Experimental Treatment for Rare Soft-Tissue Cancer Shows Promise in Mice

Study looked at method for blocking key growth protein in malignant nerve sheath tumors

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Shows promise for women with other drugs triple-negative breast cancer

In the nationwide survey of women with triple-negative breast cancer angiogenesis inhibitors led to rapid increase in number of carboplatin chemotherapy using drugs or with a standard chemotherapy drug Avastin off completely, the tumor shrank, adding investigators, reported at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2013. In the study, cancer and leukemia Group B hosted by new Faber Cancer Institute, Brown University, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, UNC Lineberger comprehensive cancer include author from the Center. New York University, Washington University in St. Louis, hope comprehensive cancer center and Mount Sinai Medical Center.

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Solar activity not a key cause of climate change, study shows

Dec. 22, 2013 — Climate change has not been strongly influenced by variations in heat from the sun, a new scientific study shows.

The findings overturn a widely held scientific view that lengthy periods of warm and cold weather in the past might have been caused by periodic fluctuations in solar activity.

Research examining the causes of climate change in the northern hemisphere over the past 1000 years has shown that until the year 1800, the key driver of periodic changes in climate was volcanic eruptions. These tend to prevent sunlight reaching Earth, causing cool, drier weather. Since 1900, greenhouse gases have been the primary cause of climate change.

The findings show that periods of low sun activity should not be expected to have a large impact on temperatures on Earth, and are expected to improve scientists' understanding and help climate forecasting.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh carried out the study using records of past temperatures constructed with data from tree rings and other historical sources. They compared this data record with computer-based models of past climate, featuring both significant and minor changes in the sun.

They found that their model of weak changes in the sun gave the best correlation with temperature records, indicating that solar activity has had a minimal impact on temperature in the past millennium.

The study, published in Nature GeoScience, was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council.

Dr Andrew Schurer, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, said: "Until now, the influence of the sun on past climate has been poorly understood. We hope that our new discoveries will help improve our understanding of how temperatures have changed over the past few centuries, and improve predictions for how they might develop in future. Links between the sun and anomalously cold winters in the UK are still being explored."

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World malaria report 2013 shows major progress in fight against malaria, calls for sustained financing

11 December 2013 | Geneva/Washington DC - Global efforts to control and eliminate malaria have saved an estimated 3.3 million lives since 2000, reducing malaria mortality rates by 45% globally and by 49% in Africa, according to the "World malaria report 2013" published by WHO.

An expansion of prevention and control measures has been mirrored by a consistent decline in malaria deaths and illness, despite an increase in the global population at risk of malaria between 2000 and 2012. Increased political commitment and expanded funding have helped to reduce incidence of malaria by 29% globally, and by 31% in Africa.

The large majority of the 3.3 million lives saved between 2000 and 2012 were in the 10 countries with the highest malaria burden, and among children aged less than 5 years – the group most affected by the disease. Over the same period, malaria mortality rates in children in Africa were reduced by an estimated 54%.

But more needs to be done.

“This remarkable progress is no cause for complacency: absolute numbers of malaria cases and deaths are not going down as fast as they could,” says Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General. “The fact that so many people are infected and dying from mosquito bites is one of the greatest tragedies of the 21st century.”

In 2012, there were an estimated 207 million cases of malaria (uncertainty interval: 135 – 287 million), which caused approximately 627?000 malaria deaths (uncertainty interval 473?000 – 789?000). An estimated 3.4 billion people continue to be at risk of malaria, mostly in Africa and south-east Asia. Around 80% of malaria cases occur in Africa.

Long way from universal access to prevention and treatment

Malaria prevention suffered a setback after its strong build-up between 2005 and 2010. The new WHO report notes a slowdown in the expansion of interventions to control mosquitoes for the second successive year, particularly in providing access to insecticide-treated bed nets. This has been primarily due to lack of funds to procure bed nets in countries that have ongoing malaria transmission.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of the population with access to an insecticide-treated bed net remained well under 50% in 2013. Only 70 million new bed nets were delivered to malaria-endemic countries in 2012, below the 150 million minimum needed every year to ensure everyone at risk is protected. However, in 2013, about 136 million nets were delivered, and the pipeline for 2014 looks even stronger (approximately 200 million), suggesting that there is real chance for a turnaround.

There was no such setback for malaria diagnostic testing, which has continued to expand in recent years. Between 2010 and 2012, the proportion of people with suspected malaria who received a diagnostic test in the public sector increased from 44% to 64% globally.

Access to WHO-recommended artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) has also increased, with the number of treatment courses delivered to countries rising from 76 million in 2006 to 331 million in 2012.

Despite this progress, millions of people continue to lack access to diagnosis and quality-assured treatment, particularly in countries with weak health systems. The roll-out of preventive therapies – recommended for infants, children under 5 and pregnant women – has also been slow in recent years.

