found that certain polyphenols from green and black tea were potent inhibitors of the Bcl-2 family of antiapoptotic proteins. Antiapoptotic proteins enable cancer cells to avoid normal cell death. The immortality of cancer cells makes them ultimately lethal to their hosts.
The biomarkers Cardellis team studied included hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prostate specific antigen (PSA). HGF and VEGF are good prognostic indicators of metastatic disease. PSA is the marker most commonly used to diagnose prostate cancer.
The study included 26 men, aged 41 to 72 years, diagnosed with prostate cancer and scheduled for radical prostatectomy. Patients consumed four capsules of Polyphenon E until the day before surgery. According to Cardelli, the dosage was equivalent to about 12 cups of normally brewed green tea. The duration of the study for 25 of the 26 patients ranged from 12 days to 73 days, with a median time of 34.5 days.
Findings showed a significant reduction in serum levels of HGF, VEGF and PSA after treatment, with some patients demonstrating reductions in levels of greater than 30 percent, according to the researchers.
Alluding to the fact that the trials were not randomized, William G. Nelson, V., M.D., Ph.D., professor of oncology, urology and pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore, MD, remarked, this trial is provocative enough to consider a more substantial randomized trial. Nelson is also a senior editor for Cancer Prevention Research.
The same researchers are collaborating in a study being performed at Columbia University (New York, NY) to study the effects of polyphenols on breast cancer patients.
There is reasonably good evidence that many cancers are preventable, and our studies using plant-derived substances support the idea that plant compounds found in a healthy diet can play a role in preventing cancer development and progression, Cardelli said.

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In Health Reform, a Cancer Offers an Acid Test). His litmus test is different than the typical ideological one, which focuses on whether or not a public plan is included. For him, its how well the solution deals with the cost of prostrate cancer treatments. In particular, hed like to see the various prostate cancer treatments the costs of which range from a few thousand dollars for watchful waiting to $100,000+ for proton radiation therapy subjected to comparative effectiveness research and have incentives aligned to encourage cost effective treatment. Right now, the problem is that there is an incentive to perform more costly treatments and little information on whats best.
Yet there is a more fundamental issue, which could be addressed by scientific innovation rather than health policy wonkery. And that issue is the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. Now, men undergo PSA tests followed by biopsies when the number looks bad. Those biopsies can be traumatic and are often inconclusive, leading to more tests, lots of worrying, along with treatments that are often unneeded, expensive and harmful (impotence and incontinence anyone?)
A big problem is that some men thought to have slow-growing early stage prostate cancer as described in the article can end up dying from the disease. And thats the main reason why such aggressive, costly treatments are pursued.
A better emphasis for health care reform would be to focus on providing incentives for the development and deployment of sensitive, specific diagnostic tests that can help determine whether treatment is needed and if so, which treatment is right for the particular individual. What we want to avoid are tests that just add to the uncertainty driving up costs for testing, consultation and treatment while producing more worry.
We should be able to finance even the most expensive treatments when needed if we can determine when they really are needed.

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JUNE 20: CHRON.COM:  Annual prostate screening is not necessary for all men, but getting a baseline PSA test at age 40 is a good idea, says a University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center urologist. The recently reported long-term European study of PSA testing clearly showed that early detection can work:  People talk about it showing you have to treat 48 men to prevent one death. That’s true, but there was also a 41 percent reduction in metastatic disease, which is incurable. That translates to treating about 25 men to prevent one death, which is much more in the realm of what you want from early detection.

