LungBlog

The day will come when a patient with cancer can beat it with a pill – and that’s it. No chemotherapy. No surgery. 

Just a little more than 100 years since the organization of the American Association for Cancer Research, that is the hope for those at the forefront in the fight.

China Medical System Holdings Ltd. said it has received approval from the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) to begin the Phase II clinical trial for CMS024-02 (Tyroservatide), a drug for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

Glaxo is conducting late-stage trials of a therapeutic vaccine meant for cancer patients after their tumors have been surgically removed, Witty said. The therapeutic vaccine is meant to destroy any surviving cancer cells and prevent recurrence of the disease.

Called MAGE-A3, the vaccine is being tested against lung cancer and melanoma. It targets MAGE-3, a protein found in a number of cancers but not in normal cells.

Cancer patients will have a new resource for information next Monday.

Cheyenne Regional Medical Center and the Wyoming chapter of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation created a resource library and boutique to assist patients, families and caretakers after a doctor says, “You have cancer.”

The diagnosis is overwhelming, said Leonard Geringer, manager for radiation therapy at CRMC and co–chair for the 2008 Komen Wyoming Race for the Cure. He added that it’s often difficult for patients to find credible information. But the next steps are crucial.

The New England Journal of Medicine published a third correction to a contentious medical study on the advisability of screening for lung cancer, weakening one of the study’s findings.

Unlike for colon cancer and breast cancer, regular screening isn’t common for lung cancer, the largest cancer killer. No study has clearly shown that screening for lung cancer would reduce the death rate, as opposed to simply finding deadly tumors earlier.

Its figures also show there are more lung cancer diagnoses and deaths in Gloucester than anywhere else in the county, although the city has the lowest breast cancer rate.

Breslin, the 12 year old star of “Little Miss Sunshine,” lost her grandfather to lung cancer, and will be in a movie called “My Sisters Keeper” with Cameron Diaz about a family struggling with cancer.

“We’re trying to get people to come together to support cancer research and help scientist get new treatments,” said Breslin

 ”If you put a headline on the front of the New York Times, ’1,500 Americans Dead Today,’ that would get everyone’s attention,” Ziskin says. “We’d say, ‘This is a terrorist in our midst. Why aren’t we doing something about it?’ “

Reinbeau, 48, developed a bad cough in April and was so short of breath in May that he was not able to continue working for his company, Rainbow Roofing. Doctors at Good Samaritan Hospital in Zanesville discovered the stage three cancer in the lymph nodes around the bronchi.

 Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial of IPI-493, its oral anti-chaperone agent, in patients with advanced solid tumors. IPI-493 has demonstrated significant oral availability, as well as potent and selective inhibition of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), in preclinical studies. IPI-493 expands the company’s Hsp90 portfolio, which also includes IPI-504 (retaspimycin hydrochloride). IPI-504 is expected to enter Phase 3 development later this quarter. Hsp90 is a molecular chaperone that supports and stabilizes numerous cancer-causing proteins; inhibition of the Hsp90 chaperone via anti-chaperone therapy removes a critical source of support for cancer cells, leading to cancer cell death.