Fewer Breast Patients May Need Chemo


Thousands of breast cancer patients each year could be spared chemotherapy or get gentler versions of it without harming their odds of beating the disease, new research suggests.

One study found that certain women did better - were less likely to die or have a relapse - if given a less harsh drug than Adriamycin, a mainstay of treatment for decades.

Another study found that a gene test can help predict whether some women need chemo at all - even among those whose cancer has spread to their lymph nodes, which typically brings full treatment now..........

Related Here

About DiaGenic ASA
DiaGenic is an innovative Norwegian biotechnology company that seeks to create value for patients, partners, and investors by developing new and more patient friendly methods for early detection of diseases. DiaGenic is currently a world leader in analyzing gene expression signatures related to disease in easily available clinical samples such as peripheral blood. This unique method is based on the principle that even when a disease is localized at a specific part of the body, secondary responses, which are also characteristic of the disease, can be measured in other parts. Significant potential in numerous diseases such as breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease has been identified. The company has been granted patents in the U.S. and Europe. DiaGenic is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. For more information visit www.diagenic.com

About Opaldia
Opaldia is a private healthcare provider which aims to provide a lifelong breast cancer service to its members. All its services are offered in independent hospitals by consultant grade oncologists. Other gene expression tests offered by the company in the breast cancer field are: MammaPrint – for disease prognosis; and CupPrint, which identifies the origin of mestasized tumours. For more information please visit the www.opaldia.com or contact Dr James Mackay, Opaldia, +44 20-7554 4045 ; james.mackay@opaldia.com.

Here is an article reminding us that cancer cells (like all cells) are extraordinarily complex to analyze.

01 Jan 2008 Science Daily: 'New Research Tools Are Too Complex For Easy Answers, Researchers Say'
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071227183744.htm

Study Finds that Blood Test Can Gauge Prostate Cancer Risk


Information could allow physicians to better assess and treat patients

01-16-2008

Phoenix, AZ, January 16, 2008--New genomics research has found that a simple blood test can determine which men are likely to develop prostate cancer. Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Wake Forest University, the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, and the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, found that five genetic variants previously associated with prostate cancer risk have a strong cumulative effect.
Published today in the "Online First" section of the New England Journal of Medicine, and in the February 28 print issue, researchers found that a man with four of the five variants has an increased risk of 400 to 500 percent compared to men with none of the variants. The researchers then added a family history of prostate cancer to the equation - for a total of six risk factors. A man with at least five of the six factors had increased risk of more than 900 percent.

"This is a finding that could significantly impact patient care," said senior researcher Jianfeng Xu, M.D., Dr. PH., Professor of epidemiology and cancer biology at Wake Forest University and a consultant to TGen. "Because this information could help physicians to better assess prostate cancer risk, a screening test using these five variants maybe particularly useful in men with a family history of prostate cancer or those who have a marginally elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA)."

Currently, age, race and family history are the three factors associated with increased risk of prostate cancer. Family history is believed to account for about 10 percent of prostate cancer cases; researchers estimated that the five variants combined could account for about 40 percent of cases.

The study is one of the first to illustrate how a combination of several genes can affect risk of disease. The study involved analyzing DNA samples from 2,893 men with prostate cancer and 1,781 healthy individuals of similar ages - all participants of a prostate cancer study in Sweden.

"These data show that a cumulative risk factor approach is likely a more powerful way of assessing risk as compared to looking at single risk factors," said Dr. John Carpten, Ph.D., Director of TGen's Division of Integrated Cancer Genomics. "Once the model is validated and refined, it is our hope that it will eventually equip physicians with a tool to help them make more informed clinical decisions."

Until last year, no specific genetic variants had been consistently identified as markers for prostate cancer risk. Then, advances in technology allowed researchers to take a more systematic approach to looking at the entire genome. Instead of solely studying genes that they suspected were related to disease susceptibility, they could study the entire genome and look for associations.

Through these searches, several research teams identified five genetic locations associated with risk of developing prostate cancer: three on chromosome 8q24, one on chromosome 17q12 and one on 17q24.3.

Each variant alone was associated with moderate risk, but the effect wasn't considered significant enough to justify testing individuals. The current study was the first to evaluate whether there is a cumulative effect from having multiple variants.

"When we considered the variants together we discovered their potential for predicting individual risk," said David Duggan, Ph.D., an Investigator in TGen's Genetic Basis of Human Disease Division. "Because of the cumulative effects of these risk variants and family history, for the first time associations found through genome-wide screening appear to be useful in clinical practice."

The researchers said further study is needed to determine how their findings of genetic testing may complement PSA (prostate-specific antigen) testing. The researchers found that the risk associated with the genetic variants is independent of PSA results.

"This suggests that a subset of men deemed to have a low risk of prostate cancer based on their PSA levels may in fact be at significantly elevated risk due to inheriting one or more of the genetic variants," said S. Lilly Zheng, M.D., Associate Professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest and the first author of the paper.

Genetic testing of these five variants will soon be offered at a CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments)-certified laboratory at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. For more information, visit the web site www.ProactiveGenomics.com or call 866-487-2344.

Co-researchers include senior author Henrik Gronberg, M.D., Ph.D. Professor at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, and William B. Isaacs, Ph.D, Professor at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Md.

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Media Contact:
TGen: Amy Erickson, aerickson@tgen.org, 602.343.8522.

About TGen
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, is focused on developing earlier diagnoses and smarter treatments. Translational genomics research is a relatively new field employing innovative advances arising from the Human Genome Project and applying them to the development of diagnostics, prognostics and therapies for cancer, neurological disorders, diabetes and other complex diseases. TGen's research is based on personalized medicine and the institute plans to accomplish its goals through robust and disease-focused research.

About Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university¹s School of Medicine. U.S. News & World Report ranks Wake Forest University School of Medicine 18th in family medicine, 20th in geriatrics, 25th in primary care and 41st in research among the nation's medical schools. It ranks 35th in research funding by the National Institutes of Health. Almost 150 members of the medical school faculty are listed in Best Doctors in America.

Agency offers no-cost cancer screenings

Monday, January 21, 2008
Planned Parenthood in San Angelo is offering cervical cancer screening and diagnosis to women who likely wouldn't otherwise receive the medical care, thanks to a grant from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The six-month grant took effect Jan. 1 and provides $55,000 to be split between the Planned Parenthood offices in San Angelo and Midland, said Carla Holeva, vice president of community affairs for the agency. Planned Parenthood intends to apply to renew the grant after six months and eventually expand funding to include the Planned Parenthood of West Texas offices in Odessa and Abilene...........


Bottom Line

For more info
To learn more about the services offered at Planned Parenthood, call (325) 944-1909 or visit the agency's San Angelo clinic at 2010 Pecos St.