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Over the prior few months a coalition of prostate cancer organizations (Prostate Cancer Action Network) have been meeting and discussing how to unify their agendas to better move the causes of prostate cancer awareness, research, treatment and support. These organizations have committed to join together and include in their regular work, certain core agenda items.
In response to the turbulent PSA controversy that has emerged they have agreed upon and jointly published a PSA Guidelines. (see this blog post - Leading US-Based Prostate Cancer Organizations Develop Joint Policy Agenda published on April 6, 2009). The Action Network has now published two new items, Talking Points About Prostate Cancer and a Legislative Agenda.
The most recent meetings of this group has now produced A List of Simple Facts to be used when meeting with the public about prostate cancer. The goal of this list is to unify the public face of the prostate cancer community in how it communicates with the general public and our government.
The Simple Facts
* Prostate cancer is a complex and problematic disease that affects not only the male patient but also his wife or partner and other family members over many years.
* Each year about 28,000 Americans die from prostate cancer often a slow and painful death as the cancer spreads to their bones and other organs. (Only lung cancer causes more cancer-related deaths in American men each year.)
* In addition, every year, up to 70,000 men learn that they have potentially incurable forms of prostate cancer that severely impact quality of life and may lead to their deaths.
* By 2020 the number of men being diagnosed with prostate cancer may be as high as 320,000 per year because of aging-related demographics of the American population.
* African-American men have one of the very highest rates of incidence and death from prostate cancer anywhere in the world. They are 1.6 times as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 2.4 times as likely to die of this disease as (non-Hispanic) Caucasian-American men.
* In nearly every state in America, men who are un- or under-insured are at very high risk for diagnosis of advanced or late-stage prostate cancer.
* Despite recent data and media coverage about PSA testing and prostate cancer mortality, the early detection and appropriate treatment of clinically significant prostate cancer remains a critical priority, especially among men at high risk because of family history, ethnicity, or other factors that define such risk.
* We urgently need better tests for early stage prostate cancer – tests that can discriminate between potentially aggressive cancers that need prompt treatment and indolent cancers that can potentially be managed with non-invasive treatments.
* Continuing innovation is imperative if we are to meet the urgent need for treatments that can save the lives and prevent the progression of this disease in men with aggressive and advanced forms of prostate cancer.
o No form of treatment has ever been shown to extend the survival of patients with advanced forms of prostate cancer by more than a few months.
* Every man has the right to know whether he is at risk for clinically significant prostate cancer that might lead to his death.
* Regardless of his age, every man should discuss his individual risk for prostate cancer with his doctor (i.e., his primary care physician and/or his urologist), and request the appropriate use of PSA and DRE tests until better options are available.
o Guidance issued by the American Urological Association in April 2009 (a) emphasizes that “The decision to use PSA for the early detection of prostate cancer should be individualized” and (b) suggests a “baseline” PSA test for well-informed men at age 40.
o Many other professional organizations, as well as the American Cancer Society, encourage discussion about PSA testing between a man and his doctor(s).
Additionally, we have developed a list of legislative priorities. This list is not meant to be inclusive of all the legislative priorities that any group works with, but to be a compendium of those pieces of legislation we, as a group, feel should be shepherded through the legislative system.
The Legislative Priorities
* H.R. 2115 (sponsored by Reps Hill and Murphy, of Indiana and Pennyslvania respectively) The creation of an Office of Men’s Health within the Department of Health and Human Services can do for men what the Office of Women’s Health has done so successfully for their wives and mothers and daughters – and can act as the primary advocate within the federal government to ensure that the specific health needs of men are never overlooked.
* House Resolution 345 (authored by Rep. Meeks of New York) details the epidemic nature of prostate cancer in the African- American community and supports the need for appropriate research and education to combat this serious problem.
* The Thomas J. Manton Early Detection and Treatment Act provides a national mechanism to ensure the early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of clinically significant prostate cancer among men who are un- or under-insured (instead of their current limited or non-existent options)
* The Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) at the Department of Defense requires an urgent and minimum increase in funding from $80 million to $125 million to accelerate the potential of the life-saving science it supports. Since its introduction in 1997-98, this program has
o Trained hundreds of young investigators in the field of prostate cancer research, and
o Supported and accelerated research on new diagnostic and prognostic tests, and
o Stimulated development of a major new network of institutions that collaborate on clinical trials of new treatments, despite
o Having its funding cut from a one-year high of over $100 million in FY01 to $80 million in FY06, and despite
o The fact that DoD stated in 1998 that this program required $200 million per annum to be fully funded
* We are determined to eliminate the impact of state and federal “least costly alternative” policies as strategies to manage the cost of treatment of prostate cancer. Such policies lead, for example, to men being forced to choose surgical castration instead of medical therapy as the only available form of hormonal therapy.
The following organizations have participated in and approved this work. I applaud each and every group for its efforts. I also want to specifically acknowledge the extra special work on these projects from Mike Scott (Prostate Cancer International) and Jimmy Boyd (Mens Health Network)- Thank you.

Malecare Prostate Cancer Support – www.malecare.com
Men’s Health Network – www.menshealthnetwork.org
National Alliance of State Prostate Cancer Coalitions – www.naspcc.org
Prostate Cancer International – www.pcainternational.org
Prostate Cancer Foundation - www.prostatecancerfoundation.org
Prostate Health Education Network – www.prostatehealthed.org
Prostate Cancer International - www.pcainternational.org
Us TOO International Prostate Cancer Education and Support Network – www.ustoo.com
Women Against Prostate Cancer – www.womenagainstprostatecancer.org
ZERO – The Project to End Prostate Cancer – www.zerocancer.

