Targeted Nanoparticles Destroy Prostate Tumors

Biodegradable polymer nanoparticles, linked to a protein-binding nucleic acid known as an aptamer and loaded with the anticancer agent docetaxel, can target and kill prostate tumors growing in mice. Using this targeted nanoparticle to deliver docetaxel appears to reduce the toxic side effects associated with this drug.
(full story…)

TheStar.com - A first — scientist to study how to prevent cancer
Apr. 24, 2006. 04:14 PM
CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER (CP) — British Columbia is providing $4 million in funding to the Canadian Cancer Society so an expert can research how the disease can be prevented — the first time in North America the issue will be targeted for study.

The research will be done at the University of British Columbia after an international search for an expert whose findings will influence national and international standards in public policy for cancer prevention.

Premier Gordon Campbell told a news conference Monday that research into cancer prevention is essential because currently someone in Canada dies from cancer every seven minutes.

“Understanding what we can do to prevent it, to reach into people’s lives and to get them to be part of that solution, is going to be critical,” he said about more promoting healthier lifestyles.

Dr. Gavin Stuart, dean of medicine at the university, said preventing cancer from striking in the first place is important because the existing health care system can’t sustain the cost of fighting the disease.

“To the best of our knowledge this is the first (expert) in primary cancer prevention, which is a very specific focus on not treating the disease better or detecting it earlier but actually understanding how we avoid ever getting there,” Stuart said.

“We cannot continue to treat disease without seeking to promote health and prevent the onset of disease.”
Full story The Toronto Star

Irish Medical Times
Pilot screening programme for prostate cancer need immediately

By Greg Baxter
A pilot screening scheme for prostate cancer is needed immediately.

Professor John Armstrong, chairman of the Irish Cancer Society, told Irish Medical Times that waiting for results from randomised trials in Europe and America about the efficacy of PSA testing would “waste lives” if the results came back positive. “Let us be sure, it is very likely the results will be positive because there is nothing intrinsically different about the biology of prostate cancer and breast cancer,” he said.

Full story at Irish Medical Times issue dated 28 April 2006

United Press International - Health Business - GTx begins trial of prostate-cancer drug
GTx begins trial of prostate-cancer drug

MEMPHIS, April 21 (UPI) — GTx said Friday it is initiating a phase 3b trial of Acapodene in men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer.

Prostate-cancer patients who have completed the full two-year treatment course in the pivotal phase 3 trial of Acapodene will be eligible to participate in the phase 3b trial for an additional year, GTx said. The aim of the phase 3b trial is to collect additional data about fractures and safety. Acapodene is intended as a treatment of the side effects of androgen deprivation therapy for advanced prostate cancer.

The company noted that the phase 3b study is considered a separate study and will not affect its anticipated timeline for submitting the new drug application for Acapodene. The phase 3b study also will not affect the expected completion date of the phase 3 pivotal trial in the second half of 2007.

The phase 3 trial, which is determining whether Acapodene reduces vertebral fractures and improves bone mineral density, completed enrollment in 2005. An interim analysis showed a positive change in bone mineral density in patients treated with Acapodene compared to the placebo group.

Men and women affected by cancer look for information about the disease in very different ways, a study of internet postings about prostate cancer and breast cancer patients and partners suggests.

While men seek medical-scientific and practical advice, women look for emotional support. Men concerned about prostate cancer were interested in cancer tests, symptoms, the latest treatments and side effects. Women concerned about breast cancer sought emotional and social support. They were eager to share their personal experience and the impact of their cancer on family and relationships.
(full story…)

RICHMOND, Va., April 12 /PRNewswire/ — Selenium levels may predict the
risk of a man’s prostate cancer, and now a simple, reliable selenium
test is available.

The first selenium test that predicts prostate cancer risk, SeleniumHealth(TM), is now available exclusively from Bostwick Laboratories, Inc., an international diagnostic pathology laboratory. A man simply trims one or more toenails and submits the clippings for selenium content. SeleniumHealth(TM) is provided by Bostwick Laboratories, Inc. under license from the Gerald P. Murphy Cancer Foundation.

Press release at: http://www.psa-rising.com/wiredbird/bostwick_selenium_0406.html

Israeli drug maker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said on Wednesday the Food and Drug Administration has granted final approval for the company’s generic treatment for patients with prostate cancer, and it will begin shipping the product immediately.

The drug, called Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride injection USP, is used in combination with corticosteroids as initial treatment for patients in pain from advanced hormone-refractory prostate cancer. It can also be used in combination with other products for the initial therapy for acute nonlymphocytic leukemia in adults.

The Teva drug is the equivalent of Novantrone injection from Swiss biotech Serono SA.

