Lifetime banks on dramas, reality for rebound

History programming chief Nancy Dubuc is trying to work her magic at ailing sister channel Lifetime, over which she now has oversight.Project Runway, beginning its ninth season Thursday, proved an expensive outlay when previous programmers outbid Bravo, as ratings have declined. And the network has yet to find companion reality shows that approach the popularity of History's Pawn Stars and American Pickers. Roseanne's Nuts drew 1.6 million viewers to last week's premiere (and its comedian star told critics she was angling for a hybrid of "reality and reality television"). Up next are Picker Sisters, featuring interior designer pals, due Aug. 2, and Russian Dolls, a take on Jersey Shore from eastern Europe by way of Brooklyn, coming Aug. 11.
But it's also renewed Army Wives for a new season, and unlike rivals such as TLC, Dubuc says "We've moved aggressively forward with dramas that are unapologetic and fearless."
Against the Wall, premiering Sunday (10 ET/PT), stars Rachael Carpani (The Glades) as a Chicago detective promoted to an internal affairs officer, putting her at odds with her cop brothers and dad, played by Treat Williams.
But true to the style of Lifetime movies (and there are dozens of those in the pipeline), her love life is compromised. "No men can measure up to her yet, so she's really reluctant to make a go of it," Carpani says.
Also due is a different sort of movie project: Five, a series of interconnected short films that "use humor and drama to explore the effect breast cancer has on relationships," Dubuc says, promising it "may be the most important film we've ever done." Marta Kauffman (Friends) created the story arc, in which Jeanne Tripplehorn's lead character finds out, as a girl, that her mom has cancer; in subsequent installments she decides to become an oncologist and, finally, learns she too has the disease. But "It's a comedy," Kauffman says. "It's not really about breast cancer; we've all seen those." Instead, it uses the disease "as a backdrop to learn about relationships."
The five films were directed by Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore, Penelope Spheeris and Patty Jenkins and features stars including Patricia Clarkson, Jennifer Morrison, Tracee Ellis Ross, Josh Holloway and Bob Newhart.

Cell Phone Brain Cancer Study Doesn't Ring True? Scientists Explain Why

Youths using cell phones do not face a higher risk of brain cancer, a new study says. However, two California scientists who have looked at the report say that's not the whole story.

The study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute concludes that youngsters who use cell phones have no greater risk of brain cancer than do non-users. Parents shouldn't breathe a sigh of relief, according to Joel Moskowitz, director of the University of California-Berkeley's Center for Family and Community Health. Moskowitz has reviewed the research and claims the results actually verify higher tumor risks for children but the findings are downplayed.

"They did report a number of significant associations between cell-phone use, in terms of number of years of use, with brain-tumor risk in children. And they try to dismiss those, as well."

Regular cell-phone users in the study were described as those using a phone once a week for six months, says Moskowitz, who calls that frequency "barely even using a phone." Usage by American children and teens is much higher, he says. The study was conducted in Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway.

Because mobile-phone usage among youths has increased over the years, the researchers noted, a careful watch on the trend is needed. Retired electronics engineer Lloyd Morgan has been doing just that - authoring several reports on links between the RF radiation exposure from cell phones and brain tumors. Morgan also has analyzed the newest report, which he says - like the highly criticized Interphone study a year ago - considers radiation exposures not reflective of typical use, and therefore downplays brain-tumor risk.

"They contradict their own conclusion, when you read the paper. It isn't what the abstract says it is."

On a related RF radiation health-safety note, several public health watchdogs and the American Academy of Environmental Medicine sent a request to congress  this week asking that it direct the Federal Communications Commission to update outdated cell-tower safety regulations. The groups cite a growing body of science showing RF biological effects, such as links to cancer, and other health issues including memory ability.

Rescuers rage over cancer exclusion in 9/11 fund

First responders and others who say they became ill after working at ground zero voiced anger and disappointment at a town hall meeting in New York about a $2.8 billion federal fund for them. Federal officials had announced Tuesday that those with cancer will continue to be excluded from the federal help for those who say they were sickened while working in the World Trade Center wreckage after the Sept. 11 attacks.
A few dozen of them gathered at the meeting Wednesday night. The tone remained respectful toward fund administrator Sheila Birnbaum. But retired police detective John Marshall made a forceful argument by standing and speaking through a breathing tube he has needed since treatment for throat cancer.
Some first responders and people who lived near the lower Manhattan site on Sept. 11, 2001, believe their cancer is connected to the cloud of toxins that bloomed from the destruction of the 110-story WTC twin towers. But a federal review, by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, determined that "very little" evidence had been reported on the link between the massive toxic cloud and cancer.
The report said only one peer-reviewed article was published on the subject in 2009 and two others were based on models to estimate the risk of cancer.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called on the director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to accelerate research and data collection to examine the links between cancer and exposure to contaminants at ground zero.
Democratic Charles Schumer called the report "premature."
"So many people have gotten such rare cancers — and at young ages — that it seems obvious there must be a link," he said in a statement.
The Zadroga Act, named for a police detective who died at age 34 after working at ground zero, was created to aid those who were sickened. It guarantees that those facing health problems related to Sept. 11 will be monitored by doctors and receive treatment at least until 2015. It also requires the administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program, established by the act, to review medical evidence to determine if there is reason to add cancer to the list of diseases covered.
The next review will be conducted in early to mid-2012.
The cause of Zadroga's 2006 death continues to be debated. His supporters say he died from respiratory disease contracted at ground zero. But the city's medical examiner said his lung condition was caused by prescription drug abuse, not by World Trade Center particles.

Cancer has no heroes

Stories mean more to us if we know the people involved.

That’s why news of Jack Layton’s new battle with cancer quickly became a mega-story.

Layton is “known” on two levels in Canada.

First, by journalists who have gotten to know him in Ottawa during his years as federal NDP leader, along with many others familiar with him from his years as a leading Canadian municipal politician.

But Layton is also “known” in a very real sense by millions of Canadians, most of whom have never met or talked to him in person, but whom he has visited countless times in the intimacy of their living rooms, over many years, in countless political stories.

That’s why, when Layton appeared Monday at a press conference to announce he was temporarily stepping aside as NDP leader to battle a new cancer, millions who have never met him were genuinely shocked by his physical frailty, rasping voice and the fact he suddenly looked much older than his 61 years.

It was like seeing a relative, or a friend or workmate you hadn’t been in touch with lately, who suddenly appears before you in shockingly ill health.

What I’m going to say next is in no way intended as criticism of Layton, a skilled politician who really is a guy you’d like to have a beer with and who has always fought passionately for his vision of Canada.

My concern, rather, is that, “we,” meaning the media and the public, not make the mistake of portraying Layton as either a “hero” or heroic in his attempts to recover from this clearly very serious new cancer, which followed his previous bout with prostate cancer, which Layton says is now under control.

The reason is no one who is dealing with cancer, or any other serious disease, publicly or privately, should ever be expected, or required, or made to feel they must be heroic, or serve as an example to others, even if they demand it of themselves.

I don’t, for example, consider my late father, who died from lung cancer after smoking all his life, having started decades before it was linked to cancer, “heroic” in how he coped with the disease.

Rather, I consider him “human.” Knowing the prognosis was grim, he tried to hang on until the birth of his first grandchild, and, once he realized he wasn’t going to make it, refused all further treatment.

The point is, it was only after the two of us got by any notions he should “heroically” hang on, that we were able to talk honestly about our mutual fears, pain, recriminations, confusion, disappointments and anger.

Indeed, having had some health problems in recent years, I can tell you from experience that anger is an emotion that accompanies illness far more than any notions of “heroism” or being a role model for others.

Anger as in, “why me?” As in, “what did I do to deserve this?” as if anyone “deserves” bad, or for that matter, good, health.

I don’t think we should expect anyone who is sick - famous or unknown, young or old, married or single - to be heroic, or an example to others.

I think we should expect them to be human, and start from there.

Sir Paul Reeves diagnosed with cancer

Former Governor-General Sir Paul Reeves has been diagnosed with cancer.
A statement issued on behalf of himself and family said the former governor general was "stepping back from most aspects of his public life following a diagnosis of cancer. This is to allow him to focus on addressing the health issues and to spend more time with Lady [Beverley] Reeves and his family."
The 78-year-old asked for privacy and directed comments to Taranaki's Bishop Philip Richardson.
Bishop Richardson said he was shocked when he found out Sir Paul, who was the first Maori to hold the position and is also a former Archbishop of New Zealand, was ill.
He wouldn't be drawn on what type of cancer Sir Paul has, however, he said he was doing well.
"He's our most senior...and our most respected bishop. He's always there to advise us and we continue to look forward to being able to seek that advice from him and take his counsel.
"Sir Paul is an incredibly strong person and has a great outlook on life and has a wonderfully strong and supportive wife and family and they're doing really well.

