full free access: The detection, treatment, and biology of epithelial ovarian cancer

Note: click on 'pdf' for access to the full paper

Review
The detection, treatment, and biology of epithelial ovarian cancer

Jennifer A.A. Gubbels email, Nick Claussen email, Arvinder K. Kapur email, Joseph P. Connor email and Manish S. Patankar email

Journal of Ovarian Research 2010, 3:8doi:10.1186/1757-2215-3-8
Published: 29 March 2010
Abstract (provisional)

Ovarian cancer is particularly insidious in nature. Its ability to go undetected until late stage coupled with its non-descript signs and symptoms make it the seventh leading cause of cancer related deaths in women. Additionally, the lack of sensitive diagnostic tools and resistance to widely accepted chemotherapy regimens make ovarian cancer devastating to patients and families and frustrating to medical practitioners and researchers. Here, we provide an in-depth review of the theories describing the origin of ovarian cancer, molecular factors that influence its growth and development and standard methods for detection and treatment. Special emphasis is provided to interactions between ovarian tumors and the innate and adaptive immune system and attempts that are currently underway to devise novel immunotherapeutic approaches for the treatment of ovarian tumors.

Report: Tens of millions still opening junk e-mail | Security - CNET News

Note: for computer information CNET is a very good and reliable site

Genomics - HuGENet

See website for further information:

Population Research
Human Genome Epidemiology Network (HuGENet™)

HuGENetIn 1998, the National Office of Public Health Genomics established the Human Genome Epidemiology Network (HuGENet™) to help translate genetic research findings into opportunities for preventive medicine and public health by advancing the synthesis, interpretation, and dissemination of population-based data on human genetic variation in health and disease.

HuGENet™ is interested in establishing collaborations with individuals and organizations working on population-based research involving genetic information. Learn how to participate in HuGENet™.

EPGM-Munich Oncology - Gynecologic Oncology - webcasts from November 2009 (variety of topics included)

Note: free to view/no passwords required

Placebo Eases Cancer-Related Fatigue - Dr Markman/video

Note: site requires sign on/password - free
short video with Dr Markman - March 26, 2010

New supportive care assessment guideline available | Canadian Partnership Against Cancer

Note: search results show there is no reference either in the body of the paper nor in the references section to ovarian cancer

"Conclusion
Despite limitations in the research, there is reasonable evidence that psychosocial
and supportive care needs are under-addressed, that assessment improves patient
outcomes, and that some screening for distress and psychosocial assessment tools
have effective psychometric properties that help to “red flag” patients and support
comprehensive assessment. The recommendations in this guideline have been
designed to explain, ignite, and support the need for quality psychosocial health care
needs assessment and screening for distress in persons living with cancer. Using an
evidence base that is grounded in research and clinical practice, they stress the
importance of assessment as a first step in the explication of need and the
implementation of appropriate interventions. At the same time, this document has
suggested a range of important considerations as the field moves forward – from
needs assessment, clinical service provision, resource allocation, intervention, followup,
and outcome evaluation, to related research, and more. We believe the adoption
of these recommendations into cancer practice will bring us one step closer to a
person-focused cancer system that can improve patient and family experience of
living with cancer."

Obama Chooses Health Policy Scholar as the Director for Medicare and Medicaid - NYTimes.com

Note: I have met Dr Berwick (via WHO Patient Safety), an extraordinarily compassionate individual

"WASHINGTON — President Obama will soon name Dr. Donald M. Berwick, an iconoclastic scholar of health policy, to run Medicare and Medicaid, the programs that serve nearly one-third of all Americans, administration officials said Saturday.

Dr. Berwick, a pediatrician, is president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, Mass. He has repeatedly challenged doctors and hospitals to provide better care at a lower cost...."

"Dr. Berwick has denounced “the insanity of health care that costs too much and achieves too little.” But at the same time, he celebrates the work of hospitals that have reduced medical errors and deaths by the systematic application of proven techniques. And he wants to disseminate the secrets of communities that provide high-quality care at low cost."

A systematic literature review of vitamin D and ovarian cancer.

CONCLUSION: There is no consistent or strong evidence to support the claim made in numerous review articles that vitamin D exposures reduce the risk for ovarian cancer occurrence or mortality.

Characterization of the molecular differences between ovarian endometrioid carcinoma and ovarian serous carcinoma

"The histopathological diagnosis of high-grade endometrioid and serous carcinoma of the ovary is poorly reproducible under the current morphology based classification system, especially for anaplastic, high-grade tumours.......In EOCs, WT1 protein is observed in the majority of serous carcinomas and in up to 30% of endometrioid carcinomas. It is unclear whether the latter is a reflection of the actual incidence of WT1 protein expression in endometrioid carcinomas, or whether a significant number of high-grade serous carcinomas have been misclassified as endometrioid carcinoma........It was found that nuclear WT1 protein expression can identify misclassified high-grade endometrioid carcinomas and these tumours should be reassigned to serous histotype. Although low-grade endometrioid carcinomas rarely progress to high-grade carcinomas, a combined WT1-negative, TP53-positive immunophenotype may identify an uncommon high-grade subtype of ovarian endometrioid carcinoma."

Sleep disturbances in asymptomatic BRCA1/2 mutation carriers: women at high risk for breast-ovarian cancer

"Fatigue and carrier status were significant predictors of sleep quality, accounting for 15.7% of the variance.
In conclusion, asymptomatic BRCA1/2 carriers experience poor sleep quality compared to non-carriers and controls. Our study design is unique in that it offers insight regarding the nature of being an asymptomatic carrier, and affords the opportunity to examine factors that may contribute to the development of insomnia in women at risk for breast-ovarian cancer."

full access: Trastuzumab (Herceptin) sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to EGFR-targeted therapeutics

In research:

Background:  Early studies have demonstrated comparable levels of HER2/ErbB2 expression in both breast and ovarian cancer. Trastuzumab (Herceptin), a therapeutic monoclonal antibody directed against HER2, is FDA-approved for the treatment of both early and late stage breast cancer. However, clinical studies of trastuzumab in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients have not met the same level of success. Surprisingly, however, no reports have examined either the basis for primary trastuzumab resistance in ovarian cancer or potential ways of salvaging trastuzumab as a potential ovarian cancer therapeutic.

JAMA -- Ensuring Integrity in Industry-Sponsored Research: Primum Non Nocere, Revisited, March 24/31, 2010 (extract)

"The most fundamental principle of medicine, primum non nocere, holds for every physician, whether functioning as a clinician providing direct patient care; as a researcher, reviewer, or editor involved in medical publishing; or as an administrator overseeing an academic institution, health care organization, or pharmaceutical company research program. In all situations affecting patients, physicians must do no harm.

The Commentary in this issue of JAMA by Nissen describes a disturbing example of inappropriate conduct surrounding an industry-sponsored clinical trial of rosiglitazone and reveals a situation in which concerns about preserving market share apparently trumped concerns about the potential for causing patient harm. Analyzing this situation and others involving misleading reporting and possible misrepresentation of industry-sponsored research has become only too common, and it appears that physicians functioning at several levels failed to put the well-being of patients first."

Tweet Cloud (for fun)

Vitamin E neuroprotection for cisplatin neuropathy: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial -- Neurology

Conclusions: This phase III study confirms the neuroprotective role of vitamin E against cisplatin peripheral neurotoxicity. Vitamin E supplementation should be adopted in patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

Arrayit Signs on Docro to Help Ovarian Cancer Diagnostic Gain FDA Clearance GenomeWeb

Vermillion's OVA1 became the first protein-based in vitro diagnostic multivariate index assay to receive FDA clearance [See PM 09/17/09] and earlier this month it and Quest Diagnostics began marketing OVA1.

In addition, Correlogic is in discussions with the FDA about its OvaCheck test,

and

Healthlinx, which launched its test called OvPlex in the UK in February, has said that it may launch the test in the US next year, if it receives regulatory approval.

This week, Arrayit said that OvaDx will be the market's first "comprehensive diagnostic for ovarian cancer" and will be targeted to all women over the age of 35.

Delivering consensus from the Asian Oncology Summit 2009 : The Lancet Oncology

The webtable shows a breakdown of the country of origin of all participants in the workshops and among the authorship of the resultant papers. Participants represented 21 different countries, of which 15 were Asian. Each workshop had about 40—100 attendees, and the majority of authors work in Asian hospitals. The manuscripts are a wonderful testament to the resources and expertise available in Asia, and we hope they will provide a valuable resource of information to inform practice and provide a foundation for future developments of oncology services throughout the region.

The 2nd Asian Oncology Summit will be held in Bali, Indonesia, on April 9—11, 2010. See www.asianoncologysummit.com for more details.

The Lancet Student » Lancet Seminar: Colorectal cancer including genetics (eg: Lynch Syndrome)

Oprah picks inspirational painting from Dallas artist Shannon Kincaid

From unwanted interference to indispensable partner - Masterpiece - Issues 35 - Articles - Cancer World - Education & knowledge through people & facts

From unwanted interference to indispensable partner

"Three years after taking up the presidency of Europe’s first international breast cancer coalition, Gloria Freilich faced her most embarrassing moment. It was 1997 and she had started to address a major meeting of oncologists in Lisbon, talking about her new organisation, designed by women for women, called Europa Donna. Then a doctor stood up and challenged her. What right did a layperson, he asked, have to address a thousand oncologists at a medical meeting?..."

The ethics of dietary supplements and natural health products in pharmacy practice: a systematic documentary analysis

CBC Toronto | Features | First, the Bad News - audio (Princess Margaret Hospital)

Note: Dr Oza speaks briefly about a new endometrial cancer therapy and mentions ovarian cancer

CCR Connections (News NIH) - Big Things in Small Packages: Small RNAs Play a Big Role in Cancer Biology

"Exquisitely tuned gene expression is essential to orchestrate both the development and functioning of the myriad cell types in the human body. When that tuning goes awry, one result is cancer. Small microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged relatively recently as key modulators of gene expression, acting at a stage between transcription of the genes and translation into proteins. Although they are tiny, miRNAs—at a little over 20 nucleotides long—pack a big punch since each regulates a variety of genes, and they are involved in diverse pathological processes, including cell proliferation and death...."

