Cancer, Cancer Treatment

Patients with locally advanced lung cancer who receive chemotherapy and proton therapy, a specialized form a radiation therapy only available in a few centers in the United States, have fewer instances of a serious side effect called bone marrow toxicity than patients who receive chemotherapy and another type of radiation therapy called intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), according to a study presented at the 2008 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology, sponsored by ASTRO, ASCO, IASLC and the University of Chicago.

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The drug Tarceva, made by OSI Pharmaceuticals has been found to cause an increase in survival rates in lung cancer patients when the drug is administered after chemotherapy treatments. The chief executive officer of the company, Colin Goddard, was pleased to announce the results. This drug may be the first in a wave of new treatments for cancer.

This drug works by stopping the growth of non small cell cancer cells, which then slows and even eliminates the cancer?s spread throughout the body. The study involved 889 patients who were given at least four cycles chemotherapy and were then treated with either once-daily Tarceva or a placebo if the disease did not progress during chemotherapy.

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Breast cancer is a cancer of both men and women. But in case of men, it is less common than women. Cancer grows in the cells of the breast and it develops uncontrollably and spreads to other parts of the body. If cancer occurs in cells of breast, one will feel a lump at a self-examination test. In the earlier stage, it is difficult to feel the lump and so in the intitial stage no symptoms occur. A mammogram can detect the primary symptoms of breast cancer by detecting lump of the cancer cells and differentiate the malignant tumors from benign breast conditions. Breast cancer is a metastatic disease as it can spread beyond the original organ. Bone, liver, lung and brain are the more common sites of metastasis and different symptoms occur in this stage.
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A Maui nutriceuticals company is leaping into cancer research with ambitious plans to develop a cancer therapy drug from its line of noni plant products.

Haiku-based Noni Biotech International, which does business as Noni Maui, manufactures supplements, powders and juices from the noni plant, a small evergreen tree. Its bark, root and fruit have been used as a homeopathic remedy for ailments ranging from colds and asthma to diabetes, depression and hypertension.

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Gemin Xsecured a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office protecting the composition of matter of Obatoclax, its lead new drug candidate, through 2025.

Obatoclax is an experimental oncology treatment based on programmed cell death — a process known as apoptosis.

The new drug candidate, according to Gemin X, has the potential to be a “first-in-class pan Bcl-2 inhibitor,” which is a drug that blocks pathways used by Bcl-2 proteins that regulate apoptosis. Researchers have found the overexpression of Bcl-2 protein enhances the potential of cancer cells to metastasize. Obatoclax is in mid-stage clinical testing for the treatment of elderly acute myeloid leukemia and the treatment of small-cell lung cancer.

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- A huge study funded by the National Institutes of Health triples the number of genes linked to lung cancer and points toward new treatments.

The study analyzed DNA sequences from 623 genes in tumor samples from 188 patients with lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer.

The study turned up 26 genes mutated at high frequency in lung cancer tumors. Previously, 10 gene mutations had been linked to lung cancer — and only five of them were known to be mutated at high frequency.

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