1/9/2008 Brooklin, Ontario, Canada staff CancerPage.com China's booming medical biotechnology industry is producing controversial drugs and gene therapy treatment programs that are being sought out by critically ill foreigners seeking potential cures unavailable elsewhere. China's Beike Biotechnologies harvests stem cells from the umbilical cord or amniotic membrane and injects them into patient's spinal region. More than 1,000 patients, including 60 foreigners, have been treated for a variety of conditions including Alzheimer's disease, autism, brain trauma, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Biotechnology. "We met foreigners there who were happy with Beike's treatments," said Peter Singer of the McLaughlin-Rotman Center for Global Health at the University of Toronto and co-author of the study. However, China's regulatory agency, the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), did not require clinical trials, making it difficult to evaluate the efficacy of these therapies, Singer said. It is a controversial approach and Beike and others in China would be considered "rogue companies" in North America or Europe, he said. Although less than 10 years old, China's medical biotech industry has become both an innovator and a place where the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies contract out their very expensive clinical research and trials. One of China's largest firms, WuXi PharmaTech, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and recently acquired a US biologics firm. "The Chinese biotechnology industry is like a baby dragon, which will grow quickly and soon become hard to ignore," Singer said. In [...]

1/7/2008 Rochester, NY Stephanie Veale and Daniel Wallace www.rochesterdandc.com Wegmans Food Markets' decision to stop selling cigarettes drew sharp reaction Friday, from customers angry at the loss of choice to those who applauded the grocery chain's decision to turn down certain sales. Wegmans, which has 71 stores in five states, will sell its remaining inventory until Feb. 10 and will not order new tobacco products between now and then, said spokeswoman Jo Natale. The family-owned retailer said it came to the decision after weighing the role smoking plays in people's health with respect for a person's right to smoke "We believe there are few of us who would introduce our children to smoking," stated a letter to employees from Wegmans CEO Danny Wegman and his daughter, Colleen, the company's president. Wegmans doesn't expect massive numbers of customers to quit smoking, Natale said. "But we employ 37,000 people. Many of them are young people under 21. If this sends the right message to them, we will have accomplished something." Wegmans is a major local employer, with 14,013 employees in the greater Rochester area as of November, Natale said. While Target stores stopped selling tobacco products in 1996 — and many grocery chains specializing in organic or health food never have sold cigarettes — Wegmans is the first major grocery store chain in New York state to pull tobacco products from its shelves, according to the state Health Department. The move could have a major impact on people's smoking habits due to [...]

1/5/2008 Marietta staff www.cancerpage.com Compared with combined chemo/radiotherapy, total laryngectomy improves survival in patients with stage IV laryngeal cancer, according to a report in the Archives of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery for December. The results also show that black patients and those with Medicare or Medicaid insurance have inferior outcomes, which may be the result of limited access to care. Dr. Amy Y. Chen from Emory University and Dr. Michael Halpern from the American Cancer Society, both in Atlanta, assessed factors predictive of survival in advanced laryngeal cancer by analyzing data from 7019 patients drawn from a national registry involving Commission on Cancer-approved treatment facilities. In the overall analysis, survival was highest for patients treated with total laryngectomy than for those given chemo/radiotherapy or radiotherapy alone (p < 0.001). Compared with total laryngectomy, the hazard ratios for death were 1.6 with radiotherapy and 1.3 with chemo/radiotherapy. Further analysis showed that total laryngectomy and chemo/radiotherapy provided comparable and better survival outcomes than radiotherapy alone for patients with stage III disease. For patients with stage IV disease, however, total laryngectomy was clearly superior to the other two treatments (p < 0.001). Women were 12% more likely to survive during follow-up than were men (p = 0.002). Compared with whites, blacks were 14% more likely to die (p = 0.004). Relative to private insurance, Medicaid insurance was associated with a 57% increased mortality risk, while with Medicare mortality was increased by 30% to 35% depending on age. Dr. Chen and Dr. Halpern note [...]

