Sunday, April 22, 2012
For whom the bell tolls at Prima Biomed - CVac ovarian cancer vaccine
For whom the bell tolls at Prima Biomed
"Prima is developing a treatment for ovarian cancer and, at 22¢, its market capitalisation is $256 million. This is hefty for a company that is not forecast to make a profit for at least another four years (if it ever does)."
"The clinical results Prima Biomed has come up with so far do not seem to support its share price rise from 2¢ or so in early 2009, to peak at 39¢ this time last year. The full results of its preliminary (phase two) are due out in the next few months, but what we know so far is that the data from 21 patients ''has not demonstrated statistically significant results'', in the words of a report by Nomura Equity Research."
DNA donor rights affirmed : Nature News & Comment
DNA donor rights affirmed : Nature News & Comment
"It is a familiar scenario in genetic research: a subject's DNA is collected for one study, deposited in a database or biobank and then analysed by other researchers for separate studies. But what happens when a later study stumbles on something that could be of significance for the donor....."
"..... But, increasingly, geneticists are embracing the idea that research participants have a right to know of any unwelcome surprises in their genome...."
"The need to establish policies for the return of results has grown with the proliferation of whole-genome sequencing, says James Evans, editor-in-chief of Genetics in Medicine, which is publishing an entire issue on the return of results in genetic research, along with the consensus statement."
abstract: Postmenopausal hormone therapy is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer lacking CDKN1A expression
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2012/04/17/0008-5472.CAN-11-2619.abstract
Abstract
Experimental studies have shown that estrogen- or progesterone-activated signaling leads to growth inhibition effects on colon cancer
cells through the upregulation of several cell cycle regulators.
However, epidemiologic studies evaluating hormone therapy (HT) use and
colorectal cancer
risk by the status of cell cycle regulators are lacking. In this study,
we used data from the prospective Nurses' Health Study to evaluate
whether the association between HT use and colorectal cancer
risk differs by the molecular pathological status of microsatellite
instability (MSI) and expression of cell cycle-related tumor biomarkers,
including CDKN1A (p21, CIP1), CDKN1B (p27, KIP1), and TP53 (p53) by
immunohistochemistry. Duplication Cox regression analysis was used to
determine an association between HT use, cancer risk, and specific tumor biomarkers in 581 incident colon and rectal cancer
cases that occurred during 26 years of follow-up among 105520
postmenopausal women. We found a difference between HT use and
colorectal cancer
risk according to CDKN1A expression (p-value for heterogeneity=0.01).
Current HT use was associated with a reduced risk for
CDKN1A-nonexpressed (multivariate relative risk (RR)=0.61, 95%
confidence interval (CI), 0.46-0.82), but not for CDKN1A-expressed
(RR=1.32, 95% CI, 0.76-2.31) tumors. The lower risk for
CDKN1A-nonexpressed, but not for CDKN1A-expressed cancers was also
present among current users of estrogen-alone therapy. We found no
significant difference in the relations between HT use and cancer
risk according to MSI, CDKN1B, or TP53 status. Together, our molecular
epidemiology findings suggest a preventive effect of HT against
colorectal carcinogenesis which depends, in part, on loss of
cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor CDKN1A.
2010-2011-Annual Report English: Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
http://www.partnershipagainstcancer.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010-2011-Annual-Report-English.pdf
- (pages 55+) STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION As at March 31, 2011 (with comparative figures)
- In collaboration with the Terry Fox Research Institute, the
following progress occurred in other areas: Pilot projects in translational research related to ovarian and prostate cancer were funded. - Anticipatory Science: Part 1 of an ovarian cancer screening summary, which will be updated with mortality statistics in 2011/12
- Surgery: Electronic synoptic reporting (summary/general overview) for cancer surgery was successfully implemented in selected centres in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta for surgery for four disease sites: breast, colorectal, ovarian and head/neck.
- Electronic synoptic reporting for cancer surgery was
successfully implemented in selected centres in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta for surgery for four disease sites: breast, colorectal, ovarian and head/neck. - The first of five ICBP modules produced robust and comparable analyses of cancer survival among all ICBP partners. Survival rates for four cancers — lung, breast, colorectal and ovarian — were analyzed and presented as a scientific paper in The Lancet in December 2010
abstract: Curr Oncol. 2012 Apr;19(2):70-7. Accelerating knowledge to action: the pan-Canadian cancer control strategy (including blogger's note)
Blogger's Note/Opinion: this is the medline abstract secondary to the recent posting via Oncology Reports; some points to consider: details of the history past need clarification so as not to presume certain statements; in fact a further ~$250 million was funded by the Canadian government at the 5 year renewal date; note also that the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer existed previously (name change), albeit without the current wider structure
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Accelerating knowledge to action: the pan-Canadia... [Curr Oncol. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI
Abstract
"In 2006, the federal government committed funding of $250 million over 5 years for the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer Corporation to begin implementation of the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control (cscc)...."
"Evaluation findings support the conclusions that Canada has made progress in achieving immediate outcomes (achievable in <5 years) associated with advancing its cancer control goals and that there is evidence that, with sustained effort, those goals will translate into a long-term (>25 years) impact on cancer."
"With the ongoing funding commitment to support coordinated action within a federated environment of health care delivery, there is opportunity to reduce the impact that cancer may have in the long term in Canada...."
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