Interesting how research news is carried to the public in different ways, Italian, German, Dutch, French news sites speak of an international consortium discovering 5 genes who on their own may not cause breast cancer, but combined do.... the English language news articles makes only mention of the British work in their publication highlighting the Cambridge Research Institute 'leading' the work. Draw your own conclusions, long as the discoveries are not falling victim to patent madness and the knowledge is spread uninhibited.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6691833.stm
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/66941.html
http://www.ecanadanow.com/science/health/2007...-cancer-genes-discovered/

In other news regarding aspirin,
http://www.corriere.it/sportello-cancro/artic..._Maggio/18/aspirina.shtml
http://www.corriere.it/openxlink.shtml?http:/...nt/extract/334/7598/816-a

Cervical cancer vaccine for all women could cut cases by half - study

Posted by haldav in other thread

Current therapeutic research


Bristol-Myers' Sprycel Works for First-Line Leukemia (Update1)

By Lisa Rapaport

June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s Sprycel stalls tumor growth in previously untreated patients with rare, hard-to-defeat blood cancers, a study found.

Sprycel restored white blood cells and platelets to a normal level in 81 percent of untreated patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia after three months, researchers said today at the American Society for Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. It also reduced a tumor-causing protein to undetectable levels in 73 percent of patients.

Sprycel was approved in 2006 for use when treatment fails with Novartis AG's Gleevec. Sprycel had sales of $21 million in the first quarter of 2007. Bristol-Myers said it will now conduct comparison studies with Gleevec, which generated $674 million in first quarter 2007 revenue, and may seek U.S. approval to sell Sprycel as a first-line therapy.

``We are much more comfortable now doing a direct comparison of Sprycel against Gleevec,'' said Renzo Canetta, vice president for oncology global clinical research at Bristol- Myers, in a telephone interview. ``The level of response is something not normally seen in so many patients with Gleevec.''

The most common side effects included muscle pain and fatigue, researchers said.

Cannetta said the head-to-head studies would be used to seek approval to market Sprycel as a first-choice treatment. Sprycel costs $3,900 a month wholesale, according to a February 2007 article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

4,500 diagnosed

About 4,500 people will be diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia in the U.S. this year, and about 200 will be told they have leukemia in which the so-called Philadelphia chromosome is active, according to the American Cancer Society. Both blood cancers usually strike in middle age.

``These results show Sprycel elicits a potent response when used as a first-line therapy, and that the side effects are very manageable,'' said Ehab Atallah, lead study author and a leukemia fellow at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

``This adds a weapon for patients with newly diagnosed'' leukemia, he said at a news conference today..

The Sprycel study compared outcomes for 31 patients who were randomly given either 50 milligrams twice a day or a single 100-milligram daily dose. There was no difference in effectiveness at the different doses and, after six months, 95 percent of 21 patients on the drug reduced the Philadelphia chromosome to undetectable levels in bone marrow.

Earlier Study

In an earlier study conducted at M.D. Anderson, 54 percent of patients taking the standard lower dose of Gleevec, 400 milligrams, and 85 percent of those on twice that dose had undetectable levels of Philadelphia chromosome after six months.

Bristol-Myers is also testing Sprycel to treat breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer, as well as tumors in the gastrointestinal tract.

The shares of Bristol-Myers, based in New York, rose 17 cents to $30.48 at 4:01 p.m. yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock climbed 16 percent in the previous 12 months.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Rapaport in New York at Lrapaport1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 2, 2007 15:41 EDT

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Positive data from ASA404 prostate cancer trial presented at ASCO


London, UK & Chicago, IL: 3 June 2007 - Antisoma plc (LSE: ASM, US OTC: ATSMY) announces the presentation today at ASCO of new, positive data from its randomised phase II trial testing the addition of ASA404 (formerly AS1404) to first-line docetaxel chemotherapy in hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

Final PSA data show that ASA404 greatly increased PSA response rate - the proportion of patients showing a sustained 50% reduction in blood levels of the prostate cancer biomarker PSA. Seventy patients were evaluable for PSA response. The response rate was 59% in men treated with ASA404 plus docetaxel versus 37% in the control group, who received docetaxel alone. The proportion of patients showing progression by PSA was 16% in the ASA404 group and 37% in the control group, a more marked difference than that seen in preliminary findings from the trial.