1/4/2008 web-based article Steven Reinberg health.usnews.com Two new studies offer further evidence of the health risks posed by the anemia drugs known as erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), U.S. officials announced Thursday. The studies showed that patients with breast or advanced cervical cancer who took the drugs as treatment for chemotherapy-induced anemia died sooner or had more rapid tumor growth than patients not on the drugs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said in a prepared statement. On Nov. 8, the FDA approved new "black box" warnings on labels of the three ESAs -- Aranesp, Epogen and Procrit. The warnings detailed the dangers to patients with cancer and patients with chronic kidney failure. Those dangers include heart attack, stroke, heart failure and cancer tumor growth and shortened survival, the FDA said. The drugs had been touted as a treatment to lessen fatigue and improve quality of life among cancer, HIV and other patients with anemia, but the revised label said there was no evidence to back that claim. The label change was the fifth such change since Procrit was approved in 1989, FDA officials said. Results of the two studies released Thursday were not among the six studies that led to the Nov. 8 label revision. Taken together, all eight studies show more rapid tumor growth or shortened survival when patients with breast, non-small cell lung, head and neck, lymphoid or cervical cancers received ESAs compared to patients who didn't get this therapy, the FDA said. The FDA said it plans to [...]

1/4/2008 web-based article Kris De Leon www.buddytv.com Colleen Zenk Pinter was diagnosed with oral cancer last spring and now her character Barbara Ryan on As the World Turns is suffering a similar fate. The 54-year-old soap veteran who has been playing the beleaguered fashionista turned criminal since 1978 was actually the one who initiated and suggested for the show to mirror what she experienced in real life. Her character Barbara recently learned about her startling diagnosis, which was unfortunately on the same day she was banned from the baptism of her grandchild. "I set up a meeting to pitch the idea to our executive producer, Chris Goutman, even though I wasn't sure I was emotionally ready to do such a story," the As the World Turns actress said. "We sat down and, before I could say anything, Chris pitched the same idea to me." "She's all alone and desperate when she gets the diagnosis," Pinter said of her character. "She ends up at the church after the christening, praying for help. Let me tell ya, that was a tough scene to get through." Unlike Barbara, who is just about to grapple with her illness, Pinter has already been treated and is now completely cancer-free after going through numerous surgeries and internal radiation treatment. And though it's hard to tell what's in store for Barbara's future, Pinter remains hopeful that she'll stick around on As the World Turns. "Hard to tell because of the writers' strike," she said. "But I told [...]

1/4/2008 Australia Mike Sexton www.abc.net.au For Australian artists, there's no more coveted prize than the Archibald Award for portraiture. For one painter, the prestigious event is an annual source of both celebration and frustration. Robert Hannaford has never won the prize, despite being short listed an extraordinary 18 times in a row, as well as winning the people's choice three times. But for the man whose portraits hang in parliaments, universities and the Long Room at Lords, just being alive to continue his work is celebration enough. On a sun-bleached hill near Riverton, an hour's drive north of Adelaide, one of Australia's great realists is at work. "The longer I spend here, the more the reality of the trees, the light, the space, the way it works with the composition of my painting, it brings me into closer contact with the reality of it," says Hannaford. For four decades, Hannaford has rejected trends and fashions in art, instead he still lives near the tiny town where he grew up and draws and paints what he sees around him. But the artist is best known for his portraits and sculptures such as Don Bradman, prime ministers Keating and Hawke and Australian of the Year Tim Flannery. "His art's based upon I think what David Hockney would call eye balling the subject," says art critic and biographer John Neylon. "And it's relentless and got this sort of razor sharp scrutiny to it, which I think people find when they actually see a [...]

1/1/2008 web-based article Leslie DeLong RDH Magazine (www.rdhmag.com) Educators view dental hygiene students with enthusiasm, and students have the sincere hope that they can change the lives of patients by providing excellent care. Students are educated in an ideal environment and required to practice under the scrutiny of professionals who demand the highest standards in treatment. It is hoped that students who are taught these high standards will practice them after graduation. However, once students graduate and enter private practice, they often enter less than perfect environments and develop poor work habits and short cuts that alter the valued priorities of the academic setting. Many hygienists and even dentists admit they no longer spend time performing the thorough oral screening exam they learned in school. The purpose of this article is to encourage clinicians who are providing this service to (1) continue to do so, (2) motivate other clinicians to provide this service, and (3) review appropriate technique, documentation and referral protocols. The American Cancer Society estimates that 34,360 new cases of oral cavity and pharyngeal cancer will be diagnosed in 2007, and that 7,550 deaths from oral and pharyngeal cancer will occur in 2007.1 The five-year and 10-year survival rates for oral and pharyngeal cancers are 60 percent and 48 percent respectively.1 This five-year survival rate is one of the lowest of all major cancers because a majority of the lesions are not diagnosed until they are more advanced. Early detection increases the chances of survival. However, between 1990 [...]

