Therapy found effective in older, African-American lung cancer patients
2014-11-26
(Press-News.org) CINCINNATI--University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have found in a phase-2 clinical trial that a Food and Drug Administration-approved therapy could be effective in treating both older and African American patients with advanced lung cancer who may not be candidates for chemotherapy.
These findings are published Nov. 25, 2014, in the online journal Clinical Medicine Insights: Oncology.
Nagla Karim, MD, PhD, associate professor in the division of hematology oncology at the UC College of Medicine and member of the Cincinnati Cancer Center and the UC Cancer Institute, says gefitinib, a drug that targets and interrupts signaling through the epidermal growth factor receptor and is used to control the progression of cancer, could help patients with non-small cell lung cancer, which has few treatment options.
Non-small-cell lung cancer is any type of lung cancer other than small-cell lung cancer--the most common type of lung cancer.
"The epidermal growth factor receptor has been found in higher quantities in a variety of solid tumors, including non-small cell lung cancer," says Karim, who is also a UC Health physician and principal investigator on this study. "Gefitinib is a safe oral agent that may be of benefit to a specific population of these patients.
"Improving the quality of life for patients with this type of lung cancer is an important goal as there is currently no beneficial treatment for them and chemotherapy is often not an option because of their poor health status."
In this study, researchers evaluated 12 patients who had advanced non-small cell lung cancer with a poor prognosis but who had not undergone chemotherapy. Response rate, progression-free survival, overall survival and quality of life were evaluated using the Functional Assessment of Cancer-Lung questionnaire and Trial Outcome Index.
The average age of the patients evaluated was 69 years, and the average duration of treatment was about 62 days.
Using the index to compare information collected from the questionnaire, the average overall survival for the population evaluated was almost five months, the progression-free survival was about three months and quality of life and outcomes scores were higher in African Americans compared with Caucasians as well as in older patients.
"Gefitnib is an overall active and well-tolerated therapy for this subgroup of patients with a poor prognosis and was found to improve quality of life," Karim says. "In spite of the small number of patients in the study, our results suggest that older patients and those who were African Americans had higher quality of life scores and felt this treatment improved their outcomes. This study may provide evidence that gefitnib could be an option for therapy in this subgroup of patients for which chemotherapy is not recommended."
INFORMATION:
This study is funded in part by AstraZeneca, which markets gefitinib under the trade name Iressa. Karim cites no conflict of interest.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2014-11-25
Endangered Snake River sockeye salmon are regaining the fitness of their wild ancestors, with naturally spawned juvenile sockeye migrating to the ocean and returning as adults at a much higher rate than others released from hatcheries, according to a newly published analysis. The analysis indicates that the program to save the species has succeeded and is now increasingly shifting to rebuilding populations in the wild.
Biologists believe the increased return rate of sockeye spawned naturally by hatchery-produced parents is high enough for the species to eventually sustain ...
2014-11-25
Children who attended a full-day preschool program had higher scores on measures of school readiness skills (language, math, socio-emotional development, and physical health), increased attendance, and reduced chronic absences compared to children who attended part-day preschool, according to a study in the November 26 issue of JAMA.
Participation in high-quality early childhood programs at ages 3 and 4 years is associated with greater school readiness and achievement, higher rates of educational attainment and socioeconomic status, and lower rates of crime. Although ...
2014-11-25
An examination of the potential interaction between pharmaceutical companies and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss future studies finds that one-quarter of recent new drug approvals occurred without any meeting, and when such meetings occurred, pharmaceutical companies did not comply with one-quarter of the recommendations made by the FDA regarding study design or primary outcome, according to a study in the November 26 issue of JAMA.
To enhance protocol quality, federal regulations encourage but do not require meetings between pharmaceutical companies ...
2014-11-25
As the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday approaches this Thursday, November 27, NOAA's GOES-East and GOES-West satellites are keeping a weather eye out for storms that may affect early travelers. In an image from Nov. 25, the satellites show an active weather pattern is in place for travelers across the central and eastern U.S.
NOAA's GOES-East satellite provides visible and infrared images over the eastern U.S. and the Atlantic Ocean, while NOAA's GOES-West satellite covers the western U.S. and Pacific Ocean from its fixed orbit in space. Data from both satellites were combined ...
2014-11-25
November 25, 2014--(BRONX, NY)--A study combining tumor cells from patients with breast cancer with a laboratory model of blood vessel lining provides the most compelling evidence so far that a specific trio of cells is required for the spread of breast cancer. The findings could lead to better tests for predicting whether a woman's breast cancer will spread and to new anti-cancer therapies. The study, led by researchers at the NCI-designated Albert Einstein Cancer Center and Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care(MECCC), was published online today in Science Signaling.
According ...
2014-11-25
PHILADELPHIA - New Penn Medicine research has found that elevated levels in the blood of the brain-enriched protein calpain-cleaved αII-spectrin N-terminal fragment, known as SNTF, shortly after sports-related concussion can predict the severity of post-concussion symptoms in professional athletes. The complete findings were released today in the Journal of Neurotrauma.
This new study builds on previous research from this group showing that elevated blood levels of SNTF on the day of a mild traumatic brain injury treated in the emergency room predicted those ...
2014-11-25
TORONTO, Nov. 29, 2014--A chemical produced in the pancreas that prevented and even reversed Type 1 diabetes in mice had the same effect on human beta cells transplanted into mice, new research has found.
GABA, or gamma-aminobutryic acid, is an amino acid produced by the same beta cells that make and secrete insulin.
Drs. Gerald Prud'homme and Qinghua Wang of the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Sciences of St. Michael's Hospital published a paper in 2011 showing for the first time that GABA injections not only prevented Type 1 diabetes in mice, but even reversed ...
2014-11-25
LIVERMORE, Calif. - Nanoporous metals -- foam-like materials that have some degree of air vacuum in their structure -- have a wide range of applications because of their superior qualities.
They posses a high surface area for better electron transfer, which can lead to the improved performance of an electrode in an electric double capacitor or battery. Nanoporous metals offer an increased number of available sites for the adsorption of analytes, a highly desirable feature for sensors.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Swiss Federal Institute of ...
2014-11-25
WACO, Texas (Nov. 25, 2014) - Note to venture capitalists: Entrepreneurs are watching to see if you're naughty or nice.
A recently published study of more than 550 decisions and responses from 144 experienced entrepreneurs reveals that "knowledge of explicit ethical or unethical behavior (by venture capitalists) profoundly shapes the entrepreneurs' willingness to partner."
Baylor University researcher Matthew S. Wood, Ph.D., assistant professor of entrepreneurship in Baylor's Hankamer School of Business, co-authored the study, "Take the money or run? Investors' ethical ...
2014-11-25
A measles vaccine made of fine dry powder and delivered with a puff of air triggered no adverse side effects in early human testing and it is likely effective, according to a paper to be published November 28 in the journal Vaccine. The paper is now available online.
In 2013, measles killed 145,700 people, most of them children, according to the World Health Organization. That's despite the fact that the conventional injectable vaccine against the measles virus is effective.
"Delivering vaccines in the conventional way, with needle injections, poses some serious challenges, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Therapy found effective in older, African-American lung cancer patients
