Researchers have recently discovered that the large consumption of alcohol is broken down by proteins that are produced by breast cells. This could result by patients having a positive lab test for breast cancer.
However, researchers were not exactly sure why this association exists.
Now, a team of Mexican researchers may have explained the problem.
The researchers, who hailed from the Autonomous University of Morelos,
showed that a protein that is present in all breast cells breaks down
alcohol. During this process, unstable molecules known as free radicals
are produced. These molecules damage breast cells, causing the cells to
start proliferation processes as a way to avoid tissue damage.
Unfortunately, the rapid cell proliferation is a major cause of tumor
growth.
Not all women are equally affected by this problem. The
researchers found that some breast cells produce less of the protein
that breaks down alcohol. These cells are more or less protected from
the negative effects of alcohol consumption.
The researchers said
they hope to develop a test that would tell women how much of the
protein their breast cells produce. This could give individuals early
warning that may enable them to avoid alcohol consumption entirely and
significantly reduce their chances of developing breast cancer in the
future.
Biomarkers are usually blood test to know if cancer could be present or to monitor staging of the certain cancer. Now there are optical biomarkers for Barrett's esophagus. These biomarkers are derived from nondysplastic metaplastic cells which can detect high grade dysplasia and adenocarinoma from Barretts esophagus. This study was presented at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium which was sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. These optical biomarkers could be uses on select patients who should go on to high resolution endoscopy and also who would require ablation therapy.
“Our biggest challenge is to identify high-risk patients who look normal
on [conventional] endoscopy. The optical biomarkers can distinguish
between BE without neoplastic changes from those with dysplasia,” stated
Randall E. Brand, MD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,
Pennsylvania. “SLQPM (spatial-domain low-coherence quantitative phase
microscopy)-derived biomarkers provide a promising approach for
differentiation of dysplastic/ neoplastic BE from nondysplastic
intraepithelial metaplasia. Future studies are warranted to expand our
study population and develop additional new optical biomarkers to
improve on current sensitivity and specificity and validate our
findings.”
Because it is known that BE can progress from low-grade to high-grade
dysplasia and invasive cancer, BE patients typically undergo endoscopic
surveillance at 1- to 3- year intervals. Standard protocol includes
four-quadrant random biopsies every 1-2 cm along the entire length of
BE. Brand pointed out that random sampling is challenging due to the
inability to differentiate patients with nondysplastic BE from those who
have occult high-grade dysplasia, or who will progress to high-grade
dysplasia or esophageal cancer. Therefore, optical biomarkers have the
potential to fill an unmet need.
SL-QPM utilizes broadband light source, a microscope, and a tissue
specimen. Cell changes are shown by light reflectance. The retrospective
study reported at the symposium included archived specimens from 33
controls with BE and no cancer and 21 samples with high-grade dysplasia.
The study also included six samples from patients with esophageal
cancer.
Using optical signatures, three biomarkers were identified that can
discriminate between cells with neoplasia and those with no neoplasia. A
prediction model combining the three significant optical biomarkers had
89% sensitivity, 76% specificity, and 87% accuracy for distinguishing
BE from high-grade dysplasia or esophageal cancer.
“If subsequent testing [of these optical biomarkers] proves successful,
our approach could lead to simpler and more effective ways of
monitoring patients with BE. Such a monitoring program would identify a
subset of high-risk BE patients who require more intensive surveillance
with high-resolution endoscopic imaging, and who could also be
candidates for therapy to destroy the precancerous tissue. We need a way
to select patients for high-resolution imaging—not all centers are
equipped to do that,” Brand said.
Goblet cells are stained blue in Barrett's Esophogus
The moderator of the press conference where these findings were
discussed, Morton Kahlenberg, MD, said, “This is an exciting study
suggesting that the biomarkers may be an additional test that can
identify patients who harbor cells that will progress and a basis for
modifying treatment.” Kahlenberg is medical director of Surgical
Oncology Associates of South Texas in San Antonio.
A Battelle scientist in was granted with 148,880 to use to test 'radiogel' for killing cancer at the University of Washington. This generous award came from the Life Sciences Discovery Fund which mission is to advance the technology
Radogel has resulted from years of research by scientists for Battelle to develop a radioactive isotope that would be injected in the body and will stay in place. Due to the fact that the injection will stay in place it will deliver a high dose of cancer-killing radiation.
"The technology could be used for solid cancers that cannot be removed
surgically and require high doses of radiation for treatment to be
successful", said Darrell Fisher, a senior scientist at Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory, and the recipient of the grant for his research
for Battelle.
