Cancer News and Treatment
Researchers find new lung cancer treatment
RESEARCHERS looking for better ways to treat tumours in children say they may have stumbled instead on something even better – a new therapy for lung cancer, Australia’s single biggest cancer killer.
Lung cancer is the fifth-most commonly diagnosed cancer in this country, accounting for 9703 diagnoses in 2007 – fewer than half the 19,403 new prostate cancer cases recorded the same year.
It also lags well behind bowel cancer (14,234 cases), breast cancer (12,670) and melanoma (10,342).
But lung cancer remains far and away the single most deadly cancer, claiming 7626 lives in 2007 – nearly double the number of the next-biggest, bowel cancer (4047).
Part of the reason lung cancer remains so deadly is that it is often detected relatively late, and is often difficult if not impossible to remove surgically.
But scientists at the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia, in Sydney, have found a new approach that promises to tackle another reason why the prognosis for most patients with lung cancer can be so poor: the tendency for their tumours to resist chemotherapy drugs.
Maria Kavallaris, the head of the CCIA’s tumour biology and targeting program, and a former president of the Australian Society for Medical Research, said her team used a “gene-silencing” approach to knock out the gene in the cancer cells that made them resistant to the effects of chemotherapy.
The findings, presented at the Australasian Gene Therapy Society meeting in Melbourne yesterday, have so far been tested successfully in mice, and Professor Kavallaris said she hoped human trials would begin next year.
“When we switch off this gene, and treat the cancer cells with the chemotherapy that they weren’t responding to before, then they become responsive,” Professor Kavallaris said.
“It’s still early days, but it’s showing great promise. It’s very encouraging.”
The researchers are still trying to work out how best to deliver the drug to cancer cells in live patients – such as injection, or steady infusion through a drip.
It is hoped the therapy, if successful in later trials, could also prove useful for solid cancers in children, such as neuroblastoma – which is one of the most aggressive childhood cancers.
A new treatment for childhood cancers such as neuroblastoma was what the CCIA team were looking for when they realised their therapy could be of benefit to adult patients as well.
First Wednesday events to support cancer treatment and survivors
It’s time to Paint the Town Purple for First Wednesday this month.
Go Downtown and Relay for Life are working together for the event, which is in its second year. Relay teams will be gathered throughout downtown Salem to raise money for the June 17-18 event, and cancer survivors are encouraged to check in at the survivor’s table at Liberty and Court streets NE.
The highlight of the evening will be the Luminaria Concert, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Trinity Ballroom of the Reed Opera House, 189 Liberty St. NE.
The concert will feature some of Oregon’s biggest names in blues and soul, including Norman Sylvester, Garry Meziere, Dave Fleschner, Larry London and Terry Robb. They will play together, but you can hear them individually during the “Battle for the Best — Tunes for Tips” solo competition; vote with your money for the best performance.
During the concert, sponsorships for 11 lap quilts will be auctioned off; there is a suggested $25 starting bid. In turn, the lap quilts will go to people in cancer treatment.
Inside and outside the ballroom will be the paper lanterns called “luminarias,” which will be lighted to honor a survivor or memorialize someone who has died.
The concert is free, but there is a suggested $3 donation. All proceeds will go to Relay for Life.
Elsewhere, Travel Salem (181 High St. NE) will host a wine tasting and reception. At Dave Wilson Designer Goldsmith, 216 Commercial St. NE, Susan Trueblood Stuart will show “Painting My Way Through Cancer,” 21 paintings she made during her struggle with jaw cancer.
Per usual, there are gallery shows, restaurant specials and shop sales.
Nucletron Showcases Five Innovations in Cancer Treatment at ESTRO
Nucletron, a leading provider of state-of-the-art radiotherapy solutions for cancer treatment will feature five new innovations at the ESTRO Anniversary Congress, May 8-11 in London, all designed to meet the growing interest and need to more effectively treat a wide variety of cancers. In addition, as one of the first industry partners with the organization, Nucletron will be celebrating its long collaboration with ESTRO on its 30th anniversary.