CCR Connections (News at NIH) - A Cure for the Incurable? Using the Body's Immune System to Treat Metastatic Cancers

Low-dose gabapentin as useful adjuvant to opioids for neuropathic cancer pain when combined with low-dose imipramine

Age and gender differences in symptom intensity and symptom clusters among patients with metastatic cancer

Note: abstract denotes 'common cancers' only, no reference to ovarian cancer

"Analyses of symptom clusters revealed that fatigue and drowsiness were included in the cluster of pain, nausea, and appetite in younger but not older patients. In men, pain clustered together with depression and anxiety; for women, physical and psychological symptoms formed separate clusters.

CONCLUSIONS: In patients with advanced cancers, symptom patterns differ according to age and gender. Palliative interventions tailored for symptoms that are more prominent in specific patient subgroups may offer greater therapeutic benefit."

abstract: Ensuring a healthy and productive workforce: comparing the generosity of paid sick day and sick leave policies in 22 countries

full access: NEJM -- Untangling the Web -- Patients, Doctors, and the Internet

March 24th: No Link to Femur Fractures Found with Bisphosphonates - in Endocrinology, Osteoporosis

Action Points  

---

• Explain to interested patients that although this study did not find a link, some case reports have suggested that atypical fractures of the femur may be more common in patients treated with bisphosphonates, the most common drugs for treating osteoporosis.
• Explain that the FDA has begun a formal safety inquiry into this potential risk, but it has emphasized that it has not yet found evidence to suggest that physicians or patients should avoid these drugs.

NIH Genetic Testing Registry

With an increasing number of genetic tests available, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognizes the importance of making information about these tests easily accessible to researchers, patients, consumers, health care providers, payers, and others. Therefore, NIH is initiating the development of the Genetic Testing Registry (GTR), an online resource that will provide a centralized location for test developers and manufacturers to voluntarily submit test information such as indications for use, validity data, and evidence of the test’s usefulness. The overarching goal of the GTR is to advance the public health and research into the genetic basis of health and disease.

As such, the Registry will have several key functions:

* Encourage providers of genetic tests to enhance transparency by publicly sharing information about the availability and utility of their tests;
* Provide an information resource for the public, including researchers, health care providers and patients, to locate laboratories that offer particular tests; and
* Facilitate genetic and genomic data-sharing for research and new scientific discoveries.

Interacting with stakeholders—such as laboratory test developers, manufacturers, health care providers, patient and consumer groups, and researchers—will be a critical part of developing the GTR.

NIH Announces Genetic Testing Registry, March 18, 2010 News Release - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NIH Announces Genetic Testing Registry
Database to Fill Information Gaps and Serve as Research Resource

The National Institutes of Health announced today that it is creating a public database that researchers, consumers, health care providers, and others can search for information submitted voluntarily by genetic test providers. The Genetic Testing Registry (GTR) aims to enhance access to information about the availability, validity, and usefulness of genetic tests. More information about the Genetic Testing Registry and NCBI is available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gtr/.

PLoS ONE: Bias Due to Changes in Specified Outcomes during the Systematic Review Process

Thermo Fisher Extends Biomarker Pact with Universities News | Proteomics | GenomeWeb

"NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Thermo Fisher Scientific today said that it has extended a biomarker research effort with George Mason University's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM), Johns Hopkins University, and Toronto's University Health Network (UHN)."

China Continues to Consult NCCN for Guidance on Cancer Treatment

"Programs continue into the month of April; NCCN Guidelines Symposia on Ovarian Cancer, Cervical Cancer, and Head & Neck Cancers will be held on April 17 in Beijing."

Underdiagnosis of Lynch Syndrome Involves More than Family History Criteria

CONCLUSIONS:
Lynch syndrome is under-recognized, even when patients have clear criteria unrelated to family history. Multifaceted strategies focused on reducing providers' cognitive errors and harnessing EHR capabilities to improve recognition of Lynch syndrome are needed."

financial news - Picoplatin - UPDATE 3-Poniard suspends regulatory efforts on key drug | Reuters

Note: read the whole article "The company said it would focus its resources on developing clinical strategies for picoplatin in small cell lung cancer, as well as colorectal, prostate and ovarian cancers."

Information for consumers | The Cochrane Collaboration

The Cochrane Collaboration | Working together to provide the best evidence for health care

The Cochrane Collaboration is an international, independent, not-for-profit organisation of over 27,000 contributors from more than 100 countries, dedicated to making up-to-date, accurate information about the effects of health care readily available worldwide.

We are world leaders in evidence-based health care

Our contributors work together to produce systematic assessments of healthcare interventions, known as Cochrane Reviews, which are published online in The Cochrane Library. Cochrane Reviews are intended to help providers, practitioners and patients make informed decisions about health care, and are the most comprehensive, reliable and relevant source of evidence on which to base these decisions.

A Study of Stimuvax® in Combination With Hormonal Treatment Versus Hormonal Treatment Alone for First-line Therapy of Endocrine-sensitive Advanced Breast Cancer - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

Note: actively recruiting as at March 24th, 2010
A Study of Stimuvax® in Combination With Hormonal Treatment Versus Hormonal Treatment Alone for First-line Therapy of Endocrine-sensitive Advanced Breast Cancer - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

Merck KGaA halts cancer vaccine trial - MarketWatch

"STRIDE is a randomized, double-blind, controlled, multi-center Phase III study designed to determine if Stimuvax can extend progression free survival in patients treated with hormonal therapy who have inoperable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic breast cancer."

website: Australian Society of Gynaecologic Oncologists ASGO

Search of: COTI-2 - Search Details - ClinicalTrials.gov

Found no studies with search of: COTI-2

financial news: Critical Outcome Technologies Inc. Invited to Present Data on COTI-2 at US Oncology Summit (in research)

Note: in research

About COTI-2

COTI-2 is a novel small molecule that acts by inhibition of Akt/PKB (Protein kinase B) phosphorylation that leads to caspase-9 activation in cancer cells resulting in apoptosis or programmed cell death. COTI-2 is easily synthesized and has good in vitro and in vivo efficacy against multiple cancers including small cell lung, non-small cell lung, colon, brain, ovarian, endometrial and pancreatic cancers. COTI-2 test results show it to be highly effective as a single agent therapy and as a combination therapy in a number of animal models of human cancers. COTI-2 differs from other cancer treatments in that other treatments involve the killing of all growing and dividing cells in the body resulting in significant toxic side effects while COTI-2 appears to target and destroy cancer cells only and has demonstrated low toxicity in normal human cells compared to human cancer cells.

Current Controlled Trials - Database of Clinical Trials - Europe

Note: this is a database of European clinical trials - the database has been around for many years  

Search for trials: Trials uniquely identified by an ISRCTN Search across multiple registers (including the NHS in England and US ClinicalTrials.gov)

Trends in the survival of patients diagnosed with cancer in female genital organs in the Nordic countries 1964-2003 followed up to the end of 2006

Primary peritoneal and ovarian cancers: an epidemiological comparative analysis

"The difference in the risk factor associations between invasive serous PPC and EOC cancers suggests divergent molecular development of peritoneal and ovarian cancers. A larger study to determine risk factors for invasive serous PPC is warranted."

NCI Cancer Bulletin: Training Providers and Patients to Talk about End-of-Life Care

March 23, 2010 - NCI: Fatigue: Is it Normal or Pathological? And How Can We Best Treat It?

"Despite years of scientific study of cancer-related fatigue (CRF), questions related to its definition, measurement, underlying mechanisms, and effective interventions remain unanswered. Yet, the high prevalence of CRF and its negative effects on quality-of-life outcomes, including work and family functioning, make it a critical problem for cancer patients and survivors. Clearly, more research is needed to reduce morbidity associated with this symptom.

To address this, on April 13 and 14, NCI’s Symptom Management and Health-related Quality of Life Steering Committee will convene a closed-attendance state-of-the-science meeting on CRF, which I will chair. During this meeting, we will summarize the science, address gaps in knowledge that require further study, and develop a focused agenda for future research......

Perhaps the best way to appreciate the urgent need to better understand and treat CRF is from the perspective of cancer patients and survivors who have experienced it. In discussing CRF, invariably they talk about their inability to get out of the house, work, cook meals and do dishes, get up the stairs to go to bed, or do half the things they did before. It is for these reasons that scientists need to fill the gaps in our knowledge of CRF."

(free) Registration page: Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Genetic Risk and Treatment Updates - U of Michigan/Sunnybrook Toronto

April teleconference on triple-negative breast cancer risk and updates

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Genetic Risk and Treatment Updates

Join Living Beyond Breast Cancer and The Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation for our next free teleconference, Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Genetic Risk and Treatment Updates, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Thursday, April 15.

SGO: Targeting Platelets May Help Ovarian Cancer - in Meeting Coverage

MedPage Today Action Points

• Explain to patients that abnormal platelet levels or activity may play a role in ovarian cancer.


• The findings are based on a retrospective cohort study and laboratory experiments involving a preclinical model of ovarian cancer.


• Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Stanford University Researcher and Hemispherx Biopharma Consultant Present New Integrative Immunotherapy Approach - news item

"PHILADELPHIA, Mar 23, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. announced today the publication of an editorial entitled "TLR3 agonists as immunotherapeutic agents," published in the March 15, 2010 edition of Immunotherapy (2010) 2(2), 137-140, co-authored by Jonathan S. Berek, MD, Chairman, Stanford University School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Christopher F. Nicodemus, MD, Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer, Advanced Immune Therapeutics, Inc., and HEB Consultant.
Drs. Berek and Nicodemus have collaborated for more than a decade seeking to identify novel strategies to mobilize immunity to treat cancer and have conducted and published numerous preclinical and clinical studies, most notably in the field of ovarian cancer. Their long standing research interests form the basis for an active collaboration with the Company to evaluate the potential for Ampligen(R) (rintatolimod, Poly I : Poly C12U) and TLR3 agonists as cancer immunotherapeutics...."

