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Study: PROSTVAC-VF vaccine effective in treating patients with metastatic prostate cancer

In a newly published clinical trial, patients with metastatic prostate cancer who received a vaccine of harmless poxviruses engineered to spur an immune system attack on prostate tumor cells lived substantially longer than patients who received a placebo vaccine, report researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and affiliated organizations.

27 Jan 2010

U.S. court decision favors Teva in generic Temodar ANDA litigation

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has issued a decision in its litigation over the Company's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to market its generic version of Schering-Plough’s brain tumor treatment Temodar® (temozolomide). The Court found that U.S. Patent No. 5,260,291 is not enforceable due to prosecution laches and inequitable conduct.

27 Jan 2010

MDRNA granted Chinese patent for use of nucleic acids in cancer treatment

MDRNA, Inc., a leading RNAi-based drug discovery and development company, today announced that the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has issued a Notification of Granting Patent Rights for PRC 200480018784 which includes the use of nucleic acids, e.g., an siRNA, for the treatment of cancer. The patent describes modulation of claudins, which are proteins implicated in tumor progression and metastasis.

27 Jan 2010

Neoprobe completes license amendment with The Dow Chemical

Neoprobe Corporation, a diversified developer of innovative oncology surgical and diagnostic products, announced today that it has completed a license amendment with The Dow Chemical Company for a variety of antibodies used in its proprietary surgical oncology system called radioimmunoguided surgery or RIGS®.

27 Jan 2010

Texas to invest $4.5 mn in cancer research at UT Health Science Center

Texas plans to invest $3 billion in cancer research over the next 10 years and six scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are among the first to receive grants.The researchers, whose grants total $4.5 million, are working to protect girls from cervical cancer, to interrupt tumor growth at the molecular level and to develop a new approach for the treatment of colon cancer, among other cutting-edge projects.

27 Jan 2010

YM BioSciences' nimotuzumab Phase II trials: FDA advises patient enrollment

YM BioSciences Inc., announced that the FDA has advised the Company that it may now enroll patients at US clinical sites into two ongoing randomized, double-blind Phase II trials of its lead product, nimotuzumab. One of the two trials is in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who are ineligible for curative treatment and being treated palliatively and the other in patients with brain metastases from NSCLC. Current NSCLC palliative treatment and treatment for brain metastases is radiation alone.

27 Jan 2010

ZIOPHARM receives Notice of Allowance for palifosfamide from U.S. patent office

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. announced today that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for Application Serial No. 11/257,766 entitled “Salts of Isophosphoramide mustard and analogs thereof as anti-tumor agents” with claims directed to compounds, pharmaceutical compositions, and lyophilisates. These claims cover the Company’s proprietary palifosfamide composition (ZIO-201 or ZymafosTM). The Company has recently reported positive randomized Phase II sarcoma interim data for intravenous palifosfamide at the Annual Meeting of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) on November 6, 2009 and expects, following U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review, to initiate a registration trial the first half of 2010.

27 Jan 2010

Findings may yield novel therapeutic strategies for late-stage breast cancer

Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have determined how the TGFβ-Smad signaling pathway, which is over activated in late-stage cancers, is responsible for the "epigenetic memory" that maintains unique patterns of regulatory DNA hypermethylation causing silencing of critical genes that facilitate breast cancer progression.

25 Jan 2010

Prostate cancer: Surgery in county hospitals, radiation or hormone therapy in private facilities

Researchers at Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego and colleagues have found that prostate cancer treatments varied significantly between county hospitals and private providers. Patients treated in county hospitals are more likely to undergo surgery while patients treated in private facilities tend to receive radiation or hormone therapy. These findings were published online by the journal Cancer on January 25.

25 Jan 2010

Random lasers may prove useful for diagnosing cancer, say Utah researchers

When University of Utah scientists discovered a new kind of laser that was generated by an electrically conducting plastic or polymer, no one could explain how it worked and some doubted it was real.

24 Jan 2010

Researchers identify new gene signature that predicts cancer recurrence in certain breast tumors

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have discovered a gene activity signature that predicts a high risk of cancer recurrence in certain breast tumors that have been treated with commonly used chemotherapy drugs.

24 Jan 2010

Final data from Poniard Pharmaceuticals' randomized Phase 2 trial of picoplatin announced

Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative oncology therapies, today announced final data from a randomized, controlled Phase 2 trial of picoplatin in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.

24 Jan 2010

Study of 16INK4A gene's role in progression of retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma is a pediatric eye cancer initiated by the loss or mutation of both copies of the retinoblastoma gene. Current evidence suggests that additional genetic alterations are required for retinoblastoma to become fully malignant.

23 Jan 2010

Study: Warburg effect promotes rapid cell proliferation and tumor growth

A team of scientists led by Professor Adrian Krainer, Ph.D., of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has discovered molecular factors in cancer cells that boost the production of an enzyme that helps alter the cells' glucose metabolism. The altered metabolic state, called the Warburg effect, promotes extremely rapid cell proliferation and tumor growth. Adrian Krainer, Ph.D.

23 Jan 2010

Pfizer reports final results from randomized Phase 3 trial of Sutent

Pfizer Inc. today announced final results from a randomized Phase 3 trial of Sutent (sunitinib malate) in patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, a type of cancer which originates in the hormone-producing area of the pancreas.

23 Jan 2010

ACS Chemical Biology report supports zebrafish for drug development

By combining the tools of medicinal chemistry and zebrafish biology, a team of Vanderbilt investigators has identified compounds that may offer therapeutic leads for bone-related diseases and cancer.

22 Jan 2010

The American Journal of Pathology: Highlights from February 2010 issue

A group led by Dr. Peter Lloyd Jones at the University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland; the University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO; and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA has demonstrated that tenascin-C affects proto-oncogene function in breast cancer. Their report can be found in the February 2010 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

22 Jan 2010

Postdoctoral scientists receive prestigious award; grants totaling $1.54 million will help in funding innovative projects

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting exceptional early career researchers and innovative cancer research, named 11 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its November 2009 Fellowship Award Committee review.

22 Jan 2010

Researchers discover genetic variations that predict clinical outcomes in patients with stomach cancer

Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have, for the first time, identified specific genetic variations that predict clinical outcomes in patients with gastric (stomach) cancer.

22 Jan 2010

CytRx announces its plans to advance multiple oncology development programs in 2010

CytRx Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in oncology, today announced its plans for 2010 aimed at advancing the clinical development of its high-value drug development pipeline and enhancing shareholder value.

22 Jan 2010