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Climate change is altering North American winter bird communities in ways that models currently favored by ecologists fail to predict.
Based on patterns of animals found in different climate zones today, ecologists would expect that as habitats warm, numbers of species found there will increase, and that those species will be smaller in size and restricted to narrower geographic ranges. Ecologists at the University of California, San Diego have found that only one of those three predictions has held for North American birds over the past quarter century.

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Its complicated, but Nicholas Wade of the New York Times does a nice job of explaining why some antioxidants, like vitamin C and E, could mitigate the benefits of exercise. Exercise makes the muscle cells metabolize glucose, writes Wade, by combining its carbon atoms with oxygen and extracting the energy that is released. In the process, some highly reactive oxygen molecules escape and make chemical attacks on anything in sight. These reactive oxygen compounds are known to damage the body’s tissues....The body has its own defense system for combating oxidative damage, but it does not always do enough. So antioxidants, which mop up the reactive oxygen compounds, may seem like a logical solution.
The Times reports that researchers at the University of Jenna in Germany and in Boston put that theory to the test, giving vitamin C and E to exercising subjects, and measuring sensitivity to insulin and the body’s natural defenses to oxidative damage. What happened? The subjects who took the vitamins had no improvement in insulin sensitivity and almost no activation of the body’s natural defense mechanism against oxidative damage.The Times reports that reactive oxygen compounds that are inevitable byproducts of exercise are a natural trigger for both of these responses, and the vitamins, by efficiently destroying the reactive oxygen, short-circuit the body’s natural response to exercise.
Yes. Its complicated, but the bottom line, according to one researcher, is if you exercise to promote health, you shouldn’t take large amounts of antioxidants. That advice, the Times points, out does not apply to fruits and vegetables, which will almost always do more good than harm.
Read more from Nicholas Wade in the New York Times.

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April 23, 2009
Play to explore experiences of chronically ill and hospitalized teens
UCSF Children's Hospital will present Tomorrow....A Better Day, a performance piece based on teens experiences with chronic illness and hospitalization. The play is a compilation of writings by current and former teen patients at UCSF, adapted for the stage by teachers and students at the arts-focused Northwest School in Seattle. Healthy teens from the Northwest School will travel to San Francisco to perform the piece, which captures the many facets of how teens experience healthcare, and shows how creativity and artistic expression marshal the healing process.

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Local Control of Brain Mets
Recent studies estimate that 25 percent of all cancer patients – particularly patients with melanoma, lung cancer, or advanced breast cancer – will develop brain metastases and require whole brain therapy. While whole brain radiotherapy is a treatment option, it also subjects healthy brain tissue to radiation dosages that may have negative side affects or limit the amount of therapeutic dose that can be applied in the event of a re-occurrence. In addition, whole brain radiation requires an interruption in the chemotherapy treatments that are so important to maintaining tumor control.
Dr. Christopher M. Duma, Neurological Surgeon at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, California will discuss the use of Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ to treat multiple brain metastases in a single session. Gamma Knife® surgery always has been especially good at treating very small targets with little or no damage to healthy tissue; but Perfexion is able to treat several targets faster and more efficiently making it a viable option of patients with brain metastases. The result is a fast and effective treatment for brain metastases that is easier on the patient, reduces the damage to healthy tissue that may limit future treatment options, and allows for concomitant chemotherapy for optimum primary tumor control.
Stereotactic Radiosurgery of the Spine
While Gamma Knife® surgery was initially invented to treat inoperable cancers and disorders in the brain, now the kind of stereotactic treatment precision established by Elekta can be applied to extra-cranial tumors. Today, the latest advancements in image guidance and dynamic arc delivery pioneered by Elekta combined with Leksell-quality fixation options support Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT) anywhere in the body to deliver optimal dose to the tumor, while protecting vital organs like the spinal cord.
Dr. Peter C. Gerszten, Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery and Radiation Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and co-editor of Spine Radiosurgery, will discuss the use of Elekta Axesse™ to perform stereotactic radiosurgery for spine and paraspinal lesions. According to Dr. Gerszten, “Axesse is fully optimized for SRS and SRT and therefore well suited for spine radiosurgery, providing patients a fast, safe, and effective treatment alternative or as an adjunct to open surgical intervention.”
More than sixty years ago, Professor Lars Leksell developed a three-coordinate head frame and revolutionized the field of stereotaxy. Twenty years later he conceived of replacing the surgical precision of the neurosurgeon with precisely targeted radiation, and invented the field of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Today, Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ is still the benchmark upon which all other SRS methods are measured; Perfexion equipped with Extend Program*™ is capable of treating cancers of the head and neck and lesions previously unsuitable for Gamma Knife surgery; And Elekta Axesse™ supports SRS and SRT anywhere in the body making it a versatile cross-over solution for neurosurgery and oncology .
According to President and CEO of Elekta North America, Joseph K.