Sexuality and intimacy after gynecological cancer

"The essential part of success is the providers appreciation of this serous problem and willingness and comfort in addressing it."

Doubling time of serum CA125 is an independent prognostic factor for survival in patients with (early stage) ovarian cancer relapsing after first-line chemotherapy

"There is a lack of data in early-stage ovarian cancer on the pattern of CA-125," said Chan. "Previous studies generally had no comprehensive staging and no central pathology review."
The Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) 157 trial provided an opportunity to examine the change in CA-125 and its relationship to outcomes in women with early-stage ovarian cancer. The trial involved 427 women with stage I-II epithelial ovarian cancer. They were randomized to receive three or six cycles of chemotherapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel.
All patients had detailed surgical staging before randomization. Chan said detailed information about CA-125 levels was available for 350 participants in the trial.

Phase II trial of the histone deacetylase inhibitor belinostat in women with platinum resistant epithelial ovarian cancer and micropapillary (LMP) ovarian tumours

Phase II trial of the histone deacetylase inhibitor belinostat in women with platinum resistant epithelial ovarian cancer and micropapillary (LMP) ovarian tumours.

CONCLUSIONS: Belinostat is well tolerated in both patient groups and shows some activity in patients with micropapillary (LMP) disease.

Endometrial and ovarian carcinomas with undifferen... [Mod Pathol. 2010] - PubMed result

"Carcinomas of the endometrium and ovary with undifferentiated components are uncommon neoplasms that are likely underdiagnosed.
They are important to recognize as they have been shown to be clinically aggressive.....Most patients (58% of endometrial and 83% of ovarian carcinomas with undifferentiated components) presented at advanced stages (FIGO III-IV).. ... The tumors were frequently misdiagnosed; they received a wide range of diagnoses, including FIGO grade 2 or 3 endometrioid carcinoma, carcinosarcoma, high-grade sarcoma including endometrial stromal sarcoma, neuroendocrine carcinoma, lymphoma, granulosa cell tumor and epithelioid sarcoma.... They were predominantly negative for neuroendocrine markers, smooth muscle markers and estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor. Mismatch repair protein expression by immunohistochemistry was evaluated in 17 cases, and 8 (47%) were abnormal (7 with loss of MLH1/PMS2 and 1 with MSH6 loss)....Endometrial and ovarian carcinomas with undifferentiated components have a broad histologic differential diagnosis, but they show specific histologic features that should enable accurate diagnosis.
These tumors can occur in young women, may be associated with microsatellite instability and behave in a clinically aggressive manner."
J Modern Pathology

Canadian Medical Association Journal: Opinion 'No more Dithering on e-health"

No more dithering on e-health: let’s keep patients safe instead
March 1, 2010

"Our slow progress on electronic health records should act as a call to action. An electronic health record system with access for everyone — family physicians, consultants, pharmacists, hospitals, managers and researchers — will save lives and improve health outcomes. Canadians deserve nothing less."

Medical News: SGO: Angiogenesis Inhibitor Scores Split Decision - in Meeting Coverage, SGO (enzastaurin and bevacizumab (Avastin)

Andrew Pollack Versus Personal Genomics? Not Quite GenomeWeb

Red Cell Distribution Width and the Risk of Death in Middle-aged and Older Adults

Philadelphia News Mourns Professor’s Death Karen Buhler-Wilkerson (nurse/author)

Proof In Humans Of RNA Interference Using Targeted Nanoparticles - Health News - redOrbit

In research

The discovery of RNA interference, the mechanism by which double strands of RNA silence genes, won researchers Andrew Fire and Craig Mello the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.... "RNAi is a new way to stop the production of proteins," says Davis. What makes it such a potentially powerful tool, he adds, is the fact that its target is not a protein. The vulnerable areas of a protein may be hidden within its three-dimensional folds, making it difficult for many therapeutics to reach them. In contrast, RNA interference targets the messenger RNA (mRNA) that encodes the information needed to make a protein in the first place. "In principle," says Davis, "that means every protein now is druggable because its inhibition is accomplished by destroying the mRNA. And we can go after mRNAs in a very designed way given all the genomic data that are and will become available."

Arrayit Corporation - FDA / OvaDx - financial news

"Arrayit's OvaDx Pre-Symptomatic Ovarian Cancer Test will be the market's first comprehensive diagnostic screen for ovarian cancer, and will be recommended for all women over the age of 35. OvaDx uses approximately 100 proteomic biomarkers in a microarray format to identify molecular beacons of ovarian cancer that accumulate in the bloodstream as a result of the body's natural immune response to developing ovarian tumors. Arrayit's microarray test, which detects both early and late stage ovarian cancer..."cont'd

Medical News: SGO: Test Aids Preop Decisions About Ovarian Masses - in Meeting Coverage, SGO - OVA1

"...However, the test's low specificity raised some concern, as verbalized by an invited discussant of the study." MedPage Today Action Points * Explain to patients that in this study, use of a laboratory test improved the presurgical evaluation of ovarian tumors compared with physician clinical assessment alone. * Note that the test is for preoperative assessment of ovarian tumors and is not a screening or diagnostic test. * Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Medical News: SGO: Low Cancer Risk with Septated Ovarian Tumors - in Meeting Coverage, SGO

The outcomes of ovarian cancer treatment are better when provided by gynecologic oncologists and in specialized hospitals: a systematic review

Centre for Review and Dissemination - Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE)

Authors' objectives:
To determine the efficacy of specialised care for patients with ovarian cancer.
Authors' conclusions:The outcome of ovarian cancer was better when treatment was provided in specialised settings (gynecologic oncologists or in specialised hospitals) than that provided in non-specialised settings.

CRD commentary:
"Given the limitations and the lack of reported methodology in the review process, although the results appeared promising the authors conclusion appears to be overstated."

OU Medical Center and Edmond Medical Center To Combine

OKLAHOMA CITY/EDMOND Note: includes information on womens' health including gynecologic oncology

Medical News March 21st : SGO: Hunt for Ovarian Regimen Focuses on Carboplatin - in Meeting Coverage, SGO

2009 media item: HST Global and HMD team up to develop curriculum for FIT protocol

" HSTC) today announced a Partnership with Dr. James W. Forsythe to facilitate the development of a curriculum for the licensing and/or certification to administer Dr. Forsythe’s immune therapy in clinics to be built or acquired by HST Global, Inc. Dr. Forsythe brings over thirty years of medical and research experience including expertise in the research and clinical application of his “Forsythe Immune Therapy” (FIT).
As previously announced, James W. Forsythe, MD, HMD, board certified oncologist and a member of HST Global Inc.’s Board of Directors and Head of the Scientific Advisory Board, was featured in Suzanne Somers’ book Knockout. Due to the overwhelming response to the information and protocol featured in Ms. Somers’ book, Dr. Forsythe’s clinic has become inundated with new patient requests and referrals. Due to this dramatic increase in both new patient inquiries and volume, it has become necessary to increase the staff at Dr Forsythe’s facility, The Cancer Screening and Treatment Center of Nevada."

HST Global - media item "FIT protocol" Dr Forsythe

March 9, 2010
HAMPTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HST Global, Inc. (OTCBB:HSTC)today announced that Dr. James Forsythe, MD, HMD, is experiencing continuous success with his Forsythe Immune Therapy (FIT) Protocol. Dr. James Forsythe, MD, HMD, is a board certified oncologist and a member of HST Global Inc.’s Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Forsythe’s existing study is meeting with 70-80% efficacy in clinical treatment of Stage IV cancers in a test of 450 patients. The highlight of the study is in stage IV prostate cancer where they have met with 86% efficacy with prostate cancer patients over 55 months through the application of his "FIT" Protocol.

Ronald Howell President and CEO of HST Global, Inc. stated, "We are encouraged by the continued success Dr. Forsythe is experiencing with his FIT protocol. The updated study results demonstrate the efficacy of the FIT Protocol."

Pregabalin for acute and chronic pain in adults - Cochrane Collaboration review

Note: includes numerous comments by a variety of healthcare professional disciplines

BACKGROUND:
Antiepileptic drugs have been used in pain management since the 1960s. Pregabalin is a recently developed antiepileptic drug also used in management of chronic neuropathic pain conditions.

CONCLUSIONS:
Pregabalin has proven efficacy in neuropathic pain conditions and fibromyalgia. A minority of patients will have substantial benefit with pregabalin, and more will have moderate benefit. Many will have no or trivial benefit, or will discontinue because of adverse events. Individualisation of treatment is needed to maximise pain relief and minimise adverse events. There is no evidence to support the use of pregabalin in acute pain scenarios.

Co-operation between patient organisations and the drug industry in Finland

Placebo interventions for all clinical conditions. Cochrane Database Systematic Rev. 2010 Jan 20

Note: includes comments from numerous healthcare professional disciplines

Epidemiology of Ovarian Cancer in African American Women | Institute for Health Research and Policy | University of Illinois, Chicago

Principal investigator
Therese A. Dolecek, PhD
Co-investigator(s)
Faith G. Davis, PhD
Bridget McCarthy, PhD

Funding Agency
National Cancer Institute through Duke University

Start date
04/01/2010
End date
03/31/2015
Total award
$1,150,609

About this grant
This grant is a subcontract of a larger grant at Duke University.
Parent Study
Epidemiology of Ovarian Cancer in African American Women
PI of Parent Study
Joellen Schildkraut, PhD, MPH
Duke University

Consumers Slow to Embrace the Age of Genomics - NYTimescom Andy Pollack

YouTube - BEAT ovarian cancer with Ovacome including survivour's interviews

Note: Survivour's Laurain and Gillian

News - Transvaginal Ultrasound May Reduce Ovarian Tumour Surgeries: Presented at SGO

Reference Source: Presentation title: Risk of Malignancy in Sonographically Confirmed Septated Cystic Ovarian Tumors. Abstract 53

Alcohol and gynecological cancers: an overview.