"I'm very confident he will deal with this in the way he deals with everything - with strength and courage.
"We are all wishing him and Lady Beverley well and certainly they will be very much in the prayers of the people of the church."
However, Bishop Richardson said Sir Paul wasn't withdrawing from all of his public roles, he is to continue as AUT's chancellor because of its personal importance.
Canon Hone Kaa said his friend of Te Ati Awa decent had been kept busy in recent years with iwi work in Taranaki.
"Apparently, he's cheerful enough and I guess it's just a matter of wait and see."
Sir Paul was governor-general from 1985-1990.

Tracking cancer signatures

Signatures can be used to diagnose the disease, scientists hope, and to give a prognosis to patients who have cancer. But there have been few successes in this brave new world of cancer research and some notable failures.

Genetic tests devised at Duke University by researchers using the new methodology have turned out to be worthless, though they were once hailed as breakthroughs. Two new blood tests for ovarian cancer have also been abandoned.

Despite the setbacks, researchers say they cannot give up on their quest for cancer signatures. Dr. Lajos Pusztai, a breast cancer researcher at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, is one of them.

How many new drugs, he asks, were approved for breast cancer treatment in the past decade? His answer: seven. None was much different from drugs already on the market.

Yet in the same decade, he said, there were 8,000 publications in medical and scientific journals on breast cancer and more than 3,000 clinical trials at a cost of over $1 billion. “What came out of this is seven ‘me too’ drugs,” Pusztai said.

Yes, there have been studies showing single genes can go awry and fuel certain cancers, he and other scientists say. And yes, those studies have led to new drugs, so-called targeted therapies, that block the genes, extending the lives of some patients with some types of cancer.

But for a major advance in the way cancer is diagnosed and treated, Pusztai and other researchers believe that work must continue on genomic signatures. It’s a very different sort of science, an elaborate enterprise that involves complicated analyses of patterns of genes or other components of cells.

The hunt for cancer signatures also is a type of work that requires a leap of faith. It is impossible for scientists to use their intuition to know whether a signature has any biological meaning – it is just a pattern, and the meaning comes from its statistical association with a result.

By looking for these signatures, scientists are looking for a sort of next generation of biomarkers, and biomarkers have a troubled history in cancer research.

About 15 years ago, when the world was simpler, the American Society for Clinical Oncology called together a group of experts and asked them to develop some guidelines. Which cancer biomarkers are useful for making clinical decisions?
Dr. Daniel Hayes, a breast cancer researcher at the University of Michigan, was part of the group.

“We all kind of sat around and looked at each other and said, ‘We have no idea how to do this,”’ Hayes recalled. The field of tumour biomarkers, he said, “had been so chaotic.”
All too often, researchers claimed to have discovered reliable ways to identify a particular cancer, but studies confirming they were valid had never been done.

The group ended up writing a paper with what they called a “level of evidence scale” outlining the results they needed before they would believe a claim. Only a handful of tumor biomarkers met their criteria.

Yet, Hayes said, “during that time there had been hundreds of putative markers reported for breast cancer alone, let alone other diseases.”

With genomic signatures, the situation is more involved than it was 15 years ago, but the many of the same problems remain, Hayes and others say.

Signatures can be used to identify cancer cells in the way a tartan can identify a Scottish clan, Hayes said. “Each tartan is composed of threads of several different colors, but when woven into a single cloth, presents a distinctive pattern or signature that distinguishes one clan from another,” he said.

The tools used to find signatures are so complex they can be misleading if the results are not tested properly. Investigators look for patterns in huge arrays of genes or proteins or RNA molecules, and they constantly find spurious associations with cancer that look for all the world like true ones.

“The question is, what is noise and what is real?” said Dr. Steven Goodman, a biostatistician at Johns Hopkins University. In these studies, he added, “you are guaranteed to find things,” and almost always what is found is nonsense.

Gene or protein patterns, said Donald Berry, a statistician at MD Anderson Cancer Center, “are very difficult to get right.” Finding them, he said, “is like looking for a needle in a haystack when you can’t tell the needle from the hay.”

Adding to the confusion is that the research requires a group of experts, each of whom has a different, highly technical skill. Each person on a team may be so specialized that no one is qualified to know exactly what his or her colleagues are doing.
Pusztai’s team, for instance, includes pathologists, molecular biologists and biostatisticians. “No one person on the team sees all the pieces together,” he said.

For example, he said, just analysing cancer tissue for a genomics study involves 200 to 3,000 steps and takes several days to complete. “Any one of these steps can go wrong, and a good researcher should know what can influence the success of each step and control for the quality,” he said.

What comes out of this analysis is “reams of numbers,” Pusztai said. “If one were to print these out it would amount to thousands of pages. The interpretation of these numbers is purely statistical and mathematical.”

Even when researchers find a real association, it may not be clinically useful. A genomic signature test that correctly identifies most tumors that will respond to a drug but incorrectly identifies others may not be of net benefit to patients.

What is needed, and what rarely has been done, is research to see if a test based on a new biomarker does more good than harm.
It’s expensive and time consuming, but it is the sort of evidence-gathering that is almost always done to see if a new drug is effective, Hayes noted. Yet there is little incentive to evaluate biomarkers, because the Food and Drug Administration does not require it and companies are not reimbursed as much for tests based on biomarkers as they are for new cancer drugs.

“There is a whole series of things in this cycle that need to be broken,” Hayes said.

One step that could make a big difference, scientists said, would be for researchers who think they have found a new genomic signature for cancer to publish enough of their data and analysis for others to verify their work. Surprisingly few have done so.

The only reason the Duke research was discovered to be flawed, in fact, was that it relied on publicly available data sets and algorithms. Even so, unraveling the details of the work was so complicated that it took Keith Baggerly and Kevin Coombes, two statisticians at MD Anderson, 2,000 hours to find all the errors.

Perhaps illustrating the perils of the needle-in-a-haystack approach, the only two genomic signatures for cancer that have been validated, used in the tests Oncotype DX and MammaPrint, were discovered in a very different ways.

In both cases, researchers started with hundreds of genes that they had some reason to believe were important. They winnowed the collection down to those that seemed to be clinically useful. The Oncotype DX assay relies on 21 genes, and MammaPrint on 70. Both companies then rigorously tested their signatures to be certain that they were accurate in women with breast cancer. Oncotype DX showed its signature could predict prognosis and whether women would benefit from chemotherapy.

Yet the two signatures used to make these tests have just one gene in common. “What it means, as I suppose everybody is beginning to know, is that cancer is a very complicated thing,” Berry said.

Aga Khan opens cancer treatment centre

Heart and cancer patients can now access quality treatment locally at reduced cost after Nairobi’s Aga Khan University Hospital opened Monday a state-of-the-art centre for both diseases.

Built at a cost Sh4.25 billion ($50 million), the Heart and Cancer Treatment Centre is also hiring Kenyan specialists working elsewhere in the world to help reverse the migration of medical professionals abroad.

“With this facility, we are offering a solid foundation for building an expanded corps of accomplished medical professionals in East Africa,” said His Highness the Aga Khan, during yesterday’s official opening of the unit.

“Let us put behind us the days when young Africans had to go to other parts of the world for quality medical education - and too often stayed there,” he said. “Similarly, let us also forget the days when African patients had to travel to other parts of the world for quality medical care.”

The Aga Khan, Imam of Ismaili Shia Muslims, is chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network – which runs social, economic and cultural services across the world, including the Aga Khan hospitals, which hosts the cancer centre. The new unit will also offer specialised fellowship training in cardiology and oncology, currently not available in East Africa and will recruit lecturers from around the world.


A new 600-bed hospital to be built as part of the centre will award bachelors and masters degrees in medicine, surgery and nursing, and in future, doctorates. President Kibaki, presiding over the opening of the centre, said it opened a new door for Kenya to become a major destination for medical tourism.

“It should enable our professionals and expatriates working outside Kenya to return and offer the much-needed services to our people,” the president said. Africa has in the past two decades reported a growing number of cancer cases even as the continent faces a shortage of specialists. Kenya had less than 15 cancer specialists as at the end of last year.

The fight against cancer and heart diseases has also been weakened by the lack of training for doctors locally, leaving aspiring students with the expensive option of seeking skills abroad at a cost of more than Sh1 million or about 10,000 pounds a year in the UK.

The cost of specialised treatment abroad can also run into millions, excluding costly college accommodation and travel. The Aga Khan urged government and financial institutions to come up with ways to cut the cost of specialised treatment.

“Throughout the world, the cost of good healthcare is prohibitively high, especially for the poorer segments of the population and this is why the Aga Khan University Hospital, through its Patients Welfare Programme, offers an average subsidy of 50 per cent to those who are unable to afford full cost of care,” he said. In the long run, there would be need for a combination of cost redistribution, endowment funding, credit and insurance offerings to make specialised treatment affordable.

