GBP Health / Biotech News 04-19-2010:
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EurekAlert - Biology:
Public Release: 19-Apr-2010
Cell Transplantation
Cell transplants may benefit children with cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neurological disorder permanently affecting muscle movement that may be treated with transplanted olfactory sheathing cells (OECs). Transplanted OECs have previously shown the ability to retain plasticity, promote blood vessel growth and help with other neurological disorders, such as ALS, MS and spinal cord injury. This study by researchers in China has found that transplanted OECs resulted in functional improvement by two different measures, for children and adolescents with CP.
Contact: David Eve
celltransplantation@gmail.com
Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair
Public Release: 19-Apr-2010PLoS ONE
Scientists find chicken antibodies may help prevent H5N1 pandemic
Scientists have discovered for the first time that antibodies in common eggs laid by hens vaccinated against the H5N1 virus can potentially prevent a possible H5N1 pandemic, raising the possibility that the same principle could be applied to the current H1N1 influenza pandemic.
Contact: Tae Kyung Byun
tkbyun@ivi.int
822-881-1159
International Vaccine Institute
Public Release: 19-Apr-2010
American Association for Cancer Research 101st Annual Meeting
UAB researchers find 4 biomarkers important in colorectal cancer treatment prognosis
The science of microRNAs continues to generate new insights into cancer and disease treatment. New research shows that four specific miRNAs will help predict which patients are more likely to develop aggressive colorectal cancer and which are not, said a pathology graduate student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The findings also shed light on the genetics that result in worse colorectal cancer-treatment outcomes for African-Americans, compared with Caucasians.
Contact: Troy Goodman
tdgoodman@uab.edu
205-934-8938
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Public Release: 18-Apr-2010Nature Materials
A brain-recording device that melts into place
Scientists have developed a brain implant that essentially melts into place, snugly fitting to the brain's surface. The technology could pave the way for better devices to monitor and control seizures, and to transmit signals from the brain past damaged parts of the spinal cord.
NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Contact: Daniel Stimson
stimsond@ninds.nih.gov
301-496-5751
NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Public Release: 18-Apr-2010American Association for Cancer Research 101st Annual Meeting
Routine breast cancer biopsy might predict lymph node cancer spread
Predicting breast cancer spread from a sentinel lymph node removed during surgery is a hit or miss affair, say researchers: there are still many false negatives, which means the node, when analyzed under a microscope, appears clean of cancer cells, but metastasis can still occur in the patient. The sentinel node is the first lymph node in the axilla that cancer spreads to.
Contact: Karen Mallet
km463@georgetown.edu
215-514-9751
Georgetown University Medical Center
Public Release: 16-Apr-2010New England Journal of Medicine
Clinical study shows patients gain limb movement years after stroke
A clinical study led by Brown University has found that stroke patients can regain limb movement long after an injury through intensive therapy with specially trained personnel and newly created robotic aids. Results are published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.VA's Cooperative Studies Program and Rehabilitation Research and Development Service
Contact: Richard Lewis
Richard_Lewis@brown.edu
401-863-3766
Brown University
Public Release: 15-Apr-2010Gene Therapy
Researchers prove the gene responsible for Duchenne muscular dystrophy can be repaired
Researchers from Université Laval's Faculty of Medicine and the CHUQ Research Center have proven that it is possible to repair the defective gene responsible for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The team, led by Professor Jacques P. Tremblay, is presenting its new therapeutic approach in an article published today in the online version of the scientific journal Gene Therapy.
Contact: Jean-François Huppé
jean-francois.huppe@dc.ulaval.ca
418-656-7785
Université Laval
Public Release: 15-Apr-2010Cancer Cell
USC researchers discover new molecular subtype of brain cancer
Study in Cancer Cell journal identifies patients with longer-than-expected survival times from onset of highly aggressive glioblastoma multiforme.National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Cancer Institute, Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation
Contact: Leslie Ridgeway
leslie.ridgeway@usc.edu
323-442-2823
University of Southern California
Source - Science Daily :
Please note : Due to the format restrictions of Science Daily articles, you must click on the URL (web address) below the article summary , rather than the article title.
