Cancer Gene Therapy Week articles from October 2004

Cancer Gene Therapy Week archives from October 2004

Biologic therapy for brain cancers reviewed.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A reseracher reviews biologic therapy for brain cancers in a recent issue of the Yonsei Medical Journal. According to a study from the United States, "The overall goal of our research projects is...

Gene therapy for bladder cancer shows strong results in animal studies.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Gene therapy that causes the bladder to act like a "bioreactor" to produce and secrete the anticancer agent interferon-alpha has shown dramatic benefits in preclinical tests, say researchers at The...

Combination gene therapy reduces murine colon cancer cell growth.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Combination gene therapy reduces murine colon cancer cell growth. "We evaluated the antitumor effects of combination gene therapy on CT26 mouse colon cancer cells, using the genes for herpes...

Antisense repression of p53 raises cancer cell chemosensitivity.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Antisense repression of p53 raises cancer cell chemosensitivity. "Most gene therapy strategies related to p53 concentrate on the restoration of the activity of mutant p53, as several observations...

A strategy of combining antiangiogenesis with oncolysis eradicates cancer.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A strategy of combining antiangiogenesis with oncolysis eradicates cancer. "Gene-viral therapy, which uses replication-selective transgene-expressing viruses to manage tumors, can exploit the...

RNA inhibition counteracts the growth of human mammary tumor xenografts.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- RNA inhibition counteracts the growth of human mammary tumor xenografts. According to a study from Austria, "colony-stimulating factor (CSF)-1 is the primary regulator of tissue macrophage...

Computationally predicted nucleotides halt bladder and breast cancer growth.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Computationally predicted nucleotides halt bladder and breast cancer growth. According to recent research published in the journal Cancer Letters, "angiogenesis plays a key role in tumor growth and...

Gene-engineered T cells are superior adjuvant therapy for cancer.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Gene-engineered T cells are a superior adjuvant therapy for metastatic cancer. According to a study from Australia, "The major limiting factor in the successful application of adjuvant therapy for...

Development of therapeutic nucleic acids is ongoing.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers with the U.S. National Cancer Institute recently provided an overview on the development of therapeutic nucleic acids to target cervical cancer. "Cervical cancer is the second most...

Overexpressed dominant-negative FANCA helps cisplatin battle tumors.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Overexpressed dominant-negative FANCA helps cisplatin battle tumors. "Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by bone-marrow failure and cellular hypersensitivity to...

Diagnostics company enters broad diagnostic collaboration with Compugen.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Diagnostic Products Corp. (DP) and Compugen, Ltd., (CGEN) announced a broad collaboration for the development and commercialization of novel diagnostic products, with an anticipated focus in the cancer...

TGF-beta depends on glypican-1 for signaling in pancreatic cancer cells.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- TGF-beta depends on glypican-1 for signaling in pancreatic cancer cells. According to recent research from Germany, "the heparan sulfate proteoglycan glypican-1 is essential as a co-receptor for...

Tumor-specific gene therapy targets uterine cervical cancer.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Tumor-specific gene therapy targets uterine cervical cancer. According to published research from South Korea, "although gene therapies using tissue-specific promoters have been reported to be a...

VEGF receptor-1 mutant gene therapy curtails solid tumor growth.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- VEGF receptor-1 mutant gene therapy curtails solid tumor growth. According to a study from Germany, "vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the high-affinity VEGF receptor Flk-1/KDR...

TNF alpha-competing peptide mediates dendritic cell transfection.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- TNF alpha-competing peptide mediates dendritic cell transfection. According to a study from the United States, "efficient gene delivery systems tailor-designed for dendritic cells (DCs) would allow...

The coxsackie and adenovirus receptor modulates cancer cell migration.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The coxsackie and adenovirus receptor modulates cancer cell migration. According to a study from Germany, "the coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) is a key factor in adenoviral cancer gene...

Adenoviral p53 gene transfer and chemotherapy fight ovarian cancer cell growth.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Adenoviral p53 gene transfer and chemotherapy fight ovarian cancer cell growth. According to a study from Germany, "clinical adenoviral p53 gene therapy has been shown by us and others to inhibit...

