WebMD - Future Fertility Fix? Egg-Producing Stem Cells Found in Human Ovaries

"....Scientists say they have found a way to use ovarian stem cells to perhaps one day help infertile women get pregnant -- or add years to a woman’s reproductive cycle.
In a study published in Nature Medicine, researchers report finding egg-producing stem cells in human ovaries. They also report being able to make some of those ovarian stem cells grow into immature eggs that may someday be useful for reproduction.
At this point, such “seed” eggs can’t be fertilized by sperm. But if scientists are able to entice them to mature and can prove they can be fertilized and grow into embryos -- a feat that has been reported in mice -- it would overturn a long-held scientific belief that women can’t make new eggs as they get older.
“What it does is really open a door into human reproduction that 10 years ago didn’t even exist,” says researcher Jonathan L. Tilly, PhD, director of the Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston....."

Humoral response to catumaxomab correlates with clinical outcome: Results of the pivotal phase II/III study in patients with malignant ascites. (compared to paracentesis)

Humoral response to catumaxomab correlates with clinical outcome: Results of the pivotal phase II/III study in patients with malignant ascites.

The trifunctional antibody catumaxomab is a targeted immunotherapy for the intraperitoneal treatment of malignant ascites.

In a Phase II/III trial in cancer patients (n = 258) with malignant ascites, catumaxomab showed a clear clinical benefit vs. paracentesis and had an acceptable safety profile. Human antimouse antibodies (HAMAs), which could be associated with beneficial humoral effects and prolonged survival, may develop against catumaxomab as it is a mouse/rat antibody. This post hoc analysis investigated whether there was a correlation between the detection of HAMAs 8 days after the fourth catumaxomab infusion and clinical outcome. HAMA-positive and HAMA-negative patients in the catumaxomab group and patients in the control group were analyzed separately for all three clinical outcome measures (puncture-free survival, time to next puncture and overall survival) and compared to each other. There was a strong correlation between humoral response and clinical outcome: patients who developed HAMAs after catumaxomab showed significant improvement in all three clinical outcome measures vs. HAMA-negative patients. In the overall population in HAMA-positive vs. HAMA-negative patients, median puncture-free survival was 64 vs. 27 days (p < 0.0001; HR 0.330), median time to next therapeutic puncture was 104 vs. 46 days (p = 0.0002; HR 0.307) and median overall survival was 129 vs. 64 days (p = 0.0003; HR 0.433).

Similar differences between HAMA-positive and HAMA-negative patients were seen in the ovarian, nonovarian and gastric cancer subgroups.

In conclusion, HAMA development may be a biomarker for catumaxomab response and patients who developed HAMAs sooner derived greater benefit from catumaxomab treatment.

Cigarette smoking and risk of histological subtypes of epithelial ovarian cancer in the EPIC... - Abstract - UK PubMed Central

"The results from the EPIC study add further evidence that smoking increases risk of mucinous ovarian cancer and support the notion that the effect of smoking varies according to histological subtype."

Ovarian Stem Cells Edge Closer to Reality (CME/CE)

Ovarian Stem Cells Edge Closer to Reality (CME/CE)
(MedPage Today) -- Primitive germline stem cells isolated from human ovaries produced oocytes in vitro, supporting the concept that women continue to produce eggs throughout their reproductive years, investigators reported.....

Medicare's Hospital Web Site Reeks Of The DMV - Forbes

"....You’d like to know the answer to a simple question. “If I ever have a heart attack where should I tell the ambulance to take me?”....

The Language of He’s ('Cancer-Dancer')

http://www.cancer-dancer.org/blog-post/2747/the-language-of-hes/


The Language of He’s:


Him: So, uh, how are you. You know?
He: Pretty good.
Him: So, good?
He: Yeah. I guess. You know.
Him: Considering. Yeah…..And she?
He: Well…that’s. You know how it is.
Him: Hanging in there?
He: Yeah. I guess. Hard to say. What can you do?
Him: Right. You know. We can talk. About it. If you want.
He: Good. Yeah, that’s good.
Him: Yeah. Good. OK. It’s a bitch, right?
He: Yeah. Not much fun, really.
Him: Sucks.
He: That’s for sure.
Him: But what can you do?
He: Right.
Him: So. You handling it?
He: Yeah. I can handle it. Right now I’m handling it.
Him: Alright….Want another?
He: Sure. Why not? I mean….why not?

Some time later, back at the ranch:
Her: So…how is He?

abstract: Controlling angiogenesis in breast cancer: A systematic review of anti-angiogenic trials

Controlling angiogenesis in breast cancer: A systematic review of anti-angiogenic trials

Source: Cancer Treatment Reviews

Purpose
Angiogenesis is critical for tumor growth and a promising therapeutic target. This review will summarize and analyze data from clinical trials of anti-angiogenic agents in the treatment of breast cancer (BC).

Design
A systematic search of PubMed and conference databases was performed to identify reports of randomized clinical trials investigating specific anti-angiogenic agents in the treatment of BC.

Results and discussion
Phase III trials in advanced BC have demonstrated a reduction in the risk of disease progression (22–52%), improved response rates and net improvements in progression-free survival of 1.2 to 5.5 months, but no significant improvements in overall survival with the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy. Results of phase III trials in early breast cancer have been inconsistent. Bevacizumab-containing regimens have also been associated with higher overall adverse event rates compared to chemotherapy alone. Phase III trials of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib were negative, while randomized phase II trials of sorafenib and pazopanib have improved some outcomes when combined with chemotherapy or targeted therapy compared to controls. In addition to expected vascular class safety signals, tyrosine kinase inhibitors show “off-target” side effects. Ongoing clinical trials evaluating combinatorial strategies based on biological synergies and translational studies identifying biological predictors of response will be crucial to establish meaningful clinical benefits in selected BC populations.

Conclusion
Most trials of anti-angiogenic agents in BC have reported improved response rate and progression-free survival but no increase in overall survival compared to chemotherapy alone. Optimizing the therapeutic indices of these agents is a focus of ongoing research and will be critical to their future development.

Seth's Blog: Stick to what you (don't) know

Stick to what you (don't) know

One of the dumbest forms of criticism is to shout down an expert in one field who speaks up about something else. The actor with a political point of view, or the physicist who talks about philosophy. The theory is that people should stick to what they know and quietly sit by in all other situations.
Of course, at one point, we all knew nothing. The only way you ever know anything, in fact, is to speak up about it. Outline your argument, support it, listen, revise.
The byproduct of speaking up about what you don't know is that you soon know more. And maybe, just maybe, the experts learn something from you and your process.
No one knows more about the way you think than you do. Applying that approach, combining your experience, taking a risk--this is what we need from you.

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