"In conclusion, the current body of evidence, which is inadequate for several sites, suggests no association between alcohol consumption and risk of gynecological cancers."

BRCA1 as a Therapeutic Target in Sporadic Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

CBC News - Health - Give control of electronic health records back to patients

"Lots of people don't know [an EPHR] is not available. They don't know they don't already have an electronic health record," says Alex Jadad, head of the Toronto Centre for Global eHealth Innovation at the University of Toronto....."For a patient's voice to be heard, who should they go to, to complain about things?" Jadad says to me. A family doctor? A hospital. All hospitals in their city? A province? Ottawa? Everyone seems to have taken some responsibility for ensuring health records become digitalized, and yet nobody seems specifically in charge of making sure it happens for patients."

Note:  Comments are open and welcome until Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 11:59 p.m.

media item: Gynecologic Oncologists Advance Promising Intraperitoneal Approach - Carboplatin IP/phase 111 studies

"The present studies provide additional useful data on carboplatin and the feasibility of intraperitoneal infusion. Specifically, data relating to maximum tolerated dose and dose-limiting toxicity derived from these studies will be implemented in advanced phase-III research trials."

5 Amazing Infographics For the Health Conscious

"Researching topics such as health, diet, and (especially) the effectiveness of dietary supplements can be hard and time-consuming. Obscured by thousands of marketing tricks, finding the truth takes days, if not weeks of research.

So, when someone puts in the time to do the research and create an infographic that makes certain aspects of these topics easy to understand, it can be a huge time saver. Read on for some of the best health-related infographics we’ve found online.

As always, consider the figures in these infographics with a grain of salt. No one guarantees that the numbers are correct, and some of them are definitely open to interpretation."


1. Dietary Supplements
2. Should You Drink Tap Water?
3. Obesity in the USA
4. The Cost of Health Care
5. Fatality Rates for Different Diseases

GeneCards: List of Disease Genes

Note: genes/disease relevance/links to further information

examples:

BRCA2 breast cancer 2, early onset 13q12.3

* Breast-ovarian cancer, familial, 2
* Fanconi anemia, complementation group D1
* Prostate cancer
* Breast cancer, male, susceptibility to
* Wilms tumor
* Medulloblastoma
* Glioblastoma
* Pre-B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
* Pancreatic cancer

MSH2 mutS homolog 2, colon cancer, nonpolyposis type 1 (E. coli) 2p22-p21

* Colorectal cancer, hereditary nonpolyposis, type 1
* Muir-Torre syndrome
* Mismatch repair cancer syndrome

video from SGO meeting - Vermillion/OVA1

interview: cost of the test is $650.00 U.S. (video also speaks about Medicare/insurance)

Medical News: SGO: New Option for Recurrent Ovarian Cancer? - in "Carboplatin-PLD" Meeting Coverage, SGO

Source reference: Pujade-Lauraine E, et al "Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin and carboplatin versus paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer in late relapse" SGO 2010; Abstract SAS 2

More study needed on vitamin D-ovarian cancer link | Reuters

Translational research in the Gynecologic Oncology Group: Evaluation of ovarian cancer markers, profiles, and novel therapies.

The BRCAPRO 5.0 model is a useful tool in genetic counseling and clinical management of male breast cancer cases.

"BRCAPRO version 5.0 can be particularly useful in dealing with non-familial MBC, a circumstance that often represents a challenging situation in genetic counseling."

Tamoxifen for relapse of ovarian cancer. Cochrane Collaboration review (abstract)

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We are unable to make any evidence-based recommendations as we found no comparative studies assessing the effectiveness of tamoxifen in women with recurrent ovarian cancer. There is limited evidence on anti-tumour activity from phase 2 studies, but these contain no data on the effect of tamoxifen on symptom control, QOL or the prolongation of life.

Plain language summary

No evidence to suggest tamoxifen benefits patients with relapsed ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer often spreads before symptoms show. Cytotoxic drugs are often only partly effective and cause severe side-effects. The main aims of treatment for relapsed disease are symptom control and prolongation of life. No data from RCTs or non-RCTs were found, so there was no evidence that tamoxifen was effective and safe as a treatment for relapsed ovarian cancer. Laboratory studies suggest tamoxifen may be effective as a treatment for women with ovarian cancer. Although, uncontrolled non-comparative trials on patients with relapsed ovarian cancer showed tamoxifen may shrink or stabilise tumours in a small number, there is a strong need for an RCT or good quality non-randomised comparative studies to determine the effectiveness and safety of tamoxifen in terms of overall survival, tumour response, symptom control, quality of life and adverse events.

News - Temsirolimus Shows Promise for Ovarian, Peritoneal Cancers: Presented at SGO

"The researchers concluded that temsirolimus may have modest cytostatic activity in patients with prior chemotherapy and should be investigated further. Dr. Behbakht suggested that the agent might be combined with bevacizumab for increased activity and is already being studied in combination with paclitaxel. He noted that isolation, enumeration, and characterisation of CTCs from patients should also be investigated in further trials."

News - Bevacizumab Plus Docetaxel Shows Promise for Ovarian Cancer, No Surprising Toxicities: Presented at SGO

NIH Foundation, Biomarkers Consortium Team on Cancer Trials (breast) GenomeWeb

"...The clinical trials will use Agendia's MammaPrint test and TargetPrint Her2 risk scores, as well as estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor status information and MRI to help determine eligibility for the trial.
The large-scale trial will involve more than twenty university hospitals and medical centers spread around the country, including The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Mayo Clinic in Arizona and Minnesota, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and a number of others...."

article: NIH Plans Genetic Testing Registry GenomeWeb

NIH Plans Genetic Testing Registry
March 18, 2010

"NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The National Institutes of Health is starting a public database on genetic testing that will allow consumers, researchers, health care providers, and others search through information submitted by genetic test providers, NIH said today....The GTR, which is expected to be available in 2011, will be overseen by NIH's Office of the Director, and its development will be handled by the National Center for Biotechnology Information."

MRI for breast cancer: who benefits, who is harmed? Cancer World - Education & knowledge through people & facts

full access: Lovastatin induces apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells and synergizes with doxorubicin: potential therapeutic relevance - U of T

Conclusions:
The results of this research provide pre-clinical data to warrant further evaluation of statins as potential anti-cancer agents to treat ovarian carcinoma. Many statins are inexpensive, off-patent generic drugs that are immediately available for use as anti-cancer agents. We provide evidence that lovastatin triggers apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells as a single agent by a mevalonate-dependent mechanism. Moreover, we also show lovastatin synergizes with doxorubicin, an agent administered for recurrent disease. This synergy occurs by a novel mevalonate-independent mechanism that antagonizes drug resistance, likely by inhibiting P-glycoprotein. These data raise important issues that may impact how statins can best be included in chemotherapy regimens.

The use of senna with docusate for postoperative constipation after pelvic reconstructive surgery: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

ScienceDirect - Gynecologic Oncology : The molecular genetic basis of ovarian cancer and its roadmap towards a better treatment

Note: subscription required )$$$)

The molecular genetic basis of ovarian cancer and its roadmap towards a better treatment

Social Science & Medicine : Scripting patienthood with patient clothing

Re: judging based on clothing/dress

Medicines & Drugs | Information leaflets on specific medicines and drugs | Patient UK

Australia: Consumer medicine information

Health Canada Drug Product Database (DPD)

Drug Information Portal - U.S. National Library of Medicine - Quick Access to Quality Drug Information (searchable)

The Peninsula On-line: Qatar's (English) Women cancer patients face family turmoil

Note: (from Wiki) Qatar, also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is an Arab emirate in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south; otherwise the Persian Gulf surrounds the state. A strait of the Persian Gulf separates Qatar from the relatively nearby island nation of Bahrain. “Every woman is at risk for developing a gynaecologic cancer,” said Dr Jeremie Arash Rafii Tabrizi, assistant professor of genetic medicine in obstetrics and gynecology at WCMC-Q. “This year, over 78,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed, and over 28,000 will die from gynecologic cancer — and the numbers, percentage-wise, are similar in the Middle East,” he said at a lecture on Women and Cancer as a part of the WCMC-Q’s Medicine and U lecture series, recently.

“The perception of cancer is different in each society. In the Middle East in particular, the diagnosis of any cancer is associated with a high level of anxiety—and it is often viewed as having a shameful disease. The loss of fertility related to cancer treatment also can have a significant impact on women and their families.”

CureToday.com: Spring 2010 Article - "Special Report" Mammogram issue/controversies

Medical News: SGO: Drug Combination Slows Recurrent Ovarian Cancer - Taxotere + Carboplatin

"Median PFS was almost 14 months with combination therapy, while sequential administration of docetaxel (Taxotere) and carboplatin was associated with a median PFS of about eight months."

