AARP: House SCHIP Vote An Important Win For Comprehensive Health Care Reform
This afternoon, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly
to reauthorize and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond issued the following statement:
“We believe every American should have quality, affordable health care, and today’s
vote marks an important first step towards comprehensive health reform. Ensuring
our children have health coverage is the right thing to do. It keeps them healthier
now so they face fewer problems in the future, and it takes some of the burden
off working parents who are already struggling to make ends meet in this weak
economy.
“AARP applauds the House for passing a smart, comprehensive bill that will
strengthen SCHIP to cover more children who need health care. Offsetting the costs
of SCHIP with a tobacco tax is a fiscally responsibly way to insure our kids while
reducing smoking, which will improve our nation’s health.
“We look forward to the Senate’s support of a smart, strong and fair bill to ensure no
child goes without the health care she needs.”
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have
independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them
and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make
contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The
Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world’s largest-circulation
magazine with over 34.5 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for
AARP’s 40 million members and Americans 50+; AARP Segunda Juventud, the only bilingual
U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website,
AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection,
and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers,
donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
AARP
House Votes To Expand US Children’s Health Program
The House of Representatives in the United States voted 289 to 139 in favour of a bill to expand state-supported children’s health insurance on
Wednesday, a move that was was welcomed by president elect Barack Obama, who urged the Senate to support the measure with the same sense of
urgency so that it can be one of the first acts of law that he signs when he takes office next Tuesday.
According to the Washington Post, Obama, who has vowed to extend health coverage to every child in the US through expansion of SCHIP, the State
Children’s Health Insurance Program, told the press that:
“In this moment of crisis, ensuring that every child in America has access to affordable health care is not just good economic policy, but a moral
obligation we hold as parents and citizens.”
The House also voted to increase tax on cigarettes to 1 dollar per pack, that is a 61 cent rise, in order to help finance the nearly 33 billion dollars that it
will cost to expand SCHIP in the next four and a half years. Taxes on cigars and other tobacco goods would also go up.
The new bill, which was also supported by 40 Republican Representatives, if passed by Senate and signed by Obama, will bring another 4.1 million
children and parents under SCHIP, which is designed to give health cover to children whose families can’t afford insurance but earn too much to
qualify for the Medicaid insurance program for the poor.
According to Reuters, House Representative Henry Waxman, a California Democrat said:
“This bill is a down payment, a down payment on health care for all Americans.”
Waxman heads the House Energy and Commerce Committee and is predicted to play an important role in helping Obama put together the plan to
reform America’s 2.3 trillion dollar health industry, reported Reuters.
The new provision passed by the House will extend to legal immigrant children and pregnant women too. Under present regulations they have to wait
five years before coming under SCHIP, which under these new provisions will extend coverage to a total of 11 million people.
President Bush is against increasing tax on tobacco and expanding SCHIP as a way to ensure children are covered; he vetoed both measures in 2007
because he wanted to push for tax relief as a way to help families afford their own private health insurance instead.
This view was reflected in a policy statement issued shortly after the House vote by Republican representatives who said if passed, the bill will be a
burden to states that are already struggling to cope with the burgeoning costs of Medicaid. They also objected to the fact that the new measure would
extend to children from households earning up to 80,000 dollars a year, thus sending the signal that enrolling these higher income families was more
important than enrolling children from poorer and low income families, reported the Washington Post.
And according to Reuters, the Republicans also objected to a provision that would stop doctors from referring patients to hospitals that they partly
owned. Texas Republican House Representative Sam Johnson, told the press that:
“Physician-owned hospitals employ highly skilled workers.”
“They are the engine in the local economy and language in this bill will devastate most of them,” he added, saying that this bill will shut down many
hospitals.
Following the House vote, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrats and families who have been covered by SCHIP, held a press conference in the Capitol.
Pelosi said that with this vote, the House “brought us one step closer to providing 11 million children with health care”.
Pelosi said:
“More than 80 percent of the American people support our bipartisan children’s health insurance bill because they care about the millions of American
children who are currently without health care coverage. They understand that 2.6 million people lost their jobs last year — over 520,000 in the month
of December alone. And each month now, until we have a recovery initiative enacted into law, 500,000 more people will lose their jobs.”
She added that:
“We look forward to quick Senate action so that we may soon make this one of the first bills signed into law by our new President, Barack
Obama.”
