Cancer Commentary, Cancer Treatments, Cancer News, Cancer Stories, Cancer Research.

Cancer Commentary is now retired

Gloria Gamat — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:59:01 +0000

b5media has decided to retire this blog.

So long and thanks a lot for everything.

See you all around the blogosphere.

Marine Bacteria: Potential Anti-Cancer

Gloria Gamat — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 06:12:23 +0000

Scientists at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy found a marine compound that inhibits cancer cell growth in lab tests which they hope can lead to new anti-cancer drugs with fewer sides effects.

The said UF-patented compound, called largazole was made from cyanobacteria that grow on coral reefs.

Researchers, who described results from early studies today (Aug. 7) at an international natural products scientific meeting in Athens, Greece, say it is one of the most promising they’ve found since the college’s marine natural products laboratory was established three years ago.

Largazole, discovered and named by Luesch for its Florida location and structural features, seeks out a family of enzymes called histone deacetylase, or HDAC. Overactivity of certain HDACs has been associated with several cancers such as prostate and colon tumors, and inhibiting HDACs can activate tumor-suppressor genes that have been silenced in these cancers.

Read more about this exciting potential anti-cancer compound and the studybeing conducted behind it at University of Florida.

Tags: anti-cancer compound, cancer-growth, HDAC, histone deacetylase, largazole, marine cyanobacteria, tumor suppression

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NIH Study: Injection of High-Dose Vitamin C Slows Tumor Growth

Gloria Gamat — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:43:45 +0000

Tumor weight and growth rate has been reduced by about 50 percent in mouse models of brain, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers with injections of high-dose Vitamin C (ascorbate or ascorbic acid).

Such were the results reported by the NIH study at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS):

The NIH researchers, however, tested the idea that ascorbate, when injected at high doses, may have prooxidant instead of antioxidant activity. Prooxidants would generate free radicals and the formation of hydrogen peroxide, which, the scientists hypothesized, might kill tumor cells.

In their laboratory experiments on 43 cancer and 5 normal cell lines, the researchers discovered that high concentrations of ascorbate had anticancer effects in 75 percent of cancer cell lines tested, while sparing normal cells. In their paper, the researchers also showed that these high ascorbate concentrations could be achieved in people.

The team then tested ascorbate injections in immune-deficient mice with rapidly spreading ovarian, pancreatic, and glioblastoma (brain) tumors. The ascorbate injections reduced tumor growth and weight by 41 to 53 percent. In 30 percent of glioblastoma controls, the cancer had spread to other organs, but the ascorbate-treated animals had no signs of disseminated cancer. “

Th potential of Vitamin C as cancer therapy has been ‘dropped’ years ago when high dose oral administration did not seem to work. Now with this ascorbate injection form…potentially yes, in this mice study. A lot more work is needed before experts can say that this will work in humans as well. We’ll see…

Read from from NIH News.

Tags: ascorbate, cancer tumor, cancer tumor growth, intravenous ascorbate, Vitamin C cancer therapy, Vitamin C injections

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New Chemoprevention Gene Therapy (CGT) Combo Kills Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Gloria Gamat — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:07:29 +0000

A research team from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine have showed that combining a dietary agent with a gene-delivered cytokine effectively eliminates human pancreatic cancer cells in mice displaying sensitivity to these highly aggressive and lethal cancer cells.

The cytokine used in this study was melanoma differentiation associated gene-7/interleukin-24, known as mda-7/IL-24.

The dietary agent, perillyl alcohol (POH), was combined with mda-7/IL-24, which is already used in other cancer treatments. POH is found in a variety of plants, including citrus plants, and has been well-tolerated by patients who have received it in clinical studies.

Published in the July issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, their results indicated that the CGT approach not only prevented pancreatic cancer growth and progression, but it also effectively killed established tumors — thus demonstrating strong chemopreventive and therapeutic activity.

The researchers are hopeful they can one day move to human clinical trials.

Read the full report from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Tags: Chemoprevention Gene Therapy (CGT), cytokine, mda-7/IL-24, melanoma differentiation associated gene-7/interleukin-, pancreatic cancer cells, perillyl alcohol (POH)

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Methadone Can Kill Treatment-Resistant Forms of Leukemia

Gloria Gamat — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:56:01 +0000

Methadone - the agent used against opioid addiction - has been found by German researchers to have surprising killing powers against treatment-resistant forms of leukemia cells.

