Pancreas News and Research

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The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as an exocrine gland, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that pass to the small intestine. These enzymes help in the further breakdown of the carbohydrates, protein, and fat in the chyme.

People with family history of diabetes gain more weight

In the first study of its type, Australian researchers have shown that healthy people with a genetic predisposition to Type 2 diabetes gain more weight overeating over the short term than their non-genetically-prone counterparts.

11 May 2010

Findings may help develop a new class of drugs for diabetes

More than half a century after researchers identified a promising way to treat diabetes based on blocking the breakdown of insulin in the body, a research team led by a scientist at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida have developed potent molecules that can do just that.

10 May 2010

MBPs offer no clinical benefit to patients undergoing PD: Research team

Mechanical bowel preparations are commonly administered preoperatively to patients who undergo a pancreaticoduodenectomy (Whipple procedure) to treat benign and malignant tumors of the pancreas, common bile duct or duodenum. MBPs are employed as a preventative measure in gastrointestinal surgery but their effectiveness in reducing perioperative infectious complications remains unclear.

7 May 2010

DNA sequence of amphibian genome sheds light on the study of embryonic development

A pair of University of Houston researchers contributed to the assembly of the first comprehensive DNA sequence of an amphibian genome, which will shed light on the study of embryonic development, with implications for preventing birth defects and more effectively treating many human diseases.

7 May 2010

Pre-treatment quality-of-life scores predict malignancy in patients with pancreatic disease

Quality-of-life measures used routinely to assess treatment outcomes for patients with pancreatic disease may be used to predict both malignancy and survival for those patients, according to a study by Henry Ford Hospital.

5 May 2010

Osiris Therapeutics' Prochymal granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has been granted Orphan Drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Prochymal as a treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus. The FDA instituted the Orphan Drug Act to promote the development of treatments for underserved patient populations. To be eligible for Orphan Drug designation, the treatment must target a disease that affects fewer than 200,000 new patients per year in the United States.

5 May 2010

BioSante Pharmaceuticals reinitiates GVAX Prostate Cancer Vaccine development

BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that development of its GVAX Prostate Cancer Vaccine (GVAX Prostate) for the treatment of prostate cancer has been reinitiated. Manufacturing of new GVAX Prostate is in process, regulatory steps to lift the GVAX Prostate clinical hold prior to trial initiation are being taken, and prostate cancer patients are expected to be treated in a Phase II human clinical trial beginning in the fourth quarter of 2010 at Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.

3 May 2010

FDA approves Abbott's CREON sNDA including dosing guidance for treating EPI due to CP, pancreatectomy

Abbott announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for CREON® (pancrelipase) Delayed-Release Capsules that now includes dosing guidance in the prescribing information specific to patients with limited production of enzymes in the pancreas (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency) due to chronic pancreatitis (CP) or removal of the pancreas (pancreatectomy). Prior to this FDA approval, dosing guidance for medications such as CREON was based on patients with cystic fibrosis.

3 May 2010

Belatacept preserves kidney function in transplant recipients better than cyclosporine, says study

Two-year results from phase III clinical trials show the experimental immunosuppressive drug belatacept can better preserve kidney function in kidney transplant recipients while preventing graft rejection when compared with the standard immunosuppressive drug cyclosporine.

3 May 2010

Scripps Research Institute awarded grant to design assays for exploring potential target for obesity, Type 2 diabetes

The Scripps Research Institute has been awarded a $1.3 million grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a series of tests at its Florida campus to help explore the potential of a protein that has emerged as a highly attractive target for the treatment of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

3 May 2010

Update on BioSante cancer vaccine portfolio to be presented at BIO International Convention

BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will present a BioSante cancer vaccine portfolio update at the BIO International Convention, which will take place May 3-6 in Chicago, Illinois.

30 Apr 2010

SBRT shows promise in treatment of lung, liver and spinal tumors: Clinical experts

Radiosurgical approaches to cancer treatment are showing promise in the treatment of lung, liver, and spinal tumors, according to four leading clinical experts who presented at a symposium in New York earlier this month.

28 Apr 2010

Transplanted pig cells may bring relief from insulin injections in type I diabetics

Living Cell Technologies, a New Zealand based biotechnology company that is investigating the use of living pig cells in the treatment of diabetes has now received $700,000 (US$500,000) grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International for further human trials.

