“We are very pleased with the final results of the double-blind clinical trial and are excited to have our first revenue producing molecular diagnostic test ready for commercialization,” stated Stephen D. Barnhill, M.D., Chairman and CEO of Health Discovery Corporation. “The successful development, validation and commercialization of this new molecular diagnostic test for prostate cancer proves that HDC, by combining our patented SVM and SVM-RFE technology and our expert Scientific Team, has the ability to produce new molecular diagnostic and prognostic tests which are the future of personalized medicine. Our patent protected discovery method allows us to develop molecular diagnostic and prognostic tests that are free of outside intellectual property rights and thereby allows HDC to fully patent protect our molecular diagnostic gene signatures. Using the same expertise of our Scientific Team and the HDC patented technology, we are currently developing additional new molecular diagnostic tests in a variety of other cancers some of which we hope will be commercially available in Q4 of 2008.”

Dr. Barnhill continued “We are pleased to have HDC’s new gene-based prostate cancer test enter the market like similar molecular diagnostic tests based on unique gene expression profiles such as OncotypeDX from Genomic Health, Inc. (NasdaqGM:GHDX) and MammaPrint from Agendia.”

In the United States alone there are over 1 million prostate cancer tissue biopsy procedures performed annually. Approximately 25% of these tissue biopsies are reported “positive” indicating the presence of prostate cancer. The other 75% of prostate cancer tissue biopsies are reported as “negative” for the presence of cancer. However, one-third of the men with initial prostate cancer tissue biopsies that are reported as “negative” for prostate cancer (roughly 25% of men at risk of having prostate cancer) actually do have prostate cancer that was missed by the first biopsy (False Negative). These men actually have prostate cancer that was missed by the initial tissue biopsy for a variety of reasons. Health Discovery Corporation’s prostate cancer molecular diagnostic test is a genomics based test that should be performed on the 75% of men (approximately 600,000 men annually in the US alone) with initial biopsies reported as negative to assist physicians in identifying those men who could have prostate cancer that was missed by the first biopsy.

“The excellent results seen in Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III double-blinded clinical trials validate the scientific accuracy and robustness of the HDC gene-based molecular diagnostic test for prostate cancer,” stated Dr. Herbert Fritsche, Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Chief of the Clinical Chemistry Section at The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. “Physicians that are diagnosing and treating prostate cancer patients will be greatly assisted by the additional information that this new prostate cancer test will add to their decision making process.”

In a Press Release issued yesterday, Ron Andrews, CEO of Clarient stated “We are very impressed with the results from these validation studies, and I applaud the development teams from both Clarient and HDC for their diligent efforts in bringing this new test through the validation phase significantly ahead of schedule. The early results from these studies confirm our belief that this powerful genomics-based test may provide physicians with useful information to ensure that men with prostate cancer get a more accurate diagnosis sooner and minimize the need for unnecessary biopsies.”

HDC plans to immediately begin presenting papers for publication and presentations at upcoming meetings as we initiate the marketing phase of commercialization. Because of the clinical trial success of this prostate cancer test, the company plans to initiate a study utilizing urine samples to potentially expand the indication of this new prostate cancer test to be used as a screening tool, which could significantly expand the current market opportunity to include all men at risk for prostate cancer.

About Health Discovery Corporation

Savannah-based Health Discovery Corporation (OTCBB: HDVY) is uniquely positioned in the field of pattern recognition technology. Through the application of its patent protected technology, HDC is a leader in SVM-based molecular diagnostic and prognostic test development in genomics and proteomics, as well as, digital image analysis in pathology and radiology. The Company’s SVM and FGM pattern recognition tools have significant application potential in other sizable commercial markets such as oil exploration, financial markets, Internet search and spam, homeland security, and other areas where analysis of large volumes of complex data is required.

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27a of the Securities Acts of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although the management team of HDC believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, they can give no assurance that such expectations will prove correct.

Source : www.medicalnewstoday.com

Serious? Certainly, but the 10-year-old Richmond girl wasn’t letting the big C get her down at Saturday’s picnic for cancer survivors.

She ate her fill, listened to the music, laughed at Ronald McDonald’s magic tricks and saw a lot of friends.

”It’s really fun; it’s good for people to play,“ Mariko said.