Methadone, developed in Germany in the 1930s, is a low cost agent that acts on opioid receptors, and thus is used as an opioid substitute to treat addiction. Scientists have found that opioid receptors also exist on the surface of some cancer cells for reasons that are not understood. One research group tested the agent in human lung cancer cell lines and found that it can induce cell death.

Thus suggesting that methadone has the potential as a new therapy for leukemia, more specifically in patients whose cancer no longer responds to chemotherapy and radiation.

The said laboratory study finding was published in the August 1 issue of Cancer Research.

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So Maybe Paul Newman Has Lung Cancer?

Gloria Gamat — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:03:20 +0000

Last month, reports came out that Paul Newman has lung cancer. The ‘rumor’ was denied through his publicist.

Earlier this month, the old actor has been spotted being pushed on a wheelchair — making the ‘lung cancer rumors’ resurface.

Paul Newman was photographed in a wheelchair during a recent outing in New York following reports that the legendary actor has cancer.

The photos, taken on July 7, show a woman pushing Newman in a wheelchair.

Well…maybe he is sick. Due to lung cancer or just plain old age, who knows? Let us just wish him good health and peace.

Tags: lung-cancer, Paul Newman

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The Pathwork® Tissue Of Origin Test: Received FDA Clearance

Gloria Gamat — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:19:50 +0000

Pathwork Diagnostics, Inc. recently announced that its Pathwork® Tissue of Origin Test for use in hard-to-identify-tumors has been cleared by the FDA.

The test analyzes a tumor’s gene expression pattern to help pinpoint the source of hard-to-identify tumors and is the first test of its kind to receive FDA clearance.

Up to an estimated 200,000 newly diagnosed cancer patients annually in the U.S. may have a tumor for which the site of origin is uncertain after the initial diagnostic workup.

The FDA’s clearance underscores the growing role that patients’ genomic information can play in helping physicians make better decisions.

Read the full press release from Pathwork Diagnostics, Inc. (pdf file)

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Melanoma Survivor John McCain, Remains Skin Cancer-Free

Gloria Gamat — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:23:07 +0000

Republican party presidential candidate John McCain is a survivor of melanoma – a deadly form of skin cancer.

Earlier this week, a spot in his right cheek was removed as part of a routine check-up. Following biopsy results have showed that McCain is cancer-free.

Presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who has a history of dangerous melanomas, had a spot of skin removed from his face today, his campaign said.

The patch of skin was removed from McCain’s right cheek during a routine checkup in Arizona, the candidate said. In 2000, an invasive melanoma was removed from the senator’s left temple.

McCain denied there were any serious problems when he discussed the procedure at a campaign stop in Bakersfield.

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Amgen Is To Reword Label of Anemia Drugs

Gloria Gamat — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:09:34 +0000

Amgen has recently been told by the FDA to reword the labeling of its flagship anemia drugs - Aranesp and Procrit - to further restrict their use in treating cancer patients.

The move, which the F.D.A. announced on Wednesday, represents the first time the agency has invoked authority under a 2007 law that empowered it to order changes in a drug’s prescribing information. Previously, the F.D.A. could only negotiate with a drug’s manufacturer to change the label.

Sales of the drugs, Aranesp and Procrit, have already plummeted in the last year because of studies suggesting that their use to treat the anemia caused by chemotherapy could actually make cancer worse or shorten lives. Procrit is manufactured by Amgen but sold under license by Johnson & Johnson.

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Karmanos Cancer Institute, Received $250,000 From J.P. McCarthy Fund

Gloria Gamat — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:20:20 +0000

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute has received a $250,000 multi-year grant from the J.P. McCarthy Fund of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan to benefit its J.P. McCarthy Cord Stem Cell Bank.

The grant, which will be given in $50,000 increments over five years, will help enhance the collection area and expand the capacity to help people in need of cord stem cell transplants - non-embryonic stem cells that are extracted from the umbilical cord and placenta following the birth of a child.

The J.P. McCarthy Cord Stem Cell Bank at the Karmanos Cancer Institute is one of two public cord blood banks in Michigan and the only center in the state with the National Marrow Donor program registry designation that requires compliance with the highest standards in cord blood banking.

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