“To win the fight against malaria we must get the means to prevent and treat the disease to every family who needs it,” says Raymond G Chambers, the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Financing the Health MDGs and for Malaria. "Our collective efforts are not only ending the needless suffering of millions, but are helping families thrive and adding billions of dollars to economies that nations can use in other ways.”

Global funding gap

International funding for malaria control increased from less than US$ 100 million in 2000 to almost US$ 2 billion in 2012. Domestic funding stood at around US$ 0.5 billion in the same year, bringing the total international and domestic funding committed to malaria control to US$ 2.5 billion in 2012 – less than half the US$ 5.1 billion needed each year to achieve universal access to interventions.

Without adequate and predictable funding, the progress against malaria is also threatened by emerging parasite resistance to artemisinin, the core component of ACTs, and mosquito resistance to insecticides. Artemisinin resistance has been detected in four countries in south-east Asia, and insecticide resistance has been found in at least 64 countries.

“The remarkable gains against malaria are still fragile,” says Dr Robert Newman, Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme. “In the next 10-15 years, the world will need innovative tools and technologies, as well as new strategic approaches to sustain and accelerate progress.”

WHO is currently developing a global technical strategy for malaria control and elimination for the 2016-2025 period, as well as a global plan to control and eliminate Plasmodium vivax malaria. Prevalent primarily in Asia and South America, P. vivax malaria is less likely than P. falciparum to result in severe malaria or death, but it generally responds more slowly to control efforts. Globally, about 9% of the estimated malaria cases are due to P. vivax, although the proportion outside the African continent is 50%.

"The vote of confidence shown by donors last week at the replenishment conference for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is testimony to the success of global partnership. But we must fill the annual gap of US$ 2.6 billion to achieve universal coverage and prevent malaria deaths," said Fatoumata Nafo-Traore, Executive Director of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. "This is our historic opportunity to defeat malaria."

Notes for editors:

The "World malaria report 2013" summarizes information received from 102 countries that had on-going malaria transmission during the 2000-2012 period, and other sources, and updates the analyses presented in 2012.

The report contains revised estimates of the number of malaria cases and deaths, which integrate new and updated under-5 mortality estimates produced by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, as well as new data from the Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group.

For more information, please contact:

In Geneva
Fadela Chaib
WHO Communications Officer/Spokesperson
Telephone: +41 22 791 3228
Mobile: +41 79 475 5556
E-mail: chaibf@who.int

In Washington DC
Phil Coticelli
Telephone: +1 301 801 5801
E-mail: phil@coticelligroup.com

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Personalized for the most deadly type of brain tumor vaccine shows promise

History showed itself from the patients with treatment of patients with recurrent glioblastoma made an experimental vaccine (GBM) resection tumor survival rates improve, alone, received the standard care patients compared to this vaccine has been published in the journal of neuro-oncology, accompanied by an editorial to emphasize the importance of the trial phase 2 according to the analysis of the test. Phase 2 trials, Northwestern Feinberg School and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center enrolled 41 conducted by adult recurrent tumor cases 2007-2011, from the researchers.

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H. pylori vaccine shows promise in mouse studies

Dec. 19, 2013 — Researchers from Southern Medical University in Guangdong, Guangzhou, China, have developed an oral vaccine against Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria responsible for peptic ulcers and some forms of gastric cancer, and have successfully tested it in mice. The research is published ahead of print in the journal Clinical and Vaccine Immunology.

The investigators constructed a live recombinant bacterial vaccine, expressing the H. pylori antigen, adhesin Hp0410, in the food-grade bacterium, Lactobacillus acidophilus. They then used it to orally vaccinate the mice.

The vaccine elicited specific anti-Hp0410 IgG antibodies in serum, and showed "a significant increase" in the level of protection against gastric Helicobacter infection, according to the report. When assayed, following challenge with H. pylori, immunized mice had significantly lower bacterial loads than non-immunized mice.

H. pylori is a class 1 human carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization. It causes gastritis, peptic ulcers, stomach cancer, and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. Antibiotic therapy is complex, unsuccessful in some patients (particularly in developing countries) and relapse is common. A vaccine against H. pylori could circumvent these difficulties.

L. acidophilus, a bacterium which is common in yogurt cultures, has distinct advantages as an oral vaccine antigen delivery vehicle. It is safe and nontoxic. It resists the stomach's acidity and tolerates bile, all of which aids in enabling it to survive in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract for more than 72 hours. Additionally, it adheres to, and elicits an immune response from the GI tract mucosa.

The current first-line treatment option for H. pylori infection includes two antibiotics and a proton pump inhibitor, but is ineffective in roughly 20 percent of patients.

"The high cost of treatment, noncompliance, and antibiotic resistance are the most important reasons," says first author Fan Hongying.

Roughly 15-30 percent of patients relapse quickly, she says, noting that after treatment, H. pylori may be resupplied to the stomach from a reservoir in the mouth. A vaccine would circumvent these problems.

"Our results collectively indicate that adhesin Hp0410 is a promising candidate vaccine antigen and recombinant Lactobacillus acidophilus expressing Hp0410 is likely to constitute an effective, low-cost live bacterial vaccine against H. pylori," says Hongying.

