| Health digest: Reading Hospital schedules educational events
Breast-feeding Education, Sunday, 2 to 4 p.m., Health Education Center. Fee $10. FLOW for Cancer Survivors, Monday, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Conference Center, Fifth Avenue lobby entrance. Fee $3. •"Journey Through Pregnancy - Preparing for Delivery and Baby," next Tuesday, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Health Education Center. Expectant parents are invited to attend between 28-40 weeks of pregnancy. Except where otherwise noted, call 610-988-HELP for information or to register. ??? The Miller-Keystone Blood Center, 2745 Leisz's Bridge Road, Bern Township, has scheduled the following blood drive sites: .
Doctor's courage still inspires
She beat breast cancer and became a highly paid motivational speaker. Her 2001 book, "Ice bound: A Doctor's Incredible Story of Survival at the South Pole" (with Maryanne Vollers, Miramax, $23.95) was a best-seller and made into a movie. She married her second husband, Tom FitzGerald of Southwick, Mass. All was well. Triumph. Determined to keep living Then in 2005, the cancer came back, creeping into her bones and liver. She kept going. Then last fall, the cancer made another move. Brain tumor. She kept going. In October, she spoke at the University of Toledo College of Medicine, formerly the Medical College of Ohio, from which she graduated in 1977. She took off her wig to show the students her bald head. She told them not to get discouraged.
Six US Manufacturers To Stop BPA Baby Bottles
Several studies have linked BPA to breast cancer, obesity and other illnesses, with one showing people with high levels of the chemical had higher rates of heart disease, liver problems and diabetes, while another linked BPA to brain and mood disorders in monkeys.
BPA has been widely used in manufacturing for over 50 years. Among its many uses is the making of polycarbonate, a clear and shatterproof plastic used to make baby bottles, water bottles, sports equipment, eyeglasses, dental and medical devices, fillings and sealants for teeth, lenses and many household items such as CDs.
The US Food and Drug Administraton (FDA) says BPA is safe, but according to the Washington Post, the two studies it based this decision on were funded by the chemicals industry.
Other studies suggest BPA is more dangerous to the unborn and developing child, and that the FDA's current safety level is too high.
Local woman fights cancer through clinical trial treatments
She is one of only 10 people in the country taking part in a clinical trial for breast cancer. Wendy says, "Most of the time with breast cancer they can go in and take the tumors out, but since it had spread to my liver that was not an option." Dr. Paul Richards with Blue Ridge Cancer Care knew of a treatment option that might help. A combination of IV chemo treatments at the office and daily chemo pills are both usually a last resort for treatment. New research is focusing on using them first instead. Dr. Richards says, "If you can find the mechanism that turns it on and off… switches for it, you can keep it under control." Wendy's willingness to participate in the clinical trial provides benefits for other patients in the future because it allows doctors to come up with dosing for this chemo combination.
Shorts (left)
But those tumors had spread there from someplace else, and her doctors could not determine whether the original site was the breast, the colon, the ovary or some other organ. Without that knowledge, they could not offer optimal treatment. Such mystery tumors are estimated to account for 2 percent to 5 percent of all cancer, or at least 30,000 new cases a year in the United States, making them more common than brain, liver or stomach cancers. For patients, such a diagnosis can amount to a double agony — not only do they have cancer, but doctors cannot treat it properly. “You don't believe that in the 21st century it is possible for the medical profession not to know where the cancer is coming from," said Symons' husband, John. But now 21st-century medicine may help.
Genetic Tests May Reveal Source of Mystery Tumors
If a cancer that originated in the breast is found in the liver, it is still classified as breast cancer and treated with breast cancer drugs. Lacking such a classification, doctors can use drugs that work for a variety of cancers. But such treatment presumably is less effective than one using drugs matched to the type of cancer. So the discovery of an unclassified cancer often sets off a frantic search for the original tumor. “I had every test out there — PET scan, M.R.I., colonoscopy, mammogram — I even swallowed a pill with a camera on it” to take pictures of the digestive tract, Lori Young of Huntsville, Ala., wrote on a Web site for people with cancer of unknown primary. But her original tumor could not be found. Ms.
Cancer-spread enzyme 'found'
After six weeks, mice with cancer that produced lower concentrations of LOX enzymes had fewer lung tumours than mice with unmodified human breast cancer cells. They also had evidence of fewer BMDCs, i.e. fewer premetastatic sites, particularly those containing CD11b+ cells (a particular type of white blood cell). Even in the absence of tumours (i.e. in cancer-free mice), injection with a culture medium that contained LOX from hypoxic cancer cells resulted in higher concentrations of CD11b+ cells in the lungs (premetastatic sites).Purified LOX did not have as great an effect as LOX in the presence of hypoxic tumour cells. LOX appeared to establish cross-links between collagens and elastins (a type of protein). LOX and CD11b+ cells were found in samples of metastatic tumours from the brain, liver, neck, ovary, lymph nodes and omentum tissue (a layer of fat in the abdomen).What interpretations did the researchers draw from these results? The results suggest that inhibiting LOX enzymes decreases tumour cell invasion and metastases, and that LOX plays a role in establishing premetastatic sites in lung tissue.
ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Identifies Novel Peptides to Broaden
While glioblastoma will be the initial target for ICT-121, CD133 is also overexpressed in colon cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma and melanoma, providing many potential cancer targets for this CSC vaccine in the future. About ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. IMUC is a Los Angeles-based clinical-stage company that is developing immune based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers. IMUC is currently evaluating a dendritic cell-based vaccine in a Phase I clinical trial for glioblastoma. The company's "off the shelf? therapeutic vaccine product candidate targeting cancer stem cells for multiple cancer indications is expected to enter clinical trials during the third quarter of 2009. IMUC is in pre-clinical development of a monoclonal antibody product candidate for the treatment of small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer, and is also evaluating its platform technology for monoclonal antibody discovery using differential immunization for diagnosing and treating multiple types of cancer.
ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Signs Agreement with Formatech for
While glioblastoma will be the initial target for ICT-121, CD133 is also overexpressed in colon cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma and melanoma, providing many potential cancer targets for this CSC vaccine in the future. About ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. IMUC is a Los Angeles-based clinical-stage company that is developing immune based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers. The company's "off-the-shelf" therapeutic vaccine product candidate targeting cancer stem cells for multiple cancer indications is expected to enter clinical trials during the third quarter of 2009. IMUC is in pre-clinical development of a monoclonal antibody product candidate for the treatment of small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer, and is also evaluating its platform technology for monoclonal antibody discovery using differential immunization for diagnosing and treating multiple types of cancer.
Samtheo Announces License Agreement with Moffitt Cancer Center for
"Akt is abnormally hyperactivated in many advanced malignancies and late stage tumors, such as breast, prostate, lung, pancreatic, liver, ovarian and colorectal cancers. Increased activation is also linked with drug and radiation resistance," said Dr. Cheng. Through this license, Lyndor plans to develop and commercialize the new anti-cancer agent, which it refers to as LD-101, for refractory and resistant tumors as well as metastatic malignancies, addressing a huge unmet medical need. "Given time, most cancers will relapse, become resistant and, ultimately, refractory. In fact, most become metastatic before detection," said Susan Rosenbaum, Esq., Chairman and CEO of Samtheo. "Lyndor's agreement with Moffitt will enable Lyndor to develop this targeted therapeutic for personalized medicine in the treatment of patients with these difficult-to-treat diseases." Under the license agreement, Lyndor has agreed to pay Moffitt when various milestones are reached and provide Moffitt with running royalties on the sales of licensed products.
|
