Recently, Celgene Corporation (NasdaqGS: CELG – News) completed the acquisition of the privately held Gloucester Pharmaceuticals for $340 million in cash coupled with $300 million in future milestone payments. The deal is aimed at bolstering Celgene’s portfolio of cancer drugs. The deal is expected to be neutral to Celgene’s earnings in 2010 and accretive in 2011…. Read more…
Actor Michael C. Hall, who plays a serial killer in the TV seriesDexter,said this week that he has been battling cancer but the treatment is almost finished and the disease is in remission…. Read more…
Showtime’s Nick Charles, the blow-by-blow announcer on “ShoBox: The New Generation” since the series’ inception in 2001, is returning to ringside after battling bladder cancer since August, the network announced.
Charles was diagnosed with stage IV urothelial carcinoma over the summer but announced Friday that he is 80 percent in remission and that his doctors have given him the go-ahead to resume working.
He will be back on the air for the Jan. 29 “ShoBox,” which is will be headlined by bantamweight prospect Chris Avalos facing Jose Nieves at the Tingley Auditorium in Albuquerque, N.M., working with analysts Steve Farhood and Antonio Tarver. Charles turns 64 the following day.
“I never really lost hope and faith that I’d be back on ‘ShoBox’ working with the finest people I know professionally and personally,” Charles said. “The boxing community has been overwhelmingly supportive. Their inspiration has moved me deeply. As important to me though are the fans of ‘ShoBox’ who have expressed to me beyond all expectations their concern and encouragement through a difficult illness.”
During Charles’ absence, Al Bernstein, who pulled double duty while also working as an analyst on “Showtime Championship Boxing,” and Curt Menefee filled in.
“We are thrilled to announce the return of Nick Charles to ‘ShoBox,’” said Showtime’s Ken Hershman, who heads the network’s sports division. “Nick is one of the great guys in our business. His strength and perseverance through this ordeal has inspired all of us. We continue to offer our support and love and we look forward to Jan. 29 when Nick returns to the mic.”
Charles, who was treated at University of Texas M.S. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, has been off “ShoBox” since July 31, although Top Rank hired him to call the international telecast of the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight on Nov. 14…. Read more…
A Greencastle breast cancer survivor reveals how her Christian faith helped her get through the journey of her cancer diagnosis and treatment in her recently published book, “He Provides the Shoes: Walking with God Through Breast Cancer.”
Karen Holmes was 43 when she was diagnosed with an aggressive type of breast cancer in February 2006.
“With no family history of the disease and a healthy lifestyle — including regular exercise and a healthy diet low in saturated fat — I was very surprised about my cancer diagnosis,” said Holmes who is the mother of young daughters and had worked as a nurse. Her husband, Dr. Brian Holmes, is a neurosurgeon.
The book is a detailed journal of her two years of cancer treatments. She had a lumpectomy followed by four months of potent chemotherapy and then a year of less toxic chemotherapy that included the drug Herceptin, which is designed for those who are HER-2 positive (25 percent of breast cancer victims are HER-2 positive).
An evangelical Christian, Holmes kept a journal of what she was feeling during those two years. It included her relationship with Jesus Christ, her Protestant faith and her family.
Holmes’ experiences with breast cancer helped her realize how much she needs God.
“When you’re frightened and caught off guard, God will walk with you every step of the way,” the author said.
and try to encourage others, too,” she said….. Read more…
Bionovo, Inc announced the publication of their results from its phase-1B clinical trial of Bezielle (BZL101) for metastatic breast cancer. The results of the study are available online in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment and demonstrate that Bezielle continues to be safe and well tolerated with clinical evidence of anticancer activity in a heavily pretreated population of women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Preliminary results from this study were released previously by the Company.
The purpose of the phase-1B clinical trial was to identify the maximum tolerated dose of Bezielle and to determine the safety and feasibility of the company’s novel, oral, anticancer treatment. A total of 27 women with late stage breast cancer were enrolled to the phase-1B trial. The 27 enrolled women had failed an average of six prior therapies since diagnosis with metastatic breast disease and expected survival pre-trial was 90-120 days. To date, a total of 48 women with advanced breast cancer have been treated with Bezielle in two early phase clinical trials.
“We are encouraged by the results of the Company’s second phase-1 trial in women with advanced breast cancer and feel the oncology community is equally enthusiastic about Bezielle as our manuscript was accepted by the most widely read breast cancer specific peer reviewed journal in two days,” said Mary Tagliaferri, president and chief medical officer of Bionovo. “There are currently over 160,000 women in the United States living with advanced breast cancer who are eagerly awaiting an oral anticancer drug that can extend life without profoundly diminishing quality of life. We believe Bezielle will be an important new anticancer agent because its biological selectivity allows the drug to kill cancer cells without affecting normal cells resulting in dramatically fewer side effects.”