Terminal Cancer Patients Do Not Receive Appropriate Radiation Therapy, Analysis Finds
April 19, 2010 — A new analysis has found that a considerable proportion of patients with end-stage or terminal cancer do not benefit from palliative radiation therapy (radiotherapy) despite spending most of their ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100412075439.htm
First Clinical Evidence of Anti-Cancer Drug Triggering Viral Infection
April 19, 2010 — A new study shows that a common cancer drug can activate a viral infection that, paradoxically, can help anti-viral medications eradicate virus-associated ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100412151829.htm
MiRNA-21 Linked to Tumor Suppressor Loss, Herceptin Resistance
April 19, 2010 — Overexpression of a specific type of microRNA can derail treatment by disabling an important molecular brake on breast cancer cell proliferation, according to new ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100419090945.htm
Uncovering Early Stages of Alzheimer's Disease
April 18, 2010 — A major Australian study has provided new insights into the loss of structure in regions of the brain and its potential association with Alzheimer's ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100416095806.htm
Chinese Scientists Discover Marker Indicating the Developmental Potential of Stem Cells
April 18, 2010 — Researchers in China are reporting that they have found a way to determine which somatic cells -- or differentiated body cells -- that have been reprogrammed into a primordial, embryonic-like state ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100416094016.htm
Routine Breast Cancer Biopsy Might Predict Lymph Node Cancer Spread
April 18, 2010 — Predicting breast cancer spread from a sentinel lymph node removed during surgery is a hit or miss affair, say researchers: there are still many false negatives, which means the node, when analyzed ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100418155430.htm
'Smart' Insulin Molecule: Zinc-Stapled Insulin Reduces Insulin-Related Cancer Risk
April 17, 2010 — Researchers have invented a "smart" insulin protein molecule that binds considerably less to cancer receptors and self-assembles under the skin. To provide a slow-release form of insulin, the analog ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100412151834.htm
Scientists Track Variant of Gene-Regulating Protein in Embryonic Stem Cells
April 16, 2010 — The journey from embryonic stem cell to a fully developed liver, heart or muscle cell requires not only the right genes, but genes that are turned on and off at the right time -- a job that is ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100410140854.htm
Personalized Medicine for Cancer Patients in a New Technology Era
April 16, 2010 — A paper authored by over 200 members of the International Cancer Genome Consortium describes the beginnings of a Brave New World: a new era of personalized medicine for cancer patients. Formed in ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100414130828.htm
Molecular Discovery Points to New Therapies for Brain Tumors
April 16, 2010 — A class of brain tumor that tends to emerge in younger patients but is less aggressive than others can be identified by examining DNA methylation of a specific set of genes, scientists ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100415125940.htm
April 15, 2010 — One of the most ambitious biomedical research efforts since the Human Genome Project, the International Cancer Genome Consortium has set out its plan to decode the genomes from 25,000 cancer samples ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100415085311.htm
Source - Health Day:
Health Highlights: April 19, 2010
- FDA Reconsiders Fate of Diabetes Drug Avandia: Report
- FDA Warns Generic Drug Maker Apotex
- No Evidence of Autism-Related Bowel Disease: Paper
Raloxifene, Tamoxifen Both Guard Against Breast Cancer
But first drug helps prevent noninvasive disease more and has fewer side effects, study finds.
Matching Tumor Types to Drugs Boosts Lung Cancer Outcomes
First such trial finds better control of disease when chemo is targeted to specific 'molecular signatures'
Obesity Epidemic May Cut Life Spans of Young Adults
Americans becoming overweight much earlier in life than in past generations, study finds
Clinical Trials Update: April 16, 2010
- Hepatitis B Vaccine
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Osteoarthritis
Source - Yahoo Biotech News:
New Preclinical Breast Cancer Study Shows Peregrine's PS-Targeting Antibodies Can Reverse Tumor-Induced Immune Suppression- Marketwire - Mon 9:00 am ET
Javelin Pharmaceuticals ends deal with Myriad- AP - 2 hours, 9 minutes ago
Javelin Pharmaceuticals is scuttling a deal to sell itself to Myriad Pharmaceuticals Inc., the company said Monday. Javelin said last week it received a better offer from Hospira Inc.
