WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Today, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) announced recent additions to the growing network of support for federal action on lung cancer that covers a broad spectrum of interests, ranging from national medical and international research organizations, to veterans and labor groups, to public health advocates, and to congressional support on Capitol Hill.

In the past two months, 20 more national and international groups have publicly come out in support of the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act (LCMRA), and more members of both Houses of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors to the legislation, which now total 20 in the U.S. Senate and 28 in the House of Representatives.

The legislation, S. 752 and H.R. 1394, re-introduced in the new Congress earlier this year, is the first-ever calling for a coordinated and comprehensive federal plan to address all aspects of lung cancer.

Michael Wang, M.D., Ph.D., right, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, and Li-Qun Gu, Ph.D., associate professor of biological engineering, have developed a new technology for the early detection of lung cancer. Worldwide and in the United States, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death. Credit: University of Missouri School of Medicine

When lung cancer strikes, it often spreads silently into more advanced stages before being detected. In a new article published in Nature Nanotechnology, biological engineers and medical scientists at the University of Missouri reveal how their discovery could provide a much earlier warning signal.

“Early detection can save lives, but there is currently no proven screening test available for lung cancer,” said Michael Wang, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences at MU and a corresponding author for the article. “We’ve developed highly sensitive technology that can detect a specific molecule type in the bloodstream when lung cancer is present.”

Washington: Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have identified a new combination of targeted therapies that may treat two aggressive tumor types that until now have not had effective treatments.

The drug combination was shown to successfully treat two models of aggressive cancers – a nervous system tumor associated with neurofibromatosis type 1, and KRAS-mutant lung cancer, a form of lung cancer that accounts for about 25 percent of all lung cancers.

“Without a targeted treatment that works, these two cancers are currently being treated with chemotherapy with variable success,” said lead author Dr. Karen Cichowski, Associate Professor in Genetics at BWH.

LONDON: Coming soon: A simple blood test to detect lung cancer, say scientists.

An international team, led by Dr Samir Hanash of the Hutchinson Center in Seattle, claims it is one step closer to being able to spot lung cancer before the onset of symptoms.

“Developing a blood test to detect lung cancer is increasingly within reach,” the ‘Daily Express’ quoted Hanash as saying.

Previously undiscovered protein molecules in the blood of sufferers could be key to developing the test — an alternative to invasive diagnostic methods. The molecules, initially discovered in mice, were found to be similar in humans, says the team.

From BMWi’s Global Innovation Series

“…Dweik’s research has shown that breathprints can be quite different between lung cancer patients. Dweik uses an “electronic nose” with 32 sensors — each sensor reacts differently to different compounds in your breath. “When you breathe over these sensors, they change in different ways and create a smellprint that is quite distinct between people who have cancer and people who do not, with 85% accuracy.” Of course, medicine isn’t perfect, and the drawback to the electronic nose is that Dweik’s team doesn’t yet know what compounds in breath give that smell signature — they could say if there is lung cancer or not, but can’t currently indicate why or which gas indicates cancer. Dweik admits that the smellprint shows proof of concept, but is lacking the link to the biology of the cancer. It’s a promising field, and smellprints and breathalyzer sensors will need to be used symbiotically to help doctors develop the technology even further. Breathprints should help doctors figure out what gases and compounds are indicative of what diseases, and then attune sensors to detect those compounds.

For now, the lung cancer smellprint is a big step. Lung cancer typically presents itself late — a patient might cough up blood, then have a biopsy done, but by that point, the cancer has advanced. Unlike breast cancer, which can be detected and treated early with annual mammograms, there isn’t a screening test for lung cancer, which means that this breath analysis technology could go a long way toward saving lives…”

From The Huffington Post

After 25 years of research, Cuban officials have begun production on a vaccine for lung cancer, China’s Xinhuanet reported.

The vaccine, or CimaVax-EGF, works through the active drug ingredient, which is based on “a protein we all have when cancer is uncontrolled,” as the publication reported.

CimaVax-EGF isn’t a preventative vaccine, but attacks the already-existing cancer in a patient, PopScience elaborated.

The vaccine has allegedly been tested on 1,000 patients in Cuba, but it’s difficult to verify. If so, it could greatly improve the outlook of patients with what is widely regarded as one of the most deadly and common forms of cancer.

Gisela Gonzalez, head researcher of the project, told the Chinese news source that she is optimistic for the drug’s future.

“The drug could turn the cancer into a manageable, chronic disease by generating antibodies against the proteins which triggered the uncontrolled cell proliferation. It is not possible to prevent the disease but this vaccine improves significantly the status of the critically ill patients.”

Treating some lung cancer patients with concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy significantly increased five-year survival rates vs. waiting to treat patients with radiation therapy after completing chemotherapy, according to a study published Sept. 8 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The study was conducted by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and involved 610 participants at 153 institutions across North America. It is the largest randomized trial to confirm the importance of administering chemotherapy and radiotherapy concurrently, as opposed to sequentially, for patients with locally-advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

From the Syndey Morning Herald

Biotechnology firm Alchemia has started to recruit patients for a phase II trial of its drug to treat small cell lung cancer.

Alchemia said on Friday that 40 patients will be recruited for the trial of the drug HA-Irinotecan, to be conducted at the Monash Cancer Centre and the Peninsula Oncology Centre in Melbourne.

This study will examine the effectiveness and safety of HA-Irinotecan.

Press release from the American Cancer Society

A new study finds that lung cancer patients treated in hospitals that care for a high percentage of uninsured and Medicaid-insured patients, so-called “high safety-net burden facilities,” were significantly less likely to undergo surgery that was intended to cure the cancer compared to patients treated at low safety-net burden facilities. This difference persisted even after controlling for other factors that significantly decreased the likelihood of curative-intent surgery, such as race, insurance status, stage, and female gender as well as other hospital characteristics.