Pelosi also highlighted the fact that women played a very important role in bringing this legislation about, praising for example “Congresswoman Jan
Schakowsky from Illinois and Congresswoman Diana DeGette, who has championed this bill for a very long time”.
The Senate Finance Committee is expected to discuss the new legislation later today, with floor action starting next week.
Sources: Washington Post, Reuters, Office of the Speaker of the House (via PRN Newswire-US Newswire) .
Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
U.S. FDA Issues Complete Response Letter For SAPHRIS(TM) (ASENAPINE) In The Acute Treatment Of Both Schizophrenia And Bipolar I Disorder
Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) has issued a complete response letter for SAPHRIS(TM) (asenapine) sublingual tablets in the acute treatment of schizophrenia in adults and in the acute treatment of manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in adults as monotherapy. The action letter includes proposed labeling for both indications and a request for supplemental data from the existing asenapine database. No additional clinical trials have been requested. The Company anticipates providing the requested information to the agency in the first quarter of 2009.
“We are pleased with the progress on the SAPHRIS filing and look forward to working with the agency to address its request, finalize the product labeling and gain approval,” said Thomas P. Koestler, Ph.D., executive vice president and president, Schering-Plough Research Institute.
“New treatments are needed in this therapeutic area and we believe that asenapine has the potential to be an important option in addressing this need.”
Schering-Plough acquired asenapine in November 2007 through its acquisition of Organon BioSciences, which developed the antipsychotic agent. The New Drug Application (NDA) for asenapine includes data from a clinical trial program involving more than 3,000 patients in schizophrenia and bipolar mania trials.
Schering-Plough is an innovation-driven, science-centered global health care company. Through its own biopharmaceutical research and collaborations with partners, Schering-Plough creates therapies that help save and improve lives around the world. The company applies its research-and-development
platform to human prescription, animal health and consumer health care products. Schering-Plough’s vision is to “Earn Trust, Every Day” with the doctors, patients, customers and other stakeholders served by its colleagues around the world. The company is based in Kenilworth, N.J., and its Web site is http://www.schering-plough.com.
SCHERING-PLOUGH DISCLOSURE NOTICE: The information in this press release includes certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the plans for, the potential of and the potential market for
asenapine. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations or forecasts of future events. Schering-Plough does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from Schering-Plough’s forward-looking statements,
including uncertainties in the regulatory process, among other uncertainties. For further details about these and other factors that may impact the forward-looking statements, see Schering-Plough’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including Part II, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in the third quarter 2008 10-Q, filed Oct. 29, 2008.
Schering-Plough Corporation
http://www.schering-plough.com
Algeta Completes Comprehensive Phase II Clinical Program With Alpharadin For Treating Bone Metastases In Patients With Advanced Prostate Cancer
Algeta ASA (OSE: ALGETA), the cancer therapeutics company, announces that with the results of the BC1-04 study reported it has completed its comprehensive phase II clinical program evaluating Alpharadin (radium-223) as a new treatment for bone metastases in patients with
hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). The program provides strong evidence that Alpharadin can prolong patient survival times, improve quality of life and offer a placebo-like safety profile.
These exciting clinical results combined with Alpharadin’s unique bone-targeting properties highlight the potential of this new cancer therapeutic to be a first-choice treatment for bone metastases that
frequently arise from a number of high incidence cancers as well as HRPC (e.g. breast, lung and thyroid). Bone metastases are a serious consequence of certain advanced cancers causing intractable and debilitating pain as well as further reducing life expectancy.
In addition, the results, including data from the final trial in the program (BC1-04; outlined below), suggest that Alpharadin has an ideal profile to be used in combination with other cancer therapies.
The Alpharadin phase II program comprised three trials and involved 286 individuals. It was designed to provide detailed information on the safety and therapeutic efficacy of different doses of Alpharadin in HRPC patients, both symptomatic and asymptomatic for bone metastases, as well as
evaluating its ability to relieve pain caused by bone metastases in symptomatic patients. In all three phase II trials completed, the primary efficacy endpoints were met while providing compelling evidence of the benign, placebo-like safety profile of Alpharadin. In addition, data from
the BC1-04 study support an optimal therapeutic dose level of 50 kBq/kg as selected for use in the global phase III ALSYMPCA trial (see below for further details).