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I found this surprising information on the American Cancer Society Website:

As recently as April 2007, the FDA released this statement: "Considering results from the large number of studies on aspartame's safety, including five previously conducted negative chronic carcinogenicity studies, a recently reported large epidemiology study with negative associations between the use of aspartame and the occurrence of tumors, and negative findings from a series of three transgenic mouse assays, FDA finds no reason to alter its previous conclusion that aspartame is safe as a general purpose sweetener in food."

What Do the Experts Say?

Aspartame has been approved for use as a sweetener by the FDA and by the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, and the World Health Organization. They have concluded that aspartame does not cause cancer or other adverse health effects in the general population. Though research into a possible link between aspartame and cancer continues, no study to date has had results that change this conclusion.

Wow! All I ever hear is how bad aspartame is for you/us! The number one reason given is always "it causes cancer." Well, it may in fact cause some health problems and just because experts haven't found a link to cancer doesn't mean it isn't possible. But at least officially, it looks like aspartame, used in moderation (and isn't this good advice when using most dietary additives or supplements) might not be the worst thing. Like say, eating and drinking lots of sugar which leads to obesity which leads to high blood pressure and other heart health issues.

Feel good, keep smiling and try to limit your Diet Coke intake to one or two a day.

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A glance into a cloudless night sky will usually show a handful of stars. But incredible pictures from Nasas new telescope show a galaxy of millions. The powerful Kepler telescope was designed to search for unknown planets among more than 100,000 stars in the Milky Way. Keplers first image reveals a vast star field in the Cygnus-Lyra region of our galaxy, the Milky Way. One fascinating picture is ablaze with stars filling the telescopes entire field of view, while two others zoom in on targeted stars and clusters. Scientists believe it could unveil the first gripping evidence of small, rocky planets like the Earth with the right conditions to support life. Lia LaPiana, programme executive at the American space agency Nasas headquarters in Washington DC, said: s first glimpse of the sky is awe-inspiring. To be able to see millions of stars in a single snapshot is simply breathtaking.
The 15ft telescope, fitted with British-made light detectors, was launched last month from Cape Canaveral, Florida.From a vantage point trailing the Earth round the Sun, it will spend three-and-a-half years focused on a patch of sky equivalent to the size of a human hand held at arms length. Planets that could support life would lie in the or zone - an orbital band where temperatures are not too hot and not too cold, but just right to allow the existence of watery oceans, lakes and rivers, Nasa says. A world with liquid water on its surface may be expected to host living organisms, either primitive or advanced. The Kepler will find planets by detecting almost imperceptible - the tiny amount of dimming that occurs each time a planet moves across the face of a star.
Information such as a planets size and the extent of its orbit can be calculated from the amount of dimming, the length of time between and the stars mass. Kepler will observe TrES-2 and other known planets as a test to show it is working properly before it searches around the other 100,000 target stars. Since the first outside the Solar System was discovered in 1995, more than 340 have been identified. Most have been detected using ground-based telescopes from the way an orbiting planets gravity tugs on a star causing it to . This technique can find giant planets close to their stars but is not good for locating smaller Earth-like planets. Keplers planet-spotting method is much more suited to this task. The full-view image from Kepler shows a 100 square degree portion of sky containing an estimated 14million stars, including the 100,000 selected as planet-hunting targets.

