Monday, April 23, 2007

Cancer “Switch” Discovered


April 23rd 2007

Gents, This very interesting article concerning a cancer breakthrough is from the online version of the Brisbane Courier Mail, at:
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/health/

A deadly “active ingredient” in almost all human cancers has been mapped by Australian scientists, bringing the world closer to a potentially life-saving treatment.

The breakthrough, published today in the leading international journal Science, will speed up the international research effort to develop anti-cancer drugs that effectively “switch off” tumour growth.

Cancer researchers at the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) have discovered the composition of an enzyme called telomerase, which is overactive in almost 90 per cent of cancers.

The so-called molecular fossil is famed for its Jekyll-and-Hyde-like reputation, making both healthy and cancerous cells immortal so they never die.

The enzyme is internationally regarded as one of the most important triggers in cancer, because the disease clearly relies on it to survive.

Telomerase was believed to contain any mixture of 32 different proteins, but Dr Scott Cohen and his team found that only two are involved.

“We discovered that it was a really simple composition,” said Dr Cohen.

“All these researchers studying it can really focus now and that should boost the productivity of research into new drugs, which is very exciting.”

The team made the finding by growing an industrial quantity of cancer cells to collect enough of the hard-to-find enzyme. They then purified it down and used a $1 million telescope to work out what it contained.

“The next step is to define its shape and if you can do that you can pretty effectively design drugs to very specifically target telomerase, turn it off and stop the cancer growth,” Dr Cohen said.

“It won’t be easy and it will take a while, but at least now we can say it’s possible.”

The researchers say the find is one of the biggest achievements in the telomerase field since the enzyme was first discovered by former Melbourne researcher Elizabeth Blackburn in the 1980s.

Dr Blackburn has won several accolades for his discovery, which centred on the realisation that telomerase helps cells survive when they shouldn’t by replenishing the ends of chromosomes, called telomeres.

International cancer research expert and acting CMRI director Dr Roger Reddel believes the identification ’switches on a light’ for basic cell biology and cancer research.

“This discovery sharpens the focus of these efforts and no doubt will speed up the process of delivering successful treatment,” Dr Reddel said.

Today’s Quote:

“It’s not what happens to me, but how I respond to what happens” (that matters)

From “Quest for Life” by Petrea King, published by Random House Australia

Monday, April 16, 2007

The FDA's Unholy Alliance With the Drug Industry

Gents, this lengthy article tends to show, once again, how symbiotic the machinations of the FDA and the Drug & Pharmaceutical Industry really are.
It also gives weight to my assertions in the previous post, doesn’t it?
What an unholy alliance. Small wonder that, allegedly,senior executives from the FDA often move straight across to the Drug companies, at board level, on retirement from the FDA.

Artical from: http://www.medpagetoday.com

BOSTON, April 13 — Hefty user fees from pharmaceutical companies account for some 40% of the FDA’s budget for new-drug reviews, but this scheme that spurs speedier approvals worries safety watchdogs.

Three opinion articles, issued by the New England Journal of Medicine ahead of a scheduled April 26 publication, tried to drive those concerns home. The so-called perspectives were aimed at Congress, which is reviewing the law that set up the user fees. The law is set to expire in September unless it is reauthorized now.

For instance, one of the perspectives pointed out that the 5% of the user fees permitted to go to postmarket surveillance is not even enough for a single study to investigate the cardiovascular safety of drugs used to treat attention deficit disorder.

Jerry Avorn, M.D., a professor of medicine at Harvard, asserted out that the FDA is unique in that it is the only regulatory agency that works “so cozily” with a trade group that represent the industry, in this case the Pharmaceutical and Research Manufacturers of America.

In his article, Dr. Avorn called for Congress to sever this relationship by requiring that “the FDA’s drug-related work to be funded by general federal revenues, rather than by the industry it regulates.”

The original law, enacted in 1992, allowed the FDA to levy user fees on drug companies, yet barred it from using those fees to monitor post-marketing safety. The law was re-authorized in 1997 but when Congress re-authorized it in 2002, about 5% of the fees were earmarked for post approval safety monitoring.

Dr. Avorn said that when the law was created in 1992 the FDA was regularly criticized for being too slow to approve new drugs-especially new AIDS drugs. In that climate, user fees seemed an ideal solution to eliminate perceived inefficiencies of government and speed up the FDA pipeline. The legislation established strict time limits for drugs to wend their way through the FDA process,

This time around, the FDA asked Congress to set aside 6.7% of the user fees to fund postmarketing studies. But in a perspective he co-authored, Brian L. Strom, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Pennsylvania found that unsatisfactory.