She saw some of the same kids recently at a special summer camp for cancer survivors, but (and she lowered her voice) ”I can’t always remember their names.“

Behind the fun at the 4th annual survivors picnic was an important purpose, explained Dr. Sherry Bayliff, a children’s cancer specialist at Kentucky Children’s Hospital in Lexington.

More and more children are beating cancer and living longer, as doctors have turned a 65 percent death rate into a 75 percent to 85 percent survival rate for many cancers, Bayliff said.

Doctors want to track their young patients for as long as possible in case the cancer returns or related problems develop, but the tendency is for patients to disconnect after the cancer is defeated.

The picnic, the summer camp and other programs are intended to keep young cancer survivors in touch with their doctors and the year-old Kentucky Children’s Hospital Childhood Cancer Survivor Clinic long after they are declared cancer-free.

”They want to step away — and that’s understandable,“ Bayliff said. ”When you’ve been in probably the most difficult battle of your life, you don’t want to face the fact that there could be other problems that might rear their ugly heads.“

The clinic is at the University of Kentucky, where doctors have now followed some patients for 30 years or more, she said, but it’s the ones they no longer see that worry them most.

”We become their family and we miss them,“ Bayliff added. They have received the gift of ”a second chance“ at life and their UK family wants it to be ”the best and for the longest period possible.“

More than 500 picnic invitations were sent to survivors and their families, said Andrea Nichols, a children’s cancer nurse who organized the four-hour event. Fifty to 100 were expected to attend.

The Lexington Cancer Foundation provided support along with more than 100 local businesses that donated food and prizes and in several cases, sent their costumed mascots.

That was a problem for 6-year-old Destiny Ross of Irvine, who hid behind her mother’s legs whenever one of the costumed characters came around.

”I don’t want to see them,“ she said, shaking her head from side to side.

But Destiny forgot all about the mascots when she got to the cornhole boards and threw the bag through the hole for the first time.

”I did it! I did it!“ she said, jumping around in a circle.

Destiny’s cancer was on her adrenal gland, and it is in remission, said her mother, Regina Ballinger of Irvine.

”She has been through a lot, and to have this picnic for her and the others is wonderful,“ Ballinger said.

For Maria Ruelas, the picnic was truly a celebration.

Her 4-year-old son, Jonathan, who got his short hair sprayed green at the picnic, recently completed chemotherapy for a brain tumor, and the outlook is good.

”The chemotherapy was stopped because the tumor is small,“ Ruelas said. ”We are very happy.“

Source : www.kentucky.com

There are wide variations across England in the number of patients granted access to medicines, a study from the Rarer Cancers Forum found.

The charity used the Freedom of Information Act to gain full information from 62 of England’s 152 primary care trusts (PCTs).

It revealed that 100% of applications from patients were rejected in some areas of the country while in other areas every single one was approved.

A total of 96% of patients living in Mid Essex had their requests approved, while every one in neighbouring South West Essex had theirs rejected.

Overall, one in four exceptional requests for cancer treatment were denied - about 1,314 patients in total.

“The NHS should be available to all who need it,” said the charity’s chief executive, Penny Wilson-Webb.

Thousands of cancer patients had been forced to plead for their lives since October 2006, the time covered by the survey, she pointed out.

“There has to be a better way,” she added. “We urge the Government to accept our 10 point plan to end this bizarre and demeaning lottery.”

According to the Forum, between 30% and 50% of all cancer cases could be classified as “rarer”, falling outside the common cancers such as colon, breast, lung and prostate. A cancer may be classed as “rarer” either because it affects an unusual site in the body, or because the cancer itself is of an unusual type, is difficult to diagnose, or requires special treatment.

This latest report comes after last week’s rejection by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence of four drugs last that treat advanced kidney cancer.

The Department of Health insists that funding for treatments “should not be withheld solely because Nice guidance is not available, but that decisions should be made on the basis of the available evidence”.

source : uk.news.yahoo.com

But Mr Ball, 58, was later told there had never been cancer in the organ. He is now planning legal action.

NHS Grampian said the case was in the hands of the Central Legal Office and the board considered it inappropriate to comment further.

The problems started when Mr Ball suffered a chest infection in May 2005 and was sent for tests at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

He was told he had cancer in his left lung and underwent surgery in August 2005 to have a tumour removed.

But after the operation he was told by surgeons that he did not need chemotherapy as there had been no cancer in his lung.

“For the next few days I was really traumatised and in deep shock,” he told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme.