About 50 Kenyans die from various forms of cancer daily.

Murder victim 'a nice guy'

Cancer strikes Layton again; New battle with disease puts NDP in limbo

Gaunt with weight loss, his voice strained, Jack Layton revealed to the nation Monday that he is fighting a new cancer, though he didn't specify just what he's up against.
The man who rebuilt the federal New Democratic Party and thrust it into official Opposition status for the first time in Canadian history with a stunning showing in the May 2 federal election is stepping aside, albeit temporarily, to take care of his health, he told a news conference in Toronto with his wife, Olivia Chow, at his side.
The new form of cancer has left him thin, frail and raspy-voiced and his party in a state of flux.
Once called the Energizer Bunny, Layton looked far older than his 61 years when he arrived at the surprise news conference to announce he had learned last week that the disease that first attacked his prostate more than a year ago had struck again.
Ever the optimist, Layton vowed to be back in time for the fall session of Parliament which begins Sept. 19.
"I'm going to fight cancer now so I can be back to fight for families when Parliament resumes," he said.
"If I have tried to bring anything to federal politics, it is the idea that hope and optimism should be at their heart."
Just as he remains optimistic Canada could do better for its citizens, the economy, world peace and the environment, Layton said he's also "hopeful and optimistic" about the personal battle that lies before him and expressed faith that his party would weather the storm and be back in four years time to "replace the Conservative government."
In the meantime, he said the NDP would convene to select an interim leader. While many saw deputy leader Thomas Mulcair as the obvious choice, Layton recommended the party choose newly elected Quebec MP and former Public Service Alliance of Canada president Nycole Turmel.
"Ms. Turmel enjoys unanimous support as the national chair of our parliamentary caucus," he said.
"She is an experienced national leader in both official languages and she will do an excellent job as our national interim leader."
News of Layton's ill health had generated an outpouring of support on Facebook, Twitter and across party lines on Parliament Hill. In a statement issued shortly after the announcement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he was "deeply saddened" to hear his opponent is stepping down temporarily for health reasons.
"I salute the courage Mr. Layton continues to show in his fight against cancer, a fight that more and more Canadians are winning. We are all heartened by Jack's strength and tireless determination, which with Mr. Layton will never be in short supply," he said.
"On behalf of Laureen and myself, and on behalf of our entire Conservative caucus, I would like to offer our heartfelt support to Jack, Olivia and their family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time."
Liberal leader Bob Rae offered similar words of support, calling Layton a "resilient man who does not give up a fight.
"During the last election, he showed an incredible courage in the face of health challenges," he said. "I hope that taking a break from politics will give him the time and energy he needs to make a full recovery and continue his contributions to public life."

Green party leader Elizabeth May wished Layton well and expressed support for Turmel as interim leader.
"Her capable leadership will allow Jack to put his focus on his health so that he can then re-join us in Parliament," she said.
It's rare, but not impossible, for someone diagnosed with one cancer to develop a second cancer unrelated in any way to the first, said Dr. Bill Orovan, professor and chair of the department of surgery at McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine in Hamilton.
The stiffness and pain that Layton said he began suffering in the days before the House of Commons rose for the summer break suggests "musculoskeletal involvement," Orovan said.
"The common sites for metastases of prostate cancer are, No. 1, regional lymph nodes and, No. 2 bones"- particularly flat bones such as the ribs, pelvis and skull.
"He's saying 'new' but it might just be a new location," Orovan said.
Layton has been battling prostate cancer for more than a year. Weeks before the writ dropped prompting an election last spring, he underwent surgery for a broken hip. He's been walking with a forearm crutch or cane ever since.
"My battle against prostate cancer, as it turns out from these tests, is going very well," Layton said. He said his PSA levels remain "very, very low." PSA, or prostate-specific antigen, is a protein produced by the prostate gland that increases when cancer is present But Layton said he has a new, "nonprostate cancer" that will require further treatment.
On the advice of his doctors, "I'm going to focus on treatment and recovery,"he said.
Officials with Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, where Layton has been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer since his diagnosis in February 2010, said in a statement that "new tumours were discovered which appear to be unrelated to the original cancer and Mr. Layton is now being treated for this cancer."
The hospital's suggestion that Layton has more than one tumour is "strange," McMaster's Orovan said, because when cancer spreads, it is often "multi-focal," meaning in different sites.
Layton said his PSA is nearly undetectable. "If it had been undetectable, as it should be after treatment, that would be one thing," Orovan said.
"But he didn't say that, so one wonders if this may in fact be a new manifestation of the same cancer, but not in the prostate."
Orovan said Layton may have had more advanced prostate cancer because he chose radiation over surgery. For someone of his age, "generally speaking surgical removal would be the treatment of choice."
NDP officials had been uncharacteristically mum on the subject of the news conference, but rumours quickly began circulating that it could have something to do with Layton's health.
Unusually sedate during his most recent public appearance in Ottawa - a garden party for media at Stornoway, the home of the official Opposition leader - there was speculation that something wasn't quite right.
Looking pale and gaunt, there was much concern initially about his ability to handle the physical demands of a five-week federal election campaign.

 

Hugo Chavez to seek re-election in 2012 despite cancer treatment

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will seek another six-term in an election next year despite recent surgery to remove a cancerous tumour, he told state newspaper Correo del Orinoco in an interview published on Sunday.

The 56-year-old socialist leader returned to Venezuela late on Saturday a week after leaving for chemotherapy in Cuba, saying no malignant cells were found and that he was arriving home in better health than when he left.

"I have medical reasons, scientific reasons, human reasons, reasons of love and political reasons to keep myself at the front of the government and the candidacy with more force than before," Chavez said.

News that he underwent an operation in Havana last month to remove a baseball-sized tumour has called into question his long-term health and his fitness to run for re-election next year in the OPEC nation of 29 million people.

A former soldier whose workaholic leadership style and image of invincibility have helped him win numerous votes, Chavez is visibly weakened as he plans his re-election bid.

Parliamentary elections last September showed the South American country split between Chavez supporters and opponents. A fractious opposition coalition senses a chance to unseat the convalescing leader in 2012.

Obesity a cause of breast cancer?

Obesity is being reported as the greatest avoidable factor in breast cancer, but is this really what the study says?

The researchers at the University of Oxford performed a meta-analysis, a study that combines the results of several previously completed studies, on 13 published studies, combining data on 6,000 women.

However they did not analyse data on women who developed cancer, rather they investigated whether obesity and other lifestyle factors were related to levels of circulating sex hormones – which in turn are linked to cancer risk. Breast cancer in postmenopausal women has been shown to associate with levels of sex hormones (e.g. testosterone and oestrogen). But not all breast cancers are linked with these hormones; in premenopausal women there is a natural variation in the levels of sex hormones due to the woman’s menstrual cycle.

Study Results

    * The strongest correlation found was a directly positive one between sex hormone levels and women’s BMI scores that is higher sex hormone levels are found in those with higher BMIs.

    * However it was also shown that women who smoked 15 or more cigarettes a day also had higher levels of all hormones than non-smokers.

    * Similarly women who drank 20g (approximately 2.5 units) or more of alcohol a day also had higher levels than non-drinkers.

    * Other breast cancer risk factors, such as age of menopause, number of children, age at first pregnancy or family history, where not shown to be linked to the hormone levels.

The study authors claim their motivation is to understand the mechanism through which these lifestyles factors increase breast cancer risk. Whilst this study adds weight and new information in cannot conclude anything. In particular because it was a cross-sectional study. Cross sectional research observes a series of factors at only a single point in time, thus it cannot tell us how factors are related to each other, or how they vary over time. Thus, for example, the study cannot establish whether a woman’s weight gain causes her hormone levels to rise, or if the raise in hormone levels causes the woman’s weight to rise.

Although this study has been accurately reported the headlines implying that obesity is the largest cause of cancer is overstating the findings and confusing correlation with causation.

This research doesn’t prove that obesity, high levels of alcohol consumption and smoking directly cause cancer, however it fully endorses and adds weight to the current advice that avoiding the above lifestyle factors can reduce the risk of cancer, including breast cancer.

Ranbaxy Laboratories launches breast cancer drug Letrozole tablets in UK, France, Romania

Drug firmRanbaxy Laboratories on Monday said it has launchedLetrozole tablets, used in the treatment ofbreast cancer, in the UK, Romania and France after the expiry of the patent held byNovartis.

The company has launched Letrozole tablets, the bio-equivalent of Novartis's Femara, in a strength of 2.5 mg, Ranbaxy Laboratories said in a statement.

Commenting on the launch, Ranbaxy Europe Regional Director Debashis Dasgupta said: "We are pleased to introduce Letrozole at the earliest available opportunity in UK, Romania and France with a view to broadening access to medication."

