Cervical cancer is cancer that starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus (womb) that opens at the top of the vagina. Worldwide, cervical cancer is the third most common type of cancer in women. It is much less common in the United States because of the routine use of pap smears
Cervical cancers start in the cells on the surface of the cervix. There are two types of cells on the cervix's surface: squamous and columnar. Most cervical cancers are from squamous cells.
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A vaccine against cervical cancer, being developed by Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Blue Bell, produced positive results in a small sample of 18 women.
The vaccine prompted their bodies to produce T cells -- a type of white blood cells -- that, in a separate lab test, recognized cells with tumor proteins, and killed them.
The researchers, including a team from the University of Pennsylvania, say the paper in the journal Science is the first to show that a DNA vaccine alone produced a high level of immunity in people. At the same time, the researchers acknowledged that a working vaccine faces more trials and remains years away from an actual product.
Biomarkers are used in helping oncologists to diagnose several types of cancer. They are also used to monitor chemotherapy and radiation treatment in order for the doctor to know if they are killing the cancer cells. New biomarkers have been developed to provide more options in helping the different areas of oncology to treat patients.
Lee Biosolutions Inc. has expanded its line of biomarkers to include products used to track epithelial ovarian cancer, breast cancer and liver cancer.
Based in Brentwood, Lee Biosolutions collects biological materials — human saliva, semen, urine and vaginal secretions, among others — and produces finished proteins, enzymes, biologicals, immuno-reagents and antibodies for life science research and clinical diagnostic testing. The company’s core business is diagnostic and Lee Biosolutions sells proteins and enzymes to research labs like the Cleveland Clinic and pharmaceutical companies such as Abbott Laboratories.
Lee Biosolutions has developed a proprietary process to purify and test for novel cancer biomarkers. In addition to the new biomarkers, the company is expanding its production of the other biomarkers in its lineup.
"We continue to increase supply of CA 19-9 which often is used with patients with pancreatic cancer, CEA tumor marker that helps predict the outlook in patients with colorectal cancer and CA 72-4 which is now used in ovarian, pancreatic cancer and cancers starting in the digestive tract," said Burton Lee, president of the company. "Current research has identified CYFRA 21-1 used as a marker for non-small cell lung cancer and Lee Biosolutions has increased supply of Beta 2 Microglobuilnwhich is used as a marker for multiple myelomas and chronic lymphocytic leukemia."
The products are raw finished proteins that are used in formulations in invitro diagnostic products and research.
Lee Biosolutions had revenue of $6 million last year.
Sarcoma is cancer of the connective tissue such as muscle, cartilage, blood vessels, nerves and bones. Soft tissue (non-bone) sarcomas are rare, but they can occur in many parts of the body such as muscle or fat of the extremities or the trunk. They can also occur in the abdomen, pelvis or chest. There are many types of soft tissue sarcomas, but most are treated in the same way. Some common soft tissue sarcomas include fibrosarcoma, liposarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and synovial sarcoma.
CytRx Corporation a biopharmaceutical company specializing in oncology, today announced that favorable results from a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial with aldoxorubicin (formerly INNO-206) in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma will be featured in a poster and discussion presentation at the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) 17th Annual Meeting on November 15 in Prague, Czech Republic.
The abstract, "Aldoxorubicin (INNO-206) is an active drug for the treatment of relapsed or refractory soft tissue sarcomas," will be presented by the clinical trial's principal investigator Dr. Sant Chawla, M.D., F.R.A.C.P. Dr. Chawla, a world renowned expert in the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas, is Director of the Sarcoma Oncology Center in Santa Monica, Calif. The Phase 1b/2 clinical trial results, first announced in early June 2012 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference, showed clinical benefit (defined as partial response and stable disease of more than four months following up to eight cycles of treatment) with aldoxorubicin at the maximum tolerated dose in 10 of 13 evaluable patients with advanced, metastatic soft tissue sarcomas who had either not responded or relapsed after receiving one to three prior chemotherapies. Eight of the 13 patients had been treated previously with doxorubicin.
"We are excited to share the powerful data from our aldoxorubicin clinical trial with experts from the international oncology community at this preeminent sarcoma conference, as well as at the upcoming ESMO 2012 Congress in Vienna, Austria," said Steven A. Kriegsman, CytRx President and CEO. "The results from this clinical trial are impressive, especially given that these patients had failed prior chemotherapy regimens. Further, there were no observed cardiac toxicities with aldoxorubicin in this clinical trial, with cardiac toxicity considered a major dose-limiting factor for standard doxorubicin. Again, we thank Dr. Chawla for his valuable time to present at these international conferences."
The Cancer Genetics Laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine now offers the Cancer Exome Sequencing test, which uses next-generation sequencing to identify acquired changes in the DNA of a patient’s tumor.
“Cancer exome sequencing is poised to change the current paradigm of genetic testing for cancer patients,” said Dr. Federico Monzon, director of molecular pathology at the Cancer Genetics Laboratory at BCM. “Rather than testing a single gene or panel of genes, cancer exome sequencing will provide comprehensive profile of acquired mutations in tumor tissue.”
DNA change due to cancerous tumors
The term exome refers to the portion of the human genome that contains the DNA sequence that directs protein synthesis. These functionally important regions of DNA are referred to as exons. The 22,000 known genes are comprised of approximately 180,000 exons and represent about 3 percent of the genome.