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What great news has greeted us today. We can now hope that the FDA will quickly approve Provenge and we can get this sorely needed treatment ASAP. If Provenge gets approval from the FDA it will be the first cancer vaccine ever approved. Sadly it will be only the second approved treatment for prostate cancer!
If you search for Provenge in this blog you can learn about the battles to date to obtain approval and how the treatment works.
Joel T Nowak MA, MSW
Dendreon Corporation
PROVENGE Significantly Prolongs Survival in Men with Advanced Prostate Cancer in Pivotal Phase 3 IMPACT Study
- Study Meets Primary Endpoint Showing Statistically Significant Improvement in Overall Survival -
- First Active Immunotherapy for Cancer to Prolong Survival -
- Full Data to be Presented at Plenary Session at Upcoming AUA Annual Meeting -
- Company to Host a Conference Call Today at 9:00 AM ET -
SEATTLE, April 14, 2009 - Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq: DNDN) announced today that the pivotal Phase 3 IMPACT study of PROVENGE® (sipuleucel-T) in men with advanced prostate cancer met its primary endpoint of improving overall survival compared to a placebo control. The magnitude of the survival difference observed in the intent to treat population resulted in the study successfully achieving the pre-specified level of statistical significance defined by the studys design. The safety profile of PROVENGE appeared to be consistent with prior trials.
The 512-patient, multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled IMPACT (IMmunotherapy for Prostate AdenoCarcinoma Treatment) study enrolled men with metastatic androgen-independent prostate cancer was conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
PROVENGE is Dendreons investigational product candidate for men with advanced prostate cancer and may represent the first in a new class of active cellular immunotherapies specifically designed to engage the patients own immune system against cancer.
Detailed results from the IMPACT study will be presented during a plenary session at the American Urological Associations Annual Meeting in Chicago on Tues., Apr. 28 at 2:20 pm CT.
Survival is the gold standard outcome for oncology clinical trials, and overall survival was the primary endpoint of the IMPACT trial. The positive results from this landmark study provide confirmatory evidence demonstrating that treatment with PROVENGE may prolong survival, said Mitchell H. Gold, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Dendreon. We are immensely grateful to our clinical investigators and the more than 1,000 men with advanced prostate cancer who have participated in our studies over the last decade and whose courage and contribution have significantly advanced the understanding and treatment of prostate cancer and the potential role of cancer immunotherapies.The successful outcome from the Phase 3 IMPACT study provides validation of the long-pursued goal of harnessing the human immune system against a patients own cancer, continued Dr. Gold.
Because the data meet the criteria and specifications outlined in its Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement with the FDA, Dendreon intends to file an amendment to its existing Biologic License Application (BLA) in the fourth quarter of this year to gain licensure of PROVENGE.
Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in the United States and the third most common cancer worldwide. More than one million men in the United States have prostate cancer, with an estimated 186,320 new cases and approximately 28,660 men who were expected to die from the disease in 2008. Currently there are limited treatment options for men with advanced, metastatic prostate cancer.
Conference Call Scheduled for Today at 9:00 a.m. ET
Dendreon will host a conference call today at 9:00 a.m. ET. To access the live call, dial 1-877-419-6594 (domestic) or 719-325-4855 (international). The call will also be audio webcast and will be available from the Companys website at www.dendreon.com under the Investor/Webcasts and Presentations section. A recorded rebroadcast will be available for interested parties unable to participate in the live conference call by dialing 1-888-203-1112 (domestic) or 719-457-0820 (international); the conference ID number is 8182435. The replay will be available from 12:00 p.m. ET on April 14, 2009 until midnight April 16, 2009. In addition, the webcast will be archived for on-demand listening for 30 days at www.dendreon.com.
About PROVENGE
PROVENGE ® (sipuleucel-T), an investigational product in development for men with androgen-independent prostate cancer, may represent the first product in a new class of active cellular immunotherapies (ACIs). PROVENGE and other ACIs are uniquely designed to use live human cells to engage the patients own immune system with the goal of eliciting a specific long-lasting response against cancer. In controlled clinical trials, the most common adverse events were chills, fever, headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, vomiting and tremor. These events were primarily low grade with a short duration of 1-2 days following infusion.
About Dendreon
Dendreon Corporation is a biotechnology company whose mission is to target cancer and transform lives through the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics. The Company applies its expertise in antigen identification, engineering and cell processing to produce active cellular immunotherapy product candidates designed to stimulate an immune response. Dendreon is also developing an orally-available small molecule that targets TRPM8 that could be applicable to multiple types of cancer as well as benign prostatic hyperplasia. The Company has its headquarters in Seattle, Washington and is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol DNDN. For more information about the Company and its programs, visit www.dendreon.com.
Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties surrounding the efficacy of PROVENGE to treat men suffering from prostate cancer, risks and uncertainties surrounding the presentation of data to the FDA and approval of product applications by the FDA and risks and uncertainties inherent in the process of discovering, developing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics. Factors that may cause such differences include risks related to our limited operating history, risks associated with completing our clinical trials, the risk that the safety and/or efficacy results of existing clinical trials or from additional clinical trials for PROVENGE will not support approval for a biologics license, the risk that the FDA may interpret data differently than we do or require more data or a more rigorous analysis of data than expected, the risk that the FDA will not approve a product for which a biologics license has been applied, the risk that the results of a clinical trial for PROVENGE or other product may not be indicative of results obtained in a later clinical trial, risks that we may lack the financial resources and access to capital to fund required clinical trials or commercialization of PROVENGE, our dependence on the efforts of third parties, and our dependence on intellectual property. Further information on the factors and risks that could affect Dendreons business, financial condition and results of operations are contained in Dendreons public disclosure filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov.
Contact Information:
Investors:
Jennifer Cook Williams
Dendreon Corporation
(206) 829-1500
Media:
Katherine Stueland
WeissComm Partners
kstueland@wcpglobal.