The product would be offered through pharmacies, retail and wholesale stores with immediate effect and will benefit the healthcare system in these EU markets, he added.

"Ranbaxy's subsidiary companies Ranbaxy (UK) Ltd, Terapia Ranbaxy andRanbaxy Pharmacie Generiques will be marketing this product in the UK, Romania and France, respectively," the company said.

According to IMS data, Novartis' Femara drug registered sales of $58 million in the UK in 2010. The drug witnessed sales of $95 million in France and $5.5 million in Romania, it said.

Shares of Ranbaxy Laboratories were being quoted at Rs 542.20 on theBombay Stock Exchange in late afternoon trade, down 0.12 per cent from its previous close.

Doctor who failed to spot breast cancer in 61 women is FINALLY out of a job

A doctor who held onto his £100,000 job despite failing to spot breast cancer in 61 patients over the last decade is finally out of work.

Dr Glenn Anthony Kelly had been suspended on full pay for the last two years from Accrington Victoria Hospital, Lancashire, and is still facing disciplinary action for the blunders.

One victim of the consultant radiologist said he should have 'gone a long time ago' while another said it was a disgrace he had continued being paid his wages.

Two people in the pool of 61 unfortunate patients in his care eventually died of breast cancer, although it is not clear if their fate was a result of Dr Kelly's errors.

Dr Kelly still faces a charge of 'deficient professional performance' before a General Medical Council (GMC) panel and could be struck off the medical register.

A damning report slammed the blunders Dr Kelly made while working as a consultant radiologist and director of East Lancashire Hospital's breast screening unit at Accrington Victoria Hospital.

But hospital bosses could not consider dismissing him until a General Medical Council investigation was completed, because of the terms of his contract, drawn up in line with Department of Health guidelines.

Grandmother-of-two Glenys Thompson, 59, was wrongly given the all-clear.

Her case was the first in which errors were uncovered and sparked the re-checking of 335 mammograms and the re-screening of 85 women.

Mrs Thompson, of Barnoldswick, said: 'I think he should have gone a long time ago. 'He didn't even have the courtesy to speak to us or make a public apology, but I'm glad he has gone for the sake of future people. Now he should be struck off.'

A former machinist, Mrs Thompson had to give up her job. She had radiotherapy and an operation to have a small lump removed, which prevented the cancer spreading, but needed further surgery to correct the damage caused to her breast by radiation.

She said: 'I said all along a man in his position with a job like that shouldn't make one mistake, let alone lots of them.


'He should have made sure his training was up to date and if he didn't get that training, he should have asked again.'

Another victim, Letitia Newhouse, 53, a mum-of-two from Sawley, had to undergo a mastectomy and was hospitalised during gruelling chemotherapy.

She received what she described as an 'insulting' £5,000 in compensation.

She said: 'You would have thought his conscience would have done something to him and he would have quit before now, but if you were on £100,000 a year would you quit?

'I can't understand why the hearing has been put off and why it hasn't been rescheduled and nobody will tell us why.

'I would like this GMC hearing to be over and done with. Then all us ladies can get on with our lives.'

An original internal investigation found that Dr Kelly had missed breast cancer in 20 patients between 2006 and 2008.

However, an independent inquiry found that the actual number of patients affected was 61, going back to the year 2000.

The report, published in February, said Dr Kelly was not 'sufficiently competent' to perform biopsies using ultrasound, and instead relied on outdated techniques.

In his 2005 appraisal he asked for training so he could carry out ultrasound biopsies, but this request was not fulfilled.

Dr Kelly was suspended by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust in April 2009.

As a consultant with 18 years experience, he was still being paid at least £94,911 a year while he was excluded from duty.

Dr Kelly was set to face a GMC panel last month but the hearing was postponed. The governing body said it could not say why the hearing had been postponed, nor confirm when it would be rescheduled.

The GMC investigation into Dr Kelly has been underway since November 2009, when an Interim Orders Panel imposed 10 conditions on his registration.

The order was renewed this year, and Dr Kelly cannot carry out any breast assessment work until May 2012.

Ian Brandwood, director of human resources for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: 'The consultant has not carried out any clinical work since April 2009, and his employment with the trust ceased with effect from May 30, 2011.

'As such, the trust cannot comment on matters between the consultant and the GMC.'

Dr Kelly was unavailable for comment.

‘Pester power’ to beat breast cancer

Protect Your Mom (PYM), a zero-cost breast cancer awareness campaign, was founded by marketing professor Premi Matthew and her daughter earlier this year in a bid to apply advertising strategies to get the message across.

“If fast food companies and leading brands can market their goods to adults by targeting children, why can’t we spread awareness of a curable disease through the same concept?” Premi said, outlining the concept of the ‘pester power.’ The campaign aims to educate children on the largely ignored facts of breast cancer — how a simple do-it-yourself check is the first step in nipping the disease in the bud. “Once kids are aware of how severe breast cancer can be and how simple it is to cut down the suffering of dealing with the disease, they will relentlessly pester their moms to go for regular mammograms,” Premi added.

“Yearly walkathons and pink ribbons are a sign of goodwill that survivors are remembered and celebrated. But many women still feel like this can’t happen to them and choose to avoid a five-minute exam that could help detect cancer early and save lives.”

Protect Your Mom held its first large-scale event on Saturday in conjunction with the UAE’s pioneering youth group, The Republic, which regularly takes on causes and charity projects. Since an unfortunate side effect of chemotherapy is complete hair loss, the boys of the group pledged to shave their heads as a sign of solidarity under the slogan, “we choose to go bald so that our moms don’t have to.”

According to The Republic’s Head of Community Service, Shaikh Saleh, mass head shaving is one of the many shock-tactics that qualifies as effective marketing. All the members of the group posted the PYM campaign slogan and website address as their Facebook statuses, leading to hundreds of comments collectively. “Everyone is curious to know what the campaign is about and why the boys of The Republic would want to support this cause to the extent of shaving their heads as a group. More people who are curious, the more clicks the campaign gets,” Shaikh said.

Speaking at the event, stage-3 patient, Vanya Dobreva, shared her struggle with breast cancer with the students and her own four-year-old daughter Victoria. While the Bulgarian native was open to talking about her experience in hopes of spreading the message, a lot of women struggling with the disease choose to internalise their struggle.

According to Reem H, an Emirati survivor, there still remains a lot of stigma attached to this ‘B word’ in Dubai, despite the fact that the city glows pink all of October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month. “I read about self-checks in an American women’s magazine and tried it out only to find an alarming lump. I knew I couldn’t talk to anyone about it, because no one would want to hear about something personal. After a few months, when the lump started to hurt, I went to the doctor. I was diagnosed with stage-2 breast cancer,” the 27-year-old bank manager said. After struggling with breast cancer in her early twenties, Reem recently found another lump, which to her relief turned out to be benign.

Many communities still keep breast cancer out of conversation, which in turn alienates sufferers and survivors in places where support groups are rare. Online forums become a solace to these people.”

Syed D, an accountant based in Dubai, was diagnosed with breast cancer last October. “When my doctor told me I had breast cancer, I felt like it was some sort of joke. I don’t think a lot of people know that men have breast tissue, just like women, and that we are susceptible to the disease,” he said.

Syed turned to an online forum for men suffering from breast cancer during the long months of his treatment in a way of coping with feelings of embarrassment and loneliness. “A part of me felt thankful that my family is in Islamabad,” he said. “I kept this hidden from them at first, not knowing how they would react. It’s bad enough to have cancer, but breast cancer would just destroy my parents,” he added. Eventually, after the chemotherapy had lapsed and his hair began growing back, Syed came clean to his family over skype, alerting them of the importance of early detection. “Awareness is so crucial. Young people are more open-minded, so hopefully such campaigns can get the word across to adults who don’t want to talk about it.” 

Beating Breast Cancer

Imagine if you will that you are the unfortunate one out of eight women who has developed breast cancer. Now imagine that your doctor has given you two choices: remove the lump and hope your cancer doesn’t return or remove the breast and be cancer-free. If the time comes when you’re no longer imagining this and that choice is yours to make, it won’t be easy. Just ask Kris Tvrs.
Prior to becoming a cancer survivor last year, the 45-year-old wife and mother of two was content in her life as a Sidney businesswoman. The Hemingford native had moved to Sidney years ago to attend college, which led to a marriage with her husband, Jeffrey. That set her on course to raise her children, son Garrett and daughter Jamison, in her new hometown. For more than a half-decade, Kris has owned and operated the local Merle Norman salon.
But life changed for Kris in October 2010. One morning while readying herself for work, she conducted her monthly breast exam. She discovered a lump in her left breast.
Luckily Kris already had a scheduled appointment with Sidney Medical Associates. As it so happens, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it’s the same month Kris schedules her mammography. The test revealed a second spot. An ultrasound confirmed it.