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Untreated cancer pain a 'scandal of global proportions,' survey shows

Nov. 27, 2013 — A ground-breaking international collaborative survey, published today in Annals of Oncology, shows that more than half of the world's population live in countries where regulations that aim to stem drug misuse leave cancer patients without access to opioid medicines for managing cancer pain.

The results from the Global Opioid Policy Initiative (GOPI) project show that more than 4 billion people live in countries where regulations leave cancer patients suffering excruciating pain. National governments must take urgent action to improve access to these medicines, says the European Society for Medical Oncology, leader of a group of 22 partners that have launched the first global survey to evaluate the availability and accessibility of opioids for cancer pain management.

"The GOPI study has uncovered a pandemic of over-regulation in much of the developing world that is making it catastrophically difficult to provide basic medication to relieve strong cancer pain," says Nathan Cherny, Chair of the ESMO Palliative Care Working Group and lead author of the report, from Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. "Most of the world's population lacks the necessary access to opioids for cancer pain management and palliative care, as well as acute, post-operative, obstetric and chronic pain."

"When one considers that effective treatments are cheap and available, untreated cancer pain and its horrendous consequences for patients and their families is a scandal of global proportions," Cherny says.

The study conducted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean and the Middle East assessed the availability of the seven opioid medications considered to be essential for the relief of cancer pain by the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines [3] and the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care [4]. Those essential medications include codeine, oral oxycodone, transdermal fentanyl, immediate and slow release oral morphine, as well as injectable morphine, and oral methadone.

While there are problems with the supply of these medicines in many countries, the main problem is over-regulation that makes it difficult for healthcare professionals to prescribe and administer them for legitimate medical use, the authors say.

"This is a tragedy born out of good intentions," says Cherny. "When opioids are over-regulated, the precautionary measures to prevent abuse and diversion are excessive and impair the ability of healthcare systems to relieve real suffering. The GOPI study has uncovered over-regulation in much of the developing world."

"The next step is for international and local organizations working alongside governments and regulators to thoughtfully address the problems," adds study co-author James Cleary, Director of the Pain and Policy Studies Group and Founding Director of the Palliative Medicine at the UW Carbone Cancer Center, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

"Regulatory reform must be partnered with education of healthcare providers in the safe and responsible use of opioid medication, education of the public to destigmatize opioid analgesics and improved infrastructure for supply and distribution," he says.

There are already concrete examples of countries reforming their policies to improve access to opioid medicines, the study authors say, among them the Ukraine, which previously had a limited opioid formulary. "Concerted efforts supported by the Open Society Institute, reports from Human Rights Watch, together with the investment in local clinical champions through programs such as the Pain and Policy Studies Group's (PPSG) International Pain Policy Fellowship (IPPF) Program, have led to the government approving the manufacture and distribution of immediate release oral morphine in the Ukraine with concurrent changes in policy," Cleary says.

"The ongoing initiatives to reform regulations, improve accessibility and promote the education of clinicians and consumers in the effective use of opioid medications for the relief of cancer pain will require vision, determination and the same spirit of cooperation between organizations that made this study successful. The challenges are great, but no greater than our resolution to the task of making pain relief for cancer patients a reality irrespective of geography. Governments should look at the GOPI survey data for their country and take concrete actions to reduce the barriers," Cherny concludes.

The "Global Opioid Policy Initiative project to evaluate the availability and accessibility of opioids for cancer pain management" is published as a Supplement of Annals of Oncology; free access available here: http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/suppl_11.toc.

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Cancer cells are controlled by epigenetic processes, new research shows

First time USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center (home) of Keck new research from medicine, according to epigenetics in the description of the human body a natural killer (NK) cells, kill can contain viruses and cancerous tumors can be manipulated. Opens the way to develop a National Science Academy of advanced discovery more effective cancer drugs.

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Longest follow-up of melanoma patients treated with ipilimumab shows some survive up to ten years

Sep. 27, 2013 — Patients with advanced melanoma, who have been treated with the monoclonal antibody, ipilimumab, can survive for up to ten years, according to the largest analysis of overall survival for these patients, presented at the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013).

Professor Stephen Hodi (MD), Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, USA), told the congress: "Our findings demonstrate that there is a plateau in overall survival, which begins around the third year and extends through to the tenth year.

"These results are important to healthcare providers and patients with advanced melanoma since they provide a perspective on long-term survival for ipilimumab patients who are alive after three years of treatment. Our data, which represent the longest follow-up of the largest numbers of patients on any globally approved melanoma therapy, will provide a benchmark for future medicines for advanced melanoma."

Ipilimumab is a human monoclonal antibody that activates the immune system to fight melanoma skin cancer by targeting a protein receptor called Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen 4 (CTLA-4). In melanoma, CTLA-4 is inhibited from recognising and destroying cancer cells, but ipilimumab turns off the inhibitory mechanism, enabling CTLA-4 to continue killing the cancer cells.