1/1/2008 Baltimore, MD press release www.newswise.com A morning gargle could someday be more than a breath freshener – it could spot head and neck cancer, say scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Their new study of a mouth rinse that captures genetic signatures common to the disease holds promise for screening those at high risk, including heavy smokers and alcohol drinkers. Lead investigator Joseph Califano, M.D., says his group at Johns Hopkins asked 211 head and neck cancer patients and 527 individuals without cancers of the mouth, larynx or pharynx to brush the inside of their mouths, then rinse and gargle with a salt solution. The researchers collected the rinsed saliva and filtered out cells thought to contain one or more of 21 bits of chemically altered genes common only to head and neck cancers. Tumor and blood samples also were collected. The cellular mishaps occur when small molecules called methyl groups clamp on to the DNA ladder structure of a gene. In the grip of too many methyl groups, these genes can incorrectly switch on or off in a process called hypermethylation. “Mass-methylation” of particular genes can lead to cancer, the researchers say. Methylation mistakes in other genes could be triggered simply by aging and amount to no more than fine lines and wrinkles. “The challenge is to predict which hypermethylated genes are most specific to cancer,” says Califano, an associate professor of otolaryngology – head and neck cancer and oncology at Johns Hopkins. And because every [...]

12/31/2007 web-based article Lisa Martin TopCancerNews.com A multidisciplinary team of UCLA scientists were able to differentiate metastatic cancer cells from normal cells in patient samples using leading-edge nanotechnology that measures the softness of the cells. The study represents one of the first times researchers have been able to take living cells from cancer patients and apply nanotechnology to analyze them and determine which were cancerous and which were not. The nano science measurements may provide a potential new method for detecting cancer, especially in cells from body cavity fluids where diagnosis using current methods is typically very challenging. The method also may aid in personalizing treatments for patients. When cancer is becoming metastatic, or invading other organs, the diseased cells must travel throughout the body. Because the cells need to enter the bloodstream and maneuver through tight anatomical spaces, cancer cells are much more flexible, or softer, than normal cells. These spreading, invading cancer cells can cause a build-up of fluids in body cavities such as the chest and abdomen. But fluid build-up in patients does not always mean cancer cells are present. If the fluid could be quickly and accurately tested for the presence of cancer, oncologists could make better decisions about how aggressive a treatment should be administered or if any treatment is necessary at all. In this study, researchers collected fluid from the chest cavities of patients with lung, breast and pancreatic cancers, a relatively non-invasive procedure. One problem with diagnosing metastatic disease in this setting is [...]

12/31/2007 Aurora, CO Kyle Rusthoven et al. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, December 8, 2007 Purpose: Patients with head and neck cancer have a significant risk of developing a second primary cancer of the head and neck. We hypothesized that treatment with external beam radiotherapy (RT) might reduce this risk, because RT can eradicate occult foci of second head and neck cancer (HNCA). Methods and Materials: The data of patients with Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Historic Stage A localized squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, larynx, and pharynx were queried using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. For patients treated with or without RT, the incidence of second HNCA was determined and compared using the log-rank method. Cox proportional hazards analysis was performed for each site, evaluating the influence of covariates on the risk of second HNCA. Results: Between 1973 and 1997, 27,985 patients were entered with localized HNCA. Of these patients, 44% had received RT and 56% had not. The 15-year incidence of second HNCA was 7.7% with RT vs. 10.5% without RT (hazard ratio 0.71, p <0.0001). The effect of RT was more profound in patients diagnosed between 1988 and 1997 (hazard ratio 0.53, p <0.0001) and those with pharynx primaries (hazard ratio 0.47, p <0.0001). On multivariate analysis, RT was associated with a reduced risk of second HNCA for pharynx (p <0.0001) and larynx (p = 0.04) tumors. For oral cavity primaries, RT was associated with an increased risk of second HNCA in [...]