NEJM -- Performance of Common Genetic Variants in Breast-Cancer Risk Models

Note: full text is pay-per-view
Conclusions The inclusion of newly discovered genetic factors modestly improved the performance of risk models for breast cancer. The level of predicted breast-cancer risk among most women changed little after the addition of currently available genetic information.

news article: Nevada - Deal reached for new cancer clinic at UMC

Granulosa Cell Tumor Of The Ovary Foundation - [gctf.org]

news article: Another Reason Not to Get Your Genes Scanned (gene variants)

"Scientists have discovered numerous gene variants that slightly boost the risk of breast cancer, heart disease, and other common illnesses in recent years. It’s pioneering science. But is the deluge of genetic data useful for doctors and patients?..."

updated March 17th: NAMS updates statement on postmenopausal estrogen, progestogen

press release: New Data Indicate Effectiveness of Clarient's Ovotax(TM) Test for Ovarian Cancer "TLE3"

The study summary and results may be found at http://www.clarientinc.com/Ovotax

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Clarient, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLRT), a premier technology and services resource for pathologists, oncologists and the pharmaceutical industry, today announced that data from a new study shows that Clarient's Ovotax™ assay may effectively predict which ovarian cancer patients will respond favorably to taxane therapy and could, therefore, be spared the potential side effects of this rigorous and sometimes toxic chemotherapy agent. The study was presented yesterday at the national meeting on Women's Cancer of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists by Janelle Fauci, M.D. of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB).

The study, titled "Expression of TLE3 Predicts Response to Taxane Therapy in Ovarian Carcinoma," included 293 carcinoma samples. Ovotax is a single antibody immunohistochemistry test created to detect the expression of TLE3 in an ovarian tumor and thereby indicate whether the patient will respond favorably to taxane therapy.

CBC News - Nfld. & Labrador - Danny Williams lashes out at N.L. doctors (pathology issues)

"You know what is missing in all of this is, which is the most important thing, which is what we worry about, what the minister of health worries about, is the patient. Where's the patient in all of this? Did Mr. Ritter or Dr. Lewis, or anybody who is trying to point the finger at the minister, talk about the patient?"

U.S. Director's Consumer Liaison Group - Genomis program/update

The meeting focuses on NCI genomics programs, including updates and discussion of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).  TCGA is NCI’s comprehensive program to map the genetic changes involved in cancer.  In addition to a focus on genomic research in cancer, the DCLG will engage in discussion with the NCI Director about the NCI budget and resource constraints. A draft agenda will be available online shortly.

Meeting: NCI Director’s Consumer Liaison Group Place:  Natcher Conference Center Building 45, NIH Campus Bethesda, MD Online Access: http://videocast.nih.gov
Schedule:
Wednesday, March 24	Thursday, March 25	Friday, March 26
2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.	8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.	8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

update - OVA1 in Canada

I just received a message from OVA1 that the test is available in Canada, so I have resent another message asking for locations and cost. Stay tuned....

Oncology Residents' Perspectives on Communication Skills and Shared Decision Making

Omega-3 fatty acids for neuropathic pain: case series

CONCLUSIONS: This first-ever reported case series suggests that omega-3 fatty acids may be of benefit in the management of patients with neuropathic pain. Further investigations with randomized controlled trials in a more specific neuropathic pain population would be warranted.

Bilateral Oophorectomy versus Ovarian Conservation: Effects on Long-term Women's Health

J Minim Invasive Gynecol. 2010 March - April

Bilateral Oophorectomy versus Ovarian Conservation: Effects on Long-term Women's Health.
Parker WH.
John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John's Health Center, Santa Monica, California.

Bilateral oophorectomy at the time of hysterectomy for benign disease is commonly practiced to prevent the subsequent development of ovarian cancer. Currently, bilateral oophorectomy is performed in 55% of all U.S. women having a hysterectomy, with approximately 300 000 prophylactic oophorectomies performed every year. Observational studies show that estrogen deficiency, resulting from premenopausal or postmenopausal oophorectomy, is associated with higher risks of coronary artery disease, stroke, hip fracture, Parkinsonism, dementia, cognitive impairment, depression, and anxiety. These studies suggest that bilateral oophorectomy may do more harm than good. In women not at high risk for development of ovarian or breast cancer, removing the ovaries at the time of hysterectomy should be approached with caution.

The Patients Voice on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/The Patients Voice

Chemosensitivity testing with ChemoFx and overall survival in primary ovarian cancer.

Dr Rob's Blog: What if the Rest of Life Was LIke Healthcare? Musings of a Distractible Mind

Note: satire

text video: It's All Over Folks...The End of Publishing As We Know It

eg. books, social media Entertaining video prepared by the UK branch of Dorling Kindersley Books. Originally meant solely for a DK sales conference, the video was such a hit internally that it is now being shared externally. ...

abstract: Should access to fertility treatment be determined by female body mass index? Human Reproduction

"Studies have shown that the direct costs per live birth are no greater for overweight and obese women..... Restricting fertility treatment on the grounds of BMI would cause stigmatization and lead to inequity, feelings of injustice and social tension as affluent women manage to bypass these draconian restrictions."

full free access: Human Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells -- Bapat, 10.1530/REP-09-0389 -- Reproduction

In research - selected notes:

Stem cells exist in ovarian tumors.

DNA Copy Numbers Profiles in Affinity-Purified Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma — Clinical Cancer Research

Editorial: Diet and Survival after Ovarian Cancer: Where Are We and What's Next?

  Note: pay-per-view

Journal of the American Dietetic Association
Volume 110, Issue 3, March 2010, Pages 366-368

---

Research

Diet and Survival after Ovarian Cancer: Where Are We and What's Next?

Cynthia A. Thomson PhD, RD, CSO and David S. Alberts MD

Article Outline

The Problem

Diet and Survival

Weight Gain a Subsequent Risk

Time to Fill the Research Gaps

Acknowledgements

References

Vitae

JAMA -- Abstract: Availability and Integration of Palliative Care at US Cancer Centers, March 17, 2010

Medical News: SGO: Hint of Chemoprevention Potential for Lynch Syndrome (endometrial cancers) - in Meeting Coverage, SGO

SAN FRANCISCO -- Oral contraceptives and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA, DepoProvera) may have potential as chemopreventive agents for endometrial cancer in women with Lynch syndrome, biomarker data from a small randomized trial suggest.
"Despite the favorable results, Lu noted that the trial required six years to complete, as investigators in the multicenter study had to screen 708 patients to identify 51 who met entry criteria and agreed to participate, including undergoing two endometrial biopsies three months apart."

read the full article & then my comments as below:

Without the benefit of the full paper, I found this article, in part to be quite confusing. In particular "screened women with diagnosed Lynch syndrome". While the first paragraph of the article reflects the focus on endometrial cancer in women with Lynch Syndrome, the paragraph as below, could also be interpreted to include ovarian cancer as well. So, were ovarian cancer patients with Lynch Syndrome included in this study? Chemoprevention in the form of oral contraceptives in the general ovarian cancer populations is well understood, whether or not this applies to ovarian cancer women with Lynch Syndrome may be yet to be determined.
Clarification, please?
Sandi Pniauskas

"To examine the chemopreventive effects of oral contraceptives and DepoProvera in women with Lynch syndrome, investigators conducted a randomized phase II clinical trial. They screened women with diagnosed Lynch syndrome and evaluated them with transvaginal ultrasound and endometrial biopsy."

A Phase 1 First-in-Human Study Evaluating AMG 900 in Advanced Solid Tumors - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

A Phase 1 First-in-Human Study Evaluating AMG 900 in Advanced Solid Tumors

This study is not yet open for participant recruitment.

Verified by Amgen, January 2010

First Received: February 26, 2009 Last Updated: January 7, 2010

University of Louisville College of Business - NanoMark

LOUISVILLE, Ky., (October 18, 2009)

NanoMark Therapeutics wins Ballard Morton New Venture Competition with kinder, gentler chemotherapy concept

IN Research: NanoMark Therapeutics - website - "AUra"

also: Product Pipeline (2011)  

(in research) as per the website:
"To alleviate the fear and provide relief to those brave patients battling with ovarian cancer, Nanomark Therapeutics (NMT) has developed the revolutionary and first product of its kind, AUra. The drug formulation is the only targeted ovarian cancer therapy in the world and works by selectively binding to receptors found exclusively on cancer cells, using the receptor as a docking station and the nanoparticles as vehicles of entry into the cell for the cancer medication.

Media coverage about cancer mortality, end-of-life issues lacking | HemOncToday

“The absence of reporting about hospice and palliative care is significant, given the numerous well-documented benefits for patients and family members,” the researchers wrote. “Specifically, hospice programs deliver high-quality care at the end of life, with excellent patient and family satisfaction, reduced costs and decreased suffering at the end of life.”

Society of Interventional Radiology: Shutting Out Soft Tissue Cancers in the Cold

Note: Cryotherapy "Interventional Radiologists Pioneer Potential Treatment for Cancer That Has Metastasized to Soft Tissues (Such as Ovarian Cancer) and Bones; Seen as Option for Those Who Are Not Candidates for Surgery"

Editorial: Who Are We and Where Are We Headed? Journal of Oncology Practice

Note: factors/needs affecting physicians taking care of patients

Impact of the Cost of Cancer Treatment: An Internet-Based Survey -- Markman and Luce 6 (2): 69 -- Journal of Oncology Practice

Note: abstract only, did not include ovarian cancer patients Conclusion: This survey suggests that a substantial proportion of patients and their families experience considerable distress associated with the cost of cancer care delivery. Furthermore, these costs affect the decision of patients with cancer to receive recommended treatment. This is a particularly serious issue for individuals with a modest annual income.

ACS Researchers: Progress, Challenges in the War on Cancer

some excerpts:

"...many surgical treatments have become far less disfiguring."

"However, the ACS experts note that researchers have yet to find screening tests and effective therapies for other highly lethal types of cancer, such as lung, liver, ovarian, pancreatic, and brain cancer."

"The epidemic of overweight and obesity—which is associated with the incidence of many types of cancer—during the past 2 decades in the United States has created a new public health challenge, and it is unclear how it is affecting cancer incidence rates currently and in the future," Gapstur and Thun write.

Why do patients with cancer visit the emergency department near the end of life? - CMAJ

Note: full access (pdf)
"Between 2002 and 2005 in Ontario, 91 561 patients died of cancer and were included in our cohort."

