Allegro Diagnostics, a leader in the field of molecular diagnostics for lung cancer, has announced that Stephen Chubb has joined the company’s board of directors and Stephanie Hallam, Ph.D. has joined the company as Vice President of Operations and Quality Systems.

Cancer is a relentless disease. It doesn’t discriminate between men and women, wealthy or poor, the elderly or the young. In 2008, more than 1.4 million Americans were diagnosed with some form of the disease. If it wasn’t you, it may have been a spouse or sibling, a parent or a child, a friend or a coworker. We, too, have known the challenges of cancer diagnoses for ourselves or our family members or friends. And while there are many stories of survival, this disease still takes far too many lives. More than half a million Americans lost their battle with cancer last year.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IRAC) reconfirmed this week that all commercial asbestos fibers cause lung cancer and mesothelioma. The agency also reconfirmed that the toxic mineral causes laryngeal cancer and newly confirmed that sufficient evidence exists to state that asbestos exposure causes ovarian cancer.

As a “foodie” I love to prepare enticing healthy foods, but I know that living with lung cancer can make eating a healthy, nutritious diet difficult – even when the food is prepared with love and flare. I remember cooking one of my dad’s favorite meals when he was having chemotherapy, only to realize that the nausea he experienced trying to eat it put that menu item on his dislike list – permanently.

Poniard Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company, has reached its enrollment target of 400 patients in the Spear trial.

This global, pivotal Phase III trial is evaluating the efficacy and safety of picoplatin in patients with recurrent small cell lung cancer (SCLC) who have failed prior platinum-containing first-line chemotherapy or who have progressed within six months of first-line therapy. Patients have been enrolled at more than 100 clinical trial sites in 16 countries in Europe, South America and Asia.

Lung cancer is a big health problem, since it is the most common cause of cancer deaths in both men and women! And everyone knows what is the most common cause of lung cancer: smoking. Not to mention that smoking also causes heart and lung diseases, shortness of breath, heart attacks, emphysema, bronchitis, mouth and voicebox cancers, bladder and stomach cancer, and possibly also breast cancer.

March 25 (Bloomberg) – GPC Biotech AG, the German biotechnology company that agreed to combine with Agennix Inc. last month, aims to find a partner for the experimental talactoferrin cancer drug before cash runs out in 2010.

Talks have begun on a potential licensing deal for the drug, which is in mid-stage human trials for non-small cell lung cancer, Chief Executive Officer Bernd Seizinger said in an interview today.

Osi Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company, and Genentech, have announced that Osi has submitted a supplemental new drug application to the FDA for the use of Tarceva as a first-line maintenance therapy for people with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who have not progressed following first-line treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy.