11/7/2005 New York, NY Andrew Pollack New York Times (www.nytimes.com) Brush your teeth and rinse with gene therapy. That could be the future of oral health care as envisioned by Colgate-Palmolive and Introgen Therapeutics, an Austin, Tex., biotechnology company. The companies announced an alliance Friday to incorporate gene therapy - an exotic, experimental and so far largely unsuccessful form of medicine - into mouthwashes, gels and similar products to treat and prevent oral cancers. Gene therapy involves putting genes into cells in the body, often to replace native genes that are malfunctioning. The technique has rarely worked in the 15 years it has been tried, largely because of the difficulty of getting enough functioning genes into cells. Introgen's method puts so-called tumor suppressor genes into cancerous cells to stop the growth of tumors. The company's most advanced drug, which is in late-stage clinical trials, is a treatment for head and neck cancer that it hopes will be the first gene therapy approved in the United States. In that treatment, viruses containing the desired gene are injected directly into tumors. Working with Colgate, Introgen will try to put the tumor suppressor genes into an oral product to treat leukoplakia, a precancerous condition characterized by lesions on the cheeks, gums or tongue. In some cases the lesions turn cancerous, usually after many years. Dr. Robert E. Sobol, Introgen's senior vice president for medical and scientific affairs, said an initial product would probably be a prescription drug that would require approval by the [...]

11/7/2005 Thriuvananthapuram, India John Mary The Peninsula (www.thepeninsulaqatar.com) The Regional Cancer Centre at Thriuvananthapuram, whose studies suggest that a 5-minute oral cancer screening can check about 40,000 deaths worldwide, is launching clinical trials to test the efficacy of turmeric in preventing oral cancers. Oncologist K Ramadas at the RCC said that although turmeric was widely believed to be a broad spectrum anti-cancer agent, there have been very few studies to establish its therapeutic efficacy in treating pre-cancer lesions. The RCC and the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) will be funded by the Federal Department of Biotechnology in initiating multi-centric clinical trails at RCC, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, and Tata Hospital, Mumbai, over the next three years. Trials are intended to check out the preventive action of curcumin on white patches in the mouth (leuokplakia) that can turn cancerous. RGCB director Dr Radhakrishna Pillai, one of the two principal investigators of the project, said laboratory studies and studies on animals had been encouraging. Dr Ramadas said the major handicap experienced so far in anti-cancer treatment had been the low absorption rate of curcumin. Only a minuscule fraction of curcumin passed through the liver. The bulk of it would get metabolised in the liver, leaving little to reach the tumour site. Hence, the focus of the clinical trails would be to try using curcumin lozenges and patches to treat lesions. Turmeric holds a high place in ayurvedic medicine as a "cleanser of the body" and today science is finding [...]

11/7/2005 Washington, DC staff Wall Street Journal Online (online.wsj.com) The 10 million cancer survivors in the U.S. require customized follow-up for years that too few now receive, says a major study that calls for oncologists to create a "survivorship plan" to guide every patient's future health care. Half of all men and one-third of women in the U.S. will develop cancer in their lifetimes. Thanks to advances in early detection and treatment, the number who survive has more than tripled over the past three decades. When active treatment ends, these people's special needs may be just beginning, said the study, released Monday. Yet, the legacy of physical, psychological and social consequences has largely been ignored by doctors, researchers, even patient-advocacy groups, leaving survivors too often unaware of simmering health risks or struggling to manage them on their own, said the report by the Institute of Medicine. "Successful cancer care doesn't end when patients walk out the door after completion of their initial treatments," said Sheldon Greenfield of the University of California, Irvine, who led the study for the institute, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. Yet, "you fall off a cliff when your treatment ends," said report co-author Ellen Stovall, president of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, who speaks from personal experience as a two-time survivor. Busy oncologists' priority is to treat patients and they may have little time for the survivor, while physicians who don't specialize in cancer care may not know what special needs survivors [...]