"...The other highly ranked diagnoses that were common to both periods were abdominal pain, dyspnea, pneumonia, malaise and fatigue, and pleural effusion. A notable difference between the two time periods was the rank of cardiac arrest, which ranked 16th among diagnoses made for visits during the final two weeks but 61st among those made for visits during the final six months. Palliative care, dehydration and altered level of consciousness ranked much higher for the final two-week period than for the six-month period. No specific code exists for pain-related crisis...".

"Clinical descriptions of patients or families as no longer “coping” at home are common."

Mixing NSAIDs with antiplatelet therapy - The Clinical Advisor

Pregabalin in the treatment of post-traumatic peripheral neuropathic pain: a randomized double-blind trial European Journal of Neurology

The Stigma of Being ‘Fat’ - Well Blog - NYTimes.com

In today’s Science Times, Harriet Brown discusses how, in a time of public acceptance and tolerance of differences, the stigma of being obese may be at an all-time high:

"Public attitudes about fat have never been more judgmental; stigmatizing fat people has become not just acceptable but, in some circles, de rigueur. I’ve sat in meetings with colleagues who wouldn’t dream of disparaging anyone’s color, sex, economic status or general attractiveness, yet feel free to comment witheringly on a person’s weight."

Science Times - information and medicine- New York Times

(links to articles) A special issue of Science Times looks at the explosion of information about health and medicine — on the Web, in medical journals, in the doctor’s office and over the air — and offers some guidelines on how to sort it all out.

You’re Sick. Now What? Knowledge Is Power.

Are patients swimming in a sea of health information? Or are they drowning in it?

Searching for Clarity: A Primer on Medical Studies

You Can Find Dr. Right, With Some Effort

What’s Behind an F.D.A. Stamp?
.
Logging On for a Second (or Third) Opinion

Applying Science to Alternative Medicine

While sweeping claims are often made for alternative medicine treatments, the scientific evidence for them often lags behind.

How a Patient Can Help a Doctor Give the Best Care

With Cancer, Let’s Face It: Words Are Inadequate - Well Blog - NYTimes.com

SGO: Rectovaginal Nodules Predict Bowel Perforation Risk with Bevacizumab - in Meeting Coverage, SGO from MedPage 2009

The power of positive thinking : The Lancet Oncology

Note: this article has free access (with free registration)
"..The notion that individuals who adopt a positive outlook improve their chances of surviving cancer has been controversial among the medical community, but is widely accepted in patient culture...."

Blog - Pharmacy Technician Certification - 12 Most Common Medical Errors (And How to Prevent Them)

Note: This blog also gives lists of links to other sites such as: patient assistance programs (meds), receipes, healthy lifestyle, common myths, vegetarians etc

EvidenceUpdates: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of ABT-594 in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain.

Note: meds in diabetic neuropathic pain are also used in cancer related neuropathic pain (consult oncologist)

Medical News: SGO: Drug Combination Slows Recurrent Ovarian Cancer - in Meeting Coverage, SGO (Avastin)

2008 full free access: Why the NIH Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) Should Be Abandoned

2009 full free access: New Roles for Copper Metabolism in Cell Proliferation, Signaling, and Disease (chelation)

Note: technical

(OVA1) Vermillion to Attend Society of Gynecologic Oncologists Meeting March 15-19 press release

Latinos Unidos por un Nuevo Amanecer, Inc. - Camp Alegria March 19th-21st

Latinos Unidos por un Nuevo Amanecer, Inc. - Camp Alegria

Are we missing the mark on patient safety? thepatientfactor.com

The Design of Phase II Clinical Trials Testing Cancer Therapeutics: Consensus Recommendations from the Clinical Trial Design Task Force of the National Cancer Institute Investigational Drug Steering Committee — Clinical Cancer Research

Information Needed to Conduct First-in-Human Oncology Trials in the United States: A View from a Former FDA Medical Reviewer — Clinical Cancer Research

Phase II Trial of Mirtazapine for Cancer-Related Cachexia and Anorexia -- abstract

"Mirtazapine is a promising agent for the treatment of CRCA."

The effect of primary cytoreduction on outcomes of patients with FIGO stage IIIC ovarian cancer stratified by the initial tumor burden in the upper abdomen cephalad to the great omentum

The effect of primary cytoreduction on outcomes of patients with FIGO stage IIIC ovarian cancer stratified by the initial tumor burden in the upper abdomen cephalad to the greater omentum.

definition: cephalad ceph·a·lad (sěf'ə-lād') adv. Toward the head or anterior section.

Quest Diagnostics: Contact Us - Canadian Residents only

• Canadian Residents only, please direct all Billing inquiries to 866-930-3718

OVA1(TM) - (16991)

Reference Range(s)

Pre-menopausal
Low probability of malignancy <5.0
High probability of malignancy ≥5.0

Post-menopausal
Low probability of malignancy <4.4
High probability of malignancy ≥4.4

Clinical Significance
The OVA1™ Test is an aid to further assess the likelihood that ovarian malignancy is present when the physician's independent clinical and radiological evaluation does not indicate malignancy.

Method

The OVA1 test uses results of 5 biomarkers (β2-microglobulin, apolipoprotein A1, CA 125, transferrin, transthyretin [prealbumin]) to generate a single numerical score between 0 and 10 that indicates the likelihood of malignancy.

OVA1(TM) (includes FSH and LH) - (16992)

Reference Range(s)
OVA1™

Pre-menopausal
Low probability of malignancy <5.0
High probability of malignancy ≥5.0

Post-menopausal
Low probability of malignancy <4.4
High probability of malignancy ≥4.4

Quest Diagnostics: OVA1™

"Clinical proof
The OVA1 test was validated using a blood sample from 269 women, 72 of whom had a pathology-determined malignancy. When pre-surgical assessment was combined with results from the OVA1 test, the following results were concluded:^[1]

• Sensitivity for malignancy increased by 20% from 72% to 92% In all women, and as high as 96%in postmenopausal women,
• Approximately 70% of the malignancies missed by pre-surgical assessment alone were identified by OVA1
• A high negative predictive value (NPV-93%) strengthened the prediction that cancer is absent
• NPV was similar in pre- and postmenopausal women."

Medicare Establishes Reimbursement Coverage for Vermillion's OVA1(TM) Test

Sorafenib in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel as neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

RESULTS: .....Four patients were enrolled. After preoperative treatment and cytoreductive surgery, all patients were excluded from protocol due to severe toxicities. Three patients had life threatening events (cardiac output failure, myocardial infarction, anastomotic leak); two patients had primary progressive disease.
CONCLUSION: The addition of sorafenib to carboplatin/paclitaxel chemotherapy was not feasible within this neoadjuvant regimen in primary advanced ovarian cancer. Although the occurrence of serious adverse events might have emerged at random, a detrimental effect of preoperative study medication could not be denied. Further evaluations of sorafenib in ovarian cancer are warranted.

What are the core elements of oncology spiritual care programs?

health alert: Roche and Biogen Idec have suspended trials of Ocrelizumab treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis due to safety concerns

abstract/free full text: MicroRNA profiling of BRCA1/2 mutation-carrying and non-mutation-carrying high-grade serous carcinomas of ovary

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: High grade serous ovarian carcinomas with and without BRCA1/2 abnormalities demonstrate very similar miRNA expression profiles. High grade serous carcinomas as a group exhibit significant miRNA dysregulation in comparison to tubal epithelium and the levels of miR-34c and miR-422b appear to be prognostically important. full text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2749450/?tool=pubmed

abstract: Administration of cisplatin in three patients with carboplatin hypersensitivity: is skin testing useful?

In Research: Gene Expression Profile for Predicting Survival in Advanced-Stage Serous Ovarian Cancer Across Two Independent Datasets (Japan)

In Research: 

Introduction:
Patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer generally undergo primary debulking surgery followed by platinum/taxane-based chemotherapy. Although postoperative introduction of taxane drug has improved the 5-year survival rate for advanced-stage ovarian cancer..... Clinicopathological characteristics, such as debulking status after primary surgery, are clinically considered important indicators of prognosis. However, recurrence after optimal debulking surgery occurs in some patients, while disease-free status after incomplete surgery is maintained in others......Therefore, these clinicopathological factors alone are insufficient for predicting prognosis and elucidating the pathological mechanisms of disease progression or recurrence. Molecular biology approaches can be used to identify new prognosis-related profiles leading to elucidation of pathological issues of advanced-stage serous ovarian cancer.

Meanwhile, there are no microarray kits for clinical diagnosis and management in patients with ovarian cancer yet."

OICR Advances Development of Two Investigational Cancer Innovations - press release

TORONTO -- 03/12/10 -- The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) today announced a significant investment toward the development of two new promising cancer therapies. The recipients of the awards are:

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, for Kullervo Hynynen's low-cost focused ultrasound system. This system can find and destroy tumors without surgery, increasing quality of life and lowering the cost of treatment for patients with inoperable bone and liver cancer. Hynynen will use the investment from OICR to develop a complete prototype and perform pre-clinical testing of the new system.

OncoTek Drug Delivery Inc., for Joseph Elliot's preclinical development of PoLi-PTX, an intraperitoneal ovarian cancer therapy invented by Drs. Christine Allen and Micheline Piquette-Miller at the University of Toronto, which would deliver localized cancer killing agents to the abdominal cavity with fewer side effects than traditional systemic chemotherapy.

"Both these therapies promise to provide patients and physicians with new tools to treat cancer that are less expensive or more effective than traditional treatments while vastly improving patients' quality of life," said Dr. Tom Hudson, President and Scientific Director of OICR. "This investment will help to make both therapies a reality."...cont'd

Phase 2 study of canfosfamide in combination with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in platinum and paclitaxel refractory or resistant epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract/full free pdf: published March 11, 2010


Patients:
Women who were at least 18 years old with recurrent, histologically confirmed epithelial ovarian, primary peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer; measurable disease as defined
by RECIST; had received at least 1 but fewer than 4 prior platinum-containing chemotherapy regimens; at least 1 prior paclitaxel-containing regimen; and considered platinum refractory or resistant disease according to the standard GOG criteria (had progressed during or had persistent disease after completion of platinum-based therapy or had a platinum-free interval of < 6 months) were enrolled. There were no additional limits to lines of therapy.