“2011 is the Year of Radiotherapy in the UK, and there is no better location than London for ESTRO to hold this year’s meeting and commemorate its 30th anniversary. Nucletron is proud of our long term partnership with ESTRO, and we’re looking forward to working with the organization and its members to further advance the important role of radiotherapy, in particular brachytherapy, in the multimodality treatment of cancer,” said Jos Lamers, CEO of Nucletron. “Our commitment to product innovation, professional education, and raising awareness of the benefits of brachytherapy – all aimed at ensuring patient access to quality cancer care – will highlight Nucletron’s presence at this year’s meeting,” he added.
Nucletron will feature five innovative products and solutions at this year’s meeting, all of which were developed with the needs of the modern radiotherapy department for speed, efficiency, accuracy and quality in mind. Awareness of brachytherapy will also receive special attention, with the presentation of a range of awareness and educational materials.
The Vaginal CT/MR Multi Channel Applicator (VCMC) is the first Precise Dose Delivery Solution (PDDS(TM)) for treating gynecologic cancers. The VCMC features a unique design of multiple channels which are curved in the tip of the applicator, and which can be loaded selectively. This provides accurate precision and dose direction, bringing dosimetry measurably closer to the vaginal wall. The VCMC is easy to assemble, clean & sterilize, thus providing economical treatment and optimized day-to-day utilization. This new addition to Nucletron’s range of innovative applicators allows healthcare providers to tackle more complex or advanced endometrial and other gynecological cancers. The recent PORTEC (Postoperative Radiation Therapy for Endometrial Carcinoma) 2 study highlighted the benefits of vaginal brachytherapy versus external beam radiotherapy, in particular significantly lower toxicity and superior QOL outcomes. Delivering the dose where it is most needed, a key aspect of brachytherapy in sparing healthy tissue and reducing treatment toxicity, makes this unique CT/MR-compatible applicator a logical solution in response to the demands of modern gynecologic radiotherapy.
Nucletron’s Prostate Solutions represent a seamless, all-in-one solution that addresses clinical needs, whether these call for low dose rate (LDR or “seeds”), High Dose Rate (HDR) or both. This all-in-one solution is the only one to cover both HDR & LDR in one software configuration. It combines dynamic treatment planning and delivery with advanced robotic accuracy, thereby improving clinical outcomes in patients undergoing prostate brachytherapy. Built around the latest state-of-the-art Oncentra(R) software, each solution integrates ultrasound technology allowing optimal control over the treatment process. Nucletron’s advanced Robotic Seed Delivery technology guarantees reliable, reproducible and precise treatment. The unique combination of dynamic treatment planning and delivery with advanced robotic accuracy helps health care professionals improve clinical outcomes in patients undergoing prostate brachytherapy.
Nucletron will also be showcasing the latest version of its brachytherapy treatment planning solution Oncentra (R) Brachy. Developed with the needs of the busy radiotherapy department in mind and with a focus on shortening workflows, it combines up to 50% reduction in planning times with exemplary treatment planning accuracy. Key components of Oncentra Brachy 4.0 are library plans and GYN applicator models, the first in a series of applicator models. The ability to automatically reconstruct exact applicator geometry from a 3D library eliminates the uncertainty of individual interpretation and assures placement precision. Furthermore, the new libraries and automatic reconstruction can dramatically reduce the time needed for planning, without compromising on quality. This latest edition of Nucletron’s advanced brachytherapy software also addresses the call for reproducibility, leveraging applicator models and library plans to ensure consistency, be it between fractions or between users.
Nucletron’s commitment to external beam treatment planning will also be very much on show, with two leading edge solutions.
The first, the latest release of Oncentra External Beam, intelligently automates routine planning tasks and increases patient throughput. Speed is very much of the essence with the premier of Oncentra’s GPU technology which dramatically speeds up dose calculation, reducing complex calculation times from hours to minutes for enhanced dose algorithms. Users of Oncentra External Beam 4.0 can now routinely have collapsed cone accuracy, in pencil beam times, and creating a 3D plan can take as little as 15 seconds. Oncentra connects to all treatment delivery systems. Its modular planning environment allows it to be used with a department’s linear accelerator of choice and still benefit from the latest in planning tools and technology offered in this new version.
