A mutation that causes a childhood tumor syndrome also impairs growth hormone secretion, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.

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A team of researchers from Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) and the University’s College of Veterinary Medicine have received a $10.9 million, five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to further their studies of retrovirus-associated cancer.

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The U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention is pleased to announce that its chief science officer, Darrell Abernethy, M.D., Ph.D., will be honored with the American College of Clinical Pharmacology’s (ACCP) Nathaniel T. Kwit Memorial Distinguished Service Award at the 2008 ACCP Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Pa., September 14-16. Dr. Abernethy is being recognized for his lasting contributions to cardiovascular clinical pharmacology.

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Scientists at a Duke University medical school in Singapore have found a new way to study cancer that could be very useful for developing targeted therapies against cancer and possibly many other diseases.

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The 2008 American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Abbott Laboratories Award in Clinical and Diagnostic Immunology was presented to Steven A. Rosenberg, Chief of Surgery, National Cancer Institute, Professor of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and Professor of Surgery, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Sponsored by Abbott Laboratories Diagnostics Division, this award recognizes a distinguished scientist in clinical or diagnostic immunology for outstanding contributions.

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Breast cancer research needs to investigate how a person’s ethnicity influences their response to treatment and its outcome, according to a new Comment piece in The Lancet (18 July) by researchers from Imperial College London.

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Ark Therapeutics Group plc (AKT:LSE) announces that the preliminary analysis of Study 904, a Phase III study of Cerepro (R), its novel gene-based therapy being developed as an Orphan Drug for the treatment of operable primary malignant glioma, demonstrates that the trial has met its primary endpoint. Cerepro (R) treatment resulted in significant improvements in median survival on the primary endpoint compared with various control groups. In the secondary endpoints, with 45% of patients still alive, benefits have yet to be established.

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Pathwork Diagnostics, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company focused on oncology, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared its Pathwork® Tissue of Origin Test for use in determining the origin of uncertain tumors. The test analyzes a tumor’s gene expression pattern to help pinpoint the source of hard-to-identify tumors and is the first test of its kind to receive FDA clearance. Up to an estimated 200,000 newly diagnosed cancer patients annually in the U.S. may have a tumor for which the site of origin is uncertain after the initial diagnostic workup.1,2,3,4 The FDA’s clearance underscores the growing role that patients’ genomic information can play in helping physicians make better decisions.

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Submission Based on Phase III Study Showing Superior Results for MabThera in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) When Added to Standard Chemotherapy

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The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Seed-One Ventures announce the formation of Heat Biologics Inc. to develop two related platform technologies which introduce a novel lung cancer vaccine and asthma therapy, with potential applications in the treatment of a number of other inflammatory diseases. The two treatments were developed by Eckhard Podack, M.D., Ph.D., Sylvester Distinguished Professor of Medicine and chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

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