Animal tests on the kind of drug given to the six men ill in a London hospital may not be the best way of evaluating the effects in people, an expert warns.

The drug they took stimulates a protein only found in humans.

Dr David Glover, an expert in drug testing, said this meant animal tests of medicines of this sort might give falsely reassuring results.

He said it might be better to look at innovative ways of testing small amounts of such drugs on people.
Full story from BBC: BBC Animal tests ‘false reassurance’

An urgent message from the National Prostate Cancer Coalition:

HELP STOP CUTS TO PROSTATE CANCER RESEARCH IN THE FY2007 BUDGET!

The President has proposed serious cuts to funding for cancer research
at the National Institute of Health and the Center for Disease Control
and Prevention. In order to stop these cuts from taking effect,
Senators Feinstein and Mikulski have offered an amendment to the FY07
Budget Resolution which would increase money to these federal programs
by offsetting corporate tax loopholes. Senators will be voting on this
amendment today or tomorrow.

How you can help:

Call your Senator today and ask them to vote for the
Feinstein-Mikulski Amendment to the FY07 Budget Resolution. Call the
Senate Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and aske to be connected to your
Senator. If you don’t know who your Senators are, name the state
in which you live and you will be connected!

* Once connected to the office, ask to be connected to the
legislative assistant that handles health care.
* Share with them your personal story with cancer and share why
these programs are important to you, their constituent or simply
say:

- I am asking you to support the Feinstein-Mikulski and Specter-Harkin
Senate budget amendments for increased funding for health programs and
any other amendments that will give more money to Cancer research and
programs.

- Now is not the time to turn our back on Cancer research and
programs, when we’ve made so much progress in fighting this disease in
recent years.

Thank you very much for helping us in the fight against cancer.

National Prostate Cancer Coalition
1154 Fifteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005

Tel: 202-463-9455
Fax: 202-463-9456

By ROBERT BARR Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

LONDON — Two men were hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday and four others were in serious condition after suffering adverse reactions in trials of a new drug, and British regulators ordered the tests suspended.

Parexel International, which supervised the trial, identified the drug as TGN1412, a monoclonal antibody developed by TeGenero AG of Wuerzburg, Germany, for treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and leukemia.

Ganesh Suntharalingam, clinical director of intensive care at Northwick Park Hospital, said two of the men were in critical condition and four were in serious condition but showing signs of improvement.

“The drug, which is untested and therefore unused by doctors, has caused an inflammatory response which affects some organs of the body,” Suntharalingam said.

Capsaicin, the pungent alkaloid in jalapeños and other chile peppers that makes them hot, drives prostate cancer cells to kill themselves off, according to studies published in the March 15 issue of Cancer Research. See:
http://www.psa-rising.com/eatingwell/peppers_hot.htm

Some commentators reacted by warning that hot peppers may cause gastric cancer. Is this true? How strong is the association?

A study conducted at a Texas Veterans Administration hospital in 1988, published in the JAMA, injected about an ounce of jalapeno pepper directly into the stomachs of volunteers. Follow-up observation showed no damage to their stomach linings. But this did not amount to chronic exposure, and anti-cancer versus cancer-causing effects of capsaicin are still controversial. A couple of years ago Mexico National Institute of Public Health found higher rates of gastric cancer in people who ate the equivalent of 9-25 jalapeno peppers a day compared to people who no more than 3 a day. They found no evidence that bacterioa known to be associated with some types of stomach were causing this increased risk.

Genistein, the major isoflavone from soy, has been shown to have cancer preventive activity, but the mechanisms are not clearly understood. Fang et al. demonstrate that treatment of human esophageal cancer cells with genistein (2–20 mmol/L) caused the reversal of hypermethylation and reactivation of retinoic acid receptor β, p16INK4a, and O6-methylguanine methyltransferase genes. Similar activity is also observed with human prostate cancer cells.

Greater extent of reactivation is observed when genistein is combined with low concentrations of trichostatin, sulforaphane, or 2’-deoxy-5-aza-cytidine. Reversal or prevention of the hypermethylation of key genes by genistein may contribute to its cancer prevention activity.

Source: October 1 Clinical Cancer Research Highlights | American Association for Cancer Research

Note: Sulforaphane is found in cruciferous veggies (brassica) like broccoli, broccoli sprouts, bok choy, kale, collards, cauliflower, cauliflower sprouts, arugula, kohlrabi, mustard, turnip, red radish and watercress, brussel sprouts and cabbage.

Docetaxel Plus Vaccine Extends Progression-Free Survival Rates In Prostate Cancer Patients

Docetaxel has activity against androgen-insensitive prostate cancer (AIPC). Arlen et al. designed a randomized Phase II study in AIPC patients to compare a prostate-specific antigen vector–based vaccine vs. vaccine plus docetaxel.

Patients in the vaccine alone arm were allowed to receive docetaxel at progression.

Median progression-free survival rates on docetaxel was 6.1 months after crossover from vaccine vs. 3.7 months with the same drug regimen and patient population in a previous trial. Larger prospective studies will be required to validate these findings.

This was the first study to show that patients in both arms (vaccine ± docetaxel) developed equal T-cell responses to prostate-specific antigen showing that docetaxel (with steroid) did not inhibit immune responses.
source: February 15 Clinical Cancer Research Highlights | American Association for Cancer Research

High-powered jolts of electricity, repeated many times, kill melanoma cells in mice. Scientists from Old Dominion University and Eastern Virginia Medical School say that using extremely short, high-voltage doses of electricity, they’ve never had a tumor that did not respond to the treatment.
Richard Nuccitelli, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Old Dominion, said the method might eventually turn into an effective cancer treatment.
physorg.com