Peter Hofland, PhD's Blog – June 2011 Archive (81)

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First Fentanyl Nasal Spray Approved for the Management of Breakthrough Pain in Cancer Patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a fentanyl nasal spray (Lazanda®, Archimedes Pharma Ltd/Archimedes Pharma U.S. Inc) for the management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients 18 years of age and older who are already receiving and who are tolerant to opioid therapy for their underlying persistent cancer pain.



This marks the first FDA product approval for Archimedes… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 30, 2011 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Committee Recommends Withdrawl of U.S. FDA's Approval of Bevacizumab; Final Decision at a Later Date

During a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hearing on Wednesday, the FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommended that the FDA withdraw its approval of bevacizumab (Avastin®, Roche/Genentech) in combination with paclitaxel chemotherapy for previously untreated (first-line) HER2-negative… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 30, 2011 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Bevacizumab Receives Broader EU label for Treatment of Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer

The European Commission has extended the existing bevacizumab (Avastin®, Roche/Genentech) metastatic breast cancer label to include combination with capecitabine (Xeloda®, Roche/Genentech). The… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 30, 2011 at 11:30am — No Comments

Positive Results of the National Lung Screening Trial Published in New England Journal of Medicine

Results of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that lung cancer deaths fell by 20% and all-cause mortality fell by 7% when heavy smokers were screened regularly using low-dose spiral computed tomography (CT) compared with standard chest x-ray. The NLST study followed more than 53,000 current and former smokers ages 55-74. 



"Lung cancer is the… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 30, 2011 at 1:30am — No Comments

First Validated Screening Leads to 20% Reduction of Mortality Due to Lung Cancer.

Scientists have found a 20% percent reduction in deaths from lung cancer among current or former heavy smokers who were screened with low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) versus those screened by chest X-ray. The primary research results from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) were published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine.



This article provides a… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 29, 2011 at 8:30pm — No Comments

Researchers Find Critical Step in Personalizing Cancer Treatments

Scientists have begun to reveal the order of the genetic aberrations in individual cancers in a finding they say is key to early diagnosis and personalized medicine.



“We know that each cancer is a collection of genetic malfunctions,” said Raymond Cho, Ph.D., an assistant clinical professor in the department of dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). “We now show it is possible to determine which changes happen earlier and which ones… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 29, 2011 at 7:30pm — No Comments

Flu Vaccine Can Be Used to Test Immune Response in Patients Treated with Sunitinib and Sorafenib

Patients treated with sunitinib (Sutent®, Pfizer Oncology) and sorafenib (Nexavar®, Bayer Healthcare/Onxy Pharmaceuticals) responded to the flu vaccine, which suggests… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 28, 2011 at 10:00pm — No Comments

New Clinical Study to Evaluate Farletuzumab in First-Line Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

A multi-center phase II study will evaluate farletuzumab (Morphotek, Inc., a subsidiary of Eisai Inc), a monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to folate receptor-alpha (FRA), in adenocarcinoma of the lung, a type of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in combination with the physician's choice of one of three standard platinum-containing doublets that are approved and… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 28, 2011 at 6:30am — No Comments

European Medicines Agency Accepts Brentuximab Marketing Authorization Application

European Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted the filing of the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris™, Takeda Pharmaceutical and Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company) for the treatment of relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and relapsed or refractory systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL). The Marketing Authorization Application was filed by Takeda Global Research &…

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Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 27, 2011 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Survivors of Childhood Cancer are at High Risk for Multiple Tumors as They Age

Findings from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study led by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital identify new cancer risks when survivors of childhood cancers become adults. The results of the study underscores the importance of regular cancer screenings.



The largest study yet of adult childhood cancer survivors found that the first cancer is just the beginning of a lifelong battle against… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 27, 2011 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Leukotoxin in Combination with Standard Chemotherapeutic Agents Has Enhanced Anti-Leukemia Effect

Recent findings published in Leukemia Research show that the experimental therapeutic leukotoxin (Leukothera™; LtxA; Actinobac Biomed, Inc) which binds to the leukocyte function antigen (LFA-1) on white blood cells (WBCs) and induces cell death via apoptosis or necrosis, combined with standard anti-leukemia agents, offers synergistic anti-leukemia effects.