It is already known that some patients treated with the drug survive for long periods, with one phase III clinical trial showing an overall survival rate of 18% after five years. Therefore, Prof Hodi and colleagues from Germany, France and the USA collected data on 1861 patients in 12 prospective and retrospective studies to provide a more precise estimate of ipilimumab's effect on long-term survival. In addition, they analysed data from a further 2985 patients who had been treated with the drug but were not part of any clinical trial, giving the researchers data on a total of 4846 patients.

The analysis of the 1861 patients showed that the median overall survival was 11.4 months (11.4 being the middle number separating the higher half of the patient survival time from the lower half). "Among these patients, 254 patients (22%) were still alive after three years. There were no deaths among patients who survived beyond seven years, at which time the overall survival rate was 17%. The longest overall survival follow-up in the database is 9.9 years," said Prof Hodi.

"The plateau, which started at three years and continued through to ten years, was observed regardless of dose (3 or 10 mg/kg), whether the patients had received previous treatment or not, and whether or not they had been kept on a maintenance dose of the drug. However, as this was not a randomised comparison, one cannot draw direct conclusions on differences between the doses or the populations."

When data from the total 4846 patients were analysed, the median overall survival was 9.5 months, with a plateau in overall survival starting around three years for 21% of the patients. "This slightly lower survival rate was because there were limited and incomplete data on overall survival, and patients given ipilimumab through the extended access programme tended to be more ill and with more advanced disease," explained Prof Hodi.

He concluded: "The limitation of this study is that it is a pooled analysis from phase II, phase III and observational data and not from a single randomised, controlled study. However, these results are consistent with our findings from randomised clinical trials and confirm the durability of the plateau in overall survival, previously shown to extend to at least five years but now shown to extend up to ten years."

Past President of ECCO, Professor Alexander Eggermont, Directeur General of the Institut Gustave Roussy Comprehensive Cancer Center (France), who specialises in the treatment of melanoma, commented: "This pooled analysis clearly demonstrates that ipilimumab can lead to long-lasting tumour control in metastatic melanoma patients. With a response rate of only 10-15%, one can achieve more than 3-10 years survival in 17-25% of patients who have received only a few doses of ipilimumab. Thus, patients apparently can keep residual tumours under control for a long time when the immune system is properly 'reset', and the concept of 'clinical cures' becomes a reality. These survival results could even double or triple with anti-PD1/PDL1 monoclonal antibodies, and metastatic melanoma could become a curable disease for perhaps more than 50% of patients over the coming 5-10 years."

View the original article here

Longest follow-up of melanoma patients treated with ipilimumab shows some survive up to ten years

Sep. 27, 2013 — Patients with advanced melanoma, who have been treated with the monoclonal antibody, ipilimumab, can survive for up to ten years, according to the largest analysis of overall survival for these patients, presented at the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013).

Professor Stephen Hodi (MD), Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, USA), told the congress: "Our findings demonstrate that there is a plateau in overall survival, which begins around the third year and extends through to the tenth year.

"These results are important to healthcare providers and patients with advanced melanoma since they provide a perspective on long-term survival for ipilimumab patients who are alive after three years of treatment. Our data, which represent the longest follow-up of the largest numbers of patients on any globally approved melanoma therapy, will provide a benchmark for future medicines for advanced melanoma."

Ipilimumab is a human monoclonal antibody that activates the immune system to fight melanoma skin cancer by targeting a protein receptor called Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen 4 (CTLA-4). In melanoma, CTLA-4 is inhibited from recognising and destroying cancer cells, but ipilimumab turns off the inhibitory mechanism, enabling CTLA-4 to continue killing the cancer cells.

It is already known that some patients treated with the drug survive for long periods, with one phase III clinical trial showing an overall survival rate of 18% after five years. Therefore, Prof Hodi and colleagues from Germany, France and the USA collected data on 1861 patients in 12 prospective and retrospective studies to provide a more precise estimate of ipilimumab's effect on long-term survival. In addition, they analysed data from a further 2985 patients who had been treated with the drug but were not part of any clinical trial, giving the researchers data on a total of 4846 patients.

The analysis of the 1861 patients showed that the median overall survival was 11.4 months (11.4 being the middle number separating the higher half of the patient survival time from the lower half). "Among these patients, 254 patients (22%) were still alive after three years. There were no deaths among patients who survived beyond seven years, at which time the overall survival rate was 17%. The longest overall survival follow-up in the database is 9.9 years," said Prof Hodi.

"The plateau, which started at three years and continued through to ten years, was observed regardless of dose (3 or 10 mg/kg), whether the patients had received previous treatment or not, and whether or not they had been kept on a maintenance dose of the drug. However, as this was not a randomised comparison, one cannot draw direct conclusions on differences between the doses or the populations."

