October 19th, 2011
VisionGate announced a collaboration with the Sheba Medical Center in Israel focused on evaluating the Arizona-based firm’s LuCED™ (lung cell evaluation device) test in conjunction with x-ray computed tomography screening for the detection of early lung cancer. The firm separately reported inking a collaboration with Greek researchers to evaluate the test as a primary screen in post-surgery lung cancer patients, and announced raising $2 million in the first tranche of an equity financing round that is projected to raise a total of $3 million.
The LuCED test is used in combination with the firm’s Cell-CT™ automated 3-D cell-imaging platform, which generates high-resolution biosignatures from intact cells in a sputum sample. Detected biosignatures are analyzed using a predictive analytics tool to indicate the presence or absence of cancer cells.
The initial indication for LuCED is as an adjunct to x-ray CT lung cancer screening, which, according to recently published data from the NCI’s National Lung Screening Trial, generates a high rate of false positive results when used alone. The collaboration between VisionGate and the Sheba Medical Center aims to evaluate whether LuCED, and other noninvasive techniques, can be used alongside x-ray CT to reduce the false-positive rate. The study will involve over 200 patients with pulmionary nodules detected by x-ray CT scans for whom the diagnosis remains unclear.
October 17th, 2011
From Medical News Today
Lung cancer patients with diabetes tend to live longer than patients without diabetes, according to a new study from Norway due to be published in the November issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. The researchers did not offer an explanation for the tendency; they suggested it needs further investigation, and diabetes should not be considered as a reason to withhold standard cancer therapy.
In their background information, the researchers, from Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Trondheim University, write that patients with lung cancer often have other diseases, one of them being diabetes. However, evidence on the impact of diabetes on lung cancer survival is conflicting, so they wanted to do a large study focusing on this.
October 14th, 2011
Tanya Pollitt, Denver Science News Examiner
A new test, developed at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, helps reduces the risk of death by 36 percent in advanced lung cancer by identifying a biomarker known as the EGFR protein.
In a press release, Professor Fred R. Hirsch of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, co-developer of the test, said, “We are moving from a one-size-fits-all model to more personalized medicine in lung cancer. This is a completely new paradigm in treating cancer.”
October 12th, 2011
Lung cancer patients could receive safer and more efficient treatment through a system being developed by researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
The scientists have devised a method for giving drugs by inhalation to patients through a nebuliser, rather than the current approach of intravenous delivery.
The system could administer the treatment far more quickly than existing methods and without the harmful side effects associated with current systems, which can cause kidney damage.
It could also enable health authorities to deliver the drugs in smaller doses without diminution of benefit to patients.
October 11th, 2011
PLANEGG, GERMANY and MUNICH, GERMANY and PRINCETON, NJ and HOUSTON, TX, Oct 11, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Agennix AG (frankfurt:AGX) today announced that data from a Phase II randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluating the oral immunotherapy, talactoferrin, in patients with previously treated
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have been published in the peer-reviewed medical journal, Journal of Clinical Oncology. The article, “A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase II Study of Oral Talactoferrin in Patients with Locally Advanced or Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer that Progressed Following Chemotherapy,” by P. Parikh et al, will appear in the November 1, 2011 print issue of the journal. As previously reported, this study, conducted in patients with NSCLC for whom one or more prior lines of anti-cancer therapy had failed, achieved its primary endpoint of improvement in overall survival. Talactoferrin also appeared to improve survival across a broad range of patient subsets, including those with squamous and non-squamous histologies, as well as other important prognostic factors. The results of this study served as the basis for the ongoing talactoferrin Phase III FORTIS-M trial, which is being conducted in patients whose disease has progressed following two or more prior treatment regimens. The FORTIS-M study has completed enrollment and topline results are expected in the first half of 2012.
October 10th, 2011
Scientists have discovered a mechanism that causes an aggressive type of lung cancer (small cell lung cancer) to re-grow following chemotherapy, offering hope for new therapies.
The study, conducted by an international team of researchers from Monash, Stanford and John Hopkins universities, represents not just the potential for new drugs, but a novel way of approaching cancer treatment.
Professor Neil Watkins, of the Monash Institute of Medical Research (MIMR) led the Monash research team of Dr Luciano Martelotto, MIMR, and Associate Professor Tracey Brown of the Department of Biochemisty and Molecular Biology.
Professor Watkins said while many current cancer treatments and trials focus on shrinking existing tumours, this research had a different focus.
“Some aggressive types of cancer respond very well to chemotherapy, but then the real challenge is to stop the tumour coming back. That’s what we investigated.”
October 7th, 2011
Krista Conger
Drug Discovery & Development – October 06, 2011
Carefully tracking the rate of response of human lung tumors during the first weeks of treatment can predict which cancers will undergo sustained regression, suggests a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
The finding was made after scientists gained insight into therapies that target cancer-causing genes; they are successful because they slow the rate of tumor cell division. Squelching messages promoting rampant cell growth allows already existing death signals to prevail and causes tumors to shrink.
The research highlights the emerging promise of applying mathematical and computational concepts to the study of complex biological systems.
“It’s really just advanced high-school-level math,” says associate professor of medicine and pathology, Dean Felsher, MD, PhD. “With some simple measurements, we found we can determine when a cancer is addicted to a particular cancer gene and will respond to therapy targeting that gene. I was astounded that it works.”
October 7th, 2011
CLEVELAND, Oct. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Advanced imaging with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans shows great promise in predicting which patients with inoperable lung cancer have more aggressive tumors and need additional treatment following standard chemotherapy/radiation therapy, according to new research.
Mitch Machtay, MD, of the Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center and principle investigator for the study, presented the significant data today at 2 pm at the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in Miami Beach, Fla. The National Cancer Institute-funded trial, led by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) in collaboration with Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), enrolled 251 patients at 60 cancer centers around the country.
“Lung cancer remains the number one cancer killer in the United States. These findings have the potential to give cancer physicians a new tool to more effectively tailor treatments for patients with locally advanced lung cancer,” says Dr. Machtay, Chairman of Radiation Oncology at UH Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “This cooperative group study determined that the PET scan can show us which patients have the most aggressive tumors, potentially enabling us to intensify their treatment.”
October 5th, 2011
From the Sacramento Bee
Study of potentially operable Stage I NSCLC demonstrates tumor control comparable to surgery
MIAMI, Oct. 4, 2011 — /PRNewswire/ — Results of new research presented at the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 53rd Annual Meeting this week showed that patients with different types of early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can benefit from treatment with stereotactic body radiosurgery (SBRT).
Treating Potentially Operable Stage I NSCLC Patients
In a presentation earlier today, Frank Lagerwaard, MD, radiation oncologist at VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, reported that potentially operable patients with Stage I NSCLC who were treated with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), which is another term for SBRT, achieved comparable tumor control rates to those treated with the current surgical standard of care. Thirty-three percent of the patients in the study were treated with Varian Medical System’s RapidArc delivered on a Novalis TX™ linear accelerator from Varian and Brainlab.
October 4th, 2011
ASTRO 2011
October 03, 2011
by Brendon Nafziger, DOTmed News Associate Editor
Higher doses of radiation don’t up survival rates for patients stricken with stage III, non-small cell lung cancer, according to a late-breaking study shared Monday at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s annual meeting in Miami.
The researchers said the findings of the randomized, phase III trial were surprising, as most radiation oncologists believe that higher doses of radiation will cure more patients.