Suicide gene therapy containing recombinant viral vector attacks sarcoma.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Suicide gene therapy containing recombinant viral vector attacks sarcoma. "Soft-tissue sarcomas are mesenchymal tumors that respond poorly to systemic chemotherapy. Suicide gene therapy may be an...

The oncolytic adenovirus OAS403 destroys cancer cells.
October 4, 2004... 2004 OCT 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The oncolytic adenovirus OAS403 destroys cancer cells. According to recent research published in the journal Cancer Gene Therapy, "a potentially promising treatment of metastatic cancer is the...

Sulfide dynamics mediate the efficacy of lipoplex-mediated gene transfer.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Sulfide dynamics mediate the efficacy of lipoplex-mediated gene transfer. "The purpose of this research is to develop ligand-targeted plasmid based gene delivery systems for gene transfer to tumor...

Bioscience company updates investors on development status of ZFP gene therapies.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Sangamo BioSciences (SGMO) updated investors on the development status of ZFPs for therapeutic gene regulation and gene modification. Scientists from the company provided details on diabetic...

Optimized synthetic promoter strengthens adenovirus-based gene delivery.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Optimized synthetic promoter strengthens adenovirus-based gene delivery. According to researchers in England, "we recently published the construction and evaluation of a beta-catenin-dependent,...

Endostatin gene therapy alters the vascularity of malignant brain tumors.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Endostatin gene therapy alters the vascularity of malignant brain tumors. "Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an incurable malignant brain tumor, usually fatal within 1 year of diagnosis. Using a...

Brachytherapy applicator for treating early stage breast cancer introduced.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Varian Medical Systems (VAR) introduced a new lightweight applicator for delivering post-lumpectomy partial breast irradiation. The Advanced Breast Template System for high-dose-rate (HDR)...

Certain genes boost fish oils' protection against breast cancer.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers who found that fish oils appear to reduce breast cancer risk have now discovered that the oils may especially benefit women with particular genetic makeups. The protective effects of...

Short interfering RNA targeting survivin generates apoptosis in cancer cells.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Short interfering RNA targeting survivin generates apoptosis in cancer cells. According to recent research from Japan, "gene targeting using short interfering RNA (siRNA) has become a common...

Biopharmaceutical company gains early access to Dynepo oncology data.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. (TKTX) announced that Sanofi-Aventis SA granted the company a license to clinical trial results from a controlled phase 3 clinical trial evaluating Dynepo (epoetin delta)....

Electroporation-focused company announces reverse stock split.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Genetronics Biomedical Corp. (GEB), a late-stage developer of cancer and other therapies using electroporation-enabled delivery of drugs, DNA vaccines, and genes, announced that the company's board of...

Antisense blockade of methyltransferase changes gastric cancer characteristics.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Antisense blockade of methyltransferase changes gastric cancer characteristics. According to recent research from Japan, "DNA (cytosine-5-)-methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) plays an important role in...

Company offers multigenic SNP Knockin vectors.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Genomatix Corp. has announced the addition of SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) Knockin vectors to its growing set of multigenic targeting solutions. SNPs are inheritable genetic mutations that...

Topoisomerase inhibitors augment the effect of cancer gene therapy.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Topoisomerase inhibitors augment the effect of cancer gene therapy. According to published research from Japan, "adeno-associated virus (AAV) is a non-pathogenic virus with a single-strand DNA...

Flavone has sweeping effects on human colon cancer cell proteins.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Flavone has sweeping effects on human colon cancer cell proteins. "The flavonoid flavone contained in a variety of fruits and vegetables was identified as a very potent apoptosis inducer in human...

Polymer-coated adenoviral vectors offer bioavailability with less toxicity.
October 11, 2004... 2004 OCT 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Polymer-coated adenoviral vectors offer bioavailability with less toxicity. "Systemic delivery of adenoviral vectors is a major goal in cancer gene therapy, but is currently prohibited by rapid...

Dendritic cell vaccine enhances IFN gene therapy for malignant glioma.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vaccination with tumor cell lysate-pulsed dendritic cells augments the effect of IFN-beta gene therapy for malignant glioma in an experimental mouse intracranial glioma. "Interferon-beta...

