Scaling back Cervical Cancer screening

Most women only need to be screened for cervical cancer once every three years, according to a new set of practice guidelines that the American College of Physicians, a national organization of doctors, released today. Women under the age of 21 shouldn't undergo testing at all regardless of their sexual health history, because many will receive abnormal test results without ever developing cervical cancer.
While preventive screening seems like a positive thing, testing too often can lead to an increased incidence of false positive results, saying some women are sick when they aren't. Follow-up tests increase health care costs and can sometimes lead to pain. Right now, about 60 percent of women in the US say that they were  screened cervical cancer by the age of 21."Screening more than once every three years does not lead to better care, it’s unnecessary care," says Tanveer Mir, physician and Chair-elect of the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians. Despite similar guidelines issued by other agencies, doctors are still screening patients annually, she says and that shouldn't be the case. "Overall the focus of these guidelines is that physicians can practice good care by reducing over-treatment."

New Breast Cancer gene identified

A new breast cancer gene has been identified in a study led by Women's College Hospital (WCH) researcher Dr. Mohammad Akbari, who is also an assistant professor with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. The study, describes how mutations in a gene called RECQL are strongly linked to the onset of breast cancer in two populations of Polish and French-Canadian women. In this study, about 20,000 different genes were studied, among 195 breast cancer patients with strong family histories of breast cancer who did not have a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2. The patients came from two populations, a Polish group and a French-Canadian group.
Recurrent RECQL mutations within both the Polish and French-Canadian populations were identified in this study. Within the Polish group, one type of RECQL mutation showed a five-fold increased risk for developing breast cancer compared to individuals without a mutation. Meanwhile, within the French-Canadian population, another type of RECQL mutation occurred 50 times more frequently among familial breast cancer patients, compared to population controls.

Microinjection tests multiple Cancer drugs in tumors

A newly developed technology for simultaneously comparing response to multiple cancer drugs or combinations while a tumor is still in a patient's body has been shown to accurately predict systemic response to the drugs, according to researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Presage Biosciences. The patented technology, called CIVO, consists of an arrayed micro-injection drug delivery device and quantitative analysis methodology. "Currently, only 7 percent of new oncology drug candidates that demonstrated anti-cancer activity in preclinical studies subsequently demonstrate sufficient efficacy in clinical trials to warrant FDA approvals," said Olson, Member of the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutch, a pediatric oncologist at Seattle Children's Hospital and Founder of Presage. "As a practicing pediatric oncologist, I deal every day with the limitations of current cancer therapies, and I've made it my life's work to help find solutions to this challenge. We developed CIVO because patients desperately need better approaches to identify treatments that will provide benefit and improve patient survival."
CIVO enables the placement of multiple columns of drugs for analysis directly into the tumor along the needle axis, spanning the full depth of the tumor. This makes it possible to assess drug effects with multiple biomarkers and in multiple regions along the injection axis to capture the heterogeneity of response within the tumor. Later, (typically 24-72 hours after injection), the tumor is resected for subsequent analysis, and responses are measured with multiple immuno-histochemistry-based assays and high-resolution scanning.

An attempt to cure Pancreatic Cancer

Berg, a small Boston-based biotech firm, is teaming up with an array of prestigious hospitals and research teams to discover and validate the first-ever clinical bio-marker to diagnose and treat Pancreatic Cancer. Berg, which was co-founded six years ago by Carl Berg, the billionaire real-estate tycoon, along with Mitch Gray and Niven Narain, is looking to upend that business model. Using big data and artificial intelligence algorithms developed by Narain, the biotech firm aims to isolate the root causes of many diseases, including cancer, and develop tailor-made treatment options for patients.The data crunching led to the development of Berg’s first drug, BPM 31510, which is in clinical trials. The drug essentially reprograms the metabolism of the cancer cells, re-teaching them to undergo apoptosis, or cell death. The cancer cells die off naturally, without the need for harmful and expensive chemotherapy.

BPM 31510, which may work on a variety of cancers, will be introduced in the phase II clinical trials for pancreatic cancer at 48 PCRT sites around the world.

Pancreatic Cancer breakthrough

Scientists have found a novel avenue for therapeutic intervention of the "silent cancer." A new research study has shown that pancreatic cancer cells can be coaxed to revert back toward normal cells by introducing a protein called E47. E47 binds to specific DNA sequences and controls genes involved in growth and differentiation. The research provides hope for a new treatment approach for the more than 40,000 people who die from the disease each year in the United States.
"For the first time, we have shown that over-expression of a single gene can reduce the tumor-promoting potential of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells and reprogram them toward their original cell type. Thus, pancreatic cancer cells retain a genetic memory which we hope to exploit," said Pamela Itkin-Ansari, Ph.D., adjunct professor in the Development, Aging, and Regeneration Program at Sanford-Burnham.