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A dangerous obsession with achieving the perfect tan is causing a rapid increase in skin cancer among young women, the latest figures suggest. Malignant melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer, has overtaken cancers of the cervix and breast to become the most common cancer diagnosed in women under 30. An estimated 340 women in their twenties now have melanoma diagnosed in Britain every year — nearly double the number to have breast cancer diagnosed at a similar age, according to Cancer Research UK. A love of sunbeds and “binge tanning” on holiday are the root causes of the disease, which kills 50 women under the age of 40 each year. Of all types of cancer, malignant melanoma is increasing at the fastest rate across all ages. Experts described the figures as shocking, adding that the desire to acquire a year-round “healthy glow” could be anything but healthy.
Diagnoses of the disease overtook those of cervical cancer among women aged 20-29 in 2004, but Cancer Research waited to check the numbers for 2005 to confirm the pattern. That year there were 338 cases of malignant melanoma compared with 298 cases of cervical cancer — in contrast to 2003, when there were 220 and 270 cases respectively. “We can now see there definitely is a trend for malignant melanoma overtaking cervical cancer for women in their twenties,” a spokesman for the charity said. For women in their thirties, melanoma has also become the third most common cancer after those of the breast and cervix. Across all age groups, the disease causes 1,800 deaths a year — twice the number in Australia, where the dangers of excess exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays have been well publicised in public health campaigns for nearly 30 years.
The UK Government has spent more than £420 million on annual campaigns since 2003, but overall, skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Britain, with 100,000 new cases each year. There are two main types: melanoma and non-melanoma. Melanoma makes up just 11 per cent of diagnosed cases of skin cancer but accounts for 80 per cent of deaths, and is more commonly diagnosed in women. However, Cancer Research UK experts say that malignant melanoma will be the fourth most common cancer for men and women of all ages by 2024, when cases are predicted to have risen from about 9,000 each year to more than 15,500. The disease is mainly identified by a fast-growing, irregular dark spot on previously normal skin or in an existing mole that changes in size, colour or texture. Most cases are preventable — as about 80 per cent are caused by exposure to sunlight or UV radiation.
Experts warned people of all ages to stay away from sunbeds and to use a high-factor sun lotion in the sun, to be careful not to get burnt and to take extra care of children. Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, said: “The fashion for tanned skin is prompting young women to put their health at risk in a bid to look bronzed. “Sunbeds are not a safe alternative to sunbathing, and the fact that children can easily access them is a worry. That’s why we want to see a ban on coin-operated sunbeds and a ban on sunbeds for under-18s.” A survey of 4,000 people last year found that one in three women had used a sunbed at some point, with 80 per cent first using one when they were under 35. Caroline Cerny, the manager of the Cancer Research UK SunSmart campaign, which starts today, added that UV rays in sun beds could be more than ten times stronger than the effect of the midday sun. Studies also suggested that women who use sun beds under the age of 35 could increase their risk of developing melanoma by as much as 75 per cent.

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The 27-year-old pop star did finally return but reportedly left again 90 seconds before the end of a song. She later returned again and told the crowd something about marijuana and peppered her sign-off with X-rated expletives and a warning to drive safe.
After the show, a statement was posted on Spears website apologizing and attributing the stop-and-go breaks as the result of crew members above the stage becoming ill due to a ventilation issue.
So her stage hands got too buzzed from all the weed her fans were smoking in the arena? Or was this Spears way of rebelling against her father, who is her legal conservator and is exploring the possibility of expanding her tour on additional dates in additional cities? Why cant daddy just let her sit at home popping qualudes and eating cake.

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Senators Kennedy and Hutchison introduced their long anticipated cancer bill yesterday.
In summary, the bill states that:
1- Despite all the knowledge we have gained about cancer over the years, including early detection and screening, the actual decline in cancer mortality rate is only 6 percent as compared to a decline in mortality rate from heart disease (56 percent) and stroke (66 percent).
2- We must develop ways to diagnosis cancer in its early curable stages; particularly by learning about and developing biomarkers, (the recent controversy about PSA testing speaks volumes for the prostate cancer community).
3- We must solve the national crisis around health insurance. Without resolving this problem, the newly developed biomarkers and treatments will not make their way to the individual survivor.
4- Cancer research must be coordinated and shared among researchers along with tissue samples and other needed recourses.
5- Patient survivorship and post treatment planning services must be developed to support the survivor as well as achieve continuity of therapy without duplication of services.

Joel T Nowak MA, MSW
The following document was prepared by the Kennedy and Hutchison staffs for publication as an op-ed piece in the Houston Chronicle.