Mr Ball said his solicitor had been told by NHS Grampian that an investigation had found no individual blame, incompetence or negligence.

However, Mr Ball said he had “lost everything” - his job as a firefighter, his health and the years of happy retirement ahead.

He said: “I was given a misdiagnosis, I’ve lost my lung and I lost my job.

“For those reasons I feel that at the very least an explanation should be given to me by the Grampian health board who should sit down and discuss financial compensation for my loss of earnings.”

Source : news.bbc.co.uk

Discretion over who receives drugs that have not been assessd by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (N ICE ) falls with local NHS commissioners, who received 5,000 requests over a 20-month period, nearly a quarter of which were rejected.

However, the charity found a huge variation in the success of patients’ appeals depending on which NHS Trust they live in.

The government aknowledged patients’ concerns and claimed that a new NHS constitution would iron out any variations in the quality of treatment received.

“We have heard from patients that one of their major concerns is the perceived ‘postcode lottery’ in access to drugs,” a spokesman for the Department of Health said.

“The draft NHS Constitution will address this by making it explicit that patients have the right to NICE-approved drugs if clinically appropriate,” they added.

Source : news.yahoo.com

Nottingham rejected all appeals while Derby, East and North Hertfordshire all turned down over three-quarters of the requests that they received.

In contrast, Wakefield, Havering, Torbay, Kirklees, Shropshire and Warrington trusts granted every appeal.

Penny Wilson-Webb, chief executive of the charity, said: “The NHS should be available to all who need it yet thousands of cancer patients have been forced to plead for their lives.”

I know firsthand how devastating a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer can be. In April 2007, I started experiencing stomach pain. I saw a gastroenterologist, who ordered a CT scan, after which he sent me to the emergency room of a Washington, D.C., hospital. There, on April 6, a surgeon told me that the scan had revealed that I had appendicitis — and a large mass on my pancreas. At those words, my world turned upside down.

I didn’t know much about pancreatic cancer, but I knew enough: If I had adenocarcinoma, far and away the most common kind of pancreatic cancer, I would probably be dead within six months, at the age of 38. The five-year survival rate is 5 percent. Just about everybody who has that form of the disease dies quickly.

My dread deepened when the first two surgical specialists I saw weren’t terribly optimistic. The first one was tentative, refusing to make any solid predictions about my prognosis. The second, I felt, handed down a death sentence, saying that the mass was definitely a tumor and could very well be adenocarcinoma.

It wasn’t until April 10 that I was fortunate enough to get an appointment with Dr. John Cameron of Johns Hopkins University, the most experienced pancreatic cancer surgeon in the world. He looked at my films and asked me whether I’d recently lost a lot of weight. I told him no. And he told me that I was “going to live a long life.”

For the first time since my diagnosis, my family, my girlfriend and I were able to breathe. Today, I could be standing in Randy Pausch’s or Patrick Swayze’s shoes; instead, I got incredibly lucky. I had a rare form of pancreatic cancer, called an islet-cell tumor, that’s usually curable when caught early. It’s the same kind of tumor that Steve Jobs, the chief executive officer of Apple, had in 2004. In a commencement address at Stanford the next year, Jobs described the terror he’d felt when doctors told him that he had a mass on his pancreas and that he needed to start getting his “affairs in order.” I understood only too well what he was talking about. Having sat in a hospital room and heard that I probably had pancreatic cancer, I know what it’s like for thousands of Americans who each year are told, in essence, that they have six months to live and that there’s little that modern medicine can do for them.

A biopsy later revealed that Jobs’ tumor was an islet-cell. It was removed surgically, and his prognosis is positive, as is mine. My tumor, although the size of a large orange, was encapsulated, and Cameron was able to remove it all. But Jobs and I are among the fortunate few.

I was in the hospital for six nights after my surgery, and that’s when I realized just how fortunate I had been. One of my neighbors down the hall was a man in his 50s, also recovering from pancreatic surgery. He routinely lapped me when I walked the corridors. I was so ill I could barely walk, yet every time he passed me, this man told me to keep going. He assured me that I’d be passing him very soon.

I later learned that he had adenocarcinoma of the pancreas and that his doctors hadn’t been able to remove all of the cancer. I never learned his name, and I have no idea whether he’s even alive today. He was a nice man, incredibly brave, and he really encouraged me. So although I didn’t know him, I am inspired to tell my story in the hopes that in the coming years the investment in pancreatic cancer research will be worthy of his courage and his humanity.