Scopadulciol-related molecules are weak mediators of cancer gene therapy.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scopadulciol-related molecules are weak mediators of cancer gene therapy. According to recent research from Japan, "herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase (HSV TK) is involved in both...

Midkine promoter-driven gene therapy strikes down immortalized and tumor cells.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Midkine promoter-driven gene therapy strikes down immortalized and tumor cells. "We examined possible application of a regulatory region of midkine (MK) gene, which is frequently upregulated in a...

Neurobiological gene therapy company signs license agreement for enzymes.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB) announced that it has signed an agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston University and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute extending the field of Oxford BioMedica's...

Gene-based therapy in prostate cancer reviewed.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers review gene-based therapy in prostate cancer in a recent issue of Lancet Oncology. "Prostate cancer is one of the commonest causes of illness and death from cancer. Radical...

Efficacy and safety for cancer immunotherapy preclinical results published.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cerus Corporation (Nasdaq:CERS) announced the publication of preclinical efficacy and safety data for its cancer immunotherapy technology in the the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...

Prostaglandin EP receptors targets for colorectal cancer treatment/prevention.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Prostaglandin EP receptors are potential targets for colorectal cancer treatment and prevention. According to a recent review published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, "The...

Anti-VEGF antibody and interleukin-12 staunch tumor growth in murine models.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Anti-VEGF antibody and interleukin-12 staunch tumor growth in murine models. According to researchers in the United States, "we have shown previously that interleukin-12 (IL-12) gene therapy...

Companies collaborate to develop, market genomic purification applications.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Tecan, a life science supply company, and Promega Corporation, a provider of solutions to the life sciences, announced a nonexclusive agreement to jointly develop, promote and market genomic DNA...

Study of application of TRAP drug discovery technology published.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Telik, Inc. (TELK) announced the publication of a study in which the company's target-related affinity profiling (TRAP) drug discovery technology was used to identify novel small molecule lead...

Genome company awarded National Human Genome Research Institute grant.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- OriGene Technologies Inc. announced that it has received a phase I small business innovation research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health through the National Human Genome Research...

Double-modified adenovirus transfers genes to cervical cancer in vivo.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Double-modified adenovirus transfers genes to cervical cancer in vivo. According to a study from the United States, "successful adenoviral (Ad) vector-mediated strategies for cancer gene therapy...

Thomas P. Russo joins DNA-focused company as executive VP and CFO.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- MetaMorphix, Inc. announced that Thomas P. Russo has joined the company as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Russo has 30 years of financial experience with public and private,...

Interferon-gamma infusion prepares recipients for genetically modified cells.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Interferon-gamma infusion prepares recipients for genetically modified cells. "Fanconi anemia (FA) is characterized by bone marrow (BM) failure and cancer susceptibility. Identification of the...

Genetically modified adenoviruses show promise for treating gliomas.
October 18, 2004... 2004 OCT 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Genetically modified adenoviruses show promise for treating gliomas. "Oncolytic or tumor-selective adenoviruses are constructed as novel antiglioma therapies. After infection, the invading genetic...

Antisense inhibition of protein kinase C diminishes gastric cancer growth.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Antisense inhibition of protein kinase C diminishes gastric cancer growth. "Protein kinase C (PKC) family, which functions through serine/threonine kinase activity, is involved in signal...

Hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha gene knockout causes tongue cancer destruction.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha gene knockout causes tongue cancer destruction. According to recent research published in the International Journal of Cancer, "overexpression of hypoxia inducible...

Break repair protein endo-exonuclease is a therapeutic target for cancer.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to a study from Canada, "DNA repair mechanisms are crucial for the maintenance of genomic stability and are emerging as potential therapeutic targets for cancer. "In this study, we...

Galectin-7 transfection diminishes tumor growth.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Galectin-7 transfection diminishes tumor growth. "Galectin-7 is a beta-galactoside-binding animal lectin specifically expressed in stratified epithelia. Its expression is inducible by p53 and is...

TES is the best candidate tumor suppressor gene at chromosome arm 7q31.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- TES is the best candidate tumor suppressor gene at chromosome arm 7q31. According to recent research from France, "Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome arm 7q31 is found in many prostate...