First Cervical Cancer drug in 10 years

Women with advanced cervical cancer, the most common cancer afflicting young women, are to get the first officially approved new treatment for a decade.

Trials show Avastin, which is used in several other cancers, gives women around four months’ extra life. The drug plus chemotherapy has now been licensed by European regulators. Patients will have access via the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) until it is considered for routine NHS use. It has been available in England via the CDF since March pending licensing.

Avastin, which is also known as Bevacizumab and widely used in patients with bowel cancer, is the first new treatment since the chemotherapy drug topotecan was approved in 2006. Dr Mary McCormack, Consultant Clinical Oncologist at University College Hospital, said ‘Cervical cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in younger women. ‘For those women with metastatic disease or whose cancer recurs after surgery/chemo-radiation there are very few treatment options. It is very welcome indeed that when Avastin is added to chemotherapy it prolongs survival by approximately four months.

Takeda to pay $2.3 Billion to settle Actos Cancer cases

Top Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical agreed Tuesday to pay around $2.4 billion to settle lawsuits over its Actos diabetes drug, amid cancer claims. The agreement would resolve lawsuits representing some 8,000 people who used the treatment for type 2 diabetes beginning in the late 1990s and claimed the company did not warn them that it increases the risks of cancer.

Takeda said it agreed to pay out $2.37 billion if 95 percent of the litigants agree to the deal, rising to $2.4 billion if the number rises to 97 percent or more. The company said nevertheless that it believes the claims of the litigants "are without merit and does not admit liability."

"Takeda believes the company acted responsibly with regard to Actos and that Actos has a positive benefit/risk profile for the treatment of type 2 diabetes," it said.

Takeda said the settlement does not change its continued commitment to Actos, or pioglitazone hydrochloride. "Actos continues to be available as a treatment option in the US, Japan and other countries," it said. Last year a federal jury in Louisiana ordered Takeda and US-based Eli Lilly & Co. to pay a combined $9.0 billion in punitive damages to a patient who said Actos had caused his bladder cancer. A judge later slashed the payout to $36.8 million.

Eli Lilly was Takeda's US marketing and sales partner until 2006, with the US firm keeping the rights to sell Actos in parts of Asia and Europe, as well as in Canada and Mexico.

Takeda said it was taking a $2.7 billion charge in its fourth quarter earnings to cover the settlement and related costs.

"The settlement will reduce financial uncertainties for the company and provides a significant degree of assurance toward resolving a high percentage of the Actos product liability claims," it said.

Top Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical has agreed to pay around $US2.4 billion to settle lawsuits over its Actos diabetes drug, amid cancer claims.
The agreement would resolve lawsuits representing about 8000 people who used the treatment for type 2 diabetes beginning in the late 1990s and claimed the company did not warn them that it increases the risks of cancer.
Takeda said it agreed to pay out $US2.37 billion ($A2.95 billion) if 95 per cent of the litigants agree to the deal, rising to $US2.4 billion if the number rises to 97 per cent or more.
The company said nevertheless that it believes the claims of the litigants 'are without merit and does not admit liability'.
'Takeda believes the company acted responsibly with regard to Actos and that Actos has a positive benefit/risk profile for the treatment of type 2 diabetes,' it said on Tuesday.
Takeda said the settlement does not change its continued commitment to Actos, or pioglitazone hydrochloride.
'Actos continues to be available as a treatment option in the US, Japan and other countries,' it said.
Last year, a federal jury in Louisiana ordered Takeda and US-based Eli Lilly Co to pay a combined $US9.0 billion in punitive damages to a patient who said Actos had caused his bladder cancer.
A judge later slashed the payout to $US36.8 million.
Eli Lilly was Takeda's US marketing and sales partner until 2006, with the US firm keeping the rights to sell Actos in parts of Asia and Europe, as well as in Canada and Mexico.
Takeda said it was taking a $US2.7 billion charge in its fourth-quarter earnings to cover the settlement and related costs.
- See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/business/business/world/2015/04/29/takeda-to-pay-billions-to-settle-lawsuit.html#sthash.rfYiMeKq.dpuf