Furthermore, the successful completion of the phase II program also supports Algeta’s strategy for targeting Alpharadin at patients with metastatic HRPC who are unsuitable or who have failed docetaxel chemotherapy and for first-line use in combination with docetaxel. A
combination study is in preparation, which if successful will enable Algeta to market Alpharadin, either alone or in combination with docetaxel, to approximately 85% of the global HRPC market.
Algeta’s President and CEO, Dr. Thomas Ramdahl, said: “The completion of the phase II program is an important milestone for Algeta that gives us great confidence in the potential of Alpharadin as a new, safe and effective treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. The program has
demonstrated not only that Alpharadin can improve patient quality of life by successfully treating the painful and debilitating bone metastases arising from the primary cancer, but also that it has a proven survival benefit for patients. We believe there is not a single cancer therapeutic
available today offering these patients such clinical benefits, let alone one which is so readily tolerated. We remain confident that the phase III clinical program will confirm these impressive results and support a strong case for regulatory approval in due course.”
Dr Chris Parker, a prostate cancer specialist based at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, UK, and the study’s principal investigator, said: “The clinical results generated so far for Alpharadin in treating metastatic prostate cancer are highly
encouraging and offer patients the possibility of an effective treatment that both prolongs life while also maintaining quality of life. In addition, the results announced today further emphasize the remarkably favourable safety profile of Alpharadin compared to other products used in
the treatment of HRPC. This major benefit of Alpharadin makes the ALSYMPCA phase III trial a very attractive option for suitable patients as they can continue to receive best standard care in addition to the study drug.”
Results of phase II clinical study BC1-04
The BC1-04 study was a double-blind, randomized, dose-finding, repeat-dose study comparing three different dose levels of Alpharadin given three times with six weeks interval to HRPC patients with skeletal metastases. The drug was given by i.v. injection predominantly on an
outpatient basis. The primary study objective was to investigate whether there was a dose-response relationship with respect to the proportion of patients showing a PSA response, and to investigate the six weeks’ dosing schedule in order to prepare for possible combination trials with docetaxel.
The primary efficacy objective was met and this showed a dose-dependent effect across the three dose levels; 25 kBq/kg, 50 kBq/kg and 80 kBq/kg, respectively. The secondary, but important, endpoint of bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (b-ALP) also showed a significant dose-dependent
effect between the lowest and the two higher dose levels, as well as confirming once more the strong bone-targeting nature of Alpharadin. ALP is a severity marker of metastatic bone disease and of prognostic importance. Again, the benign safety profile of Alpharadin was confirmed. Importantly
for a drug in this clinical setting no significant bone marrow toxicity was observed in patients receiving Alpharadin, which suggests that in addition to being a product of choice for patients with bone metastases it may also have an ideal profile to be used in combination with other therapies.
Algeta began enrolling patients for the global phase III ALSYMPCA (ALpharadin in SYMptomatic Prostate CAncer) study in June 2008. Approximately 750 patients are expected to be enrolled in Europe, Asia, South America and Canada.
For more information on the ALSYMPCA trial, please go to http://www.algeta.com and click on the ALSYPMCA link in the menu bar.
About Algeta
Algeta ASA is a cancer therapeutics company built on world-leading, proprietary technology. Algeta is developing new, targeted cancer therapeutics that harness the unique characteristics of alpha particle emitters and are potent, well-tolerated and convenient to use.
Algeta’s lead product candidate, Alpharadin (based on radium-223), has blockbuster potential for treating bone metastases arising from multiple major cancer types, owing to its bone-targeting nature, potent efficacy (therapeutic and palliative) and benign, placebo-like safety profile.
Development of Alpharadin is most advanced targeting bone metastases resulting from hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC), and it entered an international phase III clinical trial (ALSYMPCA) in mid-2008 based on compelling clinical results from a comprehensive phase II program.
Algeta’s strategy is to launch Alpharadin as a first or second line treatment for cancer patients with bone metastases either alone or in combination with current standard of care therapies, thereby maximizing its commercial potential.
Algeta is also developing other technologies for delivering alpha emitters. These include microparticles, liposomes, and methods to enhance the potency of therapeutic antibodies and other tumor-targeting molecules by linking them to the alpha particle emitter thorium-227. The Company is
headquartered in Oslo, Norway, and was founded in 1997. Algeta listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in March 2007 (Ticker: ALGETA).