When data from the total 4846 patients were analysed, the median overall survival was 9.5 months, with a plateau in overall survival starting around three years for 21% of the patients. "This slightly lower survival rate was because there were limited and incomplete data on overall survival, and patients given ipilimumab through the extended access programme tended to be more ill and with more advanced disease," explained Prof Hodi.

He concluded: "The limitation of this study is that it is a pooled analysis from phase II, phase III and observational data and not from a single randomised, controlled study. However, these results are consistent with our findings from randomised clinical trials and confirm the durability of the plateau in overall survival, previously shown to extend to at least five years but now shown to extend up to ten years."

Past President of ECCO, Professor Alexander Eggermont, Directeur General of the Institut Gustave Roussy Comprehensive Cancer Center (France), who specialises in the treatment of melanoma, commented: "This pooled analysis clearly demonstrates that ipilimumab can lead to long-lasting tumour control in metastatic melanoma patients. With a response rate of only 10-15%, one can achieve more than 3-10 years survival in 17-25% of patients who have received only a few doses of ipilimumab. Thus, patients apparently can keep residual tumours under control for a long time when the immune system is properly 'reset', and the concept of 'clinical cures' becomes a reality. These survival results could even double or triple with anti-PD1/PDL1 monoclonal antibodies, and metastatic melanoma could become a curable disease for perhaps more than 50% of patients over the coming 5-10 years."

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Racism Takes a Toll on Kids' Mental Health, Research Shows

SUNDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Being a victim of racism may trigger poor mental health, depression and anxiety in children and teens, according to a new review.

The report, published in the October issue of the journal Social Science & Medicine, looked at 461 cases of links between racism and the health and well-being of youngsters.

"The review showed there are strong and consistent relationships between racial discrimination and a range of detrimental health outcomes such as low self-esteem, reduced resilience, increased behavior problems and lower levels of well-being," lead researcher Naomi Priest, of the University of Melbourne in Australia, said in a university news release.

Most of the racism experienced by children and teens involved discrimination by other people, rather than institutional or systemic racism, according to the findings.

The review also revealed an increased risk of poorer birth outcomes among children whose mothers experienced racism during pregnancy.

Most of the studies included in the review were conducted in the United States with participants aged 12 to 18. Of the racial/ethnic groups included in the studies, the three most common were blacks, Hispanics and Asians.

"We know that children who experience poor health and well-being are less likely to engage in education, employment and other activities that support them to lead healthy and productive lives, and to participate meaningfully in the community," Priest said.

So, she noted, the findings identify an important issue that needs to be addressed in order to improve child and teen health.

More information

CivilRights.org explains the importance of talking to children about racism and diversity.

Copyright c 2013?HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Tamoxifen's Mental Side Effects Are Real, Study Shows

TUESDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Some women who take tamoxifen to treat or prevent breast cancer report experiencing a mental fogginess while on the drug, and researchers have now confirmed that there's a biological basis for those symptoms.

The researchers were able to isolate the cells in the human brain and nervous system that are harmed by tamoxifen therapy. And, in a second phase of the study conducted with mice, they were also able to find a different drug that could protect healthy cells from tamoxifen toxicity while offering no protection to cancer cells.

"Patients aren't always taken seriously when they report these mental side effects, but now we can say this is an organic syndrome to which we have to pay attention," said Mark Noble, senior study author.

"And, now we know there are paths to protection. This is not a hopeless situation," added Noble, a professor of biomedical genetics, and director of the University of Rochester Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute, in Rochester, N.Y.

Tamoxifen works by blocking the action of estrogen in breast tissue, which keeps estrogen-sensitive breast cancers from growing, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Compared to other forms of cancer treatments, it has relatively few serious side effects. However, in some women who take it, tamoxifen causes problems with thinking.

One expert was pleased to see new scientific support for what she's observed in her clinical practice.

"There is a subset of women who report this mental fog while on tamoxifen. Often, this improves over time. They initially experience this very noticeable side effect, but then it improves. We often tell women to try to stick it out because it may get better," said Dr. Jane Carleton, a breast cancer specialist at the North Shore-LIJ Cancer Institute in Lake Success, N.Y., who was not involved with the new study.

Carleton said she was happy to see that the current study was able to validate that there was a reason that some women experience the mental fog while taking tamoxifen. And, she said she was even happier to see that there might be a potential treatment for this side effect.

"Every time we can improve quality of life and still treat cancer, it's a win," she said, but noted that it would still be years before this drug might be available.

For the study, Noble and his research team first sought to identify whether brain and central nervous system cells were sensitive to tamoxifen. They found one type of cell that was particularly vulnerable to the drug. After just two days of exposure to tamoxifen at levels similar to those someone in treatment would receive, 75 percent of these cells died.

"Tamoxifen causes cell death and suppression of cell division in these cells," Noble said.

The next step was to try to find a medication that could protect these cells from tamoxifen while still allowing the drug to keep its cancer-fighting ability. The researchers reviewed data on drugs that were already approved for use in humans or that were in clinical trials.

