From an article at CancerPage.com:

Researchers have found a way to target cancer cells by injecting tiny particles that will attack only the diseased cells while leaving healthy cells unscathed, according to a study released on Monday.

A team of researchers working at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston laced tiny particles with lethal doses of chemotherapy and when injected they targeted cancer cells alone.

The team first conducted experiments on cells growing in laboratory dishes and then on mice bearing human prostate tumors, according to the study, published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In the mice, the tumors shrank dramatically and all of the mice survived the study while the untreated control animals did not.

“A single injection of our nanoparticles completely eradicated the tumors in five of the seven treated animals, and the remaining animals also had a significant tumor reduction, compared to the controls,” said Dr. Omid Farokhzad, assistant professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

While all the parts of this new delivery system are known to be safe, it must still be proven safe for humans. The scientists said that further testing is needed on larger animals, and eventually in humans.

Read the whole article.

Tags: cancer | health | news | biotechnology | blog | weblog | healthcare | nanotech | medical breakthroughs

Baxter International of Deerfield, Ill., has announced that it is beginning a Phase II trial of its process of stem cells to rebuild failing hearts, according to this article by UPI.

Baxter told the Tribune researchers will use its Isolex cell separation system to extract stem cells from the many types of cells in bone marrow. The cells will then be injected directly into the heart via catheter in hopes of regenerating damaged areas.

Supporters of stem cell research believe blood vessels leading to the heart can be rebuilt and damaged areas of the heart can be regenerated.

If Baxter’s trial is successful, the therapy would face at least one other trial and would be at least three to five years from winning federal regulatory approval as a standard treatment.

Here’s more on the process from the Baxter website:

This year, more than a million people in the United States will have a heart attack. More than 40 percent will die from it. Most of the rest will suffer permanent damage to the heart that will need to be managed the rest of their lives. Treatment options include medication, angioplasty and bypass surgery, all of which are designed to stabilize the patient and restore blood flow to the heart. But no treatment available today can actually repair damaged heart tissue and reverse the process of cardiovascular injury.

In the future, this may no longer be the case. Baxter technology is playing a key role in an experimental therapy that uses a patient’s own stem cells to grow new blood vessels and regenerate damaged heart tissue….

For an explanation of what a Phase II trial is, see this entry.

Tags: stem cells | health | news | biotechnology | medicine | blog | weblog | pharma | healthcare | isolex | heart surgery | medical breakthroughs

Pig cells might offer cure for type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have cured type 1 diabetes in monkeys by transplanting from pigs the cells that produce insulin. Also called insulin-dependent diabetes, childhood diabetes, or juvenile-onset diabetes, type 1 diabetes usually strikes children and adolescents, but it also occurs in adults. It is characterized by beta-cell destruction, which leads to a deficiency of insulin. [Source: Wikipedia]

According to this EarthTimes.org article:

…The researchers injected about 12 diabetic monkeys with pig islet cells, the cells in pancreas that produce insulin. A follow-up of six months showed that the monkeys could live without regular insulin injections. Even though some of the monkeys rejected the transplant of pig islet cells, in five of them the transplant was successful using a cocktail of drugs.

“These results suggest it is feasible to use pig islet cells as a path to a far-reaching cure for diabetes,” said Bernhard Hering, the lead author of the study. “Now that we have identified critical pathways involved in immune recognition and rejection of pig islet transplants, we can begin working on better and safer therapies with the eventual goal of bringing the treatment into people,” he added. The researchers would start human trials by 2009.

Earlier, human diabetes has been cured using islet cells from human pancreas. However, the demand far outnumbered the supply and so the researchers looked at animal cells for the transplant. Over 20 million Americans suffer from diabetes, with the worldwide figures being pegged at over 150 million.
…
The next step now is to develop the combination of drugs that can ensure the cells are not rejected by the human body. “If we want to make this available for people, it cannot come with a lot of immuno-suppression. It must be a very safe treatment. This is where all of our research has to be focused,” Hering said.

Read the whole article.

OSI is beginning trial of type 2 diabetes drug

According to this article at Pharmaceutical Business Review Online, OSI is beginning a phase IIa study to evaluate proper dosages of PSN357, a drug designed to keep glucose levels from rising in diabetic patients by preventing glycogen breakdown to glucose in the liver.