Sources:
Teva

Associated Press at
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3240117,00.html

April 12, 2006 — Novacea, Inc. today announced the initiation of ASCENT-2, its pivotal Phase 3 clinical study evaluating the combination of the Company’s novel oral anti-cancer agent, DN-101, and Taxotere® (docetaxel) in men with prostate cancer for whom hormonal therapy is no longer working, also known as androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC).

This randomized, controlled, multi-national study is seeking to enroll approximately 900 patients at over 125 medical centers in the United States, Europe, and Canada.
Full story:
http://www.psa-rising.com/wiredbird/novacea_0406.html

Prostate cancer linked to high cholesterol and to gallstones

April 12, 2006. Researchers from Italy have found what they believe to be the first direct link between high cholesterol levels and prostate cancer.

A possible association has been suggested before but evidence has been limited. This new study, published on-line (Wednesday 12 April) in Annals of Oncology, shows a statistically significant direct relationship between the two conditions.

Full story:
http://psa-rising.com/med/prevention/cholesterol06.html

The Canadian Cancer Society is urging municipalities across New Brunswick to ban the use of pesticides on residential and public property.
Apr 12 2006 CBC News

The Canadian Cancer Society says evidence linking pesticides with cancer is growing, and it simply doesn’t make sense to use a substance that could cause cancer to make a lawn look pretty.

Lynn Ann Duffley speaks for the Canadian Cancer Society in New Brunswick and says a ban is especially important to protect children. “We do know that children are very susceptible to the toxins within pesticides. And we know that repeated exposures to pesticides can increase the incidence of brain cancer, leukemia, non-hodgkins lymphoma.”

CropLife Canada is a trade association that represents pesticide companies, and its executive director Peter MacLeod rejects the cancer society’s argument. “I think that their explanation is very simplistic and misleading.”

MacLeod says no pesticide used in Canada is known to cause cancer, and he believes towns and cities should steer clear of regulation. “We just feel that municipalities by and large do not have the scientific capacity to make that choice, whether a product should be used or not. We should leave that to Health Canada.”

Seventy-three municipalities across Canada have already banned pesticide use, but only three of those are in New Brunswick – Shediac, Caraquet and Sackville. St. Andrews is holding a public hearing on the matter on April 24.

Reported April 10, 2006
By Julie Marks, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

PARIS (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Researchers at the 21st Annual Congress of the European Association of Urology in Paris report exciting findings on the use of magnetic nanoparticles for patients with prostate cancer.

Scientists know thermotherapy using biocompatible magnetic nanoparticles inhibits prostate cancer growth in mice. Now, however, researchers are using the novel therapy in humans with the disease.

The new therapy is one of the first applications of nanotechnology in medicine and involves the heating of nanoparticles in a magnetic field. With the technique, it is possible to heat up almost every region of the body within very small ranges.

Investigators in Germany used the therapy on nine patients with locally recurrent prostate cancer. The patients had six weekly thermotherapy sessions that lasted 60 minutes each. Treatments were delivered using the first AC magnetic field applicator for use in humans.

Study results show the nanoparticles were retained in the prostate for several months. No toxic side effects were observed. Seven of the nine patients experienced a moderate decline in PSA levels.

“Interstitial heating using magnetic nanoparticles was feasible in patients with previously irradiated and locally recurrent prostate cancer,” study authors say. “Further optimism will focus on intraprostatic nanoparticle distribution and patient tolerance at higher magnetic field strengths. In the future, this treatment modality may be suitable for combination with irradiation in patients with localized prostate cancer.”

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: The 21st Annual Congress of the European Association of Urology in Paris, April 5-8, 2006

Epigenomics, a molecular diagnostics company developing tests based on DNA
methylation, is developing a test for the methylation of a single gene, PITX2, that can predict recurrence of prostate cancer after radical surgery. This new test is not yet available but it looks worth watching out for. The same company is developing a blood test for early detection of colon cancer. The company presented study results this week at 97th AACR Annual Meeting in Washington D.C., USA. Full stories:

Clinical Study Proves Prognostic Power of Epigenomics’ Biomarker in Prostate Cancer

Epigenomics Presents Data Confirming Screening for Methylated DNA in Blood as Key to Early Colorectal Cancer Detection

Mon Apr 3, 12:53 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A compound formed when meat is charred at high temperatures — as in barbecue — encourages the growth of prostate cancer in rats, researchers reported on Sunday.

Their study, presented at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, may help explain the link between eating meat and a higher risk of prostate cancer.
It also fits in with other studies suggesting that cooking meat until it chars might cause cancer.

The compound, called PhIP, is formed when meat is cooked at very high temperatures, Dr. Angelo De Marzo and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reported.

It appears to both initiate and promote the growth of prostate cancer in rats, they said.