“In the age of sequential monotherapy as the treatment approach for women with metastatic breast cancer, Bezielle is one of the most exciting new therapies under investigation today,” said Banu Arun, Department of Breast Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, University of Texas, Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. “At our center, where over 3,000 women are newly diagnosed with breast cancer each year, there is great patient demand for oral drugs with minimal toxicities for the treatment of any stage breast cancer. Bezielle is the exact type of drug our patients are seeking and the favorable clinical results in Bionovo’s two early stage clinical trials among a heavily pretreated patient population are extremely encouraging.”
“While safety and maximum tolerability were the primary endpoints of this second phase 1 trial, Bezielle demonstrated promising clinical efficacy in both phase 1 trials affording some women with long periods of stable disease without dramatically altering their day to day quality of life, which is a significant advancement,” said Alejandra Perez, director of the Breast Cancer Center at the Memorial Regional Hospital Cancer Institute, Hollywood, Florida….
A man and a teenager who kicked a terminally ill cancer sufferer to death in Suffolk have been jailed for life.
Father-of-three John Vry, 55, suffered a “horrific and sustained” attack in an alleyway in Lowestoft in December 2008, Ipswich Crown Court heard.
James Killingback, 23, of Denmark Road, Lowestoft, was sentenced on Thursday to a minimum of 19 years in prison.
Aaron Breffitt, 17, of no fixed address, must serve a minimum of 12 years.
Mr Cry was confronted when he left his family home to buy chips and died in hospital from serious head injuries, prosecutor Karim Khalil told the court.
He had been told during the summer of 2008 he had between three and six months to live because of his illness…. Read more…
The Marilyn B. Gula Mountains of Hope Foundation made a $50,000 donation to University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center. This contribution, as well as all future proceeds, will be used solely to fund clinical research and treatment options for metastatic breast cancer by University Hospitals (UH) Ireland Cancer Center physicians, researchers and care providers. In addition, future NE Ohio fundraising activities for the Mountains of Hope Foundation will be in partnership with the UH Ireland Cancer Center’s “Miracle Fund,” which shares the mission of focusing on new clinical trials and therapies aimed at treating advanced breast cancer and extending lives.
Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) January 15, 2010 –The Marilyn B. Gula Mountains of Hope Foundation made a $50,000 donation to University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center. This contribution, as well as all future proceeds, will be used solely to fund clinical research and treatment options for metastatic breast cancer by University Hospitals (UH) Ireland Cancer Center physicians, researchers and care providers.
In addition, future Cleveland fundraising activities for the Mountains of Hope Foundation will be in partnership with the UH Ireland Cancer Center’s “Miracle Fund,” which shares the mission of focusing on new clinical trials and therapies aimed at treating advanced breast cancer and extending lives.
“We’re pleased to join forces with University Hospitals and the Miracle Fund in the fight against advanced breast cancer and look forward to a long relationship,” said Allen J. Gula, chairman of the Mountains of Hope Foundation. “With a team of the nation’s leading oncologists and breast cancer specialists, we’re confident that significant inroads in understanding the causes and treatment of metastatic breast cancer will continue to evolve.”
“The Marilyn B. Gula Mountains of Hope Foundation’s ongoing commitment to University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center and the Miracle Fund, enables us to continue advancing our nationally recognized program for research in metastatic breast cancer as well as patient care and education.” said Stanton L. Gerson, MD, Director of University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center…. Read more…
Dexter Star’s Cancer Scare? – Actor Michael C. Hall, who plays a serial killer in the TV series “Dexter,” said on Wednesday that he has been battling cancer but the treatment is almost finished and the disease is in remission.
The 38-year-old actor said in a media statement that he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a treatable cancer of the lymphatic system. He did not say when the diagnosis was made.
“I feel fortunate to have been diagnosed with an imminently treatable and curable condition, and I thank my doctors and nurses for their expertise and care,” Hall said.
His spokesman Craig Bankey said in the statement reported by People magazine that Hall’s cancer is in remission and the actor will continue treatment as planned….. Read more…
“We hope this mutation signature will be able to define patients with these tumor types who will then respond to EGFR inhibition,” said Pierre Saintigny, M.D., Ph.D., a research scientist at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Data presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer have immediate clinical implications. The EGFR-mutation signature will be evaluated as a predictor of response in the BATTLE (Biomarker-integrated Approaches of Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer Elimination) I trial, which will be presented later this year….. Read more…
LONDON (Reuters) – A simple “see and treat” approach using a test costing $2 could help doctors prevent 100,000 cervical cancer deaths a year in women in poorer countries, British scientists said on Friday.
Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women in developing nations where the main barriers to tackling the disease are poor health service infrastructure and high costs of screening and vaccines….. Read more…