A Nov. 11 biopsy was scheduled in Scottsbluff to follow up on the results of the first two tests. The following day, doctors confirmed her diagnosis: mammary ductile carcinoma, the most common type of breast cancer that invades the milk ducts.
“I worked all day [Nov. 12] and went to the doctor at the end of the day,” Kris said. “I got the diagnosis and felt like I had been hit by a ton of bricks. Nothing prepares you to hear somebody say, ‘You have cancer.’”
To provide moral support during her diagnosis appointment, Jeffrey joined Kris in Scottsbluff. When the diagnosis was delivered, his arms became her shelter.
“He was the rock, the strength, because I just fell apart,” she said. “I couldn’t tell you anything else the doctor said after that.”
Feeding off her husband’s strength, Kris decided that same day to schedule surgical appointments to have the cancer removed. She met with two surgeons – a general surgeon who would remove her breast cancer and a plastic surgeon who would rebuild her breast. On Nov. 21, Kris was wheeled into surgery.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do until I was actually wheeled back to surgery,” Kris said. “[The surgeon] said, ‘OK, you have to make your decision now because I have to mark you.’ We still had not decided, lumpectomy or mastectomy.”
Her decision boiled down to this: a lumpectomy meant she would require many rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatment to follow; a mastectomy meant she would require preventative chemotherapy, no radiation.
“I had a full mastectomy,” she said. “I was cancer-free from the time of surgery because everything was localized and contained.”
From February to April, Kris underwent her preventative chemotherapy treatments in Sidney at the Dorwart Cancer Center.
“It’s such a blessing to be able to have everything done here,” she said.
The first round of chemo made Kris physically ill. The next three rounds weren’t quite as tough on her, but the overall toll of the therapy came when the hairdresser started losing her eyelashes, her eyebrows and her hair.
“The first day that you’re in the shower and you lean back to get your hair wet and you’re itchy because you don’t realize how much of your hair is falling out – it took four days from that day until we shaved my head,” Kris said. “The day that we shaved my head was the hardest day.”

The honor of shaving Kris’ head did not belong to her husband or even her children, although they served as an airtight support system at home. The honor fell to Kris’ longtime co-worker and fellow cancer survivor, Michelle Woodman. Kris also credits Michelle with giving her the push she needed some days at work when she thought she wasn’t strong enough.
“When somebody tells you that you have cancer, there’s no normal anymore,” she said. “That was normal for me to be able to get up and go to work and do what I needed to do and come home, even if I dropped when I got home. That was the only normal that I had.”
As Kris discovered, she was indeed strong enough. And she still is – you see, her breast cancer tested estrogen-positive. So instead of waiting for the cancer Hydra to grow another head, she’s heading it off with a hysterectomy later this year to further reduce her chance of a recurrence.
Undoubtedly, it would be difficult to walk a mile in Kris’ shoes, but if that day comes she wants you to remember this: “Don’t wait. You just can’t. Those three words – you have cancer – will scare the life out of you, but yet at the same time they will show you how strong you can actually be.”
– This is the first in a series of articles highlighting the struggles of local cancer survivors. On Aug. 12, the Night of Hope Walk for Cancer will take place at Legion Park to raise funds to support local cancer patients. The Sidney Sun-Telegraph thanks Kris Tvrs for her interview and we urge support for cancer research that will provide more people the chance to become cancer-free.

Venezuela's Chavez says he is free of cancer

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was back in his country Sunday after undergoing chemotherapy treatment in Cuba, declaring himself free of "malignant cells" and ready to continue his work.The 56-year-old leader underwent an operation in Cuba a month ago for a cancerous tumor in his pelvic area.
Chavez, who was welcomed at the airport by members of his cabinet and top military officials late Saturday, said he was confident of a quick recovery.
"I underwent examinations and I must tell you that doctors did not find any malignant cells in any part of my body," the president told local television as he stepped off his plane.
He cautioned, however, that there existed the risk of a relapse and "because of that chemotherapy was needed."
Chavez said he was happy to be home. "We will conquer this disease with the help of God and medical science in order to continue paving the way for a new motherland," he added.
The president, who is known for his flamboyant political style, said Venezuela "cannot lose its way" or "become a colony" again but did not elaborate.
On Friday, Chavez said he had "successfully" finished a first round of chemotherapy and was preparing for the second round, but did not disclose his treatment schedule.
"There will be several rounds in order to win this battle and eliminate all risk of malignant cells." He also vowed "unsurpassable" courage in his battle against the cancer.
Earlier this month, the Venezuelan president asked the National Assembly for permission to travel to Cuba to continue treatment following the June 20 operation.
To lawmakers he described the chemotherapy as the "second stage of this slow and complex process of recovery."
Though the National Assembly unanimously approved his travel request, needed for the president to leave the country for more than five days, opposition leaders insisted it was unconstitutional for Chavez to continue to exercise executive authority from Cuba.
Critics of the president have demanded more details about his cancer, as well as answers to why he cannot be treated in Venezuela, where authorities say they have created a quality health care system.
The Venezuelan government has not explained the extent of Chavez's cancer or provided any other details about the disease.
Cuba, the America's only one-party communist regime, is Chavez's closest regional ally.
Chavez, in power since 1999, is his party's candidate for the 2012 presidential election, seeking a third six-year term in office.

Madison Co. Relay for Life raises $300K for cancer fight

Cancer survivors and supporters took the first of many steps around the Jackson Fairgrounds track Saturday morning to open the American Cancer Society Relay for Life fundraiser.

Participants gathered in what organizers said was about 47 tents and camp sites, showing their support with signs, T-shirts, balloons and edibles.

One group of enthusiastic supporters dressed in red, white and blue walked the track led by an American flag. They shouted "America." Supporters dotted the field early Saturday morning, but Jodi Parrish, chairman of the Madison County Relay for Life, said the number of attendees would reach the thousands before the day ended. She said Madison County's Relay event is the largest in the state.

"We raise more money than any other county in the state of Tennessee," Parrish said.

The county had raised about $300,000 as of Saturday morning, and organizers hope to raise over $400,000 by the end of August.

Katherine Bond of the Community Relay for Life fundraising team said her group had raised over $7,000. Bond, a cancer survivor, sat with three other survivors and one supporter at the group's tent.

"We're just here for the walk," she said.

To some cancer survivors, being able to put one foot in front of the other in a slow pace around the track was a cherished accomplishment.

But Mark McSwain said he ran on Saturday, 37 months after his last treatment for squamous cell carcinoma cancer.

"I couldn't swallow. I couldn't talk. I couldn't even make my own saliva," McSwain said.

But on Saturday, he ran.

"First I could barely walk around," he said. "This time I ran the second lap."

McSwain said he had 35 radiation treatments on his neck and tongue and 16 chemotherapy treatments.

"It was a trying, trying time, but Relay for Life is all about more birthdays, and I've had four more since then," he said.

Breast cancer survivor Jewell Powell said she has had four more birthdays, and Dana Morris, who helped organize the first children's walk this year, has had 10 more.

Small, white paper lunch bags decorated with the words "in memory of" and "in honor of" lined the outdoor track Saturday. They were filled with Ziploc bags of sand and plastic-cupped votive candles.

Organizers said later Saturday they would light the candle wicks in a ring of light during a 9 p.m. luminaria ceremony of quiet reflection.

"Cancer probably touches every one of us some way or another," McSwain said.

Venezuela's Chavez undergoes chemotherapy in Cuba

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he has completed the first course of chemotherapy in Cuba.

Mr Chavez said he was now preparing for the second of various phases of the treatment.
He was previously in Cuba in June, where he had a tumour removed.
Before returning to the island for the chemotherapy on Saturday, he delegated some of his presidential powers to his ministers.
That was the first such move from the Venezuelan president since he took office 12 years ago.
But he has resisted opposition calls to hand over all powers during his absence.
'Bombardment' In a phone interview broadcast live on Venezuelan state television, Mr Chavez vowed to win the fight against his cancer.
"This first cycle has been completed successfully," he said.
"There are various cycles in this battle to finally defeat and eliminate any risk of the presence of malignant cells in this body, which is going to turn 57 years old," said Mr Chavez, referring to his birthday next week.
He has not given precise details of where the tumour was found, only that he was operated on in the pelvic region.
He compared the treatment to "a bombardment against the illness".
They were his first televised remarks since leaving for Cuba on Saturday.
During the interview, he also mentioned next-year's presidential election.
Mr Chavez said he was confident of winning a fourth term in power.
"I will live, I promise you. And we are headed for the great victory of 2012," he said.
During his 12 years in power, Mr Chavez has built up deep support among the poor by spending on social programmes.
But there are growing problems, including high inflation, frequent electricity shortages and a lack of affordable housing.