11/3/2005 New York, NY staff cancerconsultants.com Levels of the albumin-binding protein known as SPARC (Secreted Protein Acidic Rich in Cysteine) are highly associated with the response of head and neck cancer to treatment with Abraxane™ (albumin-bound paclitaxel), according to study results presented at the 23rd annual Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium in New York. Head and neck cancers originate in the throat, larynx (voice box), pharynx, salivary glands, or oral cavity (lip, mouth, tongue). Most head and neck cancers involve squamous cells, which line the mouth, throat, and other structures. Abraxane is a new form of the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel. Abraxane is bound to albumin, a type of protein normally found in the human body. This form of paclitaxel delivers high concentrations of the active ingredient into the cancer cells and, compared to its original form, reduces the frequency of side effects. Abraxane has demonstrated significant activity in various cancers, including cancers of the head and neck. Abraxane is moving forward through clinical trials as safety and efficacy data mature. An important area of research that is receiving increasing attention is individualized treatment; the emphasis of this research is on identifying and defining specific “markers” associated with different outcomes among patients who share the same clinical diagnosis. One potential predictor of treatment response in patients treated with Abraxane is SPARC (Secreted Protein Acidic Rich in Cysteine). SPARC is a protein that is secreted by many cancers and may play a role in the accumulation of albumin and albumin-targeted agents within a tumor. [...]

11/2/2005 Bethesda, MD Leslie Harris O'Hanlon Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 97, No. 21, 1563-1564, November 2, 2005 Dozens of epidemiologic studies in the last several decades have shown an association between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. Now, laboratory studies are beginning to tease out the molecular mechanisms that may be at work. Chronic alcohol consumption increases risk for cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Alcohol is also associated with an increased risk of breast, colon, and liver cancer. Although many theories abound to explain the alcohol–cancer connection, alcohol metabolism is emerging as one of the main culprits. Alcohol is broken down primarily in the liver by two enzymes. Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) converts ethanol into acetaldehyde, which collects in the blood, saliva, gastric juice, and large intestines. Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) then converts acetaldehyde into acetate, which is metabolized by tissues outside the liver. In cell cultures and animal models, acetaldehyde is toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic. A recent study by researchers from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) found that acetaldehyde can interact with polyamines—small molecules essential for cell division—to trigger a series of events that eventually lead to damaged DNA. When acetaldehyde was mixed with polyamines in a test tube, it was converted into crotonaldehyde (CrA), an environmental pollutant that has been shown to cause cancer in animals. This chemical in turn reacted with DNA, generating an abnormal, mutagenic DNA base called a Cr–PdG adduct. [...]

10/31/2005 Washington, DC Rob Stein Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) A new vaccine that protects against cervical cancer has set up a clash between health advocates who want to use the shots aggressively to prevent thousands of malignancies and social conservatives who say immunizing teenagers could encourage sexual activity. Although the vaccine will not become available until next year at the earliest, activists on both sides have begun maneuvering to influence how widely the immunizations will be employed. Groups working to reduce the toll of the cancer are eagerly awaiting the vaccine and want it to become part of the standard roster of shots that children, especially girls, receive just before puberty. Because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted virus, many conservatives oppose making it mandatory, citing fears that it could send a subtle message condoning sexual activity before marriage. Several leading groups that promote abstinence are meeting this week to formulate official policies on the vaccine. In the hopes of heading off a confrontation, officials from the companies developing the shots -- Merck & Co. and GlaxoSmithKline -- have been meeting with advocacy groups to try to assuage their concerns. The jockeying reflects the growing influence that social conservatives, who had long felt overlooked by Washington, have gained on a broad spectrum of policy issues under the Bush administration. In this case, a former member of the conservative group Focus on the Family serves on the federal panel that is playing a pivotal role in deciding how the vaccine is [...]

10/31/2005 New York, NY press release WebWire (www.webwire.com) ImClone Systems Incorporated and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has notified ImClone Systems that it has accepted for filing the company’s supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for Erbitux® (Cetuximab), an IgG1 monoclonal antibody, in the treatment of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (SCCHN). The application seeks approval for use of Erbitux in combination with radiation for locally or regionally advanced head and neck cancer, and as monotherapy in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic disease where prior platinum-based chemotherapy has failed or where platinum-based therapy would not be appropriate. The companies also announced that the Erbitux sBLA has been granted priority review. The FDA grants priority review to biologics that potentially offer a significant therapeutic advance over existing therapies for serious or life-threatening diseases. Based on the priority review designation, the FDA has six months from the submission date of August 30, 2005, to take action on the sBLA filing. About Head and Neck Cancer According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 40,000 Americans will be diagnosed with head and neck cancer this year, including cancers of the tongue, mouth, pharynx and larynx. In addition, it is estimated that more than 11,000 will die from the disease in 2005 in the U.S. About Erbitux ® (Cetuximab) On February 12, 2004, the FDA approved Erbitux for use in the United States in combination with irinotecan in the treatment of patients with EGFR-expressing, metastatic [...]