The National Cancer Institute spent nearly $600 million on breast cancer research in 2006, compared with a meager $74 million for pancreatic cancer research. In the past three years, it has provided only five grants to younger scientists who want to investigate this deadly form of cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is so lethal that it has no talented, dedicated group of survivor-advocates to organize marches, raise awareness, provide funding and shake society out of its complacency in the way that breast and prostate cancer survivors have succeeded in doing. The media, for the most part, spotlight the disease only when it strikes a celebrity. I hope to do my own small part to change all that. In September, I’ll be going on a bike tour with a few friends through the Civil War battlefields of Maryland to raise money for pancreatic cancer research at Johns Hopkins.

But so much more needs to be done. Private donations will never be weapon enough to defeat this foe. The big guns will have to come from elsewhere. At a minimum, Washington lawmakers should take a first step in launching the war against pancreatic cancer and, as Randy Pausch asked, double the funding to fight this terrible disease.

Source : www.chron.com

Kathy Hagen was only three weeks removed from her last chemotherapy treatment. She would later admit that just days before the Race for the Cure, she wasn’t sure how she would hold up physically.

But wearing a pink survivor T-shirt Sunday morning, she looked strong and invigorated when she eventually caught up to her group across from Union Station — after opting to go the full distance on the 5-kilometer course.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be able to do it,” Hagen said afterward. “I just think it was the positive energy from my family and loved ones.”

Hagen was one of more than 24,000 people walking and running for the fight against breast cancer Sunday. The crowd, larger than last year’s turnout of just fewer than 20,000, sprawled in front of Union Station early in the morning before snaking through the streets for the 15th annual Komen Kansas City Race for the Cure.

The participants had their own reasons for being there. Many wore names of loved ones on the back of their shirts. But they were all linked by the same cause.

A 40-year-old lawyer and mother of four from Parkville, Hagen was diagnosed with breast cancer in February. It wasn’t long after that she began targeting Race for the Cure and recruiting family, friends, neighbors and anybody else who would join her.

“A big part of me needed to walk with survivors,” Hagen said. “I wanted to see a lot of pink shirts, which I did, to inspire me that, you know, I’ve been diagnosed with cancer, but that’s not a death sentence. I can overcome, and I can be normal again.”

On Sunday morning, The Hagen Team had more than 100 members, some holding signs, all offering their support.

“I think that an event like this is just as powerful as the medication that a doctor could prescribe and use for treatment,” said Jane Henry, Hagen’s mother. “I honestly do.”

The race started a little past 7:30 a.m. as the first of about 1,500 runners took off. When 21-year-old Bret Imgrund of Shawnee crossed the finish line as the overall 5K race winner in 15 minutes, 14.28 seconds, the bulk of the walking crowd was just beginning to squeeze through the starting line.

Kansas City’s Melissa Todd was the top female finisher, in 17:15.23, and 54-year-old Diana Fitch of Liberty was the top finisher among the breast-cancer survivors in attendance, with a time of 21:56.26.

The majority of participants took their time, though.

The “Survivors in Pink” were another group with more than 100 participants — including three breast-cancer survivors.

Vic Jodts, a 44-year-old from Blue Springs, was with the group walking in support of his sister Cheryl Jodts, mother-in-law Pat Rittel and family friend Judy Amberson.

“It’s emotional,” he said afterward. “… There’s a lot of people affected by this, and we’re all bonding together to try to find a way to end it.”

Race chair Katie Linden estimated the event raised $1.2 million for breast-cancer research and detection.

Source : www.kansascity.com

The cow, which can produce CD20 antibodies in its milk, was born in Beijing on Aug. 2 and a dozen more are due to be born next month.

Researchers said mass breeding of the animal would enable China to mass produce the therapeutic proteins cheaply.

The human monoclonal (produced from a single cell) antibodies could be purified from the milk of the transgenic cow, and used to treat B cell lymphomas and leukemias and some auto-immune diseases, said research team leader Li Ning, an academician with China Academy of Engineering.

“After 10 days of careful observation, we are happy to see the cow is very healthy,” said Li, whose laboratory is based in the China Agriculture University.

The calf weighed 38 kg at birth. In seven to eight months, the research team would induce lactation to test its antibody expression.