The second, Velocity, brings the best of modern radiotherapy – multiple modality, dose summation and adaptive planning – directly to the radiotherapy department. This innovative solution allows users to turn the sheer volume of data and complexity of today’s radiotherapy directly to their advantage. A unique range of integration tools provides the ability to combine images from multiple modalities, integrate dose summation regardless of source, and apply adaptive contouring across multiple datasets with both accuracy and speed. Velocity eliminates repetitive and time-consuming segmentation tasks by leveraging proprietary anatomy atlases, significantly decreasing treatment planning time and complexity. This new solution provides the user with the full “patient” picture and the advantage of an accelerated workflow.
To learn more about these new innovations in precision cancer treatment, visit Nucletron during the ESTRO Anniversary Conference at booth 110.
HIV drug could lead to new cervical cancer treatment
The HIV protease inhibitor lopinavir (a component of Kaletra) triggers cells infected with human papillomavirus to produce an antiviral protein, inducing death of the cancerous cells, researchers at the University of Manchester report in the journal Antiviral Therapy.
“We have now found that lopinavir selectively kills HPV-infected, non-cancerous cells, while leaving healthy cells relatively unaffected,” said Dr Ian Hampson, from Manchester’s School of Cancer and Enabling Sciences.
The finding could lead to a new form of treatment for cervical cancer, which is caused by certain high-risk types of human papillomavirus.
At present treatment options for precancerous lesions caused by human papillomavirus, and for cervical cancer, are limited to freezing with liquid nitrogen in early stages, to electrocauterisation, or to surgery and chemotherapy in cases of cervical cancer.
However, in low and middle-income settings surgical treatments for precancerous lesions and for cervical cancer are often more difficult to deliver due to limited screening programmes, a lack of surgically trained staff and lack of medicines. Due in part to these obstacles, cervical cancer is the most common malignancy in women in sub-Saharan Africa.
Treatments which can be delivered easily by nurses and by affected women, starting on the day when a precancerous lesion is identified, could be particularly important in reducing progression to cervical cancer and deaths from cervical cancer in the developing world.
Although HPV vaccination is being introduced in some countries it cannot protect women who have already developed precancerous changes or who have been infected by high-risk HPV types that are not included in the two vaccines now available.
More generally, a drug which is effective against HPV could revolutionise the prevention of anal and oral cancers caused by HPV.
The University of Manchester researchers tested the effect of lopinavir on HPV-infected cells derived from cervical cancer and from human foreskin.
They found that lopinavir increased the production of ribonuclease L in cells infected with cancer-causing HPV types. HPV appears to reduce the expression of ribonuclease L, but the process which HPV reduces Ribonuclease L expression is inhibited by lopinavir.
The authors also speculate that the same process could lower host antiviral defences and so permit infection with other viruses, indicating a possible explanation for the association between HPV infection and subsequent risk of HIV infection in men and in women.
Co-author on the paper, Dr Lynne Hampson, said: “These results are very exciting since they show that the drug not only preferentially kills HPV-infected non-cancerous cells by re-activating known antiviral defence systems, it is also much less toxic to normal non-HPV infected cells.
“Lopinavir is obviously safe for people to take as tablets or liquid but our latest findings provide very strong evidence to support a clinical trial using topical application of this drug to treat HPV infections of the cervix.”
Standard dose Kaletra treatment in women with HIV is unlikely to show an association with a reduced risk of cervical cancer due to the dose needed to kill HPV-infected cells.
Dr Hampson said: “Our results suggest that for this drug to work against HPV it would be necessary to treat virus-infected cells of the cervix with roughly 10-15 times the concentration that is normally found in HIV-infected patients taking lopinavir as tablets. This implies that, for this treatment to work, it would need to be locally applied as a cream or pessary.”