10/30/2005 Japan Madhup Rastogi et al. Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology 2005 35(10):572-579 Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of radiotherapy and concurrent mitomycin-C (MC) plus 5-fluorouracil (5FU) infusion in locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Methods: Sixty-nine patients with SCCHN (6 Stage III and 63 Stage IV patients) were treated with external beam radiotherapy (70 Gy) and simultaneous intravenous chemotherapy with 5FU (600 mg/m2/day, Days 1–5) and MC (10 mg/m2, Days 5 and 36). Results: After a mean follow-up of 28.5 months, 59.4% of patients were alive without disease. Complete response was seen in 76.8% of patients. The 3 years overall survival, locoregional relapse-free survival and disease-free survival was 62.3, 89.8 and 49.5%, respectively. Treatment was well tolerated (Grade III mucositis in 43.5% and Grade II leukopenia in 5.8%). Conclusions: This concurrent chemoradiotherapy regimen offers a curative option for our patients where primary and nodal disease is fairly large resulting in hypoxic radioresistant tumors. Authors: Madhup Rastogi(1), Madhu Srivastava(1), Kundan S. Chufal(2), M. C. Pant(1), Kirti Srivastava(1) and Madanlal B. Bhatt(1) Authors' affiliations: (1) Department of Radiotherapy, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh and (2) Department of Oncology, Batra Hospital and Medical Research Center, New Delhi, India

10/29/2005 Washington, DC Denise Mann WebMD (www.webmd.com) With cancer survivor Lance Armstrong winning his seventh Tour de France, and walks, runs and other highly visible fund-raising opportunities -- often overflowing with survivors and their families -- taking place almost ubiquitously across the map, it certainly seems that doctors are finally winning, or at least making some significant strides -- in the war against cancer. But are they? The word "cancer" still strikes a chord of fear in most people, but the truth is that today many cancers including breast, colon and prostate may no longer be the death sentences that they once were. Others like melanoma and pancreatic cancer, however, are still proving somewhat vexing and insurmountable. But ultimately, we are turning a corner: survival statistics are up for many cancers, smoking is down, and some of the best minds in the world are trying to crack the cancer codes. Today, Armstrong is seen as an anomaly, but that may not always be the case. "Lance Armstrong is such an inspirational story that cancer is not only not a death sentence, but he can say, 'I beat it and I am doing something about' it by setting up a foundation and speaking out," says Thomas Glynn, PhD, the director of cancer science and trends at the American Cancer Society (ACS) in Washington, D.C. "I think as survival rates continue to rise, we will see people like him who shine and not only survive disease and actually do well with it." [...]

10/27/2005 England G. J. Granström British Dental Journal (2005); 199, 511. doi Implant failure was higher in irradiated patients, but not greatly so. This retrospective study evaluated 631 implants placed in 107 cancer patients who had received radiotherapy over a 25 yr period. At the end of the period, 71 patients were alive (mean survival time of 16 yrs), and 36 had died (9.8), and 484 implants were still active and stable. Age and gender matched healthy controls received 614 implants, and 76 implants failed during a mean follow-up of 7.2 yrs. Six of the 100 controls died of cardiovascular disease during the period. Implant failure was significantly higher in the cancer patients, irrespective of when they received radiotherapy and of whether they also had chemotherapy. Most implant failure was early, before loading. There was a relationship of failure to radiation dose, and some failures occurred as long as 20 yrs later. The authors recommend use of long fixtures, fixed retention and hyperbaric oxygen, which all improved implant survival. Highest failure rates were in the frontal bone, zygoma, mandible and nasal maxilla.