Women's height linked to cancer

Being tall is often seen as an asset – but according to a new study, the taller a woman is the greater her cancer risk.
Research published in The Lancet Oncology journal and funded by Cancer Research UK and the UK Medical Research Council, suggests that regardless of age, alcohol intake, body-mass index or socio-economic group, taller women are more at risk of many types of cancer.
Height has been linked to cancer before but this is the first mass study. It followed more than one million British women who registered between 1996 and 2001. About 97,000 of these women had developed cancer 10 years later. The study found that for every 10cm of height, the risk of cancer increased by 16 per cent.
The Dominion Post canvassed Wellington women of a range of heights yesterday.
Hospitality worker Amelia Smith is 1.92 metres tall (6 feet 3 inches) and so, according to the findings, had about a 35 per cent greater risk of suffering from cancer than a woman of average height – 1.65m, or 5ft4in, in New Zealand.
She said the recent death of her aunt from cancer had made her more aware of the disease and this would just be one more thing to be aware of. "This might be more of a motivation not to put off the tests and regular health checks."
Standing slightly shorter at 1.8m (5ft11in), Janet Sweet said she was quite blown away by the study as her height had never been a bad thing in her life.
Student Annabel Hawkins is 1.67m (5ft5in) and said the research was good to hear for people of her height but a bit scary for taller people.
It came as good news for lecturer Juliet Reynolds-Midgley, as she was only 1.62m (5ft3in), though she said she had seen many studies blaming cancer on different things and took it with a grain of salt.
The study associated height with 10 different cancers: colon, rectum, melanoma, breast, kidney, ovary, endometrium, central nervous system, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and leukaemia.
The Cancer Society was looking at the research with interest but advised tall people not to despair.
Health promotion manager Jan Pearson, who is 1.65m tall, said there were definite risks related to body size. New Zealanders were quite tall by global standards because of better nutrition, among other factors. "The research shows a correlation, but not the cause. It is of interest and more research is needed, but tall people should follow the regular health guidelines."
One possibility for the findings is that taller people have more cells, so greater opportunity for mutations. Another possibility could lie in hormone levels in early life linked to adult height.

Prostate cancer pill available 'within weeks' giving fresh hope for thousands

A life-extending pill for prostate cancer could be available in Britain within weeks.

Zytiga has been shown to increase survival for an extra four months, and it is hoped that around 10,000 patients a year would benefit.

The European drugs watchdog yesterday recommended that it is used in Britain and across the continent, and it could be available by the end of September.

The pill, which was invented by British scientists, would  be given to patients with aggressive forms of prostate cancer which cannot be treated with chemotherapy and other drugs.

It works by cutting off the tumour’s supply of the hormone testosterone, stopping it from growing.

Yesterday’s recommendation by the European Committee for Medicinal Products  for Human Use will now be considered by the European Commission, and a decision  is expected within three months.

But if approved the drug, also known as abiraterone acetate, would not be immediately available on the NHS.

The Government watchdog NICE would consider its benefits before ruling whether it should be prescribed on the Health Service, and this could take several years.

In the meantime patients would have to pay for it privately or apply for funding from the Cancer Drugs Fund or their Primary Care Trust.

A trial involving almost 800 patients in 13 countries found those taking the drug combined with conventional steroid treatment survived for about 15 months, compared with 11 months on steroids alone.

It was so successful that the trial was abandoned and all patients put on Zytiga in the hope that it would improve their quality of life and extend survival.

Professor Johann de Bono from the Institute of Cancer Research, where the drug was invented, said: ‘We are thrilled that the regulator has recommended Zytiga be granted marketing approval throughout Europe.

‘Men with metastatic prostate cancer have very few treatment options available to them and new therapies such as this are desperately needed.

‘If the European Commission supports this positive opinion, it could make a huge difference to the 10,000 men  diagnosed with aggressive  late-stage forms of prostate cancer in the UK every year.’ Professor Alan Ashworth,  chief executive of the ICR, said: ‘Since we first discovered this drug, the ICR, together with our partners, has worked relentlessly to develop abiraterone acetate into a well-tolerated,  effective treatment for men with advanced prostate cancer.

‘It is highly exciting and  satisfying to be so close to a decision that could mean thousands of men benefit from our work.’

Around 250,000 men in the UK are living with prostate cancer, with 37,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

It is the biggest cancer killer after lung cancer, with 10,000 men dying from the disease annually.

Official figures published this week showed that the numbers of men diagnosed with the illness had increased by 10 per cent in the last year.

Glaxo adds new drugs to cancer portfolio

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd is targeting India’s Rs.1,200 crore cancer treatment market by introducing at least one cancer medicine a year in the next four to five years.
The local unit of the UK’s biggest drug maker will source these medicines from its global parent’s cancer drug research projects and through licensing arrangements with other companies. “We had followed the same strategy to be big in cardiology, diabeteology and skincare areas a few years ago, and it’s already one of the key providers of these therapies in the local market,” said Hasit Joshipura, managing director of the Indian unit.
The company added two new drugs to its cancer portfolio on Friday, taking the total number of such drugs to three.
The new drugs are Revolade, a tablet for the treatment of disorders related to reduced blood platelet count, and the kidney cancer drug Votrient. They will cost Rs.27,000 and Rs.58,000, respectively, for a month’s treatment in India, which according to the company are 70% lower than the US prices. Glaxo started selling its first cancer medicine Tykerb, for the treatment of breast cancer, in India in 2009.
Joshipura said the company was late to enter this growing segment as its parent’s research pipeline did not adequately support it. Now, it has several promising cancer drugs in the research pipeline and has also signed a a few product licensing deals with other companies to feed the cancer portfolio globally.
“We are hopeful of launching at least one new drug in this market every year, and as a global policy, GSK will follow a tier-pricing strategy for these drugs in the developing countries,” he said.
“We have a team about 25 people in the oncology division, which was expanded this year, to cover about 1,200 doctors at present, and this size will keep growing in the coming years according to the new launches,” said C.T. Renganathan, vice-president of pharmaceuticals at Glaxo’s Indian unit. India’s cancer therapy market is lucrative because of unmet needs and increased awareness, according to a business intelligence report by Espicom in June. Almost all top drug makers, including local and multinationals, are focusing on this market, it said.
While many cancer drugs sold by foreign companies are expensive for most patients in India, where medical insurance and reimbursements are still not widely spread, local rivals have taken the edge by selling cheaper generic copies of these drugs. Pricing is a critical issue for many of the foreign companies, who continue to import these drugs from their parent’s facilities abroad.
Pfizer Inc., L. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd, Novartis AG, AstraZeneca Ltd, Sanofi SA are the some of other foreign drug makers active in the Indian cancer market. Companies such as Roche, Pfizer and Novartis has introduced patient access programmes with fully or partially subsidized drug supply considering financial status of the patients, to tackle this pricing issue.
Glaxo has followed a country-specific pricing model, which is decided on the basis of the economic parameters of the country such as gross domestic product and per capita income, said Joshipura.

Cancer survivors represent hope for others

As she spiritedly led the Survivors’ Lap, cancer survivor Vera Lasley represented the kind of hope the Knox County Relay for Life at Knox College strived for. She was diagnosed with cancer three weeks before she gave birth to her youngest daughter in 1956. She survived despite a malignant mass the size of a goose egg well-encapsulated in her right arm. But when her oldest daughter was diagnosed with cancer, doctors could not tell what it was and she died in less than a year.

“My oldest daughter died of cancer when she was 32 and left three small children, which was a big conflict for me, being a survivor and then losing a daughter,” Lasley said.

She said she does Relay because of the potential advances in cancer treatment to keep patients alive. Her daughter was unable to continue chemotherapy treatment because she could not get her blood chemistry up, but now there is a serum that will prevent that from happening.

“I do this so maybe other mothers can survive to raise their children,” Lasley said.

As he spoke with a deep and resonating voice, it was hard to believe Relay Committee Member Dwight White was diagnosed with cancer of the vocal chords almost four years ago.

“I knew God wasn’t going to let me die of cancer and still have two young children to raise,” White said.

After he needed help and received it, he decided to give back. While still going through radiation therapy, White participated in his first Relay.

“When a person is struggling with cancer and you have a bunch of people out here doing stuff like this, it definitely makes  you feel better,” White said.

As cancer survivors rounded the track, those standing to the side cheered them on. To further uplift cancer patients, Laura Townsend of McHenry decided to feature her charity, Albums of Hope, in honor of her husband, who passed away at Easter. She said they donate pocket-sized albums filled with scenic pictures and uplifting quotes to patients undergoing cancer treatment.

She said people should participate in Relay “to find a cure for cancer so other people don’t have to go through what my husband went through.”