Difficulty Accepting a Terminal Prognosis Linked with Depression, Anxiety, and Suffering -- A Cancer Journal for Clinicians

Note: VERY SENSITIVE TOPIC Dissenting Opinion
Not all clinicians agree with the foregoing interpretations of these findings. "I've certainly seen people who denied dying up to their last breath and somehow never accepted it," Dr. Holland tells CA. "Were they more upset? I'm not sure."
She cautioned against allowing the findings by Dr. Thompson and colleagues to set a tone in which nonaccepting patients are viewed as dysfunctional. Death is as individualized as is life, she argues, invoking Sir William Osler, who said "Basically, people die as they have lived."

Search of: lynch syndrome | Open Studies - List Results - ClinicalTrials.gov

Note: variety of different types of studies/locations

Approaches to Phase 1 Clinical Trial Design Focused on Safety, Efficiency, and Selected Patient Populations: A Report from the Clinical Trial Design Task Force of the National Cancer Institute Investigational Drug Steering Committee — Clinical Cancer Research

Abstract: Approaches to Phase 1 Clinical Trial Design Focused on Safety, Efficiency, and Selected Patient Populations: A Report from the Clinical Trial Design Task Force of the National Cancer Institute Investigational Drug Steering Committee — Clinical Cancer Research Steering Committee 1. S. Percy Ivy1, 2. Lillian L. Siu2, 3. Elizabeth Garrett-Mayer3 and 4. Larry Rubinstein1 + Author Affiliations 1. Authors' Affiliations:1Investigational Drug Branch and Biometrics Research Branch, Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland; 2Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada; and 3Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 1. Corresponding Author: S. Percy Ivy, Investigational Drug Branch, Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, 6130 Executive Blvd, Suite 7131, Rockville, MD 20852. Phone: 301-496-1196; Fax: 301-402-0428; E-mail: ivyp@ctep.nci.nih.gov.

Abstract The goals and objectives of phase 1 clinical trials are changing to include further evaluation of endpoints such as molecular targeted effects, in addition to dose-toxicity profile of the investigational agent. Because of these changes in focus, the National Cancer Institute and Investigational Drug Steering Committee's Task Force on Clinical Trial Design met to evaluate the most efficient ways to design and implement early clinical trials with novel therapeutics. Clinical approaches discussed included the conventional 3 + 3 cohort expansion phase 1 design, multi-institutional phase 1 studies, accelerated titration designs, continual reassessment methods, the study of specific target patient populations, and phase 0 studies. Each of these approaches uniquely contributes to some aspect of the phase 1 study, with all focused on dose and schedule determination, patient safety, and limited patient exposure to ineffective doses of investigational agent. The benefit of labor-intensive generation of preliminary biomarker evidence of target inhibition, as well as the value of molecular profiling of the study population, is considered. New drug development is expensive and the failure rate remains high. By identifying patient populations expected to respond to the study agent and tailoring the treatment with a novel drug, investigators will be one step closer to personalizing cancer treatment. The “fail early and fast” approach is acceptable if the appropriate patient population is evaluated in the phase 1 trial. The approaches outlined in this overview address the merits, advantages, disadvantages, and obstacles encountered during first in human studies. Clin Cancer Res; 16(6); 1726–36

Medical News: FDA Reassures on Osteoporosis Drugs - in Endocrinology, Osteoporosis (confused yet?)

FDA Reassures on Osteoporosis Drugs

By John Gever, Senior Editor, MedPage Today Published: March 10, 2010 Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

"Bisphosphonate drugs for osteoporosis do not seem to increase the risk of femoral fractures, the FDA announced Wednesday, though the agency will continue to evaluate that possibility. Even as the FDA was making its announcement in Washington, orthopedic surgeons gathered in New Orleans were hearing news of a study showing an eventual decline in bone quality among patients who took bisphosphonates for more than four years. The FDA issued its statement as a result of case reports suggesting that "atypical" subtrochanteric femur fractures were occurring at higher-than-expected rates in women taking bisphosphonate drugs for osteoporosis....."

Breast cancer susceptibility variants alter risks in familial disease -- Latif et al. 47 (2): 126 -- Journal of Medical Genetics

"Conclusions:
This study confirms that susceptibility variants in FGFR2, TOX3 and MAP3K1 and on chromosome 8q are all associated with increased risk of cancer in individuals with a family history of breast cancer, whereas CASP8 is protective in this context. The level of risk is dependent on the strength of the family history and the presence of a BRCA1/2 mutation and contributes to the understanding of the use of these variants in clinical risk prediction."

Medicare Establishes Reimbursement Coverage for Vermillion's OVA1(TM) Test - financial news

"FREMONT, Calif., March 12, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Vermillion, Inc. (Pink Sheets: VRML) today announced that Medicare will cover OVA1(TM), a test to help assess the likelihood that an ovarian mass is benign or malignant. Highmark Medicare Services is the CMS contractor that will process Medicare claims for OVA1. Yesterday Highmark announced its decision to cover this new service....."

financial news: short excerpts/overview from article: Avastin- UPDATE 3-Roche's Avastin fails in prostate cancer study (see comments ovarian)

UPDATE 3-Roche's Avastin fails in prostate cancer study
Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:35am EST


* Treatment doesn't prolong life in late stage patients prostate cancer patients (combination therapy phase 111)

* Some adverse effects seen, already noted in other trials

* Follows recent ovarian cancer success and gastric failure

By Martin de Sa'Pinto and Ben Hirschler

"ZURICH/LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG's (ROG.VX) Avastin did not help men with late stage prostate cancer live longer in a clinical trial, marking another setback for the Swiss group as it tries to extend use of the blockbuster drug into new areas.

The miss in prostrate cancer, announced on Friday, follows similar disappointment last month with Avastin in gastric cancer but success in ovarian cancer. (note: GOG trials prior blog postings)

Determine Your Risk | Check Your Genes

breast/ovarian

Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer | Cancer.Net

Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer | Cancer.Net

NO abstract:CA-125 Monitoring in Ovarian Cancer: Patient Survey Responses to the Results of the MRC/EORTC CA-125 Surveillance Trial

article is pay per view

Future Oncology - abstract: Müllerian Inhibiting Substance/anti-Müllerian hormone: a potential therapeutic agent for human ovarian and other cancers

Future Oncology-full text: DNA methylation-based fecal biomarkers for the noninvasive screening of GI cancers

"The next obvious question is “Are we there yet?”

Mortality among contraceptive pill users: cohort evidence from Royal College of General Practitioners' Oral Contraception Study -- Hannaford et al. 340: c927 -- BMJ

Objective: To see if the mortality risk among women who have used oral contraceptives differs from that of never users.
Design: Prospective cohort study started in 1968 with mortality data supplied by participating general practitioners, National Health Service central registries, or both.
Setting: 1400 general practices throughout the United Kingdom.
Participants: 46 112 women observed for up to 39 years, resulting in 378 006 woman years of observation among never users of oral contraception and 819 175 among ever users.
Results:
....1747 deaths occurred in never users of oral contraception and 2864 in ever users. Compared with never users, ever users of oral contraception had a significantly lower rate of death from any cause (adjusted relative risk 0.88, 95% confidence interval 0.82 to 0.93). They also had significantly lower rates of death from all cancers; large bowel/rectum, uterine body, and ovarian cancer; main gynaecological cancers combined; all circulatory disease; ischaemic heart disease; and all other diseases...cont'd

National Osteoporosis Foundation - new article of interest on Bisphosphonates

click on the title to view the pdf file:

"Special Concerns About Bisphosphonates"

Patient Advocate Programs at the ASCO Annual Meeting deadline is Apr 28thth

Reduced Registration Rate for Patient Advocates (for non-exhibitors)

If you represent a patient advocacy organization, you may be eligible for the discounted patient advocate registration rate of $255 per person on or before April 28, 2010, and $330 per person beginning April 29, 2010. Up to two representatives per organization may register at this discounted rate. The discounted registration rate for patient advocates is reserved exclusively for advocates who work or volunteer for not-for-profit patient advocacy organizations that provide programs, services, and support for people with cancer. People that register under this category may be asked to provide a curriculum vitae or resume, outlining their advocacy roles and experience. Please download a patient advocate registration form if you are a patient advocate and meet the registration criteria.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Cancer

Radiation Therapy for Brain Cancer: Facts About Brain Cancer

ASTRO has just completed a new section on radiation therapy for brain metastases.
We’d love any feedback from patient educators or patients on how we can make it better.
http://www.rtanswers.com/treatmentinformation/cancertypes/brainmets/index.aspx

Katherine Egan Bennett
Director of Communications
American Society for Radiation Oncology

703-839-7330
703-839-7331 fax
http://www.astro.org
http://www.rtanswers.org

When treatment ends, patients with cancer combat challenges - STLtoday.com

"Many patients find themselves asking: What now?

"When you lose the security of knowing that you're acting toward curing your cancer, it's really scary," said Barbara Platzer, 72, of Chesterfield, who finished treatments for ovarian cancer three years ago. "Every time I'd go for chemotherapy, I'd have a doctor looking at me and doing lab tests where I'd see that my (cancer antigen-125) numbers were improving. And that made me feel secure, like I had control over what was happening. I felt like we were actively killing the cancer.""

Mar 2010 abstract: Incidence and management of (Avastin) bevacizumab-associated gastrointestinal perforations in patients with recurrent ovarian carcinoma

METHODS: We identified all patients who received bevacizumab off protocol from August 2004-August 2008. We examined their medical records for reports of confirmed GI perforation, associated clinicopathological factors, treatment, and outcomes. RESULTS: Six (4%) of 160 patients with ovarian carcinoma who had been treated with bevacizumab developed GI perforation.

