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Science and biology of cancer, immunologic and hematologic diseases.
Sally Church
207 posts
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- April 15, 2010
- 04:20 PM
- 1,795 views
New developments in castration resistant prostate cancer - MDV3100
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
Last night I received an alert from Medivation announcing that an article would be published in today's online The Lancet regarding their prostate cancer agent, MDV3100. Sure enough, here's the article: Although the trial is an early phase I/II study,...... Read more »
Scher, H., Beer, T., Higano, C., Anand, A., Taplin, M., Efstathiou, E., Rathkopf, D., Shelkey, J., Yu, E., & Alumkal, J. (2010) Antitumour activity of MDV3100 in castration-resistant prostate cancer: a phase 1–2 study. The Lancet. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60172-9
- September 7, 2010
- 10:27 AM
- 1,466 views
MET, HGF and EGFR inhibition in cancer
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
Hepatocellular Growth Factor (HGF) and MET receptor tyrosine kinase signalling play important roles in development as well tumorigenesis. In a Nature review article, Comoglio noted: "Signals generated by the tyrosine kinase receptor Met elicit a complex biological response including cell...... Read more »
Buchanan SG, Hendle J, Lee PS, Smith CR, Bounaud PY, Jessen KA, Tang CM, Huser NH, Felce JD, Froning KJ.... (2009) SGX523 is an exquisitely selective, ATP-competitive inhibitor of the MET receptor tyrosine kinase with antitumor activity in vivo. Molecular cancer therapeutics, 8(12), 3181-90. PMID: 19934279
Comoglio PM. (2001) Pathway specificity for Met signalling. Nature cell biology, 3(7). PMID: 11433311
Huh CG, Factor VM, Sánchez A, Uchida K, Conner EA, & Thorgeirsson SS. (2004) Hepatocyte growth factor/c-met signaling pathway is required for efficient liver regeneration and repair. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 101(13), 4477-82. PMID: 15070743
Comoglio PM, Giordano S, & Trusolino L. (2008) Drug development of MET inhibitors: targeting oncogene addiction and expedience. Nature reviews. Drug discovery, 7(6), 504-16. PMID: 18511928
Eder JP, Vande Woude GF, Boerner SA, & LoRusso PM. (2009) Novel therapeutic inhibitors of the c-Met signaling pathway in cancer. Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 15(7), 2207-14. PMID: 19318488
- February 6, 2009
- 12:00 AM
- 1,264 views
Green tea may prevent Velcade from working effectively
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
Green tea has been suggested for it's beneficial health effects but this research team discovered it inhibited the activity of a cancer drug used for multiple myeloma.... Read more »
E. B. Golden, P. Y. Lam, A. Kardosh, K. J. Gaffney, E. Cadenas, S. G. Louie, N. A. Petasis, T. C. Chen, & A. H. Schonthal. (2009) Green tea polyphenols block the anticancer effects of bortezomib and other boronic acid-based proteasome inhibitors. Blood. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2008-07-171389
E. B. Golden, P. Y. Lam, A. Kardosh, K. J. Gaffney, E. Cadenas, S. G. Louie, N. A. Petasis, T. C. Chen, & A. H. Schonthal. (2009) Green tea polyphenols block the anticancer effects of bortezomib and other boronic acid-based proteasome inhibitors. Blood. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2008-07-171389
- March 13, 2009
- 12:45 AM
- 1,195 views
Why do some smokers get COPD and others do not?