“We stumbled across a new potential interaction between ingestion of cooked meat in the diet and cancer in the rat,” De Marzo said in a statement.

“For humans, the biggest problem is that it’s extremely difficult to tell how much PhIP you’ve ingested, since different amounts are formed depending on cooking conditions.”

For the study, Yatsutomo Nakai and other members of De Marzo’s team mixed PhIP into food given to rats for up to eight weeks, then studied the animals’ prostates, intestines and spleens. They found genetic mutations in all the organs after four weeks.

Source: Reuters: Barbecue meats linked with prostate cancer - Yahoo! News

In the past few years we have reported on a number of studies indicating that aspirin and other NSAIDs (non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) may protect men against prostate cancer. For example:

Use of aspirin or other NSAIDs increases survival for men with prostate cancer October 5, 2004.

But one study of NSAIDs and cancer turned out to be fake. In April 2005 Dr. Jon Sudbø reported at the annual meeting of American Association for Cancer Research in Anaheim, CA that NSAIDs prevent some cancers but increase cardiovascular deaths. His paper was published in a leading medical journal. But in January 2006 the entire study was revealed as a fake built from fabricated data.

Now a Canadian team has confirmed that men who take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may receive protection against prostate cancer.
(full story…)

Doctor’s Guide ranks this as the top-read abstract about prostate cancer for the week of March 23, 2006. The stretch of one statistical finding in this study is remarkable - “The recovery of potency following radical prostatectomy varies from 16% to 86%.” This finding is in line with a review a couple of years ago in Greece which found:
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Fresh lemon grass fields in Israel become mecca for cancer patients
By Allison Kaplan Sommer April 02, 2006

At first, Benny Zabidov, an Israeli agriculturalist who grows greenhouses full of lush spices on a pastoral farm in Kfar Yedidya in the Sharon region, couldn’t understand why so many cancer patients from around the country were showing up on his doorstep asking for fresh lemon grass.

It turned out that their doctors had sent them.

“They had been told to drink eight glasses of hot water with fresh lemon grass steeped in it on the days that they went for their radiation and chemotherapy treatments,” Zabidov told ISRAEL21c. “And this is the place you go to in Israel for fresh lemon grass.”

… Researchers at Ben Gurion University of the Negev discovered last year that the lemon aroma in herbs like lemon grass kills cancer cells in vitro, while leaving healthy cells unharmed.
More: Full story by Allison Kaplan Sommer April 02, 2006, at Israel 21c

This is the best ever cookbook of simple delicious everday recipes for men battling prostate cancer, and for their families and friends. David Ricketts, longtime contributing food and recipe editor to Family Circle magazine, had written a dozen cookbooks beforehe was diagnosed with prostate cancer in April 2001 at age fifty-five. After primary treatments, with his doctors encouragement he went to work to create a new way of eating for himself and other men hit by this disease. The result, this cookbook, is a classic keeper which can help you manage your meals everyday. Read our review:
http://www.psa-rising.com/eatingwell/beatpcacookbook_review.html

Help Continue Vital Prostate Cancer Research: Contact your U.S.
Senator Today!

Please contact your Senator and ask her/him to sign the Snowe-Johnson
“Dear Colleague” letter in support of the cancer research
programs at the Department of Defense, specifically urging an $85
million allocation for the Prostate Cancer Research Program.
(full story…)

A new method of delivering chemotherapy to cancer patients without incurring side effects such as hair loss and vomiting is being developed.

The method, produced at the University of Bath, involves using tiny fibres and beads soaked in the chemotherapy drug which are then implanted into the cancerous area in the patient’s body.

These fibres are bio-degradable and compatible with body tissue, which means they would not be rejected by the patient’s body. They gradually turn from solid to liquid, releasing a regular flow of the chemotherapy chemical into the cancer site, and a much lower dose to the rest of the body.
(full story…)

Cancer vaccines make headway
US News & World Report reports on the development of new cancer vaccines,
with a special focus on Cell Genesys.

A recent compilation of tests lists 21 anticancer vaccines that may have improved patient survival. Lung cancer and melanoma are just a couple. Doctors take great pains to say patients shouldn’t get their hopes up based on these early data. But the approaches, as experiments, are intriguing.

Cell Genesys, a biotech firm in South San Francisco, is developing vaccines to treat leukemia, prostate cancer, and pancreatic cancer.

US News: More cancers in the eye of the vaccine needleBy Josh Fischman Posted 3/28/06

Cell Genesys Initiates Second Phase 3 Clinical Trial Of GVAX® Vaccine For Prostate Cancer
July 5, 200

Cell Genesys Clinical Trials

National Cancer Institute Cancer Vaccine Fact Sheet