The outcome of these in vitro… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 27, 2011 at 10:30am — No Comments

One in Three Adults 60-70 Years of Age Fail to Follow Periodic Testing Guidelines for Colon Cancer

Results from a nationwide research poll released today by the Colon Cancer Alliance and Quest Diagnostics suggest that one in three of men and women age 60-70 who have been screened for colon cancer have done so only once, suggesting a failure to follow medical guidelines that call for periodic testing after initial screening at age 50 by colonoscopy and other… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 27, 2011 at 10:30am — No Comments

Pre-Clinical Studies of Triphendiol Demonstrate Anti-proliferative Activity in Pancreatic Cancer

A rapid and aggressive spread into surrounding tissue, resistance to standard chemotherapy and a tendency to recur make pancreatic cancer one of the most challenging diseases to treat. The disease is also difficult to diagnose in its early stage, and patients usually present with incurable disease. It has a high mortality rate, and so far no therapy has been shown to significantly impact survival. Pancreatic cancer is considered an orphan cancer, because of its relatively… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 27, 2011 at 6:30am — No Comments

First Phase I Clinical Trial Using Graspa® on Solid Tumors Completes Enrollment

Enrollment of patients in a Phase I clinical trial with Graspa® in pancreatic cancer has been completed. This product contains the enzyme L-asparaginase encapsulated in red blood cells. The technology for encapsulating asparaginase was developed by Erytech Pharma.



The first results in this study demonstrated that Graspa was active, with a safety profile that was satisfactory for patients in last-line… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 27, 2011 at 6:00am — No Comments

Researchers Unlock Orphan GPCRs Linked to Leukemia and Sleep Disorders

Researchers at Omeros Corporation, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, have identified compounds that interact with orphan G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) P2Y8 and OPN4. P2Y8 (also known as P2RY8) is associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells. ALL is the most common type of malignancy diagnosed in children.



The OPN4 receptor is involved with regulation of circadian rhythms, and could…

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Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 27, 2011 at 4:30am — No Comments

Aflibercept Significantly Improved Survival in Previously Treated Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

The investigational agent aflibercept (Zaltrap™/AVE0005, Sanofi Aventis and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc), also known as VEGF Trap, significantly improved survival in previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer patients. Results from Pivotal Phase III VELOUR Trial, presented at the ESMO World Congress on… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 25, 2011 at 4:30pm — No Comments

U.S. FDA Modifies Dosing Recommendations for Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents (ESAs)

Epoetin alfa (Epogen®, Procrit®)was initially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1989 to treat some forms of anemia resulting from chronic kidney disease (CKD). It also is used to treat anemia in patients with HIV infection who are receiving zidovudine (Retrovir®)and in… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 24, 2011 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Novel FAK Inhibitors Decrease Pancreatic Cancer Tumor Blood Flow and Reduce Blood Vessel Density

Pre-clinical research results presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 13th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona, Spain shows that novel Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) inhibitors targeting the binding site of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3 (VEGFR-3) decrease pancreatic cancer tumor blood flow and reduce blood vessel density in vivo. The research was conducted by scientists of… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 23, 2011 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Researcher Shows Proof-of-Principle for New Software Tool, Bringing Personal Genomics Closer

Harnessing the new generation of rapid, highly accurate gene-sequencing techniques, a research team has identified the disease-causing mutation in a newly characterized rare genetic disease, by analyzing DNA from just a few individuals. The power and speed of the innovative bioinformatics tool marks a step toward personalized genomics—discovering causative mutations in individual patients.



"Our research is proof-of-principle that a new software tool called… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 23, 2011 at 10:00am — No Comments

New Breast Cancer Treatment Shows Excellent Disease Control and Virtually No Side Effects

A treatment that has virtually no side effects has been found to be an effective weapon for fighting early-stage breast cancer, according to results of a clinical trial conducted at Loma Linda University Medical Center.



Results of the Phase II clinical trial conducted by researchers at Loma Linda University Medical Center Department of Radiation Medicine indicate that partial breast radiotherapy… Continue

Added by Peter Hofland, PhD on June 22, 2011 at 11:00am — No Comments

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