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
The answer is in their genes. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by progressive decline in lung function, and encompasses both chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Almost 90% of COPD is caused by chronic cigarette smoking, but only 25% of...... Read more »
Sadeghnejad, A., Ohar, J., Zheng, S., Sterling, D., Hawkins, G., Meyers, D., & Bleecker, E. (2009) ADAM33 polymorphisms are associated with COPD and lung function in long-term tobacco smokers. Respiratory Research, 10(1), 21. DOI: 10.1186/1465-9921-10-21
Sadeghnejad, A., Ohar, J., Zheng, S., Sterling, D., Hawkins, G., Meyers, D., & Bleecker, E. (2009) ADAM33 polymorphisms are associated with COPD and lung function in long-term tobacco smokers. Respiratory Research, 10(1), 21. DOI: 10.1186/1465-9921-10-21
- May 27, 2009
- 12:22 AM
- 1,190 views
New data on Abiraterone in prostate cancer
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
I was away for the Memorial Day weekend last Friday and hence missed the big news in oncology that Johnson and Johnson were purchasing Cougar Biotechnology for $1 billion. Note the whole company, not just a licensing deal for the...... Read more »
Attard, G., Reid, A., A'Hern, R., Parker, C., Oommen, N., Folkerd, E., Messiou, C., Molife, L., Maier, G., Thompson, E.... (2009) Selective Inhibition of CYP17 With Abiraterone Acetate Is Highly Active in the Treatment of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology. DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2008.20.0642
- May 1, 2009
- 03:32 AM
- 1,176 views
Erbitux FLEX trial improves survival in advanced lung cancer
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
The First-Line Erbitux in Lung Cancer (FLEX) trial data has finally been published in The Lancet prior to this month's ASCO meeting. The data appears to show that patients given chemotherapy plus cetuximab survived longer than those in the chemotherapy-alone...... Read more »
Robert Pirker, Jose R Pereira, Aleksandra Szczesna, Joachim von Pawel, Maciej Krzakowski, Rodryg Ramlau, Ihor Vynnychenko, Keunchil Park, Chih-Teng Yu, Valentyn Ganul.... (2009) Cetuximab plus chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (FLEX): an open-label randomised phase III trial. The Lancet, 373(9674), 1525-1531. DOI: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)60569-9/fulltext
- August 27, 2009
- 09:53 AM
- 1,148 views
Sequential letrozole and tamoxifen does not improve survival in post menopausal ER early breast cancer
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
Image via Wikipedia An important trial has just been published in the New England Journal of Medicine by the Breast International Group (BIG) I-98 collaborative group, which looked at the comparison on letrozole versus tamoxifen in receptor positive early breast...... Read more »
The Big I-98 Collaboration Group. (2009) Letrozole Therapy Alone or in Sequence with Tamoxifen in Women with Breast Cancer. New England Journal of Medicine, 361(8), 766-776. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa0810818
- March 26, 2009
- 09:49 AM
- 1,141 views
Motexafin with whole brain radiotherapy prolongs time to neurologic progression in lung cancer patients with brain metastases
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
Approaches to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in treating various cancers have begun to include the addition of radio- and chemo-sensitisers to the existing regimen. One such drug is motexafin gadolinium (MGd, Xcytrin®). Motexafin is an aromatic macrocycle...... Read more »
Mehta, M., Shapiro, W., Phan, S., Gervais, R., Carrie, C., Chabot, P., Patchell, R., Glantz, M., Recht, L., & Langer, C. (2009) Motexafin Gadolinium Combined With Prompt Whole Brain Radiotherapy Prolongs Time to Neurologic Progression in Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients With Brain Metastases: Results of a Phase III Trial. International Journal of Radiation OncologyBiologyPhysics, 73(4), 1069-1076. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2008.05.068
- February 2, 2009
- 12:00 AM
- 1,108 views
On prostate cancer, genetics and masturbation
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
This morning I was searching my Google Reader for a missing article on genetics and advanced prostate cancer when I came across this interesting article entitled, "Masturbation and Prostate Cancer Risk", which was a bit of an eye opener on...... Read more »
Polyxeni Dimitropoulou, Artitaya Lophatananon, Douglas Easton, Richard Pocock, David P. Dearnaley, Michelle Guy, Steven Edwards, Lynne O’Brien, Amanda Hall, Rosemary Wilkinson.... (2009) Sexual activity and prostate cancer risk in men diagnosed at a younger age. BJU International, 103(2), 178-185. DOI: 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2008.08030.x
Polyxeni Dimitropoulou, Artitaya Lophatananon, Douglas Easton, Richard Pocock, David P. Dearnaley, Michelle Guy, Steven Edwards, Lynne O’Brien, Amanda Hall, Rosemary Wilkinson.... (2009) Sexual activity and prostate cancer risk in men diagnosed at a younger age. BJU International, 103(2), 178-185. DOI: 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2008.08030.x
- August 11, 2010
- 12:17 PM
- 1,106 views
Diet and alcohol alter epigenetics of breast cancer and might predict severity of disease
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