Nows time to reinvigorate countrys War on Cancer By U.S. SENS. EDWARD M. KENNEDY and KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON March 25, 2009, 8:46PM Cancer is a relentless disease. It doesnt discriminate between men and women, wealthy or poor, the elderly or the young. In 2008, more than 1.4 million Americans were diagnosed with some form of the disease. If it wasnt you, it may have been a spouse or sibling, a parent or a child, a friend or a coworker. We, too, have known the challenges of cancer diagnoses for ourselves or our family members or friends. And while there are many stories of survival, this disease still takes far too many lives. More than half a million Americans lost their battle with cancer last year.
Since the War on Cancer was declared in 1971, we have amassed a wealth of knowledge about the disease. Advances in basic and clinical research have improved treatments significantly. Some of the most important progress has been made in prevention and early detection, particularly screening, including mammography and colonoscopy. Though heightened awareness and prevention should be emphasized, alone they dont translate into adequate progress for those with cancer. Since 1971, the cancer mortality rate has decreased by only 6 percent. In the same period, by contrast, mortality rates have dramatically declined for heart disease (by 56 percent) and stroke (by 66 percent).
Today, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, exceeded only by heart disease. If the trend continues, the National Cancer Institute predicts that one in every two men and one in every three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes, and that cancer will become the leading killer of Americans.
The solution isnt easy, but there are steps we should take now if we hope to see the diagnosis rate decline substantially and the survival rate increase. To do so, we must identify and remove the numerous barriers that obstruct our progress in cancer research and treatment.
First, it is essential that cancer be diagnosed at an initial, curable stage. One of the most promising breakthroughs is the monitoring of biomarkers, which leave evidence within the body that alerts clinicians to hidden activity indicating that cancer may be developing.
Identification of such biomarkers can lead to the earliest possible detection of cancer in patients.
Second, even if we significantly improve early detection, lack of health insurance and other impediments to care will preclude many Americans from undergoing routine screening. With early screening, the disease may be detected at a treatable stage and dramatically increase the rate of survival. Greater outreach is clearly needed to make screening more available to all, and especially to underserved populations.
Third, we must adopt a more coordinated approach to cancer research.
Establishing an interconnected network of biorepositories with broadly accessible sources of tissue collection and storage will enable investigators to share information and samples much more effectively.
Integrated research will help accelerate the progress of lifesaving research. The search for cures should also be a cooperative goal. The current culture of isolated career research must yield to more cooperative arrangements to expedite breakthroughs. Our national policy should encourage all stakeholders in the War on Cancer to become allies and work in concert toward cures.
Fourth, as our nations best and brightest researchers seek new ways to eradicate cancer, we must improve treatment for those who have it today.
Raising awareness of clinical trials would result in more patients and their doctors knowing what promising trials are available. Doing so will expand treatment options for patients, and enable researchers to develop better methods for prevention, diagnosis, and therapy. Today, less than five percent of the 10 million adults with cancer in the United States participate in clinical trials. Disincentives by the health insurance market, preventing patients from enrolling in clinical trials, must be eliminated.
Finally, as our knowledge of cancer advances and patients live longer, we need a process that will improve patient survivorship through comprehensive care planning services. There is great value in equipping patients with a treatment plan and summary of their care when they first enter remission, in order to achieve continuity of therapy and preventing costly, duplicative or unnecessary services.
We have introduced bipartisan legislation to bring about these necessary changes, and we hope to see the bill enacted in the coming weeks and months. These policy initiatives cannot be fully implemented without broad support and sufficient resources, and we are committed to leading this effort to completion.
Its time to reinvigorate the War on Cancer, and more effective coordination of policy and science is indispensable for rapid progress.
Hutchison is a Republican senator from Texas. Kennedy is a Democratic senator from Massachusetts.

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A national crackdown on fraud, which is said to cost the UK £14 billion a year, is to be launched by the government.The three-year National Fraud Strategy, the first of its kind, is aimed at protecting consumers and businesses.A national fraud reporting centre and new legal powers for prosecutors and crown courts are among the initiatives.Attorney General Baroness Scotland said fraud cost every person £231 per year and the strategy would create a more "hostile environment for fraudsters".The strategy was developed by the newly-established National Fraud Strategic Authority (NFSA), an executive agency of the Attorney General's Office, which will co-ordinate counter-fraud activity.Sandra Quinn, chief executive of the National Fraud Strategic Authority, said that at the moment there was nowhere central for people to go and report fraud.Livelihoods and even lives have been lost as a consequence of fraud
Baroness Scotland