Source - Google Health News:
New hope in fight against leukaemia
Daily News & Analysis
The treatment, known as TCR gene therapy, works by injecting white blood cells with an infection-fighting gene that recognises cancer cells. ...
Repairing The Gene Responsible For Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy ...
By admin
The team, led by Professor Jacques P. Tremblay, is presenting its new therapeutic approach in an article published in the online version of the scientific journal Gene Therapy. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is … ...
Practical issues of running a gene therapy trial in prostate cancer patients
UroToday
As a result, all gene therapy clinical trials using retroviruses as a vector worldwide were put on hold. To continue our trial we had to give a statement to ...
New Gene Therapy Breakthrough in Humans is Result of Research Pioneered at ...
Healthcanal.com
A promising gene therapy method first developed through animal studies at Oregon Health & Science University has now been successfully tested using human ...
Source - Medical News Today :
The University Hospital of Zürich has become the first medical center in the world to commence treating cancer patients with the revolutionary TrueBeam™ system from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR), a new platform for image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery that was designed from the ground up to treat a moving target with unprecedented speed and precision. One of two of the world's premier cancer centers to install a TrueBeam system in advance of its formal introduction to the world last week, the University of Zürich began using the system clinically in March of this year. Since then, doctors there have delivered treatments for prostate and lung cancer, as well as schwannomas (benign nerve sheath tumors), brain, and spinal metastases.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/185874.php
FDA Approves Tarceva As A Maintenance Therapy For Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIP) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the daily pill Tarceva ® (erlotinib) as a maintenance treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has not progressed after four cycles of platinum-based first-line chemotherapy. "We are delighted that lung cancer patients and their physicians will have the option of beginning Tarceva therapy in the first-line maintenance setting. We believe that Tarceva, as the only medicine approved in the maintenance setting for the squamous and non-squamous forms of NSCLC, offers a valuable treatment option for these patients," said Colin Goddard, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of OSI Pharmaceuticals. "We remain committed to a strategy of maximizing the value of Tarceva as an important therapy for cancer patients and are pursuing the study of additional uses for Tarceva, including as a first-line treatment for lung cancer patients with an activating EGFR mutation, as an adjuvant therapy in NSCLC, and in other tumor types such as ovarian cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma."
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/185875.php
'New' Prostate Cancer Treatment 100% Effective
During a routine physical in September 2006, retired airline pilot Jeff Albulet's doctor thought he 'felt something' when he did a digital rectal exam, although Jeff's prostate specific antigen (PSA) was only 2. Six months later, Jeff's PSA rose to 3.5, and a biopsy showed pre-cancerous cells. In discussing his options with his primary care physician, he learned about a treatment that would save his prostate and not cause impotence or incontinence . According the Dr. Friedrich Douwes, Medical Director of St. George Hospital in Bad Aibling, Germany, president of the German Oncological Society and the author of several hundred scientific articles and books, trans-urethral prostate hyperthermia has a 100% initial response rate. Albulet's doctor had heard Douwes speak at a medical conference in Las Vegas, NV. Douwes helped to develop the Oncotherm radio-wave hyperthermia treatment, which heats the entire prostate without harming healthy tissue. He has successfully treated thousands of prostate cancerpatients, many from the USA. In use for over 25 years, radio-wave hyperthermia is the treatment of choice in Europe for many cancers . When Albulet learned that the treatment took only one week and had a dramatic success rate without side effects, he was elated.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/185789.php
Organized by Pharma IQ, a division of IQPC, the Adaptive Designs for Clinical Drug Development Summit will be held April 28-30, 2010 at the Ritz Carlton in Philadelphia, PA ( http://www.AdaptiveDesignsSummit.com ). Following the much-anticipated release of the FDA's Draft Guidance, this timely event will provide the adaptive community with an opportunity to interact with the FDA and other industry experts to determine the impact of the new Guidance. Program sessions will provide regulatory guidance as well as advise the adaptive community on how to overcome the design and implementation obstacles to adaptive development. Focused solely on adaptive clinical drug development, this event will cover regulatory updates and issues, the latest innovations and methodologies, case studies, drug supply and management, and lessons learned from real life adaptive implementation.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/185723.php
Source - MIT's Technology Review:
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/25154/?a=f
Stimulating Healing in the Heart
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/25139/
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