“We agree with Dr. Avon’s position that ideally all funding should come from [general revenues], but practically speaking that is not going to happen at a time of budget deficits,” Dr. Strom said in an interview. “So what we are proposing is that Congress earmark more funds for the FDA to conduct its own safety studies-probably a number like $100 million.”

Dr. Strom and his University of Pennsylvania colleague, Sean Hennessy, PharmD., Ph.D., pointed out that under the current proposal the FDA is asking that $29.3 million of the $437.8-million it expects to collect in user fees in 2008 to be used for modernizing and transforming the drug-safety system.

To put that in perspective, they pointed out that Americans spent $188.5 billion on prescription drugs in 2004 and drug companies spent about $12 billion advertising prescription drugs that same year.

Yet the FDA could not afford “even a single large study of one recently noted safety signal that has major public health importance-the indication of possible cardiovascular risk posed by drugs for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder,” they wrote.

In the third article, former FDA commissioner Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., argued that the most effective fix for the FDA would be an overhaul of the postmarketing system by making use of available technology.

Dr. McClellan, now a visiting senior fellow at he AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies in Washington, said that with electronic prescribing information and “the availability of increasingly detailed data on health care utilization and outcomes for insured Americans, we could implement a routine, systematic approach to active population-based drug surveillance that could identify potential safety problems much more effectively and relatively inexpensively.”

Instead of the five years that it took to reveal the excess cardiovascular risk seen with rofecoxib (Vioxx), a “statistically significant ’signal’ of serious cardiovascular risk could have been detected after less than three months of experience with rofecoxib” by the use of a now-feasible electronic surveillance network, with information on 100 million patients, he wrote.

Drs. Avorn and McClellan declared no financial conflicts. Dr. Strom said he served on the board of Medco Health Solutions, and received grant and/or consulting fees from Pfizer, Takeda, Amgen, Berlex, Merck, Novartis, Wyeth, Abbott, Aetna, AstraZeneca, Biogen Idec, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Centrocor, Cephalon, CV Therapeutics, Daiichi, Sankyo, Oscient, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Sanofi Pasteur, Schering-Plough, Shire, TAP, Warner-Lambert, and from law firms representing Bayer and plaintiffs suing pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Hennessey reported research funding or consulting fees from Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Wyeth, Sanofi Pasteur and from law firms representing Bayer, Pfizer, and Eli Lilly as well as from law firms representing plaintiffs suing pharmaceutical companies. Drs. Strom and Hennessy are special government employees of the FDA, and Dr. Hennessy is a current member and Dr. Strom a past member of the FDA’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee.

Today’s Quote:

“If all the medicines in the world were thrown into the sea, it would be bad for the fish and good for humanity” O.W.Holmes, (Prof of Med. Harvard University)

Share and Enjoy:

ESSIAC Herbal Extract Formula

This is an item well worth you guys knowing about.


ESSIAC has been used to fight cancer since the 1920’s in Canada and elsewhere. I have been taking it since February of this year after having searched the net and reading many an article about it. I have checked, to my own satisfaction as a layperson, the efficacy of the herbs used in the formula and reviewed many of the anecdotal stories about the numerous, life-saving, experiences cancer sufferers have had with ESSIAC over the years.

I was so impressed that I ordered several bottles and have since re-ordered. One thing that convinced me as to its overall value in the fight against cancer is that is has been banned for use in the US by the FDA. It’s possibly the only herbal formula ever to be banned by them.

To my way of thinking, if this herbal supplement has been banned by the FDA, then that surely is a sign that it must be a good product to have in the fight against cancer. The ban would have been at the behest of the drug industry, no doubt. They wouldn’t want competition, especially from a product with a more than eighty years of successful, documented, usage. And more specifically, a product the drug industry is unable to synthesize and slap a patent on, thereby missing out on making millions upon millions of dollars in the process.

Importantly, ESSIAC can now be obtained in liquid form as apposed to the powder form, or tea, which, I understand, presented some difficulty to the user with the mixing and preparation. The liquid formula is taken twice daily straight from the bottle.

Wish to know more? Look it up on the URL’s given below. You can order on-line.

I have also included information concerning certain medical conditions which may necessitate some people getting medical advice, before using ESSIAC. But, I should add here that I have no idea as to the author’s qualification to make these statements. Those of you who have read my medical history will have noted that I have a several of the medical issues mention, but my own MD has cleared me for the use of ESSIAC.