The development is expected to significantly lower the costs ofCD20 antibody production, which currently uses chimeric anti-CD20 CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cells.

The low antibody expression level and high cost of cell culture has been a stumbling block in the industrial production of the antibody drug, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1997.

CD20 cell-surface proteins found in mature B cells become cancerous in patients who suffer from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which accounts for about 40 percent of all new cases of lymphoma. It is identified as the target in the treatment of lymphomas.

“The objective of our research is to make the transgenic animal express the antibody at high levels,” said Li, adding that transgenic mice had been able to express 10 mg/ml of CD20 antibody on average in tests.

The U.S.-based Business Communication Corp. has estimated the worldwide market for transgenically sourced therapies at more than1 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, and 18.6 billion dollars by 2013.

Li said his group planned to complete the clinical study of the first functional food with the antibody in three years, and apply for production authorization from China’s food and drug authorities, and the first functional drug could be expected in five years.

Source : news.xinhuanet.com

The researchers say that the compound found off the cost of Key Largo has been found to inhibit cancer cell growth in laboratory tests, giving hope that new drugs to better battle the disease may soon be available.

A presentation on the efficacy of the UF-patented compound largazole, derived from cyanobacteria that grow on coral reefs, was made at an international natural products scientific meeting in Athens, Greece.

Experts attending the meeting described largazole as one of the most promising they had found since the college’s marine natural products laboratory was established three years ago.

“It’s exciting because we’ve found a compound in nature that may one day surpass a currently marketed drug or could become the structural template for rationally designed drugs with improved selectivity,” said Dr. Hendrik Luesch, an assistant professor in UF’s department of medicinal chemistry, and the principal investigator on the study.

A research article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society reveals that largazole, discovered and named by Luesch for its Florida location and structural features, seeks out a family of enzymes called histone deacetylase (HDAC).

Background information in the article suggests that over-activity of certain HDACs is associated with several cancers like prostate and colon tumours, and inhibiting them can activate tumour-suppressor genes that have been silenced in these cancers.

Luesch says that a largazole-based drug might result in improved therapies and fewer side effects, given that this compound does not inhibit all HDACs equally.

His team has now joined forces with Jiyong Hong, an assistant professor in the department of chemistry at Duke University, to conduct further biological testing on the compound.

Luesch has revealed that, within the next few months, he plans to study whether largazole reduces or prevents tumour growth in mice.

Source : living.oneindia.in

Modern miracle drugs like tamoxifen and raloxifene routinely cut risk for breast cancer in women whose medical histories or genes make them especially vulnerable to it. But reams of research also suggest that exercise—an activity as old as the human race—substantially reduces the odds of ever getting the disease, lengthens survival and considerably enhances quality of life for women with breast cancer.

Scientists don’t completely understand why exercise is so important, but they’re actively looking for answers. Roughly two thirds of all breast cancers are considered estrogen-positive; that means that the hormone estrogen fuels their growth. The rest are estrogen-negative. Many experts believe regular exercise lowers the amount of estrogen circulating through the body in the bloodstream. So for certain types of breast cancer, less estrogen equals less fuel. Exercise also pares off hormonally active fat tissue. Fat manufactures a substance called aromatase that converts hormones known as androgens to estrogen. After menopause, when the ovaries stop cranking out high levels of estrogen, this hormonal cascade becomes the major source of estrogen in a woman’s body.

Recently two large, carefully designed studies suggested exercise may work through more than just hormonal mechanisms linked to estrogen. In a study published last month in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers speculated that exercise might affect tumor aggressiveness. The researchers found that long-term moderate or strenuous activity over a lifetime cut risk for developing estrogen-negative invasive breast cancers (though not estrogen-positive cancers). Since fewer therapies are effective against estrogen-negative cancers, that’s heartening news. Some earlier research on exercise suggests it lowers risk for estrogen-positive cancers, too. Scientists are also looking beyond estrogen at the effects exercise has on insulin, leptin and certain growth factors.

Regular exercise early in life, particularly around puberty, and exercise vigorous enough to suppress other reproductive hormones may make a difference, too. A 2005 multicenter study on lifetime activity matched more than 4,000 white and black breast-cancer survivors with controls. Researchers found a 20 percent decrease in breast-cancer risk for the most versus least active women.

Source : www.newsweek.com