Alpharadin and Algeta are trademarks of Algeta ASA
About Bone Metastases
Bone is the most common organ to be affected by metastatic cancer (Ref. 1). Approximately 1.5 million cancer patients suffer from bone metastases worldwide and there are some 300,000 new cases each year. Importantly, metastases may stay confined to the skeleton with subsequent morbidity and eventual death almost entirely due to skeletal complications and their treatment.
Some 80% of bone metastases are due to prostate and breast carcinomas. For these high incidence cancers, 65-75% patients with advanced disease will have bone metastases (Ref. 2). They may suffer multiple skeletal complications over several years because the clinical course of metastatic
bone disease is relatively long. The effects are often debilitating (intractable bone pain, fractures, hypercalcaemia, and spinal cord compression) and profoundly impair a patient’s quality of life.
Bone metastases also occur frequently in patients with lung, kidney and thyroid cancers – respectively in 30-40%, 20-25% and 60% of patients with advanced disease.
Current treatments for skeletal metastases are largely palliative. They include opioid analgesics, external beam radiotherapy, beta-emitting radionuclides and bisphosphonates.
References
1. Coleman, R.E. Clinical features of metastatic bone disease and risk of skeletal morbidity. Clin Cancer Res. 2006;12:6243s-6249s. Review
2. Rubens, R.D, and Coleman, R.E. Bone Metastases. In: Abaloff, M.D., Armitage, J.O., Lichter, A.S. and Niederhuber, J.E. Clinical Oncology 1995: 643-665
Forward looking Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements and forecasts based on uncertainty, since they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future and which, by their nature, will have an impact on results of operations and the financial condition of
Algeta. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Theses factors include, among other things, risks associated with technological development, the risk that research & development will not yield new products that achieve commercial success, the impact of competition, the ability to close viable and profitable business deals, the risk of non-approval of patents not yet granted and difficulties of obtaining relevant governmental approvals for new products.
Algeta
http://www.algeta.com
Report: Nation Not Ready For Pan Flu
Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and former
Subcommittee Chairman for Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology, James R. Langevin (D-RI), released a Majority staff report entitled “Getting Beyond Getting Ready for Pandemic Influenza.”
The report examines the Nation’s state of preparedness and response capabilities in the event of a pandemic influenza outbreak. It identifies sixteen weaknesses in the outgoing Bush Administration’s approach to get prepared for pandemic influenza. In addition, the report provides fifteen
critical recommendations for what Congress, the incoming Administration, and the public and private sectors can do to achieve National readiness to combat this threat.
Chairman Thompson released the following statement along with the report:
“It is possible that the next influenza pandemic will result in hundreds of thousands to millions of deaths — even here in the U.S. Further, pandemic influenza could destroy the security of our Nation and Homeland. Yet despite the horrific consequences, we still are not prepared
as a Nation to fully withstand the impact of such a devastating widespread biological event.
The change in Presidential leadership presents a new opportunity to ensure that the Nation is ready to address pandemic influenza from a position of strength. The House Committee on Homeland Security looks forward to working with the Obama Administration to address this threat and
achieve National readiness.
The will to meet and overcome pandemic influenza is as great a mission as any on the global battlefield. Our success depends on keeping up the fight until pandemic influenza is overcome.
Committee on Homeland Security
http://homeland.house.gov
PA Department Of Health Urges Regular Screening For Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Pennsylvania saw an increase in the number of reported cases of gonorrhea and chlamydia in
2007, highlighting the need for more regular testing by men and women, according to the Department of Health.
While Pennsylvania’s rate for the two most common bacterial sexually transmitted diseases is below the national average, the number of new cases rose in 2007: gonorrhea increased 10 percent to 12,706 cases; while chlamydia increased by 7 percent to 42,469 cases.
On Jan. 13, the federal Centers for Disease Control said that reported chlamydia cases nationwide set a new record of 1.1 million cases in 2007. Millions of Americans may carry the infection and not know it.
The national increase underscores the importance of additional screening and prevention efforts because men and women infected with chlamydia, for example, may not show symptoms. Therefore, it can be spread easily to sexual partners through unprotected sex. If left untreated,
chlamydia and gonorrhea can cause serious and permanent health problems including infertility in women.
Symptoms of gonorrhea can include a yellow discharge from the genitals and lymph node swelling in the groin area. Chlamydia can cause discharge as well and can lead to scarring of the female reproductive tract organs if untreated.
