10/16/2004 Seattle Stephen M. Schwartz, Ph.D., Karin A. Rosenblatt, Ph.D. et al. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Contrary to previous research findings that have suggested a link, marijuana use does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of developing oral cancer, according to a large, population-based study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Their findings, the result of the most comprehensive evaluation to date regarding the association between marijuana use and the incidence of oral squamous-cell carcinoma, appear in the June issue of Cancer Research, a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research. The study, conducted in collaboration with researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Seattle's Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative, found no association between marijuana use and increased oral-cancer risk, regardless of how long, how much or how often a person has used marijuana. The study also found no increased risk among marijuana users who had other underlying risk factors for oral cancer, such as a history of tobacco use or heavy alcohol use. "When asking whether any marijuana use puts you at increased risk of oral cancer, our study is pretty solid in saying there's nothing going on there," said Stephen M. Schwartz, Ph.D., a member of Fred Hutchinson's Public Health Sciences Division and the senior author of the study. The study also found that marijuana smokers with certain common genetic variations that are known to interfere with the body's detoxification process are at no greater risk of [...]

10/15/2004 Decatur, Alabama Erin Shawn & Decatur Daily Editorial UAB Health System & Decatur Daily When he was getting standing ovations for his 60-yard passes as one of Auburn University’s greatest players ever and as Alabama’s first Heisman Trophy winner (1971), Pat Sullivan seemed invincible. Now, 32 years later, after an outstanding career that brought him to UAB as the Blazers’ offensive coordinator five years ago, his invincibility is being challenged by cancer. He was diagnosed in September 2003 with squamous cell carcinoma, a form of cancer that begins in the squamous cells that line the structures found in the head and neck. He attributes his cancer diagnosis to 25 years of smokeless tobacco use. “Ironically, I gave up this habit a month before I was diagnosed last summer,” he says. He didn’t think much of it when he experienced an earache while spending the Fourth of July holiday with his family at Lake Martin. “I came back, noticed a little swelling in my glands, and went to see Mike Jones, UAB’s head athletics trainer. I was treated for swimmer’s ear with antibiotics. After about 10 days I told Mike the swelling had not gone down. At his insistence, I went to see Dr. (William) Carroll, a head and neck surgeon in the UAB Division of Otolaryngology. The primary tumor was detected in the base of the tongue.” While Coach Sullivan has never been challenged in his football career as he is now, he believes the battles he faced on [...]

10/15/2004 Lab Business Week editors Lab Business Week Introgen Therapeutics, Inc., (INGN) announced that its Advexin program has been featured in Conquest magazine, the quarterly magazine published by The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. A feature article about M. D. Anderson's pioneering research in gene therapy highlighted Introgen's lead product Advexin. Also profiled were two lung cancer patients who had previously failed conventional therapies and then received combination treatments with Advexin therapy. These two patients recently celebrated their 5-year anniversary. Previously, M. D. Anderson profiled another lung cancer patient from the same Advexin trial who also celebrated her 5-year survival after failing conventional treatments. In addition to the Advexin program, the article also discussed two other cancer therapies from Introgen that are currently being tested at M. D. Anderson. One is the phase I clinical development of INGN 401, Introgen's systemically delivered nanoparticle tumor suppressor therapy. INGN 401 uses the FUS-1 gene, a gene frequently altered or missing in the development of many solid tumors. Encouraging preliminary data from this trial was discussed in Introgen's recently held quarterly conference. The phase I trial is treating patients with refractory stage IV non-small-cell lung cancer patients who typically have limited survival of approximately six months. Five of six patients are still alive 11-15 months after treatment with INGN 401. Also mentioned in the article is Introgen's clinical trial testing Advexin as an oral rinse, or mouthwash, for precancerous oral lesions. This trial uses "topical gene therapy to treat patients [...]