Of course, it goes without saying that anyone with a serious medical condition should seek their doctor’s advice before changing or adding to their medication.

http://www.praxea.com/

http://www.cancertutor.com/Cancer/Essiac_Warnings.html

Please note: I have no connection with the product manufacturers or any suppliers.

Today’s Quote:

“If by giving up small pleasures, great happiness is to be found, the wise should give up small pleasures, seeing the prospect of great happiness” - THE BUDDHA

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Club Freedom Holidays

This is a top money earner as well as providing for unlimited discounted holidays and an ideal home based business. Check it out now...

Monday, April 9, 2007

Omega-3 Oil May Prevent Cancer Spreading

Hi Guys,

I found this item of particular interest as I have been taking an omega 3 - 6 - 9 oil blend for the past 7 months or so. However, the ratio is different to what is suggested in the article in that the omega 3 portion is double that of the omega 6. That is twice the amount of omega 3 necessary to overcome the bad effect of the omega 6. Now, that must produce even better results, right? Or am I missing something here?

I have queried this with the Australian supplier and await its response. I'll let you know the outcome.


BBC NEWS
March 22, 2006


A diet rich in a fat found in oily fish may protect men with prostate cancer from developing a more aggressive form of the disease, scientists have found.

Prostate cancer is much more likely to be life-threatening if tumour cells migrate and invade other tissues, such as the bone marrow.

Lab tests found omega-3 oil - present in fish like salmon - prevented this.

The results of the study, based at Manchester’s Christie Hospital, are in the British Journal of Cancer.

Eating a diet with the right balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats may well help to keep prostate cancer within the prostate gland
Noel Clarke

The Paterson Institute researchers tested the effect of two types of dietary fat on prostate cancer cells in the lab.

Previous research has suggested omega-3 fats, which is also found in mackerel and fresh tuna, may help cut the risk of cancer - and other conditions, such as heart disease.

Omega-6 fats, found in vegetable oils, nuts and seeds, also play a key role in keeping us healthy.

Energy source

However, while omega-6 fats increased the spread of prostate cancer cells into bone marrow, omega-3 fats blocked this.

Researcher Dr Mick Brown said: “It is possible to have a healthy balance of these two types of fat - we only need about half as much omega-3 as omega-6 - that will still stop cancer cells from spreading.”

The researchers believe tumour cells might use omega-6 fats as a high energy source - giving them the energy they need to maintain a high growth rate and to create molecules that control migration.

Omega-3 fats appear to interfere with this process in some way.

Lead researcher Noel Clarke said: “Some tumours develop slowly in the prostate without producing symptoms and sometimes when symptoms do develop, it is because the cancer has already spread.

“Eating a diet with the right balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats may well help to keep prostate cancer within the prostate gland where it may be monitored safely or more easily treated with surgery or radiotherapy.”

Larger studies

Derek Napier, of the Association for International Cancer Research, which part-funded the study, said the findings might aid the development of new ways to block the spread of many types of cancer.

Professor John Toy, of Cancer Research UK, said the work was still at an early stage.

“We would need large population studies to provide the needed evidence to say a change in diet could reduce prostate cancer cells from spreading,” he added.

Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer in the UK.

The research was funded by the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC).

The Food Standards Agency recommends men can eat up to four portions of oily fish a week.
Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/4826168.stm

® BBC MMVI

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Chemo Leaves Foul Taste

Did you know?
It's a common experience among patients who are receiving chemotherapy to have no tast for food. About two million cancer patients currently receiving certain drug therapies and chemotherapy find foods and beverages to have a foul metallic flavor, as per a medical study. In general, more than 40 percent of hospitalized patients suffer from malnutrition due to taste and smell dysfunction.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Informative URL's About Prostate Cancer

Hi Guys,

Here's a few useful links concerning prostate cancer. These I have collected over the past 12 months or so but note I have not checked them today, before posting. However, I would imagine that they are still current. I certainly found them worth exploring in the past and will revisit them over coming days as I'm sure they will have been updated.

Prostate Cancer links on the net.

As you will see, most URL's given below are of Australian web sites, simply because that's how they are on my listing. I have more URL's to follow in a few days...

The following seven URL’s are taken from: www.prostatehealth.org.au/links

The Lions Club of Australia:

www.prostatehealth.org.au

www.prostatehealth.org.au/links.html

The Prostate Cancer Research Institute of the US

www.prostate-cancer.org/tools/tools.html

(Yes, that repetition of 'tools' is correct.)

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia

www.prostate.org.au

Cancer Voices NSW :

www.cancervoices.org.au

Andrology Australia:

www.andrologyaustralia.org

The Australian Centre for Sexual Health:

www.impotenceaustralia.com.au