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ImmunoCellular Therapeutics' Antibody Shows Promise In Detecting Pancreatic And Lung Cancer In Serum Test
02 October, 2009
ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. (OTCBB: IMUC), a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is developing immune-based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers, announced today results from its pilot study evaluating the cancer detection abilities of one of its lead monoclonal antibody product candidates, ICT-109. Data from this study demonstrated that ICT-109 had a statistically significant ability to discriminate between cancerous and non-cancerous samples, suggesting the potential to detect pancreatic and lung cancer in plasma and serum study sets. The study used reverse phase micro array technology to determine serum and plasma expression levels of glycosylated CEA, and was performed in collaboration with Dr. Emanuel Petricoin at George Mason University. Dr. Petricoin is a renowned microbiologist who was a senior investigator with the US FDA's Office of Cell Tissue and Gene Therapies in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research earlier in his career. He and his colleague, Lance Liotta, invented the Reverse Phase Protein Microarray technology.
Researchers at George Mason University investigated the ability of ICT-109 to detect pancreatic and lung cancer by binding specifically to glycosylated epitopes of CEA-CAM6 and CEA-CAM5, two common markers that are overly expressed in a majority of cancers. Glycosylated CEA is highly expressed in patients with pancreatic and lung cancers, and can be used to detect these cancers using a direct blood test.
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Combined Molecular Imaging Technique Effectively Evaluates And Predicts Course Of Common Uterine Cancer
02 October, 2009
A promising new molecular imaging technique may provide physicians and patients with a noninvasive way to learn more information about a type of cancer of the uterus lining called "endometrial carcinoma" - one of the most common malignant female tumors. This research was presented in a study published in the October issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
"Endometrial carcinoma is one of the most common female malignant tumors," says Hidehiko Okazawa, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the division of medical imaging at the biomedical imaging research center at the University of Fukui in Japan and one of the lead researchers of the study. "The method of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging we used in the study is noninvasive, and it has tremendous potential to save women with endometrial carcinoma from undergoing unnecessary operations and biopsies that could sabotage their reproductive potential."
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Lifespan In Flies Extended By 'Anti-Atkins' Low Protein Diet
02 October, 2009
Flies fed an "anti-Atkins" low protein diet live longer because their mitochondria function better. The research, done at the Buck Institute for Age Research, shows that the molecular mechanisms responsible for the lifespan extension in the flies have important implications for human aging and diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cancer.
The findings, which appear in the October 2 edition of Cell, also provide a new level of understanding of the regulation of mitochondrial genes and open new avenues of inquiry into the interplay between mitochondrial function, diet and energy metabolism.
Mitochondria act as the "powerhouse" of the cells. It is well known that mitochondrial function worsens with age in many species and in humans with Type II diabetes and obesity. "Our study shows that dietary restriction can enhance mitochondrial function hence offsetting the age-related decline in its performance," said Buck faculty member Pankaj Kapahi, PhD, lead author of the study.
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Medicago Begins Human Clinical Testing With Its Avian Flu Pandemic Vaccine
02 October, 2009
Medicago Inc. (TSX-V: MDG) a biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and affordable vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced that it has initiated a Phase I human clinical trial with its H5N1 Avian Influenza vaccine ("H5N1 vaccine"). Enrolment is ongoing and vaccination has commenced. The Phase I placebo-controlled, double-blind, dose-escalating study will evaluate safety, tolerability and the immune response of the Company's H5N1 vaccine candidate in 48 healthy volunteers between the ages 18 to 60. Results of this study are expected during the fourth quarter of 2009.
"This first human study with our lead vaccine candidate confirms Medicago's development as a clinical stage company," said Louis P. Vezina, Chief Scientific Officer of Medicago. "This is an important step for our H5N1 vaccine candidate, which has the potential to be highly effective, cross-protective, less expensive and faster to produce than current influenza vaccines."
