PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 18-Dec-2013 Contact: Nuria Noriega comunicacion@cnio.es Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncologicas (CNIO) The Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) and the German chemical and pharmaceutical company Merck today signed an agreement in Madrid to collaborate in the area of cancer drug development. This global option and license agreement will encourage the development and commercialisation of new compounds in the field of oncology. With this agreement, the CNIO has granted to Merck exclusive rights to develop and commercialise their new inhibitors of the ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR) kinase. In exchange, Merck will make an initial payment along with other potential income of up to nearly 19 million euros, as well as royalties on net sales. This agreement is the result of Merck Serono, the biopharmaceutical division of Merck, evaluating a group of ATR inhibitors developed entirely by the CNIO, via its Experimental Therapies Programme and the Genomic Instability Group, led by Joaqun Pastor and scar Fernndez-Capetillo, respectively. Carmen Vela, Spanish Secretary of State for R&D, who signed the agreement as President of the CNIO Board of Trustees, expressed her satisfaction "at this public-private partnership between a world class research centre and one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in … Continue reading →

Genetic tests are done by analyzing small samples of blood or body tissues. They determine whether you, your partner, or your baby carry genes for certain inherited disorders. Genetic testing has developed enough so that doctors can often pinpoint missing or defective genes. The type of genetic test needed to make a specific diagnosis depends on the particular illness that a doctor suspects. Many different types of body fluids and tissues can be used in genetic testing. For deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) screening, only a very tiny bit of blood, skin, bone, or other tissue is needed. For genetic testing before birth, pregnant women may decide to undergo amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. Amniocentesis is a test performed between weeks 16 and 18 of a woman's pregnancy. The doctor inserts a hollow needle into the woman's abdomen to remove a small amount of amniotic fluid from around the developing fetus. This fluid can be tested to check for genetic problems and to determine the sex of the child. When there's risk of cesarean section or premature birth, amniocentesis may also be done to see how far the child's lungs have matured. Amniocentesis carries a slight risk of inducing a miscarriage. Chorionic … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 18-Dec-2013 Contact: Sarah Avery sarah.avery@duke.edu 919-660-1306 Duke University Medical Center DURHAM, N.C. A genetic trait known to make some people especially sensitive to stress also appears to be responsible for a 38 percent increased risk of heart attack or death in patients with heart disease, scientists at Duke Medicine report. The finding outlines a new biological explanation for why many people are predisposed to cardiovascular disease and death, and suggests that behavior modification and drug therapies could reduce deaths and disability from heart attacks. The study appears in the Dec. 18, 2013, issue of the journal PLOS ONE. "We've heard a lot about personalized medicine in cancer, but in cardiovascular disease we are not nearly as far along in finding the genetic variants that identify people at higher risk," said senior author Redford B. Williams Jr., M.D. director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Duke University School of Medicine. "Here we have a paradigm for the move toward personalized medicine in cardiovascular disease." Williams and colleagues built on previous work at Duke and elsewhere that identified a variation in a DNA sequence, known as a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), where one letter in the genetic code … Continue reading →

A stress gene has been linked to having a higher risk of dying from a heart attack or heart disease. Heart patients with the genetic change had a 38 per cent increased risk of heart attack or death, say US researchers. Personalised medicine may lead to better targeting of psychological or drug treatment to those most at risk, they report in PLOS ONE. The study adds to evidence stress may directly increase heart disease risk, says the British Heart Foundation. A team at Duke University School of Medicine studied a single DNA letter change in the human genome, which has been linked to being more vulnerable to the effects of stress. They found heart patients with the genetic change had a 38 per cent increased risk of heart attack or death from heart disease after seven years of follow up compared with those without, even after taking into account factors like age, obesity and smoking. This suggests that stress management techniques and drug therapies could reduce deaths and disability from heart attacks, they say. director of the Behavioural Medicine Research Center at Duke University School of Medicine, Dr Redford Williams, said the work is the first step towards finding genetic … Continue reading →