The radiogel includes a polymer and microspheres of the medical
isotope yttrium 90 in a water-based solution. The polymer is in liquid
form when it's injected to the cancer site, but quickly turns into a gel
at body temperature and stays in place.
The polymer binds the microspheres in place as the yttrium 90
bombards the cancer with radiation, with little of the radiation
reaching nearby healthy tissue. It has applications for cancers of the
liver, brain, head and neck, kidney and pancreas, and is showing promise
for eye tumors.
The grant will allow clinicians at the UW Department of Radiology to
perform test injections on rabbits, using ultrasound to guide the needle
to liver tumors. The technology has been licensed to Advanced Medical
Isotope of Kennewick to produce and distribute, following an option
between Battelle and AMIC announced last year.
"We expect the radiogel to become a therapeutic agent that provides
physicians with the ability to effectively treat tumors that cannot be
removed surgically or that cannot be treated by any other means," said
Robert Schenter, chief scientific officer for AMIC.
Hopefully , radiogel will prove to be very successful! What do you think about this new radiation technology?
A new blood test has been approved by the FDA to find viruses in the blood that may lead to leukemias and neurologic diseases. Avioq HTLV-I/II Microelisa System is the name of the testing for viruses that can be transmitted through blood transfusions, infected syringes and breast milk of an infested mother.
Avioq HTLV-I/II Microelisa System, is the only test now available that
can be used to both screen the blood supply for antibodies to Human
T-Lymphotropic Virus Type I (HTLV-I) and Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type
II (HTLV-II), and help diagnose infection with these viruses.
This is test will also used to test serum and plasma of potential blood donors. This gives even more confidence for blood transfusion recipients
"For many years, the donor screening community has been limited to one
option for HTLV testing. We are pleased to be able to address this need
by providing the Avioq HTLV-I/II assay as an alternative test," said
Chamroen Chetty, CEO of Avioq, Inc. Dr. Chetty continues, "As we
announced last year, Ortho
Clinical Diagnostics will distribute the Avioq assay into the donor
screening market, adding HTLV-I/II to their extensive menu of assays. We
are pleased to have a partner who is as committed as we are to the donor
screening community." The introduction of the Avioq® HTLV-I/II
Microelisa System fulfills Avioq's commitment to expand its Retrovirus
product portfolio.
For more information: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120329/FDA-approves-Avioq-HTLV-III-Microelisa-System.aspx
Aspirin has been around for a long time. Salicylic which is from will bark was recorded as early as 300 B.C. I was used to relieve aches and pains. The official drug called aspirin in the year of 1899. Acetyl-salicylic acid became the new chemical combination.
In recent years it has been advised for people with heart problems to take a baby aspirin regularly to prevent blockages in the cardiac system.
Now the subject of aspirin helping prevent cancer is in the news. There are new statistics of the use of aspirin in clinical trials have been promising. Here are the results:
A combined analysis of 51 randomized trials found that daily aspirin
use reduces the risk of new cancer diagnoses as well as the risk of
cancer death. These results were published in The Lancet.
A growing body of evidence suggests that aspirin may reduce the risk
of several types of cancer, with particularly strong evidence for
colorectal cancer. Not all studies have found a benefit, however, and
any potential benefits of aspirin must be weighed against risks such as
bleeding.
To further explore the relationships between daily aspirin and
cancer, researchers conducted a combined analysis of 51 previous
randomized trials. The trials were originally designed to evaluate the effect of daily
aspirin on outcomes such as heart disease, but information about cancer
was also available.
Daily aspirin reduced cancer deaths. After five years, aspirin users had a 37 percent reduction in risk of cancer death.
Aspirin also reduced the likelihood of developing cancer. From three
years onward, aspirin users had a 24 percent reduction in the risk of
being diagnosed with cancer.
As expected, aspirin carried a risk of major bleeding, but this risk appeared to diminish over time.
Another study published in the same issue of The Lancet
evaluated the effect of daily aspirin on cancer metastasis (the spread
of cancer from its original site to other parts of the body). The study
focused on 987 people who were diagnosed with cancer while participating
in one of five trials of aspirin use. Those who were taking aspirin
were less likely to have metastatic cancer than those who were not
taking aspirin.
These results suggest that regular aspirin use may reduce cancer
incidence and mortality, but concerns remain about the risks of regular
aspirin use in healthy individuals. People who are considering using
aspirin on a regular basis are advised to discuss the risks and benefits
with their physician.
The new direction of cancer treatment is becoming personalized to the characteristics of individual patients. Instead of treating specific cancers the same way for all patients researchers are focusing on the characteristic's of each patient and their tumors.
