There may be a silver — and healthy — lining to the miserable cloud of allergy symptoms: Sneezing, coughing, tearing and itching just may help prevent cancer — particularly colon, skin, bladder, mouth, throat, uterus and cervix, lung and gastrointestinal tract cancer, according to a new Cornell study.

These cancers, interestingly, involve organs that “interface directly with the external environment,” said Paul Sherman, Cornell professor of neurobiology and behavior, who led the study. He and colleagues analyzed 646 studies on allergies and cancers published over the past 50 years, putting together “the most comprehensive database yet available” on allergies and cancers.

The study revealed “a strong relationship” between allergies and cancer in environmentally exposed tissues, Sherman said. This relationship seldom exists, he noted, between allergies and cancers of tissues that are not directly exposed to the environment, such as cancers of the breast and prostate, as well as myelocytic leukemia and myeloma.

Moreover, the study found that allergies linked to tissues that are exposed to environmental factors — eczema, hives, hay fever, and animal and food allergies — were most strongly associated with lower rates of cancers in exposed tissues.

The study, co-authored with Erica Holland ‘05 (now a medical student at the University of Massachusetts) and Janet Shellman Sherman, a Cornell research scientist and lecturer in neurobiology and behavior, is published in the December issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology (83:4).

“One of our main results was that more than twice as many studies reported inverse allergy-cancer associations as reported positive associations,” said Sherman.

Sherman believes that allergy symptoms may help protect against cancer by shedding foreign particles from the body. Some of those particles, he said, might be carcinogenic or carry carcinogens.
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During his annual physical check-up in March, David Kelver’s doctor noticed he’d never had his tonsils out, and remarked that the right one looked a bit swollen. The doctor concluded, however, that the problem was minor and would clear up on its own, and sent him home. Several months later, Kelver, a 58-year-old engineer, noticed a lump in his neck. It turned out to be cancer that had started in his tonsil and spread to his lymph nodes.

That was the bad news. Some good news followed, however. Kelver found his way to Dhiren Shah, M.D., radiation oncologist at Cancer Care of Western New York, the first and only treatment center in the area to offer patients treatment using RapidArc™ radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR). RapidArc, a new weapon in the fight against cancer, is a highly-precise form of radiotherapy that targets tumors quickly and accurately while minimizing exposure of surrounding healthy tissue.

“David had to choose between radical surgery or chemotherapy with radiation,” said Dr. Shah. “He chose the chemo/radiation combination because it offers the same potential cure rate as surgery while being less invasive and disfiguring.”

RapidArc technology makes it possible for Dr. Shah to deliver a precise image-guided IMRT treatment in two minutes or less, which is two to eight times faster than was previously possible with conventional IMRT. “The treatment itself is only about 40-60 seconds; the set-up prior to treatment takes longer,” Kelver said. “I never had conventional radiation but I can tell you, I would not like to have to lay there immobilized on a table for 30 minutes each day instead of ten.”

Dr. Shah’s clinical team compared a RapidArc treatment plan with one for conventional IMRT and found that the RapidArc plan spared more of Kelver’s salivary glands and the rest of his oral cavity. “Prior forms of radiation therapy might have severely compromised his salivary function, which can lead to a permanent and severe dry mouth condition that would have affected his eating, digestion, taste, and dental health,” Dr. Shah said. “With the RapidArc treatment, we’ll have a good chance of avoiding or minimizing these kinds of debilitating side effects.”

“I’ve finished seven treatment sessions out of 33. I have a ways to go, but so far, I’m eating and drinking fine; there’s been no impact in that respect,” Kelver said. “Today, I pulled the patio furniture in and worked in the yard, because we’re expecting snow tonight. I plan to continue working while I’m in treatment, because it’s a great distraction.
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The National Institutes of Health has renewed a five-year research grant for a total of $2.5 million to an international biodiversity group lead by David G.I. Kingston, University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Virginia Tech.

Kingston is known internationally for his work in biodiversity and development of naturally occurring cancer-fighting agents. Consistent with the Convention on Biological Diversity, he will share a portion of any royalties generated by sales of pharmaceuticals developed from this work with Madagascar, the country in which the research is taking place.
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Survey results released today show that the general population blames lung cancer patients for their diagnosis, confirming the stigma that patients reportedly feel. Findings also demonstrate a lack of public support for patients and a need for greater research for the number one cancer killer. Conducted by Lung Cancer Alliance and AstraZeneca, LP (NYSE: AZN), the national survey assessed the views of lung cancer patients, oncologists and the general public on lung cancer, support for lung cancer organizations, research funding for the disease, and availability of appropriate treatment options.

“This survey reinforces what the lung cancer community has felt for decades - public perception of this disease is overwhelmingly negative,” said Laurie Fenton Ambrose, President and CEO of Lung Cancer Alliance. “We’ve got to do more to overcome this pervasive stigma and focus attention where it should be — on research for early detection and treatment for lung cancer.”