The Department of Health encourages men and women to talk with their healthcare provider about testing for gonorrhea, chlamydia, HIV and other STDs.
Pennsylvania Department of Health
http://www.state.pa.us
Surgical Safety Checklist Drops Deaths And Complications By More Than One Third
An international pilot study involving the Toronto General Hospital (TGH), a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto, and other hospitals from around the world, has found that using a Surgical Patient Safety Checklist significantly reduces surgical complications and mortality. The study, led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Dr. Atul Gawande of the Harvard School of Public Health, appears in the New England Journal of Medicine’s (http://www.nejm.org) Online First on Wednesday, January 14, 2009. The study will appear in the journal’s printed issue on January 29, 2009.
“We know that many surgical complications are preventable,” said Dr. Bryce Taylor, University Health Network’s Surgeon in Chief, who co-authored the study for TGH. “With approximately 234 million surgeries performed each year worldwide, we owe it to our patients to look at every opportunity to prevent complications during and after surgery.”
Studies in industrialized countries have found that major complications occur in 3 to 16 per cent of inpatient surgeries and a perioperative death rates for inpatient surgery of 0.4 to 0.8 per cent. Inconsistent approaches to surgery can also lead to adverse events. For example, there is strong evidence to support using antibiotics within one hour prior to incision as a prophylaxis to reduce the possibility of wound infections. Yet, surgical teams around the world are inconsistent in their approaches.
Launched in October 2007, TGH and seven hospitals located in cities around the world (New Delhi, India; Amman, Jordan; Auckland, New Zealand; Manila, Philippines; Ifakara, United Republic of Tanzania; London, UK; and Seattle, USA) were selected by the WHO and Harvard to pilot a Surgical Patient Safety Checklist as part of the WHO’s “Safe Surgery Saves Lives” initiative. Developed by an international group made up of leading surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists and patient safety experts, the WHO Checklist was influenced by checklists used in the airline industry to reduce the incidence of airline errors.
TGH was the only hospital in Canada and one of only two hospitals in North America involved in the pilot study. Led by Dr. Taylor, UHN’s Surgical Program is one of the largest in Canada with 23,000 inpatient and outpatient surgeries performed in 2007/08.
The Checklist is intended to improve communications amongst members of the surgical team during surgery and to increase the consistency in using proven standards of surgical care in order to reduce preventable complications and mortality. At three critical points during surgery (prior to anesthesia, immediately prior to incision, and prior to patient exiting the operating room), a member of the surgical team verbally confirms the completion of each step for infection prophylaxis, anesthesia safety and other essential steps in surgery (ex. confirming that the surgery site is marked, counting the number of sponges and instruments used at the end of surgery to ensure nothing has been left inside of the patient).
Each pilot site implemented the Checklist in their operating rooms and tracked changes in the rate of inpatient complication or death within 30 days of surgery. To establish a baseline, data was collected from a total of 3,733 patients before the implementation of the Checklist and 3,955 patients after it was introduced. The TGH surgical team adapted the WHO’s Checklist to reflect our surgical practice. The Checklist was used at TGH’s 11 operating rooms during a variety of outpatient and inpatient surgeries.
Using the Checklist, the study found the following overall results:
– The rate of major complication in the study operating rooms fell from 11.0 per cent in the baseline period to 7.0 per cent after the introduction of the Checklist – a reduction of more than one-third.
– Inpatient deaths following operation fell by over 40 per cent (from 1.5 per cent to 0.8 per cent) with the implementation of the Checklist.
– Similar reductions in complications were seen in both the high income and lower income sites in the study, with rates falling from 10.3 per cent to 7.1 per cent and 11.7 per cent to 6.8 per cent respectively.
“The WHO agenda is a bold one, attempting to roll out a safety checklist worldwide,” said Dr. Richard Reznick, University of Toronto’s Chair of Surgery, UHN’s Vice President of Education and co-author of the study. “These initial and very positive results will be a huge stimulus for all countries to consider making this type of safety checklist approach a regular aspect of surgical care.”
“Like an airline pilot, the surgeon is only one member of an entire surgical team. Using the Checklist, we can improve communications during surgery to make sure everyone is on the same page and to use proven standards in every single operation to reduce the risks to patients,” said Dr. Taylor. “We are now using the surgical checklist at UHN’s Toronto General, Toronto Western and Princess Margaret Hospitals to ensure the highest possible standards in our operating rooms.”