Noble said by looking at these types of drugs, they could save time because they already know that such drugs work in the body and that they're not toxic. They found one drug, currently called AZD6244, that protected the brain cells of mice against tamoxifen in their own study.

Scientists note, however, that research with animals often fails to provide similar results in humans.

"AZD6244 is being studied for cancer therapy. It protects normal cells, but it doesn't protect cancer cells. It may even make cancer cells more sensitive to some types of therapies," Noble said.

Noble said this work needs to be replicated by other researchers, and added that "it's essential that we find ways of treating cancer without causing this type of damage."

Results of the study were published online Sept. 17 in the Journal of Neuroscience.

More information

Learn more about tamoxifen and other hormone therapies for cancer from the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Copyright c 2013?HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Bad news for prey: New research shows that predators can learn to read camouflage

Sep. 10, 2013 — Camouflaged creatures can perform remarkable disappearing acts but new research shows that predators can learn to read camouflage.

The study, which used human subjects as predators searching for hidden moths in computer games, found that the subjects could learn to find some types of camouflaged prey faster than others.

The research was carried out by the University of Exeter and the University of Cambridge and is published in the journal PLOS ONE. Moths with high contrast markings -- that break up the shape of the body, like that of a zebra or giraffe -- were best at evading predation at the start of the experiment. However humans learnt to find these prey types faster than moths with low contrast markings that match the background, like that of a stick insect or leaf bug.

The study shows that the benefit of a camouflage strategy depends on both how well it prevents initial detection and also on how well it inhibits learning.

Lead author Dr Jolyon Troscianko from Biosciences at the University of Exeter said: "This is the first time that a study has focused on the learning of different camouflage types rather than how quickly camouflage prevents initial detection.

"We found considerable differences in the way that predators learn to find different types of camouflage.

"If too many animals all start to use the same camouflage strategy then predators are likely to learn to overcome that strategy more easily, so prey species should use different camouflage strategies to stay under the radar. This helps to explain why such a huge range of camouflage strategies exist in nature."

Camouflage offers a visual example of how the process of natural section works in evolution. Those prey with successful camouflage strategies evade predation, survive and reproduce giving rise to future generations of successfully camouflaged individuals. Camouflage is probably the most widespread way of preventing predation in nature and is also valuable in human military applications as well as in recreation, art and fashion.

Hunt for hidden birds in new online game

Master of disguise the African nightjar has excellent camouflage that makes it very difficult to spot. The researchers have launched an online game 'Find the nightjar' where players are challenged to search for real nightjars hidden against the background of the African bush. The results will be used to help the researchers find out about animal perception and how it differs between predator types.

Take part in the online game.

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Experimental Melanoma Vaccine Shows Promise in Study

THURSDAY, July 11 (HealthDay News) -- Six of seven advanced melanoma patients had a positive response to an experimental vaccine, a finding that shows promise for personalized skin cancer treatment, researchers report.

The vaccine also slowed tumor progression in three of the patients, according to the investigators at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

This cutting-edge approach -- considered by many the future of cancer treatment -- uses a patient's own cells to enhance an immune response to the attacking cancer cells and slow their growth, the study authors explained.

"This is personalized immunotherapy," said senior researcher Dr. Gerald Linette, an associate professor of medicine and neurosurgery.

Melanoma is the deadliest of skin cancers. Each year in the United States more than 76,000 cases of melanoma are diagnosed, and nearly 10,000 die from the disease, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

The immune system plays a part in melanoma, Linette said, and the researchers wanted to see if a molecule called interleukin 12p70 could mount an immune response against the cancer.

"The results show that, in fact, interleukin 12p70 was very important in controlling the disease," he said. "It promoted a response where T cells of the immune system act directly against the melanoma."

Some patients make a lot of interleukin 12p70, and those are the patients who did well. But some patients make very little or no interleukin 12p70, and those are the patients who did worse, Linette said. For those patients, another way of enhancing the response will have to be tried, he said.

The study, published online July 11 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, discusses use of the vaccine on seven patients with recently diagnosed stage IV cancer, meaning the cancer had spread to other areas of the body.

Dr. Michele Green, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said, "This is a great first step."

Techniques such as this will be standard some day, she believes. "We are at the infancy of this, but this is going to end up being the way we cure cancer," Green added.

Currently, the prognosis is bleak for late-stage melanoma, Green noted. "If you have advanced melanoma, there is no treatment," she said.

The experimental vaccine is made from a patient's dendritic cells, which is a type of immune cell. The researchers modified the cells to increase production of interleukin 12p70, which stimulates a robust immune response to the cancer, Linette explained.

The research team was able to activate these dendritic cells before giving them back to the patient, he said.

The vaccine seems safer than earlier attempts, but it will be years before such an approach might be put into practice. For now, no clinical trials are planned, Linette said.

"Scientists have been testing vaccines in cancer patients for about 15 years, and the results have been rather discouraging," Linette added. "It's going to take at least five to 10 years more testing before scientists agree what's the best dendritic cell vaccine."