“We believe that PSN357, together with our DPIV inhibitor, PSN9301, which is scheduled to begin phase IIb studies this year and PSN010, our glucokinase activator, which entered phase I trials last week, together comprise an innovative clinical pipeline of novel, molecularly targeted therapies for the treatment of type 2 diabetes,” stated Dr Anker Lundemose, president of Prosidion, OSI’s UK-based diabetes R&D arm.

Type 2 diabetes is characterized by “insulin resistance,” as body cells do not respond appropriately when insulin is present. Although many experts agree that “insulin resistance” is the defect behind the type 2 disease, many others contend that insufficient amounts of insulin may actually be the primary cause. [Source: Wikipedia]

Phases I, IIa, IIb – What’s the diff?

What does it mean when a drug is in a phase IIa, phase IIb, or phase I study?

Clinical trials of new drugs are separated into different phases:

• Initial human tests, called phase I studies, usually involve a small number (20 to 80) of healthy volunteers, and are conducted to determine dosing levels and assess the safety, tolerability, dose response and metabolic properties of the compound in humans.

• In phase II studies, the drug is administered to a larger number (50 to 500) of subjects. Unlike phase I trials which involve healthy volunteers, phase II studies confirm the drug’s safety profile in patients diagnosed with the disease being studied. Phase II studies can be divided into two categories: phase IIa studies usually examine a variety of doses to identify the initial dosing regimen. Larger phase II studies, often referred to as phase IIb, confirm the safety in a larger patient population, and define the optimal dosing regimen. Because they are often double blinded, they may also provide preliminary data on the drug’s efficacy.

• Phase III studies are much larger in scale, and gather additional information about the drug’s safety and effectiveness in the intended patient population. Depending on the therapeutic area, thousands of patients may be enrolled in studies that compare the drug being tested to one or more currently available therapies. The objective is to show statistical superiority via either improved efficacy or safety over current treatments. This critical endpoint is needed to obtain regulatory approval to market the drug.

Listings of trials that are recruiting patients are available at several places on the Internet. The US government hosts a website called ClinicalTrials.gov. This website provides regularly updated information about federally and privately supported clinical research in human volunteers. ClinicalTrials.gov gives you information about a trial’s purpose, who may participate, locations, and phone numbers for more details. Before searching, you may want to learn more about clinical trials. [Source: The Diabetes Monitor.]

Tags: blog | weblog | science | health | diabetes | diabetic | diet | heart disease | treatments

From an article in the The Hindu News:

Growing number of British patients visit India for treatment

A growing number of patients in Britain are travelling to India and other destinations for cheaper and quicker treatment.

Norwich Union Healthcare’s health-of-the-nation index reported last week that 74 per cent of General Practitioners said they were seeing more of their patients travelling abroad for operations because of dissatisfaction with British waiting lists.

Popular destinations include India, Costa Rica, South Africa, Germany, America and Thailand.
…
Heidi Rogers, 47, and her daughter, Victoria Lamberth, 29, traveled to India with the Taj Medical Group for Rogers to have an operation on a slipped disc and Lamberth to have dental treatment.

“I had problems with back pain and it turned out to be a slipped disc. There was a long waiting list for treatment on the National Health Service (NHS) and I couldn’t afford to go private on my nurse’s salary,” Roberts told the paper.

She needed an MRI scan, which costs about 1,000 pounds privately in Britain, but without a consultation, appointment or diagnosis. The same scan costs only 100 pounds in India with consultation and diagnosis included, so she flew to Delhi last December to have it done.

Tags: socialised healthcare | healthcare | politics | news | blog | weblog

Exubera inhalable insulin

If you’re a diabetes sufferer who takes insulin, here’s some good news: Exubera, a dry powder insulin that is inhaled rather than injected will soon be available in Britain according to an EDP Business article:

Hank McKinnell, Pfizer chairman and chief executive officer, said: “Exubera is a major, first-of-its-kind, medical breakthrough that marks another critical step forward in the treatment of diabetes, a disease that has taken an enormous human and economic toll worldwide.”

Simon O’Neill, director of care at the charity Diabetes UK, said: “Being able to replace some of the daily insulin injections with an inhaler will be a great breakthrough for some people with type one and type two diabetes. It could prove to be one of the biggest steps forward since the discovery of insulin in 1922.