Recently, I chanced upon a paper in the PLoS Genetics journal by two research groups from Brown University and the University of California San Francisco. Their findings suggest that epigenetic changes to DNA in breast cancers are related to environmental...... Read more »
Christensen, B., Kelsey, K., Zheng, S., Houseman, E., Marsit, C., Wrensch, M., Wiemels, J., Nelson, H., Karagas, M., Kushi, L.... (2010) Breast Cancer DNA Methylation Profiles Are Associated with Tumor Size and Alcohol and Folate Intake. PLoS Genetics, 6(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1001043
- May 19, 2009
- 08:35 AM
- 1,093 views
Alzheimers Disease: amyloid-beta and sticky plaques
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
I thought it would be fun to do a series on hot new trends in science and medicine based on different mechanisms of action, partly because this is what science is all about and partly because hearing about creative new...... Read more »
Osherovich, L. (2009) Genentech's new parADigm. Science-Business eXchange, 2(8), 1-5. DOI: 10.1038/scibx.2009.300
Di Fede, G., Catania, M., Morbin, M., Rossi, G., Suardi, S., Mazzoleni, G., Merlin, M., Giovagnoli, A., Prioni, S., Erbetta, A.... (2009) A Recessive Mutation in the APP Gene with Dominant-Negative Effect on Amyloidogenesis. Science, 323(5920), 1473-1477. DOI: 10.1126/science.1168979
- January 30, 2009
- 12:00 AM
- 1,082 views
Stem cells and multiple sclerosis
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
"For the first time, some of the disability associated with the early stages of multiple sclerosis appears to have been reversed. The treatment works by resetting patients' immune systems using their own stem cells."New ScientistWell, that paragraph certainly caught my...... Read more »
R BURT, Y LOH, B COHEN, D STEFOSKY, R BALABANOV, G KATSAMAKIS, Y OYAMA, E RUSSELL, J STERN, & P MURARO. (2009) Autologous non-myeloablative haemopoietic stem cell transplantation in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a phase I/II study. The Lancet Neurology. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(09)70017-1
R BURT, Y LOH, B COHEN, D STEFOSKY, R BALABANOV, G KATSAMAKIS, Y OYAMA, E RUSSELL, J STERN, & P MURARO. (2009) Autologous non-myeloablative haemopoietic stem cell transplantation in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a phase I/II study. The Lancet Neurology. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(09)70017-1
- February 11, 2009
- 12:00 AM
- 1,078 views
Potential role for sarcosine in prostate cancer progression
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
A very interesting paper in Nature this week looked at a metabolite called sarcosine and how it's detection in urine may distinguish slow growing prostate cancers from aggressive ones. The paper, entitled "Metabolomic profiles delineate potential role for sarcosine in...... Read more »
Arun Sreekumar, Laila M. Poisson, Thekkelnaycke M. Rajendiran, Amjad P. Khan, Qi Cao, Jindan Yu, Bharathi Laxman, Rohit Mehra, Robert J. Lonigro, Yong Li.... (2009) Metabolomic profiles delineate potential role for sarcosine in prostate cancer progression. Nature, 457(7231), 910-914. DOI: 10.1038/nature07762
Arun Sreekumar, Laila M. Poisson, Thekkelnaycke M. Rajendiran, Amjad P. Khan, Qi Cao, Jindan Yu, Bharathi Laxman, Rohit Mehra, Robert J. Lonigro, Yong Li.... (2009) Metabolomic profiles delineate potential role for sarcosine in prostate cancer progression. Nature, 457(7231), 910-914. DOI: 10.1038/nature07762
- August 6, 2009
- 05:18 PM
- 1,070 views
Nerve Growth Factor: an interesting new treatment approach for glaucoma
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
A recent paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by scientists from the University of Rome has shown that the administration of nerve growth factor (NGF) stabilizes or reduces the damage to the optic nerve caused...... Read more »
Lambiase, A., Aloe, L., Centofanti, M., Parisi, V., Mantelli, F., Colafrancesco, V., Manni, G., Bucci, M., Bonini, S., & Levi-Montalcini, R. (2009) Experimental and clinical evidence of neuroprotection by nerve growth factor eye drops: Implications for glaucoma. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0906678106
Sofroniew MV, Howe CL, & Mobley WC. (2001) Nerve growth factor signaling, neuroprotection, and neural repair. Annual review of neuroscience, 1217-81. PMID: 11520933
- February 24, 2009
- 12:58 AM
- 1,061 views
Tumour suppressor genes and ATOH1 in colorectal cancer
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
An interesting pair of papers on tumour suppressor genes in colorectal cancer was just published in PLoS Biology. According to the researchers, "Our genetic evidence from Drosophila and previous in vitro studies of mammalian Atonal homolog 1Atoh1, (also called Math1...... Read more »
Wouter Bossuyt, Avedis Kazanjian, Natalie De Geest, Sofie Van Kelst, Gert De Hertogh, Karel Geboes, Greg P. Boivin, Judith Luciani, Francois Fuks, Marinee Chuah.... (2009) Atonal homolog 1 Is a Tumor Suppressor Gene. PLoS Biology, 7(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000039
Wouter Bossuyt, Natalie De Geest, Stein Aerts, Iris Leenaerts, Peter Marynen, & Bassem A. Hassan. (2009) The Atonal Proneural Transcription Factor Links Differentiation and Tumor Formation in Drosophila. PLoS Biology, 7(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000040
