco product of choice, right when nicotine withdrawal symptoms reach their peak. Help is available for unhappy smokers, from nicotine patches to behavioral therapy, but the road to a nicotine-free life is still difficult for many. Therefore, researchers are working to develop drugs to inhibit nicotine metabolism. Such compounds would, in theory, keep the level of nicotine high in the blood, thus reducing nicotine cravings. On page 822 of this issue, we see the results of some of this work—the structure of the nicotine-metabolizing enzyme cytochrome P450 2A6 in complex with an inhibitor called methoxsalen. While methoxsalen, a drug currently approved for treating psoriasis, is not being touted as the holy grail of antismoking drugs, the authors of the study believe that their structure could aid in the design of other, more suitable inhibitors. The cytochrome P450 family of proteins comprises over 50 enzymes involved in metabolism. Potentially toxic substances are often acted upon by these enzymes [...]