More information

For more information on melanoma, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

SOURCES: Gerald Linette, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, medicine and neurosurgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo.; Michele Green, M.D., dermatologist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; July 11, 2013, Journal of Clinical Investigation, online

Copyright c 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Experimental Drug Shows Benefits Against Melanoma in Early Study

SUNDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) -- A new drug called lambrolizumab appears to improve outcomes in patients with advanced melanoma, according to the results of a phase 1 trial.

Lambrolizumab is an antibody that works by revealing the cancer to the immune system so it can mount a response and kill the cancer cells with few serious side effects, the researchers said.

"This is early, but it's very encouraging," said lead researcher Dr. Antoni Ribas, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"This is a new class of drugs for cancer that are giving benefits in patients with melanoma, in terms of having a high rate of tumor responses that are durable in patients with metastatic melanoma," he said.

Melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer and, until recently, there was no effective treatment, Ribas said. In metastatic melanoma, the cancer has spread.

One of the ways some cancer cells fool the immune system is with a protein called PD-L1 on their surface, which renders the cancer invisible. "PD-L1 is a way the cancer tries to conceal itself or hide from the immune system," Ribas said.

Lambrolizumab blocks the protein and "exposes the cancer to the immune system," he said.

Ribas said that lambrolizumab might also be effective against other cancers, and has already been tested in patients with lung cancer.

The new study was a "phase 1b" trial, which seeks to determine if a drug is safe and also looks for signs of effectiveness. More testing and randomized trials are needed before the drug could become available, Ribas said.

The report was published online June 2 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the Sunday presentation of the findings at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

For the trial, 135 patients with advanced metastatic melanoma were placed in three groups and treated with different regimens of lambrolizumab.

The researchers found that, overall, the drug improved cancer in 38 percent of the patients regardless of dose. Specifically, 25 percent of the patients who received the lowest dose showed improvement as did 52 percent of those given the highest dose.

In all, 77 percent of the patients showed some response to treatment, they noted.

How long the positive response lasts isn't known. Five patients were taken off the drug because their cancer worsened. So far the longest response has been over one year, Ribas said.

Most side effects with lambrolizumab were mild and easily managed, he added. These included fatigue, fevers, skin rash, loss of skin color and muscle weakness.

According to Ribas, 13 percent of patients had more serious side effects, including inflammation of the lung or kidney, and thyroid problems.

The research was funded by Merck Sharp & Dohme, the maker of lambrolizumab.

In April, lambrolizumab received "breakthrough therapy" designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which means the agency will expedite reviewing the data to speed up getting the drug approved, Ribas said.

One dermatologist welcomed the news of the study results.

"I had a patient who was treated with this and it is definitely a lifesaver," said Dr. Doris Day, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital, in New York City. Before being treated with lambrolizumab her patient had moved to California, but kept Day updated.

Current treatment for advanced melanoma is interferon, which has severe side effects, Day said. "You kind of wish you were dead, because you feel awful," she explained. Lambrolizumab, however, has very mild side effects, she added.

"Life extension is one thing, but if you can't extend life without quality then there's really no point. My patient did well and had good quality of life," Day said.

"Having metastatic melanoma may not be as much of a death sentence as it was," Day noted. "There is hope. There are options now that extend life and quality of life."

More information

To find out more about melanoma, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

SOURCES: Antoni Ribas, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine, University of California, Los Angeles; Doris Day, M.D., dermatologist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; June 2, 2013, presentation, American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, Chicago; June 2, 2013, New England Journal of Medicine, online

Copyright c 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Immune-Based Drug Shows Promise Against Advanced Melanoma

SATURDAY, June 1 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly one-third of patients with advanced melanomas who received nivolumab, a new immune-based drug, experienced reductions in the size of their tumors, a preliminary study reveals.

Since these types of drugs have typically shrunk tumors in only 5 percent to 10 percent of patients in prior studies, the new results are a boost for immunotherapy generally, the researchers noted.

"I think nivolumab is a real breakthrough drug for patients with metastatic melanoma, and probably for other diseases, too," study author Dr. Mario Sznol, a professor of medical oncology at the Yale Cancer Center in New Haven, Conn., said in a news release.

"The high level of activity observed with this drug opens up a number of avenues for future research to understand and challenge the ways tumors evade the immune system. We're very excited that there is potential for even more activity in combination with other drugs," Sznol added.

One expert not connected to the study was also optimistic about the results.

"Nivolumab shows exciting promise for patients suffering from an otherwise fatal disease -- metastatic melanoma," said Dr. Michele Green, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "The fact that 30 percent of patients showed improvement from this immunotherapy drug is remarkable since these patients had some of the worse disease."

The study was funded by drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb and is scheduled for presentation Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago. Findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

According to the researchers, nivolumab works by honing in on PD-1 cellular receptors located on immune system T-cells. These receptors are known to function as immune system "gatekeepers," and by working to open such gates the patient's immune system is triggered into cancer-fighting action.

