| Promiscuity, gonorrhea are risks for prostate cancer in men: study
Although we are unable to show that gonorrhea directly causes prostate cancer, we suspect the inflammatory effect of the gonorrhea infection may trigger pre-existing cancerous cells to multiply," says lead study author Aruna Sarma, Ph.D., assistant research scientist in the Department of Urology at U-M Medical School. In the study, 65 percent of the men with prostate cancer reported having had gonorrhea, compared to 53 percent of men without prostate cancer. Men with prostate cancer were also more likely to report being diagnosed more than once with gonorrhea, a bacterial infection transmitted through sexual intercourse. The overall rate of gonorrhea is now increasing, after a steady decline for the past two decades, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Tweeters as editors, sources, merchants?
Politics winner @justin_hart promoted a politician while Scott Zagarino @athletes4acure spoke out about prostate cancer when accepting the nonprofits prize. Martin Sargent @martinsargent, won the weird category and took a dig at the platform itself. "What's truly weird is that by receiving the $1,000 grant that accompanies this award, I'm 1,000 times more profitable than Twitter. Thank you." Another contendor for the weird prize, @Matman showed up at the party in an outfit to promote WellComeMat.com Then there was the mix of attendees, many of whom paid a $60 entrance fee, besides the reporters who gave the event pretty wide coverage. Nora Abousteit, who runs an open source sewing pattern web site burdaStyle.com, said she depends so much on Twitter for media updates that she changed her cellphone number and service after discovering twitter didn't work well on her old phone.
Yale Researchers Present Results of Phase II Phenoxodiol Clinical
In another related development concerning the potential for phenoxodiol as a therapeutic in prostate cancer, a paper was published today in the British Journal of Cancer reporting that, in addition to its potential as a single agent therapeutic, phenoxodiol is able to enhance the activity of cisplatin and carboplatin against prostate cancer cells in vitro(1). This study, conducted by Professor Paul de Souza and colleagues of the Department of Medical Oncology at St. George Hospital in Sydney, Australia concluded "that phenoxodiol has interesting properties that make combination therapy with cisplatin or carboplatin appealing." About phenoxodiol: Phenoxodiol is being developed by the US oncology company Marshall Edwards, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSHL) as a chemosensitizing agent in combination with platinum drugs for late stage, chemoresistant ovarian cancer and as a monotherapy for prostate and cervical cancers.
Engineers create 'intelligent' molecules
Smolke's team focuses on well-researched model systems in breast, prostate and brain cancers, including immunotherapy applications based on reprogramming human immune response to different diseases. The researchers work directly with clinicians at the City of Hope Cancer Center (a National Cancer Institute designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif.) who have ongoing immunotherapy trials for treating glioma, a severe type of brain cancer. "Our goal is to make more effective therapies by taking advantage of the natural capabilities of our immune system and introducing slight modifications in cases where it is not doing what we would like it to do," Smolke said. She hopes to translate her technologies into intelligent cellular therapeutics for glioma patients in the next five years.
Cancer Death Rates Decline Among Blacks, But Disparities Linger
Cancer of the lung will be the most common cause of cancer death in both black men (31 percent) and women (23 percent), followed by prostate cancer in men (12 percent) and breast cancer in women (19 percent). Cancer of the colon/rectum and pancreatic cancer are expected to be the third and fourth most common causes of cancer death for both black men and women. Death rates for all cancers combined have decreased faster among black men than white men, mostly due to rapid declines in lung and prostate cancer death rates among black men. Overall, cancer death rates have also decreased among black women but at a slower rate than among white women, likely due to smaller decreases in breast and colorectal cancer death rates among black women. While racial disparities are decreasing, the 2005 death rate for all cancers combined was 33 percent higher in black men and 16 percent higher in black women when compared to that of white men and women, respectively.
Ferring wins European approval for prostate cancer drug
Testosterone plays a major role in the growth and spread of prostate cancer cells. The data show that degarelix provided an extremely fast effect on testosterone levels, close to the immediate effect achieved with surgery. The European Commission approval for Firmagon (degarelix) follows approval from the FDA in the US in December 2008. Ferring plans to communicate a range of information about the treatment at the European Academy of Urology (EAU) congress in Stockholm in March. Pascal Danglas, executive vice president of clinical and product development at Ferring Pharmaceuticals, said: "We are delighted with the approval of Firmagon, which demonstrated in clinical trials both an immediate onset of action and a profound long-term suppression of testosterone and prostate specific antigen.
UK’s first double high-dose cancer treatment delivered in Bristol
Patients are normally suffering from locally-advanced prostate cancer and receive brachytherapy as a boost prior to receiving a full course of external beam radiotherapy. Bristol Oncology Centre, which serves 2.4 million people in the Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire region, has been using a Varian GammaMed afterloader since 2005. The device is used in combination with BrachyVision treatment planning software, which enables clinicians to plan treatments by combining and using MRI, CT and 3D scans for the best possible images of the tumor and surrounding organs. .
Colon Cancer: Are You at Risk?
Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of non-skin cancer in men (after prostate cancer and lung cancer) and in women (after breast cancer and lung cancer). It is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States after lung cancer. The rate of new cases and deaths resulting from this disease is decreasing. Still, over 147,000 new cases are diagnosed, and more than 57,000 people die from colorectal cancer each year.
Who is at Risk?
The exact causes of colorectal cancer are not known. However, studies show that certain factors are linked to an increased chance of developing colorectal cancer: Age -- Colorectal cancer is more likely to occur as people get older. Although the disease can occur at any age, most people who develop colorectal cancer are over the age of 50.
Synta Pharmaceuticals Announces First Patient Treated in
Phase 1/2 study of elesclomol in combination with docetaxel in approximately 34 patients with advanced metastatic, hormone refractory prostate cancer. Additional trials to evaluate elesclomol as a therapy for other cancers are planned. About Oxidative Stress Oxidative stress in cells is the presence of elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as oxygen radicals and hydrogen peroxide. ROS can be generated by many processes and stimuli, including ordinary cell metabolism, exposure to heat or radiation, or attack by bacteria or viruses. Because ROS can react chemically with different proteins and other elements of a cell, altering their normal function, prolonged exposure to elevated levels of ROS can cause serious damage to a cell. To protect against this damage, cells have natural defense mechanisms – anti-oxidant abilities – to clear excessive levels of ROS and to repair the disruption they cause.
Indevus Pharmaceuticals Announces PRO 2000 Found to Show Promise
The Company's approved products include SANCTURA(R) and SANCTURA XR(TM) for overactive bladder, VANTAS(R) for advanced prostate cancer, SUPPRELIN(R) LA for central precocious puberty, and DELATESTRYL(R) to treat male hypogonadism. The Indevus development pipeline contains multiple compounds within the Company's core therapeutic areas in addition to several partnered or partnerable programs. The most advanced compounds in development include, VALSTAR(TM) for bladder cancer, NEBIDO(R) for hypogonadism, PRO 2000 for the prevention of infection by HIV and other sexually-transmitted pathogens, the octreotide implant for acromegaly and carcinoid syndrome, and pagoclone for stuttering. PRO 2000 PRO 2000 (a naphthalene sulfonate polymer) is under development as a topical vaginal microbicide to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
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