"People will be able to call or e-mail the centre which will also receive information from businesses including banks," she said."There is a lot of organised fraud out there and often it is reasonably small amounts of money but it's being done thousands of times."She added that crown courts would be given extra powers - including the ability to bar solicitors and estate agents from working if they have been convicted of fraud."Courts will also be able to order compensation to be paid on a wider scale," she said."At the moment a victim has to be named individually in court to get compensation and that will change."Livelihoods lostBaroness Scotland said the strategy represented an "emphatic response" from the government to the notion of fraud as a "victimless crime"."I am very aware of the financial and personal misery frauds, such as e-mail scams, identity theft, mortgage and credit card fraud, through to Ponzi schemes and share sale frauds, can inflict on consumers and businesses," she said."Livelihoods and even lives have been lost as a consequence of fraud and we are working to improve the support available to people and businesses to make it tougher to defraud them."New guidelines for plea agreements in complex or serious fraud cases were published on Wednesday.The rules, which come in to force on 5 May, will allow prosecutors to make deals with defendants in the hope of avoiding long and expensive trials.Prosecutors would be able to negotiate with alleged fraudsters about what they were prepared to admit to.

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Charlotte Latin wrestler Peter McClelland and assistant coach David Paige today will launch a worthy cause. They organized the Charlotte All-Star Classic at 7 p.m. at Latin, and all benefits will go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. It will be a dual-team format with wrestlers from throughout Charlotte schools. “We want this to be a fun event that also has an impact,” McClelland said.

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LITTLETON, Mass., Feb. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Still River Systems announced today the successful operation of the world's highest field, high energy cyclotron magnet. Still River's magnet is the key technical element for reducing the size and cost of the particle accelerator that will deliver proton therapy at a number of hospitals beginning with the first installation at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri this fall.

"The last six months have been very exciting," said Marc Buntaine, CEO. "Still River has achieved all of the component milestones that bring us to system integration and delivery." Proton therapy, widely regarded as the next evolutionary step in the radiation treatment of cancer, has seen unprecedented interest from the radiation oncology and patient communities in recent years. However, the large size and high cost of existing proton therapy systems have made it difficult for the average hospital to add this powerful tool to their cancer fighting arsenal.

The heart of the Monarch250, a superconducting magnet developed in an industrial and academic partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has now tested operational and stable at its full design current "This magnet sets a record for magnetic field strength used in a high energy cyclotron. The cyclotron built around this magnet will be the most compact source for proton therapy available today." said Dr. Kenneth Gall, founder and Chief Technology Officer.

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The "New" Prostate Cancer InfoLink is intended for informational purposes only. It is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services. News and information provided on this site should not be used for diagnosing or treating any health problem or disease. The "New" Prostate Cancer InfoLink is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, please consult your healthcare provider.

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Current research suggests that lowering cholesterol may block the growth of prostate tumors. The related report by Solomon et al, Ezetimibe Is an Inhibitor of Tumor Angiogenesis, appears in the March 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.High cholesterol not only leads to atherosclerosis and heart disease, but may also contribute to cancer growth and progression. Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in the United States, affecting approximately 1 in 6 men. Prostate tumors accumulate high levels of cholesterol, and tumor incidence correlates with eating a high fat/high cholesterol diet diet. In addition, prostate tumor progression has been linked to serum cholesterol levels.
The article from Solomon et al suggests that cholesterol reduction, which is routinely accomplished pharmacologically in humans, may reduce angiogenesis, ultimately leading to less aggressive tumors.

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Researchers from the University of California in San Francisco have announced that they have discovered a new drug that successfully blocks the main source of cancer growth. It has been proven as effective on mice, and now final tests are being done to start clinical trials on human patients.
The new drug is unlike any other drug thats currently in clinical trials it short-circuits the normal ability of cells to sense the need to grow and divide. Normally, in response to growth signals, a multi-protein unit in cells called mTOR integrates information about the cell’s nutritional and energy needs, and prompts the cell to manufacture key proteins for cell growth. But cancer exploits this signal for its own growth.
We were trying to synthesize compounds that could help us learn more about how cancer exploits normal growth controls, said Kevan Shokat, one of the researchers. “Once we made it, though, we found it was even better than we thought it would be at blocking mTor signaling. It does everything that rapamycin does and more.
The new drug is successful because there are two mTOR signal pathways, and it blocks both. On the other hand, a drug thats currently being used is Rapamycin, which only blocks one, and so allows the growth-signaling system to still function.
I hope the new drug can be used to treat a range of cancers, said Shokat. We will work with clinicians to test it against a number of types of cancer – breast, lung and others. We want to first find the cancer that is most sensitive to it.
The details are published in PLoS Biology.
Source: ucsf.

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