PSA reductions were more profound and of more rapid onset in patients who received ASA404. PSA fell by a median of 79% in the ASA404 group and 36% in the control group. Among patients whose PSA fell, maximum reduction was achieved in a median of 96 days in the ASA404 group and 120 days in the control group.

Today's presentation also includes safety findings from the trial. These remain consistent with earlier reports in showing that addition of ASA404 to chemotherapy was generally well tolerated.

Data are presented by Dr Roberto Pili of Johns Hopkins University and Professor Mark Rosenthal of the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, Australia. Professor Rosenthal said: "These PSA data clearly suggest that activity is improved when ASA404 is added to first-line docetaxel therapy in patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer. We will very soon see whether the PSA effect translates into progression and survival benefits."

Further data from the prostate cancer trial, including 1-year survival findings, will be available before the end of October, as will further data from two other studies in ovarian and lung cancers. Final data from a randomised study in lung cancer were reported in 2006. These showed a 5.2-month extension in median survival when ASA404 was added to carboplatin and paclitaxel.

ASA404 was recently licensed to Novartis AG, who will be conducting all further development including a phase III trial in lung cancer scheduled to start patient recruitment early in 2008.

Glyn Edwards, CEO of Antisoma, said: "This is a really exciting time with ASA404. We have already seen impressive survival data in lung cancer and have forged a strong partnership with Novartis to take the drug forward. The latest data from the prostate cancer trial are very encouraging as we look forward to seeing survival data from this and other studies over the next few months."

Prostate cancer is among the most prevalent cancers in the developed world. It often responds initially to hormonal therapies, but each year some 200,000 men across the US, Europe and Japan develop 'hormone-refractory' disease. The taxane drug docetaxel has become an important treatment for such hormone-refractory prostate cancer. ASA404 has shown synergistic anti-cancer effects in combination with docetaxel and other taxanes in preclinical tests.

A copy of the poster presented at ASCO is available at www.antisoma.com.


Enquiries:
Glyn Edwards, Chief Executive Officer
Daniel Elger, Director of Communications
Antisoma plc

Mark Court/Lisa Baderoon/Rebecca Skye Dietrich
Buchanan Communications

Brian Korb
The Trout Group
+44 7909 915 068



+44 (0)20 7466 5000


+1 212 477 9007


Antisoma disclaimer
Certain matters discussed in this statement are forward looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties may be associated with product discovery and development, including statements regarding the company's clinical development programmes, the expected timing of clinical trials and regulatory filings. Such statements are based on management's current expectations, but actual results may differ materially.

PSA and PSA responses
PSA is a protein, prostate-specific antigen. Levels of PSA in the blood are used in the diagnosis of prostate cancer and the tracking of responses to its treatment. PSA is one of the most widely recognised disease markers in oncology, and PSA responses have been related to clinical outcomes in numerous studies.

PSA response is defined as a 50% or greater reduction in PSA level from baseline and progression by PSA is defined as a 25% or greater increase from the lower of baseline or PSA nadir. This is in accordance with the Bubley criteria (Eligibility and response guidelines for phase II clinical trials in androgen-independent prostate cancer: recommendations from the Prostate-Specific Antigen Working Group. Journal of Clinical Oncology 1999, Volume 17, pp 3461-67).

Background on ASA404
ASA404 (DMXAA) is a small-molecule vascular disrupting agent which targets the blood vessels that nourish tumours. The drug was discovered by Professors Bruce Baguley and William Denny and their teams at the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, University of Auckland, New Zealand. It was in-licensed by Antisoma from Cancer Research Ventures Limited (now Cancer Research Technology), the development and commercialisation company of the Cancer Research Campaign (now Cancer Research UK), in August 2001. CRUK had supported two phase I studies in the UK and New Zealand. ASA404 has shown a substantial survival benefit in patients with non-small cell lung cancer when added to paclitaxel-based chemotherapy in a randomised phase II study. Worldwide rights to the drug were licensed to Novartis AG in April 2007.

Chemo and surgery may help colon cancer