“We are pleased that after a thorough investigation of the safety and efficacy information available, the EMEA has said that the product can be marketed.

“We hope that when the National Institute of Clinical Excellence comes to review inhaled insulin, it takes into account the potential benefits to people’s quality of life.”

Pfizer and Bespak are also hoping to gain approval for the drug in the United States, another huge market.

A decision is expected soon, with an advisory committee last September recommending the US Food and Drug Administration should approve it.

According to the World Health Organization, diabetes affects about 48 million people in Europe, including two million people in Britain.
…
Exubera, which is inhaled before meals, mimics the normal physiological insulin response to eating. It is absorbed into the blood quickly and reduces meal-related spikes in glucose levels in people with diabetes.

Scientists develop heart tissue in a test-tube

Also in the news comes a report that scientists at Dundee University in Scotland have:

[Developed] patches of tissue to mend damaged hearts, which could prevent heart attack victims from having to spend the rest of their lives on medication. A team from Dundee University have successfully grown a tube of heart tissue using cells from newborn rats. The tube beat like a heart, pulsed faster when adrenaline was applied and responded to medicine like a normal organ.

[Source: Scotsman.com News]

Here’s a bit more info on the story from the Pakistan Daily Times:

Dr Keith Baar said he hoped the development could transform the lives of thousands of people left crippled by cardiac arrests. Covering a cardiac patient’s damaged section of heart with a patch grown from their own cells would prove an efficient alternative to putting them on a waiting list for a heart transplant.

Tags: drugs | health | news | personal | medicine | blog | weblog | pharma | healthcare | exubera | diabetes | heart surgery | medical breakthroughs

Orlistat, a lipase inhibitor or fat-blocker, which is currently available in prescription form as Xenical, has been recommended for over-the-counter sale. An FDA panel of doctors and scientists voted 11-3 to recommend approval late Monday following a daylong hearing, according to this Associated Press story.

Currently, the FDA has not approved any nonprescription weight-loss drugs for sale.

In six-month clinical trials, obese people who took orlistat lost on average 5.3 pounds to 6.2 pounds more than did those who were given dummy pills. Glaxo wants people to use it for only six months at a time, but as an over-the-counter item, its use could not be policed.

However, the pill’s effect ends once its use is stopped, said Dr. Julie Golden, a medical officer in the FDA’s division of metabolism and endocrinology products. A previous study showed a progressive weight gain in patients after they discontinued use of orlistat, Golden said.

According to this FDA Talk Paper:

The effects of orlistat on weight loss, weight maintenance, and weight regain and on a number of obesity-related illnesses were assessed in seven long-term multicenter, clinical trials. These studies included about 2800 patients treated with orlistat and 1400 patients treated with placebo. A well-balanced, reduced- calorie diet was recommended for all patient in the weight-loss and weight-maintenance study periods. The diet was intended to decrease caloric intake by 20 percent and to provide 30 percent of calories from fat. In addition, all patients were offered nutritional counseling.

Of the patients who completed one year of treatment, 57 percent of the patients treated with orlistat and 31 percent of the placebo-treated patients lost at least 5 percent of their baseline body weight.

The recommended dose of orlistat is one capsule with each main meal that includes fat. During treatment, the patient should be on a nutritionally balanced, reduced-calorie diet that contains no more than 30 percent of calories from fat. Orlistat is indicated for obese patients with a body mass index (BMI, a measure of weight in relation to height), of 30 or more, or for patients with a BMI of 27 or more who also have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes. A person who is 5’5” in height and weighs 180 pounds would have a BMI of 30.

Because orlistat reduces the absorption of some fat-soluble vitamins and beta carotene, patients should take a supplement that contains fat soluble (A, D, E, and K) vitamins and beta carotene. The most common side effects of orlistat are oily spotting, gas with discharge, fecal urgency, fatty/oily stools and frequent bowel movements.

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and predict that, with six in ten being overweight in this country, the new drug will be a huge success – assuming there aren’t any dangerous side effects (and doesn’t it seem that there are always serious side effects with these weight loss drugs). Human nature being what it is, I also expect a huge jump in junk food sales. Net result: 60% will still be overweight, but they’ll be eating more fatty food.

Tags: drugs | health | news | personal | medicine | blog | weblog | pharma | healthcare | xenical | diet