For information about the WHO Safe Surgery Saves Lives initiative, visit:
http://www.who.int/patientsafety/safesurgery/en/index.html
University Health Network consists of Toronto General, Toronto Western and Princess Margaret Hospitals. The scope of research and complexity of cases at University Health Network has made it a national and international source for discovery, education and patient care. It has the largest hospital-based research program in Canada, with major research projects in transplantation, cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, and genomic medicine. University Health Network is a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto.
Harvard School of Public Health http://www.hsph.harvard.edu is dedicated to advancing the public’s health through learning, discovery, and communication. More than 400 faculty members are engaged in teaching and training the 1,000-plus student body in a broad spectrum of disciplines crucial to the health and well being of individuals and populations around the world. Programs and projects range from the molecular biology of AIDS vaccines to the epidemiology of cancer; from risk analysis to violence prevention; from maternal and children’s health to quality of care measurement; from health care management to international health and human rights. For more information on the school visit: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu
University Health Network (UHN)
Toronto
Ontario M5G 2M9
Canada
http:// www.uhn.ca
Researchers Discover A Protein That Amplifies Cell Death
Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have identified a small intracellular protein that helps cells commit suicide. The finding, reported as the “paper of the week” in the January 16th print issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, could lead to drugs for combating cancer and other diseases characterized by overproduction of cells. The research was led by the late Dennis Shields, Ph.D., a professor in Einstein’s Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology for 30 years, who died unexpectedly in December.
In response to stress or as a natural part of aging, many cells undergo programmed suicide, also known as apoptosis. Cancer cells often become immortal and dangerous by developing the ability to suppress apoptosis.
A decade ago apoptosis was thought to be directed solely by the nucleus and mitochondria of cells. Dr. Shields’ laboratory was the first to show that a cellular organelle known as the Golgi apparatus also plays a role in apoptosis.
The Golgi package proteins and other substances made by cells and direct them to their destination within the cell. A protein called p115 is vital for maintaining the structure of the Golgi. In earlier research, Dr. Shields’ group demonstrated that the Golgi’s p115 protein splits into two pieces early in apoptosis and that the smaller of these protein fragments 205 amino acids in length helps to maintain the cell-suicide process.
In the present study, the Einstein researchers identified the smallest region of this p115 protein fragment that is required for apoptosis: a peptide of just 26 amino acids in length that exerts its apoptotic action by traveling to the nucleus.
“Dennis Shields was one of our most outstanding scientists,” says E. Richard Stanley, Ph.D., chairman of developmental and molecular biology at Einstein. “His efforts to uncover fundamental mechanisms governing how cells work has led to new ways of thinking about apoptosis, in particular, how the Golgi regulates this process.”
The paper, by Shaeri Mukherjee and Dennis Shields, is titled “Nuclear Import is Required for the Pro-apoptotic Function of the Golgi Protein p115″ and appeared in JBC Papers in Press on November 21, 2008 and in the January 16, 2009 print issue. Additionally, the journal chose the image from the paper for the cover and spotlighted the study’s first author, Shaeri Mukherjee, Ph.D., a former student in the laboratory of Dr. Shields.
About Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is one of the nation’s premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. It is the home to some 2,000 faculty members, 750 M.D. students, 350 Ph.D. students (including 125 in combined M.D./Ph.D. programs) and 380 postdoctoral investigators. Last year, Einstein received more than $130 million in support from the NIH. This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in diabetes, cancer, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Through its extensive affiliation network involving five hospital centers in the Bronx, Manhattan and Long Island which includes Montefiore Medical Center, Einstein’s officially designated University Hospital the College runs one of the largest post-graduate medical training program in the United States, offering approximately 150 residency programs to more than 2,500 physicians in training. For more information, please visit http://www.aecom.yu.edu.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
1300 Morris Park Ave.
Bronx
NY 10461
United States
http://www.aecom.yu.edu
Stem Cells Could Be Used For Personalized Cancer Treatment
Using cancer cells from an ovarian cancer patient and human embryonic stem cells, Israeli researchers have created a cancerous tumor in a mouse that mimics the way the tumor would develop in the patient’s body. The result is a pre-clinical experimental model for cancer research that could facilitate the development of personalized cancer therapies. The findings are published in the January 2009 online version of Clinical Cancer Research.
