Cancer Research

Tomorrow's issue of Nature discusses the next steps in cancer research (subscription required for the full text): A tumour cell is a genetic disaster area littered with mutations that differ not only from one type of cancer to the next, but from one patient to the next.... ...[which makes] new targeted drug therapies for cancer seem hopeless. And yet, the reality may be just the opposite. The richness of the data becoming available in these and other studies allows researchers to cut through the complexity. Genes work together in pathways of reactions to accomplish a particular biological…

GENEVA, Switzerland, September 10 /PRNewswire/ -- - Innovative Formulation of Metformin Allows a Rapid Dissolution and may Contribute to Better Adherence to Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, announced today that Glucophage(R) Powder for Oral Solution in Sachet (metformin hydrochloride in 500mg, 850mg and 1000mg strengths) has received a positive opinion recommending approval for the first-line treatment of type 2 diabetes through a Decentralized Procedure (DCP) with France as the Reference Member State. Applications for marketing…

BASEL, Switzerland, September 10 /PRNewswire/ -- - 100+ Abstracts on Roche Medicines Feature at This Congress More than 100 Roche abstracts have been accepted for the biggest cancer congress in Europe, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), which opens in Stockholm on Friday (12th September). The Roche abstracts include the latest data on Avastin (bevacizumab), Herceptin (trastuzumab), Tarceva (erlotinib), Xeloda (capecitabine) and the new breast cancer drug, pertuzumab, which is currently in phase III trials. Roche's pipeline drug IGF-1R, which is in early development, will also…

Imagine that instead of setting out to invent a better lightbulb, Thomas Edison had announced his intention to invent a light-emitting diode that you could use to illuminate your kitchen. This isn't completely far-fetched: the first examples of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) began to appear as early as 1907. But it wasn't until the 1960's and 70's that useful, visible-spectrum LEDs began to appear, and LEDs haven't been used to light kitchens until very recently. Thomas Edison, had he set out to make a useful, household LED, would have been doomed to failure beacause it would be years before…

A narrow region on chromosome 15 contains genetic variations strongly associated with familial lung cancer, says a study conducted by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and other institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom. The researchers found a more than five times higher risk of lung cancer for people who have both a family history of the disease and these genetic variations. The risk was not affected by whether the study participants smoked or didn't smoke. Published in the Sept. 13 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute,…

MANCHESTER, England, September 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Egg secretions from a worm that causes a deadly human disease may prove useful in gene therapy, according to research presented at the British Pharmaceutical Conference (BPC) in Manchester. Gene therapy is a method of correcting faulty genes responsible for certain diseases, particularly cancers. It involves using a carrier, or 'vector', to insert new genetic material to mend a faulty gene in the affected cells of the person or 'host'. To achieve this, the vector must be able to survive the host's various defence systems and travel through…

CALGARY, Canada, September 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncolytics Biotech Inc. ("Oncolytics") (TSX:ONC, NASDAQ:ONCY) announced today that that it has started patient enrolment in a Phase 2 clinical trial using intravenous administration of REOLYSIN(R) in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with advanced head and neck cancers. The Principal Investigator is Dr. Monica Mita of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. "We are extremely pleased to open the second disease-directed study with REOLYSIN(R)," said Dr.…

HIGH WYCOMBE, England, September 8 /PRNewswire/ -- - VELCADE Approved Across all Disease Stages for Broad Spectrum of Patients Janssen-Cilag / Ortho Biotech, the biopharmaceutical division of Janssen-Cilag, today announced the European Commission's approval of VELCADE in combination with melphalan and prednisone for the treatment of patients with previously untreated multiple myeloma (MM) who are not eligible for high-dose chemotherapy with bone marrow transplant. In more than 87 countries worldwide, VELCADE monotherapy had already been approved for the treatment of relapsed and / or…

In an article in Nature, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) has reported results from its first comprehensive study which focused on the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma. The TCGA team, comprised of more than 100 investigators from seven cancer centers and research institutions throughout the country, analyzed 601 genes in tumor samples from 91 glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients. Investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and University of Southern California, members of the TCGA team, studied 2000 genes. They reported findings on the MGMT gene, first linked to GBM in 1998 by…

LONDON, September 8 /PRNewswire/ -- A breakthrough method has been found to reduce the dangerous side-effects of a medicine that successfully tackles epilepsy, according to research released at the British Pharmaceutical Conference (BPC) in Manchester. Epilepsy is an incurable condition which causes people to suffer repeated seizures caused by a burst of abnormal electrical activity in the brain. It affects about one in 30 people in the UK.(1) Anti-epileptic medicines such as valproic acid help stabilise the electrical activity in the brain and prevent seizures in most epilepsy patients. Its…