10/14/2004 Wakefield, United Kingdom Gavin Murray Wakefield Today (wakefieldtoday.co.uk) Cases of oral cancer in the Wakefield district are way above the national average with eight new cases diagnosed every month, according to worried health specialists. Late diagnosis of the cancer, also known as head and neck cancer, may be a result of the growing number of people unable to register with a dentist in the district. But, if the cancer is caught early enough, it has a 90 per cent chance of being cured and is 75 per cent preventable. Julie Hoole, a Macmillan head and neck cancer nurse specialist working across Wakefield, wants to highlight the problem of the world's sixth most common cancer. She said: "Nationally there has been a 17 per cent increase in reported cases. Oral cancer or neck and head cancer is comparable with cervical cancer but it is less well-known." But during the last 30 years survival rates from this cancer have not improved, while treatments and medical technology has. This is due to patients being unaware they have the cancer and not seeking medical attention early enough. At the moment most referrals are made by dentists and not doctors. Mrs Hoole said: "A lot of people are having difficulty registering with dentists and we are not sure at the moment if this is the reason for the increase. But if people had the chance to visit dentists more often the cancer would be picked up quicker. Many sufferers only go to the doctors [...]

10/14/2004 Dinesh C Sharma Press Information Bujreau, Government of India Turmeric is more than just another spice that makes up the delectable India curry famous the world over. A few years back, turmeric hit the headlines in global media when an American patent relating to one of its many medicinal properties was revoked. The patent was granted for wound healing properties of turmeric. Indian authorities challenged it on the grounds that this attribute of turmeric was part of common knowledge in India and was not something novel that can be protected by a patent. The documents that were furnished to the patent office included some of the ancient Ayurvedic texts. This illustrates the significance of turmeric and important qualities that it has been known for centuries now. It is part of Indian folklore and has been used for hundreds of years as a beauty aid as well as grandma’s cure for common ailments like coughs and colds, in addition to acting as a healing agent. In fact, even now turmeric paste is used to beautify brides in ceremonies preceding Indian marriages. Turmeric is claimed to be an important ingredient of many fairness creams available in the market. India is the largest producer of turmeric in the world since nearly 80 per cent of its global production happens in the country. In terms of area, it occupies 60 per cent of the total area under spice and condiment production in the country. Haldi is also grown extensively in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, [...]

10/14/2004 Medical News Editor Medical News Today (online) Some people who chew betel nut may be genetically more prone to mouth cancer, a new report in the British Journal of Cancer reveals(1). The nut of the betel or areca palm tree contains a mild, central nervous system stimulant called arecoline. Chewing the nut on its own or with a mixture of tobacco, lime and betel leaf is a popular habit in Asian countries and among British Asians. While all betel chewers have an increased chance of developing mouth cancer, scientists believe the genetic make-up of a person is likely to influence their susceptibility to the disease. Researchers based in Taiwan looked at variations in a gene that protects cells from damage in male betel chewers. They found that men with mouth cancer often had a different version of a gene than those not affected by the disease. Their findings shed important light on how mouth cancer develops and why some men are more susceptible to the disease than others. Over 153,000 new cases of mouth cancer are diagnosed in Asia each year. It accounts for up to 50 per cent of malignant tumours in some South Asian countries due to the popularity of betel chewing. Researchers based at the National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan looked at variations of a gene called HO-1*(2). The gene helps protect cells from damage by harmful agents such as UV irradiation or hydrogen peroxide. But studies also suggest that the gene may be involved in [...]