Lack of Support for Lung Cancer Patients, Organizations

Fifty-nine (59) percent of the general population surveyed said they agreed that lung cancer patients are at least partly to blame for their diagnosis; 31 percent said lung cancer patients are treated differently than people with other types of cancers. Fifty-four (54) percent of lung cancer patients agree that there is a stigma associated with having lung cancer. In addition:
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Hospital admissions for lung cancer remained relatively stable - at roughly 150,000 a year between 1995 and 2006 - despite a steady decline in the number of Americans diagnosed with the disease, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Admissions have remained constant, in part, because lung cancer patients are surviving longer and undergoing more hospital-related treatments such as chemotherapy and tumor-removal surgery, according to AHRQ experts. Smoking is considered a main cause of lung cancer - the most deadly type of cancer - but the disease can also result from exposure to hazardous substances such as asbestos, radon, pollution or second-hand smoke, as well as genetic predisposition to the disease.

AHRQ’s analysis also found that:

- The average hospital cost for a lung cancer patient in 2006 was $14,200 (about $1,900 a day). The total cost for all patients was about $2.1 billion.
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Findings published in the journal Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, identify dietary intake of saturated fats as a possible risk factor for cancer of the small intestine, advancing the understanding of cancer development in this and other areas of the digestive tract.

While relatively rare, rates of cancer of the small intestine have been increasing since the 1970s. Individuals with this cancer are at increased risk of developing a second primary malignancy, particularly colorectal cancer.  Read the rest of this entry »

According to Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute researchers, there is strong evidence that patients can have varying clinical responses to medications depending on the specific makeup of their cancer. The study, which focused on gastrointestinal stromal tumors, also called GIST, found that the genetic variations in their disease appear to determine which medications will be most effective.

“What these findings mean is that we can begin to develop an individualized approach to the treatment of GIST. We can tailor therapy based on the genetic makeup of the tumor,” said Michael Heinrich, M.D., interim head of hematology/medical oncology, and section chief of hematology /medical oncology, Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Heinrich is co-author with Christopher Corless, M.D., Ph.D., vice chairman for research and professor of pathology and OHSU Knight Cancer Institute member.
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Having a large waistline can almost double your risk of dying prematurely even if your body mass index is within the ‘normal’ range, according to a new study of over 350,000 people across Europe, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study provides strong evidence that storing excess fat around the waist poses a significant health risk, even in people not considered to be overweight or obese. It suggests that doctors should measure a patient’s waistline and their hips as well as their body mass index as part of standard health checks, according to the researchers, from Imperial College London, the German Institute of Human Nutrition, and other research institutions across Europe.

Comparing subjects with the same body mass index, the risk of premature death increased in a linear fashion as the waist circumference increased. The risk of premature death was around double for subjects with a larger waist (more than 120cm or 47.2in for men and more than 100cm or 39.4in for women) compared to subjects with a smaller waist (less than 80cm or 31.5in for men and less than 65cm or 25.6in for women). Body mass index is commonly used to assess if a person is of ‘normal’ weight.

Each 5cm increase in waist circumference increased the mortality risk by 17% in men and 13% in women.

The ratio of waist to hips was also revealed as an important indicator of health in the study. Lower waist-hip ratios indicate that the waist is comparatively small in relation to the hips. The ratio is calculated by dividing the waist measurement by the hip measurement.
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GenVec, Inc. (Nasdaq:GNVC) announced today that TNFerade™ has been granted Fast Track product designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its proposed use in the treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer. The designation is based on GenVec having “provided evidence of the potential to improve survival in patients with pancreatic cancer.”

Drugs designated for Fast Track are intended for the treatment of a life-threatening condition and have demonstrated the potential to address unmet medical needs. Fast track designation does not apply to a product alone but to a combination of a product and specific indication. This designation provides for expedited regulatory review. Should events warrant, GenVec will be eligible to submit a U.S. biologics license application (BLA) for TNFerade on a rolling basis. Under certain conditions, this permits the FDA to review sections of the BLA prior to receiving the complete submission.
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ImClone Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: IMCL), a global leader in the development and commercialization of novel antibodies to treat cancer, today announced that its disease-directed Phase 2 clinical trial of IMC-1121B in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin as first-line therapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has opened for patient enrollment. IMC-1121B is ImClone’s proprietary fully human, IgG1 anti-vascular growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) monoclonal antibody.

This open-label Phase 2 single-arm study is enrolling patients with Stage IIIB or IV NSCLC. Approximately 40 patients are expected to be enrolled. This study is designed to evaluate the progression-free survival rate at six months of IMC-1121B in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin, each administered as an intravenous infusion every three weeks, in this disease setting.
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