To remember those lost to cancer, near the track Christmas lights lit up a “Memory Board” covered in pictures and handwritten notes to those who passed. As part of the symbolism of conducting the Relay for Life overnight to represent the journey and emotions cancer patients face, luminaria — illuminated paper bags — line and light the path of the track after darkness sets in. The Luminaria Ceremony is a time of remembrance for Relay participants as each luminaria bears the name of someone who has fought or is fighting cancer.

“They really run the gamut as far as the emotions go,” said Krista Wynes, referring to the Luminaria Ceremony. “There’s a lot of joy for the survivors that are still with us ... and there’s a lot of sadness for the people that we have lost the fight against cancer to.”

Even with the heat and humidity, Stacy Dutton, American Cancer Society staff partner, said there were more than 500 people at Relay for Life, including 40 Relay teams.

“A good friend of myself just said the other day, ‘The heat nor the rain is nothing like chemo so we can give one night of our lives to sweat it out together’,” Dutton said.

As the teams raise funds year-round, Dutton said they have raised more than $99,000 for cancer research and patient services. With more counting ahead, she said they were well on their way to reaching their goal of $150,000.

“Thank you to the Knox County community. They come through every year in the fight against cancer,” Dutton said.

Before the final lap at  8 a.m., Relay team members will continue to walk through the night. Josie Nickas of Woodhull is participating in her first Relay with a team from AlWood High School. She said it felt good to give back and that Relay was important because she lost her grandmother and grandfather to cancer.

“For all the people that are fighting for cancer, keep fighting. And for those who didn’t make the fight, they’re in our prayers and we remember you,” Nickas said.

Cancer cells & stem cells share same origin

ONCOGENES are generally thought to be genes that, when mutated, change healthy cells into cancerous tumor cells. Scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) have proven that those genes also can change normal cells into stem-like cells, paving the way to a safer and more practical approach to treating diseases like multiple sclerosis and cancer with stem cell therapy.

“The reality may be more complicated than people think,” said Jiang F. Zhong, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology at the Keck School. “What is a stem cell gene? What is a cancer gene? It may be the same thing.”

Zhong and colleagues at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in California and Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in New York successfully converted human skin cells into brain cells by suppressing the expression of p53, a protein encoded by a widely studied oncogene. This suggests that p53 mutation helps determine cell fate — good or bad — rather than only the outcome of cancer.

The study is slated to appear in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, the week of July 18, 2011.

“When you turn off p53, people think the cell becomes cancerous because we tend to focus on the bad thing,” Zhong said. “Actually, the cell becomes more plastic and could do good things, too. Let’s say the cell is like a person who loses his job (the restriction of p53). He could become a criminal or he could find another job and have a positive effect on society. What pushes him one way or the other, we don’t know because the environment is very complicated.”

Stem cells can divide and differentiate into different types of cells in the body. In humans, embryonic stem cells differentiate into three families, or germ layers, of cells. The reasons why and how certain stem cells differentiate into particular layers are not clearly understood.

However, from those layers, tissues and organs develop. The endoderm, for example, leads to formation of the stomach, colon and lungs, while the mesoderm forms blood, bone and heart tissue.

In its study, Zhong’s team examined human skin cells, which are related to brain and neural cells from the ectoderm.

When p53 was suppressed, the skin cells developed into cells that looked exactly like human embryonic stem cells. But, unlike other human-made stem cells that are “pluripotent” and can become any other cells in the body, these cells differentiated only into cells from the same germ layer, ectoderm.

“IPSCs [induced pluripotent stem cells] can turn into anything, so they are hard to control,” Zhong said. “Our cells are staying within the ectoderm lineage.”

Zhong said he expects that suppressing other oncogenes in other families of cells would have the same effect, which could have critical significance for stem cell therapy. Future research should focus on determining which genes to manipulate, Zhong said.

Former Livingston resident, major cancer fund raiser, loses battle with cancer

Jennifer Goodman Linn, who founded a successful patient-run fundraiser for New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, raising millions of dollars to combat rare cancers, died on Wednesday. Mrs. Linn, a former Livingston resident, was 40.
She lost her own battle with cancer, seven years after being diagnosed with sarcoma.
Mrs. Linn founded Cycle for Survival in 2007 to benefit the cancer center. Initially a grass-roots, indoor cycling event run mainly by Linn’s close friends and family members, Cycle for Survival grew quickly into a landmark annual event on the cancer fundraising calendar.
Recent Cycle for Survival events, held in February and March in New Jersey, New York and other locations, including internationally, raised nearly $5 million, friends said.
“She was probably the most inspirational person anyone would ever meet,” said Jeanne Silberman, a close friend of Mrs. Linn dating back to high school.
Despite the travails she faced in battling her own illness, Mrs. Linn possessed enough incentive and drive to continue to shed light on rare cancers, she said.
"Her life motto was to live fearlessly," Silberman said. "Her legacy is to live a fearless life, to set out and just do and not be scared of failure."
In total, Cycle for Survival has generated in excess of $9 million, all of which has been donated to Memorial Sloan-Kettering, where Mrs. Linn was a patient.
Mrs. Linn was inducted into the Livingston High School Hall of Fame last year and received numerous awards because of her work, including the Wynona M. Lipman Empowerment Award from the state of New Jersey in 2008.
A family friend, Diane Wanat, said Mrs. Linn started Cycle for Survival on her own, in conjunction with an exercise coach at her local gym.
"It grew until it reached worldwide," Wanat said. "Jennifer was a go-getter."
Mrs. Linn faced her illness with courage, and was determined to see her project become a success, Wanat said.
"She was a dynamo. She wasn't afraid of anything," Wanat said. "She lived a life."
Mrs. Linn is survived by her husband David, of Manhattan; her parents, Leonard and Sandra Goodman, of Livingston; and an older brother, Brett Goodman, of North Caldwell.
Services will be held at 11:45 a.m. Friday, July 22, at Riverside Memorial Chapel, 180 W. 76th St., New York.
She will be buried in Beth Israel Cemetery in Woodbridge.

Relay for Life to light up the night

Hundreds of candles will light the night for the American Cancer Society’s 18th annual Kandiyohi County Relay for Life tonight at the Willmar Middle School.The relay starts at 6 p.m. today and doesn’t end until 6 a.m. Saturday. More than 300 volunteers will be camped on the school grounds all night, raising both money and awareness for cancer.
The Relay for Life is a time to be happy for those who have survived cancer and to remember those whose lives were claimed by the disease, said Shawn Madsen, chairman of the event.
“Obviously we’re celebrating,” he said. “It’s tears of joy and it’s tears for other people. There’s a lot of people who are remembered.”
The relay is one of the largest charity fundraisers in Kandiyohi County. Organizers have a goal this year of raising $142,500 for cancer research, advocacy and support.
Last year 1.5 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in the United States. About half of these people ultimately will die of their disease. Although the overall death rate is declining, cancer continues to account for about one in four deaths in the U.S. It’s also the leading cause of death for adults age 40 to 79.
These statistics resonate personally with many people, Madsen said.
It’s not hard to find someone who’s had a personal encounter with cancer, whether it’s someone in their family, a friend or a co-worker, he said. “When you sit down and start talking to people, it doesn’t take long for that circle to get big. It’s one of the reasons why we do what we do.”
“We do it to support those who have been touched by cancer in one way or another,” said Helaine Bolter of the St. Mary’s Marchers, one of the 30 teams signed up to participate in this year’s Kandiyohi County Relay for Life.
She and the 14 other people who make up the St. Mary’s Marchers plan to arrive at the middle school on Willmar Avenue at around 1 p.m. today to set up their tent and get ready.
Last week they were hard at work making Special K bars on a stick, which they’ll be selling tonight to raise money. They’ll also have caramel rolls and pretzels for sale, along with flashing crosses for relay participants to wear during the night. “As soon as it gets dark, we get to sell a few of those,” Bolter said.
Other teams have organized garage sales, bake sales, golf tournaments and even a snowmobile ride to contribute to the cause.
“It’s just rewarding to see everyone come together,” Bolter said.
“We have really great teams,” Madsen said. “The public has supported the relay very well. We’ve had a good turnout and we hope that continues.”
One aspect of the event that keeps growing is the survivor walk, an honorary lap around the track that will take place during the luminary lighting ceremony, at about 8:30 p.m. Between 100 and 120 cancer survivors are expected to register this year, Madsen said.
Among their ranks will be the Madsens’ 11-year-old son, Zachary, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when he was three months old.
“We call him an 11-year survivor,” Madsen said. “He’s been in the survivor walk every year. He was 5 or 6 when he decided to do it himself.”
For the volunteers and members of the public who attend the relay, the survivor walk is perhaps one of the most bittersweet moments of the entire event, he said. “It runs the gamut of emotions.”
Last year the relay ended early because of a thunderstorm. With the heat wave over, “we’re planning for a great event,” Madsen said. “We’re hoping for a great event and hoping the weather will be great.”