Most errors in DNA sequence that lead to altered protein function in tumors are located in theexons; therefore, exome sequencing is an efficient method for tumor DNA sequence analysis to uncover genetic causes for tumor behavior.
Some of these acquired mutations can be used to predict tumor aggressiveness or determine the likelihood of response/resistance to targeted agents or other forms of cancer therapy.
“We are entering a new era in individualized cancer diagnosis and treatment in which molecular profiling of the cancer as well as the patient will determine the optimal therapeutic approach for a given patient,” said Dr. C. Kent Osborne, director of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center and the NCI-designated Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at BCM.
If you have previously taken the drugs that will be mentioned in the following article then it would be advantageous for you to have your heart checked for any abnormalities. Also, if you are being currently treated for breast cancer please be aware of the names of your chemo drugs and double check with your nurse and physician.
The two drugs are Anthrocycline and Trastuzumab which may be know as the following:
This is an anthrocycline drug.
This is an trastuzumab drug that is popular.
Women who screen positive for breast cancer through a lab test should be cautious about using two chemotherapy drugs. Findings published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute indicate that these treatments may contribute to heart problems.
After examining the medical history of 12,500 invasive breast cancer patients, the researchers determined that women taking the chemotherapy drugs anthracycline or trastuzumab had a substantially higher chance of experiencing heart failure or cardiomyopathy. The risk was even greater for women taking both medications.
"These drugs are toxic. They kill cancer cells, and sometimes kill other cells in the body, too. [But they] are still important for women with breast cancer to use, because we know they improve survival. As with any drug, people need to be aware of the risks, too," said lead author Erin Aiello Bowles of the Group Health Research Institute.
The American Cancer Association (ACA) says that a lab test for cancer markers can detect the presence of cancer, and gauge whether or not a cancer drug treatment is working.
How many times have you heard of muscular cancer? Never, would be the answer from most people? Cancer of the muscles are very rare. Why does cancer not develop in muscles?
Post mitotic cells
First, muscle cancers do occur, but they are rare. The reason muscle cells rarely become cancerous is that they are "post-mitotic cells.
Post-mitotic means the cells no longer replicate themselves via mitosis. The process of carcinogenesis occurs in cells that are replicating. The process of carcinogenesis begins with a mutation in a cell that is passed on to the daughter cell when the initial cell replicates - this process is called "Initiation".
As more and more of these mutated daughter cells replicate, the potential for more mutations occurs (again mutation occurs during the process of cell replication called mitosis). This process of ongoing development of additional mutations is called "Promotion". At this stage of carcinogenesis a "tumor" has formed, but it is not yet cancerous.
The final stage of carcinogenesis is called "Progression". This last stage occurs when tumor cells acquire additional mutations (again, mutations require cell replication) that allow the tumor cells to spread (metastasize) - thus, becoming "cancer".
You can get sarcoma muscle cancer which is a cancer of the soft tissue that support the muscles.
Sarcoma Muscle Cancer - Soft tissues are the tissues that connect, support or surround organs of the body or other structures such as muscles, tendons, fat, blood vessels, nerves and tissue around the joints. Malignant or cancerous tumors that develop in a child's soft tissue are called sarcomas. They are relatively uncommon, accounting for less than 1 percent of all new cancer cases each year.
The cells of lymphocytic leukemia carry the key for pathogenic transformation. The understanding of these mechanisms could help the medical community to create new therapies with reduced side affects.
Researchers in the group of Prof. Dr. Hassan Jumaa, Centre for Biological Signalling Studies (BIOSS) of the University of Freiburg, Department for Molecular Immunology, have identified a new mechanism that causes immune cells to convert into malignant cancer cells. In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), one of the most common types of blood cancer in the Western world, cells themselves carry the key for the pathogenic transformation, the scientists report in the journal “Nature”. Understanding these underlying mechanisms could facilitate new therapies with reduced side effects.
In healthy humans, a subgroup of white blood cells, so-called B-lymphocytes, are responsible for producing antibodies that fight infections. Special receptor molecules of B-lymphocytes detect pathogenic agents via the key-lock principle and consequently start producing antibodies. In patients with CLL, however, abnormal forms of these receptors lead to uncontrolled reproduction of malignant B-lymphocytes. As a result, healthy cells of the immune system get repressed.
"Up to now, it was assumed that agents produced in the bodies of patients dock at the receptor and thereby activate CLL lymphocytes”, Jumaa says. “In our study we could show that specific components of the receptors are responsible for the development of CLL.” In B-lymphocytes of CLL patients, receptor components FR2 and HCDR3 are formed in such a manner that they represent key and lock of the receptor. “Hereby, neighboring receptors of the same cells activate each other and trigger a signalling cascade, which finally causes uncontrolled division of cancer cells.”
Currently, approaches like chemotherapy that suppress symptoms in a relatively unspecific manner are applied in CLL treatment. “Based on decoding the molecular basics of CLL, we now strive to translate this knowledge to make it useful for patients”, Marcus Dühren-von Minden says, another author of the study. “It is conceivable to administer numerous copies of the key FR2 to patients, which then dock to the receptors and prevent neighboring receptors to bind at each other. This stops the consequential signalling cascade.” Through this mechanism, the course of the disease could be precluded much earlier than before, and with less side effects.
This video is about targeting B-cell therapy in Lymphoma.
