News Posts List
Podcast: Author Tracy R. Gray
02/23/2010
Glaxo kidney cancer drug given European greenlight
02/22/2010
European regulators on Friday recommended GlaxoSmithKline PLC's kidney cancer drug Votrient for conditional marketing authorization and also backed the wider use of the company's breast cancer drug Tyverb.
A Roller Coaster Chase for a Cure
02/22/2010
His patient, a spunky Italian-American woman in her 60s, was waiting in an exam room down the hall for the answer: Was the experimental drug stopping her deadly skin cancer?
Reversing Resistance to Sunitinib
02/21/2010
Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) researchers have found a way to reverse resistance to sunitinib, a treatment that is currently the first line of defense against clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), a deadly form of kidney cancer. Most patients who show a positive response to sunitinib develop a resistance to the drug after one year of treatment.
Kidney cancer drug also shrinks tumors
02/21/2010
A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study has found a drug used to treat advanced kidney cancer can also shrink kidney tumors prior to surgery.
Study reveals how genes interact with their environment to cause disease
02/21/2010
A UCLA study reveals how human genes interact with their environment to boost disease risk. Published in the Feb. 18 online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics, the findings shed light on why the search for specific gene variants linked to human diseases can only partly explain common disorders.
Non-AIDS Cancer Risk Decreases With Higher CD4 Cell Counts
02/21/2010
Some good news regarding cancers: If antiretroviral therapy is able to maintain higher CD4 cell counts, it may reduce the risk of various non-AIDS-related cancersnotably those caused by other infectious diseases, human papillomavirus (HPV), for examplein people living with HIV.
Interferon alfa-2a versus combination therapy with interferon alfa-2a, interleukin-2, and fluorouracil in patients with untreated metastatic renal cell carcinoma (MRC RE04/EORTC GU 30012): an open-lab
02/21/2010
In metastatic renal cell carcinoma combinations of interferon alfa-2a, interleukin-2, and fluorouracil produce higher response rates and longer progression-free survival than do single agents. We aimed to compare overall survival in patients receiving combination treatment or interferon alfa-2a.
Gene-modified tumor vaccine secreting a designer cytokine Hyper-Interleukin-6 is an effective therapy in mice bearing orthotopic renal cell cancer
02/21/2010
Although Renal Cell Cancer (RCC) is known to be immunogenic, clinical efficacy of various immunotherapeutic approaches remains unsatisfactory. Novel targeted therapies showing cytostatic rather than cytotoxic activity are unable to cure RCC patients. In our studies, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of whole-cell vaccine based on irradiated murine RENCA cells genetically modified to secrete designer cytokineHyper-IL6 (H6)comprising IL-6 and soluble IL-6 receptor. An orthotopic RCC model based on a subcapsular implantation of RENCA cells into kidneys of Balb/C mice was employed.
Potent antitumor effects of combined therapy with a telomerase-specific, replication-competent adenovirus (OBP-301) and IL-2 in a mouse model of renal cell carcinoma
02/21/2010
OBP-301 (a telomerase-specific, replication-competent adenovirus with hTERT promoter) was constructed in a previous study and it showed a strong anticancer effect by inducing cell lysis in human lung and prostate cancer cells. This study investigated the effectiveness of a combination therapy of OBP-301 and interleukin-2 (IL-2) in a mouse model of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The cell-killing effect of OBP-301 was confirmed in vitro in the RENCA cancer cells.