- August 26, 2009
- 05:11 PM
- 1,056 views
Adjuvant Hormonal Therapy for Breast Cancer and Risk of Contralateral Breast Cancer
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
Compared with the breast cancer risk women in the general population have, breast cancer survivors have a substantially higher risk of developing a second primary contralateral breast cancer. Adjuvant hormonal therapy reduces this risk, but preliminary data indicate that it...... Read more »
Li, C., Daling, J., Porter, P., Tang, M., & Malone, K. (2009) Adjuvant Hormonal Therapy for Breast Cancer and Risk of Hormone Receptor-Specific Subtypes of Contralateral Breast Cancer. Cancer Research, 69(17), 6865-6870. DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-09-1355
- February 16, 2009
- 04:51 PM
- 1,029 views
Mutations, good and bad, are the natural order of species
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
"The development, survival, and reproduction of an organism depend on the genetic information that is carried in its genome, yet the transmission of genetic information is not perfectly accurate: new mutations occur at each generation. These mutations are the primary...... Read more »
Laurent Duret. (2009) Mutation Patterns in the Human Genome: More Variable Than Expected. PLoS Biology, 7(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000028
Laurent Duret. (2009) Mutation Patterns in the Human Genome: More Variable Than Expected. PLoS Biology, 7(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000028
Laurent Duret. (2009) Mutation Patterns in the Human Genome: More Variable Than Expected. PLoS Biology, 7(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000028
Laurent Duret. (2009) Mutation Patterns in the Human Genome: More Variable Than Expected. PLoS Biology, 7(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000028
Laurent Duret. (2009) Mutation Patterns in the Human Genome: More Variable Than Expected. PLoS Biology, 7(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000028
Laurent Duret. (2009) Mutation Patterns in the Human Genome: More Variable Than Expected. PLoS Biology, 7(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000028
Laurent Duret. (2009) Mutation Patterns in the Human Genome: More Variable Than Expected. PLoS Biology, 7(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000028
Laurent Duret. (2009) Mutation Patterns in the Human Genome: More Variable Than Expected. PLoS Biology, 7(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000028
- September 23, 2009
- 08:07 AM
- 1,027 views
Hedgehog signalling and new cancer therapies
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
Having written about hedgehog signalling in cancer a few times on this blog (see here, here and here for examples), including it's potential role in CML, it came as no surprise to see some very exciting new data presented in...... Read more »
Von Hoff, D., LoRusso, P., Rudin, C., Reddy, J., Yauch, R., Tibes, R., Weiss, G., Borad, M., Hann, C., Brahmer, J.... (2009) Inhibition of the Hedgehog Pathway in Advanced Basal-Cell Carcinoma. New England Journal of Medicine, 361(12), 1164-1172. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa0905360
Rudin, C., Hann, C., Laterra, J., Yauch, R., Callahan, C., Fu, L., Holcomb, T., Stinson, J., Gould, S., Coleman, B.... (2009) Treatment of Medulloblastoma with Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitor GDC-0449. New England Journal of Medicine, 361(12), 1173-1178. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa0902903
Dlugosz, A., & Talpaz, M. (2009) Following the Hedgehog to New Cancer Therapies. New England Journal of Medicine, 361(12), 1202-1205. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMe0906092
- July 27, 2010
- 10:01 AM
- 1,009 views
Abnormal Circulating Cells in Lung Cancer Patients: Possible New Technique for Identification
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
A while back I wrote about how circulating tumour cells (CTC's) see here and here, can be used as a potential new surrogate measure for prostate cancer, so it was with great interest that I read an excellent article (free...... Read more »
Katz, R., He, W., Khanna, A., Fernandez, R., Zaidi, T., Krebs, M., Caraway, N., Zhang, H., Jiang, F., Spitz, M.... (2010) Genetically Abnormal Circulating Cells in Lung Cancer Patients: An Antigen-Independent Fluorescence In situ Hybridization-Based Case-Control Study. Clinical Cancer Research, 16(15), 3976-3987. DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-09-3358
- August 18, 2009
- 03:52 PM
- 997 views
New chemotherapy regimen for pediatric NHL
by Sally Church in Pharma Strategy Blog
A new study published in the American Journal of Hematology Oncology by the Children's Oncology Group demonstrated that the ABVE-PC regimen provided high efficacy and reduced the cumulative doses of chemotherapy and radiation: "Between 1997 and 2001, 216 eligible patients...... Read more »
Schwartz, C., Constine, L., Villaluna, D., London, W., Hutchison, R., Sposto, R., Lipshultz, S., Turner, C., deAlarcon, P., & Chauvenet, A. (2009) A risk-adapted, response-based approach using ABVE-PC for children and adolescents with intermediate and high risk Hodgkin lymphoma: the results of P9425 from the Children's Oncology Group. Blood. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2008-10-184143
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