The Soy - Breast Cancer Controversy - Cancerwise | Cancer blog from M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

"These studies provide further information that regular dietary soy as part of a normal diet is probably safe and, in fact, may be beneficial for women with breast cancer. These studies, as well as others, create a growing body of evidence that the current advice that all soy foods should be removed from the diet of a woman diagnosed with breast cancer is probably untrue.
The role of non-dietary soy products such as soy supplements, powders or pills and the use of heavily processed soy items such as soy cheese, soy hot dogs or soy turkey remain unclear and should be avoided.
As the research to date is observational in nature, future randomized trials are needed to verify if a beneficial effect truly exists for the use of dietary soy."

Study Questions Benefits of Elective Removal of Ovaries During Hysterectomy

Note: this is not new news but has been reported over the past few years

PHILADELPHIA -- March 10, 2010 -- An article published in the March/April issue of The Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology suggests that bilateral oophorectomy may do more harm than good.

Deficiency of knowledge of genetics and genetic tests among general practitioners, gynecologists, and pediatricians: A global problem

Conclusion: The overall knowledge levels of genetics in many nongeneticist health care providers show clear deficiencies. This is in line with reports from other countries, showing that these deficiencies are a global problem.

The Missing Voice of Patients in Drug-Safety Reporting - New England Journal of Medicine

The Missing Voice of Patients in Drug-Safety Reporting

Posted by NEJM • March 10th, 2010 • Printer-friendly

Ethan Basch, M.D.
A patient wants to know about symptoms she may have from a prescription drug she is taking. Consulting the label’s “Adverse Reactions” section, she finds a wealth of data. Little does she realize that this information, largely collected during clinical trials, is based almost entirely on clinicians’ impressions of patients’ symptoms — not on patients’ own firsthand reports of their experiences with the drug.
The current drug-labeling practice for adverse events is based on the implicit assumption that an accurate portrait of patients’ subjective experiences can be provided by clinicians’ documentation alone. Yet a substantial body of evidence contradicts this assumption, showing that clinicians systematically downgrade the severity of patients’ symptoms, that patients’ self-reports frequently capture side effects that clinicians miss, and that clinicians’ failure to note these symptoms results in the occurrence of preventable adverse events.^{1,2...continued}

video: Dr Maurie Markman - Is BRCA1 the Link Between Infertility and Breast/Ovarian Cancer?

Note: Medscape requires registration (free)

References: Citation: Oktay K, Kim JY, Barad D, et al. Association of BRCA1 mutations with occult primary ovarian insufficiency: a possible explanation for the link between infertility and breast/ovarian cancer risks. J Clin Oncol. 2009;28:240-244. Available at: http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/19996028.

In research: Scientists identify microRNA as possible cause of chemotherapy resistance

Public release date: 10-Mar-2010  AACR conference

Scientists identify microRNA as possible cause of chemotherapy resistance

DEAD SEA, Jordan — Scientists may have uncovered a mechanism for resistance to paclitaxel in ovarian cancer, microRNA-31, suggesting a possible therapeutic target for overcoming chemotherapy resistance.
Mohamed K. Hassan, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at Hokkaido University in Japan, completed the research as a collaborative study with his colleagues when he was a professional assistant in South Valley University in Egypt. Results of this study were presented at the second AACR Dead Sea International Conference on Advances in Cancer Research: From the Laboratory to the Clinic, held March 7-10, 2010.

"MicroRNAs do not code protein, but they regulate other proteins' expression," said Hassan. "So identifying any microRNA as responsible for chemoresistance is, in fact, introducing a real reason for the mechanism."

Ovarian cancer is typically responsive to chemotherapy with paclitaxel, but sometimes cancer cell lines become resistant, which renders chemotherapy useless. Hassan's research team analyzed a set of microRNAs and identified microRNA-31 as being responsible for this chemoresistance. MicroRNA-31 regulates the protein IFITM-1.
"We need to further verify this observation in clinical ovarian cancer samples and find a way to inhibit this target protein to improve the effect of paclitaxel and prevent the risk of recurrence," he said.

full free access: Journal of Hematology & Oncology - Ovarian cancer immunotherapy: opportunities, progresses and challenges

"Abstract

Due to the low survival rates from invasive ovarian cancer, new effective treatment modalities are urgently needed. Compelling evidence indicates that the immune response against ovarian cancer may play an important role in controlling this disease. We herein summarize multiple immune-based strategies that have been proposed and tested for potential therapeutic benefit against advanced stage ovarian cancer.(see tables 2 & 3)

CDC Features - Genetic Testing for Hereditary Colorectal Cancer

Note: the EGAPP group published several papers in 2009
(EGAPP supplementary evidence review DNA testing strategies aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality in Lynch Syndrome; Methods of the EGAPP Working Group Lynch Syndrome;  Recommendations EGAPP Working Group testing strategies to reduce morbidity and mortality in Lynch Syndrome)

Also: search this blog for 'EGAPP'  for additional references such as:

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Center for Genomics and Public Health - EGAPP - What is EGAPP?

"The EGAPP Working Group concluded that all people with a new diagnosis of colorectal cancer should be offered counseling and educational materials about genetic testing for Lynch syndrome. 
The EGAPP™ Working Group is an independent, non-governmental panel of scientists and health care experts from universities, industry, clinical practice, insurance companies, and public health who review available research and evidence to make recommendations about the use of genetic tests."

YouTube - The Faces of Medical Errors...From Tears to Transparency (Helen Haskell/Patient Safety)

news item: Helping doctors cope (after medical errors)

Lynch Syndrome Associated Breast Cancers: Clinicopathologic Characteristics of a Case Series from the Colon Cancer Family Registry Clinical Cancer Research

Purpose: The recognition of breast cancer as a spectrum tumor in Lynch syndrome remains controversial. The aim of this study was to explore features of breast cancers arising in Lynch syndrome families.

(Breast cancers were reviewed by one pathologist. Tumor sections were stained for MLH1, PMS2, MSH2, and MSH6, and underwent microsatellite instability testing)  

Conclusions: MMR deficiency was identified in 51% of breast cancers arising in known mutation carriers. Breast cancer therefore may represent a valid tissue option for the detection of MMR deficiency in which spectrum tumors are lacking.

Nano & Me - Home - UK plain english user friendly website to understanding basics of nanotechnology

UK: Public Engagement with Research benefits researchers and provides a major contribution to society

Defective mismatch repair, microsatellite mutation bias, and variability in clinical cancer phenotype

Cancer Res. 2010 Jan 15

Shah SN, Hile SE, Eckert KA.
Department of Pathology, Gittlen Cancer Research Foundation, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Microsatellite instability is associated with 10% to 15% of colorectal, endometrial, ovarian, and gastric cancers, and has long been used as a diagnostic tool for (Lynch Syndrome) hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal carcinoma-related cancers.
Tumor-specific length alterations within microsatellites are generally accepted to be a consequence of strand slippage events during DNA replication, which are uncorrected due to a defective postreplication mismatch repair (MMR) system.
Mutations arising within microsatellites associated with critical target genes are believed to play a causative role in the evolution of MMR-defective tumors.
In this review, we summarize current evidence of mutational biases within microsatellites arising as a consequence of intrinsic DNA sequence effects as well as variation in MMR efficiency.
Microsatellite mutational biases are generally not considered during clinical testing; however, we suggest that such biases may be clinically significant as a factor contributing to phenotypic variation among microsatellite instability-positive tumors.

Comparison of treatment received versus long-standing guidelines for stage III colon and stage II/III rectal cancer patients diagnosed in Alberta, Sas

Comparison of treatment received versus long-standing guidelines for stage III colon and stage II/III rectal cancer patients diagnosed in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba in 2004

CONCLUSION: The percentage of patients receiving guideline-recommended treatment is low. Reasons for lack of adherence to guidelines need to be addressed.

High weight associated with risk of colorectal tumors without microsatellite instability

Note: the microsatellite test (MSS = stable; MSI-L = low; MSI-H = high) is a blood test and has also been studied in ovarian cancers

"Recent body mass index (people over 30 kg/m2 or more, the cut off for obesity) was positively associated with overall risk of colorectal cancer for men and women combined. It was also associated with risk of MS-stable and MSI-low colorectal tumors, but not with the risk of MSI-high tumors."

A High Proportion of DNA Variants of BRCA1 and BRCA2 Is Associated with Aberrant Splicing in Breast/Ovarian Cancer Patients

Conclusions: An important fraction of DNA variants of BRCA1/2 presents splicing aberrations that may represent a relevant disease-causing mechanism in HBOC.

Medical News: ACS Stats Find Gains in War on Cancer

Note: short news report "The data cover 1970 (the year before President Nixon declared a "War on Cancer") through 2006."

abstract: Phase I trial of ATRA-IV and depakote in patients with advanced solid tumor malignancies

Phase I trial of ATRA-IV and Depakote in patients with advanced solid tumor malignancies.
David KA, Mongan NP, Smith C, Gudas LJ, Nanus DM.
Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College - New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.

Retinoic acid derivatives have shown their greatest benefit in acute promyelocytic leukemia, but have also demonstrated pre-clinical anti-cancer effects in some solid tumors. Histone deacetylase inhibitors, by upregulating gene expression, are able to limit cancer cell proliferation and induce apoptosis. The combination of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and the histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid has been previously studied in hematologic malignancies. We conducted a phase I two-step dose escalation trial of the liposomal ATRA analog ATRA-IV and divalproex sodium (Depakote((R))) in nine patients with advanced solid tumors refractory to prior therapy. Side effects attributed to therapy had a severity

Gynecological Pathology - Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (Odette Cancer Centre) Toronto