Chemotherapy News and Research

Latest Chemotherapy News and Research

INSPIRE Phase I/IIa study data to be presented at ICAAC

Cytheris SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on research and development of new therapies for immune modulation, today announced that data from an interim analysis of its INSPIRE Phase I/IIa study of HIV-infected patients with low CD4 T cell counts treated with a three injection cycle of the Company’s investigative immune-modulator, recombinant human Interleukin-7 (CYT107), will be presented during an oral late breaker session at the 49th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), to be held September 12-15, 2009, in San Francisco, CA.

9 Sep 2009

Bayer submits an IND for its MN-IC antibody-drug conjugate to the FDA

Seattle Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGEN) announced today that it has achieved a milestone under its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) collaboration with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany. The milestone was triggered by Bayer’s submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for MN-IC, an ADC for solid tumors.

9 Sep 2009

Patient enrollment completed in Phase II clinical trial of bavituximab

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported completion of patient enrollment in its Phase II trial evaluating bavituximab in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel in advanced breast cancer patients.

9 Sep 2009

Nanoemulsion-based adjuvant increases immunity and cross protection against influenza

NanoBio Corp. announced today that data from a large ferret study indicates that its intranasal, nanoemulsion-based adjuvant elicits robust immunity and cross protection against influenza using 1/15th of the standard antigen dose, without evidence of toxicity or tolerability concerns.

9 Sep 2009

PKCiota oncogene essential for lung cancer stem cell proliferation

Scientists at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida have found that the lung cancer oncogene PKCiota is necessary for the proliferation of lung cancer stem cells. These stem cells are rare and powerful master cells that manufacture the other cells that make up lung tumors and are resistant to chemotherapy treatment.

9 Sep 2009

GENova Biotherapeutics files patent for Prostaganin anti-cancer drug

GENova Biotherapeutics, Inc., ("GENova"), is pleased to announce that it has filed a patent for a novel peptide that disrupts the advance of prostate cancer and thus has blockbuster potential as a new anti-cancer drug.

9 Sep 2009

Study to test efficacy of lapatinib in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Use of the molecularly targeted agent lapatinib to delay tumor growth and improve the survival of patients with inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma, or liver cancer, only benefited certain subgroups of patients. While results of this study were largely negative, patients that exhibited toxicity from the drug in the form of a skin rash appeared to have a greater tumor response and longer survival.

9 Sep 2009

DOR's Phase 1/2 clinical trial for prevention of radiation enteritis receives NIH grant

DOR BioPharma, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: DORB) (DOR or the Company), a late-stage biotechnology company, announced today that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded DOR a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to support the conduct of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating DOR201, a time-release formulation of oral beclomethasone dipropionate (oral BDP), for the prevention of acute radiation enteritis.

8 Sep 2009

Simple structured compounds to be synthesised for cancer treatment

Research is being carried out to design and synthesise a new generation of compounds that act on the tubulin molecule, involved in cell multiplication, through a mechanism that has not yet been used in chemotherapy. The researchers will then evaluate its anticarcinogenic potential for later application as a therapeutic treatment.

8 Sep 2009

Nanoparticle-delivered suicide gene therapy effectively reduces ovarian tumor burden in mice

Nanoparticle delivery of diphtheria toxin-encoding DNA that expresses selectively in ovarian cancer cells reduced the burden of ovarian tumors in mice, and researchers expect that this therapy could be tested in humans with advanced ovarian cancer within 18 to 24 months, according to a report in Cancer Research. If additional tests are successful, these finding could lead to a new treatment for ovarian cancer, which now causes more than 15,000 deaths each year in the United States. Because it is usually diagnosed at a relatively late stage, ovarian cancer is one of the most deadly forms of the disease.

7 Sep 2009

Health insurance reform forum in Spanish

As Members of Congress get ready to head back to Washington, Organizing for America (OFA), a grassroots project of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) dedicated to supporting the President's agenda for change, will hold a first of its kind forum on health insurance reform in Spanish TOMORROW Saturday, September 5 in Tucson, Arizona, highlighting the strong support for health insurance reform throughout Arizona.

5 Sep 2009

SoftScan clinical results from a breast cancer treatment monitoring study to be presented at IEEE International Conference

ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. (ART) (TSX:ARA), a Canadian medical device company and a leader in optical molecular imaging products for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, is pleased to announce that Dr. Gregory Czarnota, MD, PhD, Radiation Oncologist at Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, will be presenting SoftScan® clinical results from a breast cancer treatment monitoring study, at the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society 31st Annual International Conference in Minneapolis, Minn.

5 Sep 2009

Victim’s longevity with the deadly disease inspires thousands of dying patients

When Jerry Lewis takes the stage again on Labor Day 2009 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon, thousands of people who suffer from the same lung disease as he will be watching - and not just to hear the funny things he'll say. They'll be looking for inspiration from the funny man who suffers from a not-so-funny and little known fatal lung disease.

5 Sep 2009

FDA notifies PDUFA action date for Cell Therapeutics' NDA for pixantrone

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. ("CTI") (Nasdaq and MTA: CTIC) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has notified CTI that a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date of April 23, 2010 under standard review has been established regarding CTI's NDA for pixantrone as potential treatment for relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).

5 Sep 2009

Spectrum's ZEVALIN expanded label receives FDA approval for treating non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM:SPPI), a commercial-stage biotechnology company with a focus in oncology, today announced ZEVALIN® (ibritumomab tiuxetan), a CD20-directed radiotherapeutic antibody, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an expanded label for the treatment of patients with previously untreated follicular non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL), who achieve a partial or complete response to first-line chemotherapy.

5 Sep 2009

Delcath Systems to present abstract at ILCA Annual Conference

Delcath Systems, Inc., a medical technology company testing its proprietary treatment method for primary and metastatic cancers to the liver, announced that Dr. James F. Pingpank, Associate Professor of Surgery for the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine will present an abstract at the International Liver Cancer Association's (ILCA) Third Annual Conference on Saturday, September 5, 2009 in Milan, Italy.

4 Sep 2009

OSI Pharmaceuticals initiates two clinical trials with OSI-906 oral insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor inhibitor

OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIP) announced today the initiation of two clinical trials with OSI-906, the Company’s potential first-in-class, oral insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) inhibitor. The first study is a Phase III, multi-center study that will evaluate the use of OSI-906 for patients with locally advanced or metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC).

4 Sep 2009

Oncotype DX multigene expression test for breast cancer patients

In an effort to provide breast cancer patients with prompt, critical information about treatment options for use at their first visit with the medical oncologist, a number of leading U.S. surgeons request Genomic Health's Oncotype DX molecular test at the time of surgery or biopsy.

4 Sep 2009

NCI renews SPORE grant for the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer

National Cancer Institute (NCI) has renewed a $11.5 million Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer, which supports multidisciplinary research at Fox Chase Cancer Center and the University of Pennsylvania. First approved in 1999, this marks the third five-year term for the Fox Chase-Penn Ovarian SPORE.

4 Sep 2009

Endo Pharmaceuticals launches VALSTAR for treating recurrent carcinoma in situ bladder tumors

Endo Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ENDP) today announced the availability of VALSTAR(TM) (valrubicin) for the treatment of a distinct form of bladder cancer. VALSTAR is the only FDA-approved intravesical therapy for patients with Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-refractory carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the urinary bladder for whom immediate removal of the bladder would be associated with unacceptable medical risks.

3 Sep 2009