Armstrong visits Colorado on Tour of Hope.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong stopped at the Fitzsimons Colorado campus as part of a cross-country tour to raise awareness about cancer. Armstrong spoke to a crowd at the new $216...

Armstrong's Tour of Hope to ride across Iowa.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Lance Armstrong's cross-country bicycle tour will ride through Iowa. Wearing the yellow Tour of Hope jerseys, the riders, likely without Armstrong, will make a trek from Atlantic in southwest Iowa...

Buildings awash in pink to draw attention to breast cancer.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The spotlight, a pink one at that, is on Legislative Hall and other buildings in Delaware this month as health advocacy groups promote October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In cooperation with...

Evelyn Lauder wraps her interests, talents in pink ribbon.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Evelyn Lauder is tickled pink with the success of the breast cancer-awareness initiative she launched 12 years ago that began with the distribution of breast exam instruction cards and little pink...

Fashion and beauty products support breast-cancer awareness.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pink products, already popular with women and the fashion and beauty companies that cater to them, are everywhere this month. October is designated as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and...

Varian Medical up; sees strong demand for new product.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Varian Medical Systems Inc. stock rose after the maker of cancer therapy systems said it is seeing "robust" growth for its image-guided radiation therapy in its fiscal fourth quarter. The Palo...

Epithelial cell adhesion molecule is a target for breast cancer therapy.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Epithelial cell adhesion molecule is a target for breast cancer therapy. According to recent research from the United States, "EpCAM (epithelial cell adhesion molecule) is a cell surface molecule...

Genetics company signs antibody-drug development agreement with Bayer.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Seattle Genetics, Inc. (SGEN) announced that Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation (BAY) has licensed Seattle Genetics' proprietary antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology. The license provides Bayer...

Genentech receives subpoena on Rituxan.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Biotechnology company Genentech Inc. received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania requesting documents related to the promotion of its Rituxan drug,...

Company preparing phase II study of cancer vaccine.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Epimmune, Inc., (EPMN) announced plans for a phase II study of its EP-2101 vaccine in patients with late stage non-small cell lung (NSCL) cancer, based on evidence of relevant biological responses in...

Myotubularin-related protein suppresses growth of lung carcinoma cells.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Myotubularin-related protein suppresses the growth of lung carcinoma cells. "We report that the human myotubularin-related protein (KIAA0371) induced growth suppression of lung cancer cells. ...

Mutated BRAF (V599E) is an attractive molecular target for melanoma treatment.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Mutated BRAF (V599E) is an attractive molecular target for melanoma treatment. According to published research from Japan, "Oncogenic mutations of molecules involved in the mitogen-activated...

Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor is a promising therapeutic target.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor is a promising therapeutic target in ovarian cancer, cell biologists suggest. S. Miyamoto and colleagues, Osaka University, have shown in mice that...

Gastrin gene suppression sensitizes pancreatic adenocarcinoma to cancer therapy.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Gastrin gene suppression sensitizes pancreatic adenocarcinoma to cancer therapy. "The gastrin gene is expressed widely in pancreatic adenocarcinomas and the study aimed to assess its role in both...

Company licenses DNA-based respiratory health product to Allergy Research Group.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Institute for Therapeutic Discovery has licensed its DNA-based nutritional supplement that promotes respiratory health to Allergy Research Group. They will market this product as Mucolyxir to...

Nobel Prize in chemistry goes to pair of Israeli researchers and an American.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Two Israelis and an American won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for showing how cells can destroy unwanted proteins, a finding that could help scientists find new medicines for cancer and other diseases....

Biotech alliances company now trading as SQBT begins marketing cancer product.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Squalus Biotech Inc. announced that the company has commenced trading on the Pink Sheets under the ticker symbol SQBT. Squalus Biotech Inc. is a development stage company conducting discovery,...

Protein kinase C theta may be novel therapeutic target for GI stromal tumors.
October 25, 2004... 2004 OCT 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Protein kinase C theta may be a novel therapeutic target for gastrointestinal stromal tumors According to recent research from the United States, "KIT expression is a key diagnostic feature of...