10/14/2004 no attribution economist.com There never will be a “cure for cancer”. But a multiplicity of new ideas promise treatments for the multiplicity of diseases that cancer actually is. Going by the numbers, humanity seems to be losing the war on cancer. According to the most recent data from the World Health Organisation, 10m people around the planet were diagnosed with the disease in 2000, and 6m died from it. And these numbers are growing. With an ageing population, the spread of western-style diets, and increasing tobacco consumption, cancer is on the rise around the globe. In America, for example, projections suggest that 40% of those alive today will be diagnosed with some form of cancer at some point in their lives. By 2010, that number will have climbed to 50%. All this is despite the fact that, since then-president Richard Nixon's famous speech in 1971, launching what became known as the war on cancer, America has given nearly $70 billion (in actual, not inflation-adjusted, dollars) to its National Cancer Institute (NCI). And that is not to mention the money spent by drug companies and charities—nor, indeed, the research budgets of other countries. Despite these billions, the rate of death from cancer in the United States has increased from 163 per 100,000 individuals in 1971 to 194 per 100,000 in 2001. By contrast, mortality rates from heart disease and strokes, two other diseases often seen as being associated with affluent styles of living, have fallen (see chart 2). Luckily, these [...]

10/13/2004 C Klein and L T Vassilev British Journal of Cancer (2004) 91, 1415-1419 The tumour suppressor p53 is a transcription factor with powerful antitumour activity that is controlled by its negative regulator MDM2 (mouse double minute 2, also termed HDM2 in humans) through a feedback mechanism. MDM2, which is overproduced in many tumours, binds p53 and inhibits its function by modulating its transcriptional activity and stability. Activation of p53 in tumour cells by inhibiting its physical interaction with MDM2 has been in the focus of cancer drug discovery. However, development of nonpeptidic MDM2 antagonists turned out to be challenging. Recently, the first potent and selective small-molecule antagonists of MDM2, the Nutlins, have been identified. Studies with Nutlins provided in vitro and in vivo proof-of-principle for targeting p53-MDM2 interaction for cancer therapy. Authors: C Klein(1) and L T Vassilev(2) (1)Pharma Research, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Penzberg D-82372, Germany (2)Discovery Oncology, Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Nutley, NJ 07110, USA

10/12/2004 New Orleans Sunil Singhal, MD et al. U.S. Newswire (usnewswire.com) Surgeons from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadephia, have isolated the genes that are expressed in head and neck cancer as well as those expressed in lung carcinoma in smokers. Armed with this information, the investigators were able to predict precisely if patients with lung masses had developed lung cancer or metastases from another source. In a study of 24 smokers from three different academic medical centers, the scientists made accurate predictions for every patient. The researchers presented their findings at the 2004 annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). The research group is making its genetic algorithms available to physicians throughout the world to help them decide whether an individual patient has advanced cancer that spread from the head and neck to the lung, or whether the patient has other metastatic sources that may be treated individually. Sunil Singhal, MD, a fellow in thoracic surgery, explained that smokers have a high risk for developing cancer in the head, neck, mouth, jaw, and lung. It is often difficult to identify the primary source of disease because all cancers related to smoking appear the same in tissue samples under the microscope-as squamous cell carcinoma. "People who have been smoking all their lives often have tumors in the head, in the neck, or in the tongue or jaw where the tobacco has rubbed against the inner lining of the mouth. These patients also often have masses in the chest [...]

10/11/2004 Sun TB, Chen RL, Hsu YH UNDERSEA & HYPERBARIC MEDICINE 31 (2): 251-260 SUM 2004 Discoveries of the beneficial cellular and biochemical effects have strengthened the rationale for the administration of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO2) as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of osteoradionecrosis (ORN). Malignancies, however, are considered a contraindication for HBO2 because of the possible tumor-promoting effects. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of HBO2 therapy on tumor weight, and to measure the progression of apoptosis and tumor cell proliferating activity in a cultured human oral cancer cell line. Twenty 5-week-old male NODscid mice underwent daily HBO2 of 2.5 atm abs, 90 minutes for 20 treatments. The control group, n = 20, did not undergo HBO2 and tumor weight, apoptosis index, and proliferating activity parameters were compared between the two groups. The results showed no significant differences (p < 0.05) in the whole-body weights, tumor weights, apoptotic index or proliferating activity index between the two groups. By using the apoptosis and proliferating activity assays which were better indicators of tumor cell growth than tumor weight alone, our results suggest that the clinical application of HBO2 does not promote the growth or proliferation of human oral cancer cells.