These new ways of treatment was presented at the Third European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva.
A major goal of lung cancer treatment is to tailor the treatment to the
individual," says Dr Fiona Blackhall from The Christie NHS Foundation
Trust in Manchester, UK. "The studies that will be presented at ELCC
2012 are important practical steps to achieving this in the clinic.
Methods ranging from convenient blood-based molecular tests, detailed
genetic analysis of tumors and functional imaging techniques have been
applied in patient populations receiving a range of treatments. These
findings provide impetus to continue developing a personalized medicine
approach to lung cancer with the overall aim of selecting the most
effective treatment for the individual."
Proteins provide clues to outcomes
An international group of researchers report promising results with a
test that may identify patients likely to benefit from first-line
therapy with a particular drug combination.
Dr Oliver Gautschi from the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research
(SAKK), and collaborators from The Netherlands and the US company
developing the test, conducted a retrospective analysis of two phase-II
trials with a serum proteomic classifier called VeriStrat-. Their aim
was to evaluate the prognostic value of the test in patients with
advanced non-small cell lung cancer receiving first-line treatment with bevacizumab and erlotinib.
VeriStrat- uses mass spectrometry to measure proteins in
pre-treatment blood and assigns a result that correlates with outcome
from treatment with a class of drugs known as EGFR inhibitors, which
includes erlotinib and gefitinib. The test was initially developed and
validated in patients who had already been treated with chemotherapy, and who then received an EGFR inhibitor in second line, Dr Gautschi explains.
"We conducted this project to see if the test is also prognostic in
untreated patients who received an EGFR inhibitor in the first line.
Until now, this has not been clear."
The researchers used VeriStrat- to analyze blood samples from 117
patients previously enrolled in two phase II trials and compared the
results to the patients' progression-free survival and overall survival.
The analysis showed that those classified by the test as likely to have
better outcomes on EGFR inhibitor therapy did indeed live longer.
"The difference in overall survival between patients classified by
the test as likely to have better or worse outcomes when receiving EGFR
inhibitors was clinically relevant," Dr Gautschi said. However he noted
that definitive conclusions about the use of this test in previously
untreated patients requires further studies.
"There is an unmet need for reliable blood-based markers in patients with lung cancer, because lung tumors are harder to biopsy than breast tumours for example. The current study indicates that modern technologies, such as proteomics, are promising tools, which need further validation in large trials," he said. In this context, the European Thoracic Oncology Platform (ETOP) is currently launching a prospective phase-III trial to futher validate this test in patients with lung cancer.
Gene Based Lung Cancer Treatment
For more information:
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120419/New-studies-on-personalized-lung-cancer-treatment-presented-at-3rd-ELCC.aspx
Lengthening the life of a patient with brain tumors is wonderful news. Phase 2 of the clinical trials paves the way for testing a new therapy that combines a brain cancer vaccine with the oncology drug, Avastin
A new report of this news was reported today by the University of California, San Francisco.
This vaccine is individualized by using tissue from the patient's tumor. This procedure has proven effective in a multicenter phase 2 clinical trial at extending their lives by
several months or longer. The patients suffered from recurrent
glioblastoma multiforme—which kills thousands of Americans every year.
These
results, to be announced Tuesday, April 17 at the American Association
of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) meeting in Miami, compared the
effectiveness of the vaccine for more than 40 patients treated at UCSF’s
Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, at the Seidman Cancer
Center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland and at
New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in New
York City.
The trial found the vaccine could extend survival for
the patients by several months when compared to 80 other patients who
were treated at the same hospitals and received standard therapy—47
weeks compared to 32 weeks. Several of the patients who received the
cancer vaccine have survived for more than a year.
“These results
are provocative,” said UCSF neurosurgeon Andrew Parsa, MD, PhD, who led
the research. “They suggest that doctors may be able to extend survival
even longer by combining the vaccine with other drugs that enhance this
immune response.”
The next step, he said, will be a more extensive, randomized clinical
trial to look at the effectiveness of the vaccine combined with the drug
Avastin, a standard therapy for this type of cancer, compared to the
effectiveness of Avastin alone. Those trials, to be run by the National
Cancer Institute, will begin enrolling patients later this year.
To read more of this article:
http://www.newswise.com/articles/brain-cancer-vaccine-proves-effective?ret=/articles/list&category=medicine&page=1&search%5Bstatus%5D=3&search%5Bsort%5D=date+desc&search%5Bsection%5D=10&search%5Bhas_multimedia%5D=
