Australian medical research company Immune System Therapeutics Ltd (IST) has launched a clinical trial to test its breakthrough treatment for terminal blood cancers.

IST has genetically engineered an antibody drug that binds specifically to a target protein found on the surface of some blood cancer cells. Laboratory studies, using cells taken from patients with a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma, have shown that the antibody works with the human immune system to induce death of the cancer cells. It is anticipated that the antibody will potentially reduce the number of cancerous cells in multiple myeloma patients and improve patient health and wellbeing.

IST has commenced a Phase 1 trial in patients with multiple myeloma and to date six patients have been treated at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Spencer. Results so far indicate that the antibody has no side effects and final results are expected later this year.

IST’s Director of Clinical Development, Dr. Rosanne Dunn, said in order to maintain the recruitment momentum, the Company is seeking to enroll another nine multiple myeloma patients with the kappa form of the disease to be treated over the next few months.

“We are very pleased that the antibody drug is performing as expected with patients suffering no adverse effects. Although this is very rare in cancer treatment it is an indication that the antibody specifically targets cancer cells and not normal cells,” she said.

IST’s CEO, Mr. Alan Liddle, said multiple myeloma is a very debilitating terminal disease, with an estimated patient population of over 100,000 worldwide.

He said IST is undertaking further pre-clinical work on other blood cancers and diseases that are associated with the same target and could potentially be treated with the same antibody drug.

“If we continue to be successful in the current multiple myeloma trial, we expect to be able to move into other types of blood cancer in the coming year,” Mr. Liddle said.

www.ISTL.com.au

Source: Immune System Therapeutics Limited


Team Uncovers Discrepancy in Death Certificates Listing Suicide

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Apr 19,2009

Even though suicide outranks homicide as a cause of death in the United States, incomplete death certificates thwart healthcare policymakers who want to create prevention strategies – especially for black and Hispanic populations, a WVU study shows.

“The Institute of Medicine has documented that half of people who commit suicide have been diagnosed with a mental disorder, but death certificates register little of this history,” said lead researcher Ian Rockett, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology and associate chair of the WVU Department of Community Medicine. “Less than 10 percent of people who committed suicide had a record of mental disorder on their death certificates. It’s a major gap.”

The study is published in the online British medical journal BMC Psychiatry. Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death, according to the National Institute of Mental Heath. Estimates are that 25 people attempt suicide for every one who carries out the act.

“Death certificates are vital to an understanding of suicide, because they provide frontline data in terms of suicide surveillance,” Rockett said. “We need detailed and accurate information to help get our high suicide rates down. To help us plan and provide treatment, researchers need to know about medical conditions such as depression and what medications people were taking. We can’t track this when reporting is casual, sloppy or nonexistent.”

This is the first study of suicide to find discrepancies involving minorities in the reporting of contributing health conditions on death certificates. Blacks and Hispanics are much less likely to have recorded on their death certificates any mention of depression or other health problems. The gap is largest among males, with white males twice as likely as their minority counterparts to have their current health problems enumerated.

In analyzing data from more than 140,000 death certificates listing suicide from 1999 to 2003, released by the National Center for Health Statistics, the WVU team found that many requested items on the certificates were left blank. “Death certificates are standardized, but they’re not picking up all the information that needs to be collected,” he said.

During the review period, the suicide rate in the United States was almost double the homicide rate. Inaccuracies in death certificates also may signal that many suicide deaths are misclassified as something else. “Suicides are underreported – there’s widespread agreement on that,” Rockett said. “I’m very concerned about underreporting. I’m also concerned there may be a treatment gap – that people at risk of suicide are not receiving appropriate treatment.”

The study also reported that being HIV positive – previously considered a risk factor for suicide – in fact shows no association. This finding held true for all groups in the study. Rockett said, “This finding indicates that minorities as well as whites may be receiving antiretroviral therapy when needed.”

Source: West Virginia University Health Sciences Center


Elekta Sponsors All Are Our Heroes to Raise Cancer Awareness

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Apr 18,2009

Elekta is proud to now serve as a presenting sponsor for the All Are Our Heroes song project, an effort that uniquely celebrates and supports the efforts to overcome cancer.

In our field, where we focus so intently on the science of cancer care, it’s easy to lose sight of the human stories and triumphs that are a part of the journey.

Motivated by the Relay for Life events of the American Cancer Society, an inspiring song was written to send a message of faith, hope and love. In just weeks, the song “Heroes” has become an anthem for all those touched by cancer and is at the core of efforts to sustain awareness about the fight against cancer.

David Greer, a Georgia media and marketing entrepreneur, wrote All Are Our Heroes as he reflected on the faces of the people in the Survivor’s Walk at his local Relay for Life. His Heroes project is a magical collaboration of creative and musical talent, fueled with the support of corporate citizens and cancer advocates and shared worldwide through social networking and new media.