Until now, there have been very few pre-clinical experimental models in which cancer cells from an actual patient could be successfully grown in such a manner, say the researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Rambam Medical Center.
The team, led by the Technion’s Prof. Karl Skorecki and Dr. Maty Tzukerman, created the model by introducing a human patient’s ovarian cancer stem cells into a teratoma (a growth made up of a mixture of human tissues, including blood vessels, fat tissue and connective tissue) in a mouse. The teratoma in the mouse was derived from human embryonic stem cells.
“Growing cancer stem cells from the patient in a way that mirrors their growth in the human body could allow clinicians to check the sensitivity of a particular tumor to different treatments,” explains Dr. Tzukerman. “This ability could provide clinicians with ways to customize cancer treatments for each individual patient.”
Skorecki and Tzukerman supervised Technion graduate student Ehood Katz, who from one patient isolated and characterized six different subpopulations of ovarian cancer cells, each of which was placed into a different teratoma. The cells from that one patient reflected the variety of characteristics of ovarian cancer in different patients, and also exposed the presence of “master cells” the progenitors responsible for the recurrence and regrowth of cancer, even after derivative “daughter” cells are killed off by chemotherapy. These master cells in ovarian and other cancers appear to be the most important targets in anti-cancer treatments.
The research findings also emphasize that the choice of the environment in which to establish the experimental platform to grow cells and establish the tumor model is crucial. “The choice of the right milieu is critical in order to expose a subset of the most relevant cancer cells to study and target, and which otherwise might evade such study,” says Skorecki.
The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is Israel’s leading science and technology university. Home to the country’s winners of the Nobel Prize in science, it commands a worldwide reputation for its pioneering work in nanotechnology, computer science, biotechnology, water-resource management, materials engineering, aerospace and medicine. The majority of the founders and managers of Israel’s high-tech companies are alumni. Based in New York City, the American Technion Society (ATS) is the leading American organization supporting higher education in Israel, with 22 offices around the country.
American Technion Society
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, 55 E 59th St.
New York
NY 10022
United States
http://www.ats.org
RAD001 Shows Promise In Tough-to-Treat Gastric Cancer
Monotherapy with the investigational agent RAD001 (proposed brand name AfinitorR) stops tumor growth in more than half of patients with advanced gastric cancer who have failed at least one earlier treatment, researchers announced here at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s 2009 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
RAD001 is a once-daily oral inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a key protein kinase regulating cell proliferation and angiogenesis.
Atsushi Ohtsu, MD, with the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Chiba, Japan, reported results in 53 patients with inoperable, recurrent or metastatic gastric cancer whose disease had progressed despite prior treatment and who were subsequently treated with RAD001, 10 mg/d, as part of a phase II trial.
All participants in the study were of Asian descent.
The primary efficacy endpoint was disease control rate (DCR), defined as complete response, partial response, or stable disease lasting at least eight weeks, according to RECIST criteria.
The median duration of therapy was 57 days, and nine patients remain on treatment.
Results showed a DCR of 55 percent at eight weeks, Dr. Ohtsu said.
Twenty nine (55%) of 53 evaluable patients had stable disease, 22 (41%) had progressive disease, and 2 (4%) had an unknown response. The objective response rate (ORR) was zero.
The median progression-free survival was 83 days, and nearly a third of patients were estimated to remain progression-free at four months. The median overall survival had not been reached at the time the data were analyzed.
The main adverse events were stomatitis, anorexia, fatigue, rash, peripheral edema, thrombocytopenia, diarrhea, pneumonitis, and hyperglycemia. The main grade ¾ adverse events thought to be related to RAD001 were stomatitis and hyponatremia, each occurring in three patients. Overall, the safety data observed in this trial were consistent with the known safety profile of RAD001.
Dr. Ohtsu said that he is encouraged by the results and added that treatment options for patients with advanced gastric cancer have been limited.
A spokesman for Novartis, which developed RAD001, said that a global phase III clinical trial program to test the efficacy and safety of RAD001 monotherapy in advanced gastric cancer will start recruitment this year. The target enrollment for the program is 500 patients.
Gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The disease is highly prevalent among people of Asian descent, with more than half of new cases occurring in East Asian countries.
Written by Jill Stein
Jill Stein is a Paris-based freelance medical writer.
jillstein03(at)gmail.com
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
leave a comment