28 Apr 2010

Phase II clinical trial to test safety and efficacy of transplanted encapsulated islets

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation announced today that it is partnering with Living Cell Technologies, a New Zealand-based biotechnology company focused on developing cell based therapeutics, in a Phase II clinical trial to study the safety and effectiveness of transplanting encapsulated insulin-producing cells from pigs as a treatment for type 1 diabetes with significant hypoglycemia unawareness.

28 Apr 2010

Researchers identify molecular marker of pancreatic cancer

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have identified a molecular marker of pancreatic cancer that may help spot the disease at its earliest stages, when it can be treated more successfully with surgery.

27 Apr 2010

LCT receives grant of $500,000 for Phase II clinical trial of DIABECELL in New Zealand

Living Cell Technologies Limited, a global company pioneering the development of a cell implant to treat diabetes, has received a grant of US$500,000 for its on-going Phase II clinical trial of DIABECELL in New Zealand from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, a world leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research and the largest charitable funder and advocate for research in type 1 diabetes.

27 Apr 2010

Study finds AFREZZA comparable to standard of care insulin therapy

Pulmonary function test results (PFTs) in patients treated with AFREZZATM (insulin human [rDNA origin]) Inhalation Powder, a well-tolerated, ultra rapid acting insulin, at follow-up measurements were similar to PFT results observed in patients receiving standard antidiabetic therapy, according to data presented today at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 19th Annual Meeting (Poster #267).

24 Apr 2010

AFREZZA Inhalation Powder reduces incidence of hypoglycemia in patients with Type 1 diabetes

Diabetes treatment regimens containing AFREZZATM (insulin human [rDNA origin]) Inhalation Powder, a well-tolerated, ultra rapid acting insulin, provide glucose control similar to standard insulin therapy along with weight loss and reduced incidence of hypoglycemia in patients with Type 1 diabetes and poorly controlled blood sugar levels, according to a two-year study presented today at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 19th Annual Meeting (Poster #283).

24 Apr 2010

Biological activity of Curis' CUDC-101 HDAC, EGFR and HER2 inhibitor published in Cancer Research

Curis, Inc., a drug development company seeking to develop next generation targeted small molecule drug candidates for cancer treatment, today announced that a research paper describing the biological activity of its HDAC, EGFR and HER2 inhibitor, CUDC-101, was published online in the journal Cancer Research and also will be published in an upcoming print version of the journal.

23 Apr 2010

Immunomedics' blood assay for PAM4-protein can detect pancreatic cancer and predict early relapse

Immunomedics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing monoclonal antibodies to treat cancer and other serious diseases, today reported that a new blood test using the Company's proprietary humanized antibody, clivatuzumab or PAM4, predicted a partial response in an initial set of patients treated with a combination of the antibody labeled with yttrium-90 (Y-90) and gemcitabine. Results were presented at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

21 Apr 2010

Pancreas News and Research

Further Reading

People with family history of diabetes gain more weight

Findings may help develop a new class of drugs for diabetes

MBPs offer no clinical benefit to patients undergoing PD: Research team

DNA sequence of amphibian genome sheds light on the study of embryonic development

Pre-treatment quality-of-life scores predict malignancy in patients with pancreatic disease

Osiris Therapeutics' Prochymal granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation

BioSante Pharmaceuticals reinitiates GVAX Prostate Cancer Vaccine development

FDA approves Abbott's CREON sNDA including dosing guidance for treating EPI due to CP, pancreatectomy

Belatacept preserves kidney function in transplant recipients better than cyclosporine, says study

Scripps Research Institute awarded grant to design assays for exploring potential target for obesity, Type 2 diabetes

Update on BioSante cancer vaccine portfolio to be presented at BIO International Convention

SBRT shows promise in treatment of lung, liver and spinal tumors: Clinical experts

Transplanted pig cells may bring relief from insulin injections in type I diabetics

Phase II clinical trial to test safety and efficacy of transplanted encapsulated islets

Researchers identify molecular marker of pancreatic cancer

LCT receives grant of $500,000 for Phase II clinical trial of DIABECELL in New Zealand

Study finds AFREZZA comparable to standard of care insulin therapy

AFREZZA Inhalation Powder reduces incidence of hypoglycemia in patients with Type 1 diabetes

Biological activity of Curis' CUDC-101 HDAC, EGFR and HER2 inhibitor published in Cancer Research

Immunomedics' blood assay for PAM4-protein can detect pancreatic cancer and predict early relapse

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