David enlisted the talents of Rachel Farley, just 14, an up-and-coming country music artist as a co-writer and singer. Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Shawn Mullins produced the song and added his band to the mix. Joining Mullins and Rachel were some inspirational back-up singers — six young childhood cancer survivors who add their voices to the song’s ending chorus. “The mission is to bring people around the world together to inspire participation and support for cancer advocacy, prevention and research,” says Greer. “I’m a dreamer and if you’re going to dream, dream big.”

“Elekta is proud to embrace and support the Heroes project,” stated Joseph K. Jachinowski, President and CEO of Elekta North America. “We’ll be adding the Heroes seal and link to our clinical correspondence and spreading the message to our worldwide network of employees. We’ll also be identifying our own Elekta Heroes — courageous individuals and families who are helping to overcome cancer with the aid of the equipment, technology and treatment that Elekta pioneers and delivers.”

“Another key element of the project for Elekta is to share the Heroes message with all of our stakeholders — our hospital and clinical partners — and we hope that as we bring the message your way, you’ll join the effort as well. We are utilizing the power and reach of social networking as a vital part of the Heroes effort — the All Are Our Heroes Facebook Group is now more than 6,500 strong and growing hourly, with members from 48 states and more than 21 countries,” stated Jachinowski.

We encourage you to visit AllAreOurHeroes.com to donate to ACS and order the song, join the Facebook Group and learn more about the project.

Source: Elekta


An African child dies every 30 seconds from this same disease; nearly a half billion people become ill because of it. About 1 million children under the age of 5 die each year from malaria — a disease that is entirely preventable.

As World Malaria Day approaches April 25, Christian Children’s Fund Senior Program Health Specialist David Shanklin stresses the importance of education about the disease.

“Education is the foundation for prevention, but many vulnerable families do not know how malaria is transmitted or how to prevent or treat it,” Shanklin said.

Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted to people through infected mosquitoes. About 40 percent of the world’s population is at risk of malaria, Shanklin said, with the most serious area of impact being sub-Saharan Africa. About 90 percent of deaths due to malaria occur in Africa, mostly among young children.

“Less than 25 percent of people who need prevention and treatment services actually receive them,” Shanklin said.

In countries where CCF works and there is a problem with malaria, staff work with public health services to mobilize families to use insecticide-treated mosquito nets to sleep under, seek prompt treatment of suspicious cases, encourage pregnant women to take anti-malarial medicines and encourage indoor spraying for mosquitoes.

One of those women who received help from CCF is Justine from Uganda, who nearly lost a baby in 2008 because of malaria.

“It would make me vomit a lot, with a very high temperature,” she said of having malaria. “I was hospitalized at a maternity clinic where I spent 13 days and was put on intravenous fluids.”

A CCF-trained malaria community volunteer came to Justine’s home and taught her about malaria control and prevention.

“I learned how malaria is transmitted, symptoms and how to prevent it with an insecticide treated bed net,” Justine said. “What touched me was to know that malaria can cause abortion and the death of infants. CCF then gave me an insecticide treated bed net.”

With the treatment, Justine regained the weight she lost while she had malaria and had a healthy pregnancy.

“I am grateful to CCF for saving my pregnancy and for the trained community volunteers,” she said. “Now I encourage mothers and pregnant women to always use insecticide treated nets to save themselves and their children.”

Progress of fighting malaria also can be seen in Zambia. From 2002 to 2007, two-thirds of all households in that country have benefited from indoor spraying, about 70 percent of children under the age of 5 sleep under bed nets and more than 66 percent of pregnant women receive one or more doses to prevent the disease.

In Senegal, CCF was awarded a $7.8 million USAID grant in 2007 to lead a five-member consortium for the Community Action Against Malaria campaign in support of the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). Senegal is one of 15 African countries targeted by the PMI to reduce mortality rates from malaria by 50 percent.

Almost 880,000 children under 5 years of age and 75,000 pregnant women will be the direct beneficiaries of the malaria initiative.

Mosquito bed nets can be purchased on CCF’s Web site through the Gifts of Love & Hope catalog at www.christianchildrensfund.org/gifts. One mosquito bed net can protect a family for up to four years. Currently, bed nets range in price from $11 to $14 for countries in Africa.

Christian Children’s Fund (CCF) is a global force for children, helping the world’s deprived, excluded and vulnerable survive and thrive in order to reach their full potential. Serving children since 1938, CCF works in 31 countries and assists approximately 15.2 million children and family members worldwide, regardless of race, creed or origin. CCF is a member of the ChildFund Alliance.

Source: Christian Children’s Fund


Categories

Archives

Blogroll

Meta