GSK Cervarix® two-dose schedule receives European marketing authorisation
12/24/2013
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for its cervical cancer vaccine Cervarix® [Human papillomavirus bivalent (types 16 and 18) vaccine, recombinant] as a two-dose schedule for girls aged 9 to 14.
3.6 million Australian workers exposed to carcinogens
12/24/2013
Australian researchers have found that a staggering 40 percent of workers are exposed to cancer-causing agents in their current jobs, with men at higher risk than women. The study revealed that the 3.6 million Australian workers most likely to be exposed to carcinogens lived in regional areas and often included men and women working in farming, mining and transport.
New data for engineering immune cells shows early promise in solid tumors
12/24/2013
Engineered immune cells, called CARTmeso cells, designed to direct antitumor immune responses toward tumors that carry a protein called mesothelin, showed antitumor activity in two patients with advanced cancers that had not responded to prior treatments, according to a study published in Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
The backbone of therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the combination of fludarabine and cyclophosphamide (FC). In order to exert its cytotoxic effect, cyclophosphamide must first be converted to its active form by CYP2B6, an isoform of cytochrome P450.
Although superficial vein thrombosis (SVT) has traditionally been viewed as a benign disease, it is associated with an increased risk of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT). However, there are almost no data to suggest which patients may be at increased risk of subsequent DVT following SVT.
Merck Serono, the biopharmaceutical division of Merck, has announced that the European Commission has approved the Type II variation to amend the Erbitux® (cetuximab) product information, updating the indication for Erbitux to the treatment of patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).
EGF receptor ecto-domain mutations: When to screen and when not to screen
12/24/2013
The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is expressed in normal colonic cells and is activated by specific peptide growth factors that regulate cell proliferation, survival and differentiation. Increased expression and activation of the EGFR has been observed in the majority of colorectal carcinoma (CRC), suggesting that the EGFR pathway plays an important role in colon carcinogenesis.
Known lung cancer oncogenes ALK and ROS1 also drive colorectal cancer
12/24/2013
A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published online ahead of print in the journal Molecular Cancer Research shows that ALK and ROS1 gene rearrangements known to drive subsets of lung cancer are also present in some colorectal cancers. These results imply that drugs used to target ALK and ROS1 in lung cancer may also have applications in this subset of colorectal cancer patients.
Different stem cells responsible for muscle-invasive and non-muscle invasive bladder cancers
12/24/2013
Bladder cancer will kill upward of 170,000 people worldwide this year, but bladder cancer isn't fatal in the bladder. Instead, in order to be fatal the disease must metastasize to faraway sites.
Mechanism discovered that controls the development of myelodysplastic syndromes
12/24/2013
Researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center have discovered a control mechanism that can trigger the development of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a group of blood cancers. This finding may lead to therapies capable of preventing the progression of these diseases.MDS primarily affects older individuals, with approximately 12,000 new cases diagnosed each year.