The new study involved 107 patients, all of whom had been previously treated with multiple forms of standard therapies that failed to halt their disease.

Following treatment with one of five different doses of nivolumab, the team found that 31 percent of the patients went on to experience a minimum tumor shrinkage of 30 percent across the various doses.

Forty-three percent of the patients are estimated to have survived two years after treatment, the researchers said, and average survival for patients across all treatment doses is now projected to be nearly 17 months.

In an ASCO news release, melanoma expert Dr. Lynn Schuchter called the results "truly remarkable."

The findings "confirm that 'revving' up the immune system is a powerful approach in shrinking melanoma," said Schuchter, who is also a spokeswoman for ASCO. "Melanoma patients are living longer and better with these new treatments."

However, although the study participants were described as being "typical" patients with advanced melanoma, the investigation's findings are tempered by the fact that it was not a randomized clinical trial and did not compare the impact of nivolumab directly against the performance of other drugs.

"[But] while this was not a randomized clinical trial, it had a considerable number of patients and the durability of responses is a sign of very promising clinical activity," Sznol said in the news release.

A randomized phase III trial has begun, aimed at confirming these initial findings.

Another expert agreed that the drug shows the promise of immunotherapies in general.

"The results of this study are truly remarkable and demonstrate that immunotherapy truly can make the difference for many melanoma patients," said Dr. Yvonne Saenger, assistant professor of hematology/oncology and dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York City.

Saenger, who was not connected to the new study, noted that "earlier immunotherapies, such as interleukin 2 and even Yervoy, can only help a small minority of patients," but nivolumab seems to do much better.

More information

There's more on melanoma at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

SOURCES: Michele Green, M.D., dermatologist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Yvonne Saenger, M.D., assistant professor of hematology/oncology and dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York City; June 1, 2013, news release, American Society of Clinical Oncology

Copyright c 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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CA-125 change over time shows promise as screening tool for early detection of ovarian cancer

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Evaluating its change over time, CA-125, the protein long-recognized for predicting ovarian cancer recurrence, now shows promise as a screening tool for early-stage disease, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The updated findings are published in Cancer; preliminary data were first presented at the 2010 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting. If a larger study shows survival benefit, the simple blood test could offer a much-needed screening tool to detect ovarian cancer in its early stages – even in the most aggressive forms – in post-menopausal women at average risk for the disease.

Click here to read full press release.

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Among the research institutions NCI funds across the United States, it currently designates 68 as Cancer Centers. Largely based in research universities, these facilities are home to many of the NCI-supported scientists who conduct a wide range of intense, laboratory research into cancer’s origins and development. The Cancer Centers Program also focuses on trans-disciplinary research, including population science and clinical research. The centers’ research results are often at the forefront of studies in the cancer field.

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Sanofi's Lantus shows no cancer, heart risks: study

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PARIS (Reuters) - Sanofi's insulin Lantus does not put people at risk of cancer, heart attacks or strokes when taken over long periods, according to a major study in which the drug failed to prove it can prevent heart disease in early-stage diabetics.

Although a positive result on heart disease could have widened Lantus's use, the findings of the longest and largest study of its kind should help shake off safety concerns about the French group's top-selling drug after a 2009 cancer scare.

A number of studies at the time suggested a possible link between Lantus and a heightened risk of cancer, with conflicting results.

"We know what the risks are of taking insulin on a long-term basis, and they are low," said the principal investigator of the trial, Hertzel Gerstein of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, in a telephone interview with Reuters.

The closely watched study also found that people with pre-diabetes who received daily Lantus injections had a 28 percent lower chance of developing diabetes, even after the injections stopped.

The study tested more than 12,500 people at risk or in the early stages of diabetes with either a daily injection of Lantus or standard therapy for an average of six years.

The results confirmed two known side effects of insulin - low blood sugar levels and modest weight gain. Researchers said these were minor reactions.

The study also discovered that daily doses of Lovaza, a prescription pill based on fish oil and sold by Pronova Biopharma and GlaxoSmithKline, did not prevent heart-related deaths in diabetics.

The findings were presented on Monday at the American Diabetes Association congress in Philadelphia, U.S., and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

STUDY EXTENDED

Paris-based Sanofi said it would extend the study by two years to gather further data on Lantus.

Worldwide, Lantus has 80 percent of the market for long-acting, or basal, insulin used to treat diabetes, generating sales of around 3.9 billion euros ($4.9 billion) last year, representing 12 percent of Sanofi's total sales.

Sanofi is particularly reliant on Lantus because it faces a wave of patent expirations on other blockbuster medicines.

Fresh competition is emerging as rival drugmakers, such as U.S. group Eli Lilly and Danish company Novo Nordisk, prepare to launch newer long-acting insulin, in addition to the threat of biosimilars.

The insulin market is also vulnerable to the growth of GLP-1 therapies, including Sanofi's own Lyxumia, which is in late stage development.

(Reporting by Elena Berton; Editing by Dan Lalor)