PHILADELPHIA This December marks the 40th anniversary of the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) of the University of Pennsylvania being designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. To celebrate this momentous milestone, over 400 people gathered together early this month for an event recognizing the centers vast achievements in cancer research, patient care, and education during the last four decades. Leaders from the ACC, including its director Chi V. Dang, MD, PhD, also bestowed Bert Vogelstein, MD, a world-renowned geneticist from The Johns Hopkins University and a University of Pennsylvania alumnus, with the inaugural Abramson Award. The award recognizes key achievements made by the world's most innovative contributors in the field of oncology -- those whose work has changed the paradigm of modern cancer research and clinical care. Dr. Vogelsteins pioneering studies of the genetic causes of human cancer have placed him among the most influential biomedical scientists in the world, and his work has helped provide the conceptual basis for what is now called "personalized medicine. He and his team were the first to map cancer genomes and use genome-wide sequencing to identify the basis of a hereditary form of cancer. Dr. Vogelstein and his colleagues have … Continue reading →

The discovery of a new strain of botulism the first in 40 years has spurred bioterrorism concerns among state health officials, who have removed the deadly toxins genetic sequencing information from recently published research, a move that some scientists find alarming. The new toxin, Clostridium botulinum, was discovered in California this year by the state Department of Public Health. An infant who contracted the illness survived, although the state health department has not said when or where the baby was examined or treated. While the agencys findings appeared in the Journal of Infectious Diseases in October, the genetic sequence that makes up the botulism toxin was not included in the report. Removal of the information has spawned concern among scientists who regard access to all scientific research findings as sacrosanct. The issue is reminiscent of a January 2012 controversy over a federal advisory boards call for scientific research into avian flu, known as H5N1, to be kept under wraps so it could not be exploited by a rogue state or bioterrorist group. The research eventually was published in scientific journals several months later. The decision to withhold the newly discovered botulism gene sequence came after scientists consulted with federal agencies … Continue reading →

Poway, CA (PRWEB) December 19, 2013 Amazing Grace Hamiltons banked stem cells from Vet-Stem, Inc. have recently helped her avoid hip surgery for the second time. Gracie is now nearly 12 years old and her owners noticed her activities had dramatically slowed in the last year. They turned to banked stem cells that Gracie had stored with Vet-Stem, Inc. in Poway, California to help with the discomfort and pain of arthritis that was slowing her down. When Gracies owners brought her to Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls, New Jersey in October of this year the x-rays showed a severely deteriorated right hip. Dr. Thomas Scavelli and Dr. Michael Hoelzler were very concerned and recommended hip replacement. Gracies owners wanted to try stem cell therapy first, since it had given them such positive results five years before. We needed to give the stem cells a try before going to the more invasive surgical approach, Mrs. Hamilton said. At the time of the procedure Dr. Hoelzler told me that Gracies hips were the worst he had seen, but in just a couple of days after the stem cell therapy we began to see a difference. Just shy of two weeks … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 18-Dec-2013 Contact: Brianna Deane bdeane@dentistry.ucla.edu 310-206-0835 University of California - Los Angeles As cancer maintains its standing as the second leading cause of death in the U.S., researchers have continued their quest for safer and more effective treatments. Among the most promising advances has been the rise of nanomedicine, the application of tiny materials and devices whose sizes are measured in the billionths of a meter to detect, diagnose and treat disease. A new research review co-authored by a UCLA professor provides one of the most comprehensive assessments to date of research on nanomedicine-based approaches to treating cancer and offers insight into how researchers can best position nanomedicine-based cancer treatments for FDA approval. The article, by Dean Ho, professor of oral biology and medicine at the UCLA School of Dentistry, and Edward Chow, assistant professor at the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore and the National University of Singapore, was published online by the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine. Ho and Chow describe the paths that nanotechnology-enabled therapies could take and the regulatory and funding obstacles they could encounter as they progress through safety and efficacy studies. "Manufacturing, safety and toxicity studies that will be accepted by the … Continue reading →