Bone drugs reviewed for cancer risk

People taking a popular group of bone-strengthening drugs linked to throat cancer have been advised to continue despite an investigation by America's drug regulator.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating whether bisphosphonate tablets, often prescribed for women with osteoporosis and people with other bone weakening conditions, raised the risk of developing oesophageal cancer.
The regulator said it had not yet reached any conclusions and studies examining the risk factors had so far come up with conflicting results for the drugs.
"At this time, FDA believes that the benefits of oral bisphosphonate drugs in reducing the risk of serious fractures in people with osteoporosis continue to outweigh their potential risks," the regulator said in a statement.
"FDA's review is ongoing and the agency has not concluded that patients taking oral bisphosphonate drugs have an increased risk of oesophageal cancer.
"It is also important to note that oesophageal cancer is rare, especially in women."
Bisphosphonate brands on sale in Australia include Fosamax, Bondronat, Actonel, Didronel, Skelid and Zometa.
The largest studies reviewed by the FDA so far are two British ones involving more than 10,000 patients.
One study found no increase in the risk of oesophageal cancer while the second reported a doubling of the risk of oesophageal cancer among patients who had 10 or more prescriptions of the drugs or who had taken them for more than three years.
The FDA said other external researchers using different patient databases had reported no increase in risk, or a reduced risk.
"Patients should talk with their healthcare professionals about the benefits and risks of taking oral bisphosphonates," the FDA said.
"Patients who take oral bisphosphonates should pay particular attention to the directions for use to minimise any potential adverse events.
"FDA will continue to evaluateall available data supporting the safety and effectiveness of bisphosphonate drugs and will update the public when more information becomes available."

Obese women at higher breast cancer risk

A woman's chance of developing breast cancer depends on a range of factors, including family history, age, time of menopause and whether she has had children.

However, a new study has said that older women who are dangerously overweight are at a far higher risk even than those who drink heavily or smoke to develop breast cancer.

According to data released by Cancer Research UK, one in eight women in the UK develop breast cancer in their lifetime, and the majority of these tumours are 'hormone sensitive' meaning their growth is fuelled by hormones.

Studies show that post-menopausal women with high levels of oestrogen and testosterone have between two and three times the risk of breast cancer than women with the lowest levels.

The Oxford University team studied the health records of nearly 6,300 post-menopausal women, looking for factors that might explain why some developed hormone sensitive breast cancer when others did not.

A woman's weight had the greatest bearing on a woman's sex hormone levels, shortly followed by smoking and alcohol consumption.

Women who are overweight or obese had high levels of hormones like oestrogen and progesterone.

So too did women who drank more than two and a half units of alcohol a day or smoked more than 15 cigarettes daily.

Experts say women should be made aware of these modifiable risk factors.

"This is an important study as it helps to show how alcohol and weight can influence hormone levels. Understanding their role in breast cancer is vital and this analysis sheds light on how they could affect breast cancer risk," the BBC quoted Dr Julie Sharp, of Cancer Research UK, as saying.

"We know that the risk of the disease can be affected by family history and getting older, but there are also things women can do help reduce the risk of the disease. Maintaining a healthy body weight and reducing alcohol consumption are key to reducing breast cancer risk," she added.

Roche half-year profit down 5 pct on strong franc

Swiss maker of cancer-fighting drugs Roche Holding AG announced a 5 percent drop in net profits during the first six months of the year Thursday, blaming Switzerland's strong currency for dampening results.
Roche said first-half earnings fell to 5.26 billion Swiss francs ($5.78 billion) from 5.57 billion francs during the same period last year, though it noted that profits rose 10 percent in local currencies.
"Appreciation of the Swiss franc against all relevant currencies has a significant impact on the reported half-year results," the company said.
Analysts had expected slightly better figures and shares were down by 0.1 percent at 139.60 francs ($169.78) on the Zurich exchange.
Roche — the biggest producer of anti-cancer medications such as Herceptin and MabThera, known in the U.S. and Canada as Rituxan — saw sales of its best-selling drug Avastin drop after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel ruled it should no longer be used by breast cancer patients.
A final verdict by the FDA commissioner is expected next week and analysts say they are anticipating it will be pulled from the U.S. market for breast cancer. The company said, meanwhile, that it will try to market Avastin for treatment of ovarian cancer.
A weaker-than-expected flu season hit sales of Tamiflu, another big earner for Roche in the past.
Rheumatoid arthritis drug Actemra doubled its sales, and revenues from Lucentis rose by a third. The drug for treating diabetic macular edema was developed by U.S. company Genentech, which Roche recently acquired, and is sold by rival Novartis outside the United States.
Group sales fell 12 percent to 21.67 billion francs in the January-June period.
Chief executive Severin Schwan said the company is pushing through a cost-savings program that will raise its full-year earnings target in local currencies. Roche previously announced it would cut almost 5,000 jobs by the end of 2012.
Schwan also said investment in research and development had produced a healthy product pipeline.
"We achieved seven positive results out of seven late-stage trials in the first half of this year," he said. "These results are testimony to our innovation-focused strategy and will help to secure Roche's future."

Group urges more frequent mammograms

Gynecologists should urge women to have annual mammograms starting at age 40, a national doctors group said yesterday in a statement that reignited a debate about the most appropriate ages and frequency for breast cancer screening.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists previously recommended mammograms every other year for women in their 40s, but the group - whose members often are the only doctors younger women routinely see - now believes annual testing will save more lives by catching cancers sooner. The association of gynecologists shifted away from its earlier wording suggesting that women “should have screening mammography’’ to a tone that simply advises doctors to offer it to patients.

That view comes in marked contrast to advice issued 20 months ago by the US Preventive Services Task Force, a government-appointed independent panel that created a furor when it stopped recommending routine mammograms for women in their 40s after determining the small benefits of screening at that age might not outweigh the harm from finding abnormalities that turn out to be benign.

Like the earlier task force, the gynecologists association says deciding to have a mammogram is ultimately up to each woman, saying women 40 and older should be offered the screening annually.

“Our thinking was that 40,000 women in their 40s are diagnosed every year with breast cancer and that 20 percent of these women who are diagnosed will ultimately die from the disease,’’ said Dr. Jennifer Griffin, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and lead author of the new recommendations.

She insisted that her association was not trying to overturn the US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations, and Dr. Michael LeFevre, co-vice chairman of the task force, agreed. “I think they’re quite consistent with the task force recommendations,’’ he said.

LeFevre, who helped write the expert panel’s mammography recommendations, said the intent was to “empower women to make an informed decision for themselves and not just be told what to do.’’

That task force made clear that women should be screened starting at age 50, saying the benefits outweighed the risks.

The association of gynecologists, however, does not make a distinction between 40- and 50-year-olds, which some experts applauded. “The threshold of age 50 is totally arbitrary,’’ said Dr. Daniel Kopans, a Massachusetts General Hospital radiologist who has published numerous research papers on mammography. “The randomized clinical trials all start at age 40, not 50, and show a mortality benefit of at least 15 percent and as high as 30 percent.’’

All of the medical organizations issuing screening recommendations - including the American Cancer Society, which explicitly recommends yearly mammograms starting at 40 - rely on the same studies comparing breast cancer rates and deaths in women who have regular screening with those who do not.

“The evidence shows that most of the benefits of screening mammography are achieved by starting at age 50 and continuing to have screening every two years until age 75,’’ said LeFevre. That is because breast cancers become more common as women age, which means screening has the potential to save more lives for those in their 60s.

Without screening, 30 out of 1,000 US women are expected to die of breast cancer. But that drops to 23 out of 1,000 if women undergo screening every other year from age 50 to 75. Beginning screening every other year at 40 saves one additional life per 1,000 women screened, LeFevre said.

Increasing the frequency to every year would probably further reduce mortality, he added, but studies have never addressed that.

In recommending more frequent screening for 40-year-olds, the gynecologists’ group reasoned that since breast cancers grow faster in younger women, more frequent screening could catch more growths earlier.

But it is “a leap of faith’’ to assume that earlier detection via a mammogram can change the course of an aggressive cancer that is going to rapidly spread and kill a woman, said Dr. Lisa Schwartz of the Dartmouth Institute of Health Policy and Clinical Practice. It is not known, she said, how often mammograms detect slow-growing breast cancers that never would have become life-threatening yet still must be treated.

“The idea that it will be better for younger women to have more frequent screening,’’ said Schwartz, “is . . . not based on scientific evidence.’’

And early screening may carry significant downsides, including a 50 percent likelihood that a woman who starts screening at age 40 will test positive when she really has nothing to worry about, warranting follow-up screening or, less commonly, a biopsy.

Mindi Altman, 41, took her doctor’s advice to have annual scans when she turned 40. “Getting a mammogram every year just makes sense to me.’’