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Sanofi Pasteur Announces Results Of U.S. Clinical Trials In Adults Following One Dose Of Influenza A (H1N1) Vaccine
02 October, 2009
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), announced today an interim analysis of data from clinical trials of the U.S. licensed Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine in adults 18 years through 64 years of age and over the age of 65 years.
These data indicate that a single 15 mcg dose of Sanofi Pasteur's Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine, administered to adults, including the oldest study participants, induces a robust antibody response 21 days post-vaccination that is considered protective. These data from a placebo controlled study of 849 adults help confirm preliminary data from a few vaccine recipients 10-days post immunization reported from another study by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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Gene Behind Malaria-Resistant Mosquitoes Identified By Scientists
02 October, 2009
For many years, the mosquitoes that transmit malaria to humans were seen as public enemies, and campaigns to eradicate the disease focused on eliminating the mosquitoes. But, as a study published in Science shows, the mosquitoes can also be our allies in the fight against this common foe, which kills almost one million people a year and heavily impairs the economies of affected countries. In this study, researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) in Strasbourg, France, discovered that variations in a single gene affect mosquitoes' ability to resist infection by the malaria parasite.
"Malaria parasites must spend part of their lives inside mosquitoes and another part inside humans, so by learning how mosquitoes resist malaria, we may find new tools for controlling its transmission to humans in endemic areas", says Stephanie Blandin from INSERM, who carried out the research at EMBL in collaboration with Lars Steinmetz's group and with Rui Wang-Sattler (now at the Helmholtz Zentrum in Munich, Germany).
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Chip-Based And Mobile Blood Diagnosis
02 October, 2009
The analysis takes just a few minutes and the doctor knows straight-away whether there are any pathogens in the blood. An improved marker-free technique provides the basis for faster analysis, whether in a hospital or for mobile blood donations.
If a person loses a large amount of blood the consequences can be critical. That's why adequate quantities of donated blood have to be kept available in hospitals and blood banks. In Egypt doctors collect blood by traveling to towns and villages and conducting blood donation sessions in a laboratory bus. The problem is that 25 per cent of the samples taken contain pathogens, including HIV, hepatitis and syphilis. As these diseases can be passed on in transfusions, the contaminated blood cannot be used. Conventional fast tests are not suitable in most cases for mobile use.
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Fighting Spread Of Mosquito-Borne Diseases Using Parasite Bacteria
02 October, 2009
Infecting mosquitoes with a bacterial parasite could help prevent the spread of lymphatic filariasis, one of the major neglected tropical diseases of the developing world, according to research published in the journal Science.
Lymphatic filariasis affects more than 120 million people worldwide - over 40 million of these are seriously incapacitated and disfigured by the disease. It is caused by infection with the parasitic filarial nematode, a threadlike worm that is spread by mosquitoes and occupies the lymphatic system. In chronic cases, infection leads to a condition known as elephantiasis, which can cause severe swelling in the legs, male scrotum and female breasts.
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Red Cross Helping American Samoa Tsunami Victims
01 October, 2009
The American Red Cross is on the ground in American Samoa where a tsunami swept across the island after a powerful earthquake hit the South Pacific.
After yesterday's 8.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami, a significant portion of American Samoa is without power or water. Damage is widespread. Red Cross has dozens of volunteers already providing food and supplies to those on the island. A team of 50 volunteers is being sent in to supplement the efforts of the local Red Cross team. The Red Cross has a warehouse on American Samoa supplied with cots, flashlights, and cooking and clean-up supplies, and will be sending in additional supplies as quickly as possible.
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More People Receiving HIV Treatment In Low And Middle Income Countries, Report
01 October, 2009
A new joint report shows that more than four million people in low and middle income coutries were receiving life-saving treatment for HIV at the end of 2008, representing over one third more than the year before and a ten-fold increase on the number five years earlier.
The new report was released on Wednesday and is titled "Towards Universal Access: Scaling Up Priority HIV/AIDS Interventions in the Health Sector Progress report, September 2009". It is the result of collaboration among the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
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