plus 2, Poor countries see troubling rise in breast cancer - The Guardian

Poor countries see troubling rise in breast cancer - The Guardian
Global Phase III Study Results Show Eribulin Meets Primary Endpoint of ... - Genetic Engineering News
One step at a time: Thousands of walkers begin 60-mile trek at Plano ... - Star Community Newspapers

Poor countries see troubling rise in breast cancer - The Guardian

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 02:20 PM PST

LAURAN NEERGAARD

AP Medical Writer= WASHINGTON (AP) â€" Nurses were training women in rural Mexico to examine their breasts for cancer when one raised her hand to object. If she lost her breast, Harvard public health specialist Felicia Knaul recalls the woman saying, "My man would leave me" â€" and with him, the family's income.

International cancer specialists meet this week to plan an assault on a troubling increase of breast cancer in developing countries, where nearly two-thirds of women aren't diagnosed until it has spread through their bodies.

Adding to the problem, some worrisome data suggests that breast cancer seems to strike women, on average, about 10 years younger in poor countries than it does in the U.S. No one knows why.

"Today in most developing countries you see a huge bulge of young, premenopausal women with breast cancer," says Knaul, who heads Harvard's Global Equity Initiative and was herself diagnosed at age 41 while living in Mexico.

"We should help them to know what they have and to fight for their treatment."

But from Mexico to Malawi, stigma like Knaul witnessed a few weeks ago may prove as big a barrier as poverty.

"One of the trainers said, 'If he'd leave you for that, he's not worth having,'" Knaul says. But she acknowledged that will be a hard message for some women's economic realities.

"It's not a trivial consideration," agrees Dr. Lawrence Shulman of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, who is part of a team working to begin cancer care in parts of Africa where "the women are often seen as really either vessels for producing children or as sex slaves."

But some success in treating HIV and tuberculosis in those areas has him "hopeful we can make a difference. I don't think it's a pipe dream."

Knaul and Shulman on Tuesday were bringing together an international task force of health specialists and prominent charities to begin planning a two-pronged approach.

First, train midwives and other rural health providers to perform regular breast exams, using the power of touch in places where mammography machines simply are too expensive. That won't catch the very smallest tumors, but specialists agree it could improve diagnosis dramatically in some areas.

Second, the task force will start negotiating lower prices for generic chemotherapy for poor countries, following the same model that has helped transform AIDS care in parts of Africa.

You don't need in-country cancer specialists to administer that chemo, says Shulman â€" just a network of oncologists who can provide help or instruction to local health officials by e-mail or phone, as he has advised colleagues in Malawi.

Breast cancer long has been considered a cancer mostly of wealthier countries. Indeed, about 192,000 new cases are expected in the U.S. this year, where long-term survival is high thanks in part to good screening.

The true prevalence in most developing countries is unknown, because of poor diagnosis and bad record-keeping. But new Harvard research estimates they'll be home to 55 percent of the world's 450,000 expected breast cancer deaths this year.

The report predicts the poorest countries will experience a 36 percent jump in breast cancer by 2020.

One problem: In wealthy countries, earlier diagnosis can lead to breast-saving surgery instead of breast removal. Even countries like Rwanda and Malawi have clinics that perform mastectomies if patients can travel to the capitals, Shulman says. But few have radiation equipment, making breast-conserving surgery there not an option yet. (He is hunting a radiation unit for Rwanda but says that's in the very earliest stages of planning.)

Mexico is a mixed situation, with radiation, other treatments and diagnostic mammography available in some places. That's how Knaul â€" whose husband is a former health minister of Mexico â€" was diagnosed, early enough that mastectomy and chemotherapy give her good odds.

But she fumes that while Mexico's poor and rural women often get Pap smears to check for cervical cancer, "no one even suggests they check your breasts" at the same visit. She founded an advocacy group â€" Cancer de Mama â€" to help, noting that Mexico's insurance program for the poor covers breast cancer care but they must get diagnosed first.

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EDITOR'S NOTE â€" Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.

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Global Phase III Study Results Show Eribulin Meets Primary Endpoint of ... - Genetic Engineering News

Posted: 30 Oct 2009 02:26 AM PDT

Oct 30 2009, 4:30 AM EST

Global Phase III Study Results Show Eribulin Meets Primary Endpoint of Overall Survival

PRNEWSWIRE

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Eisai Inc. today announced preliminary results from a recently completed Phase III study with eribulin mesylate (E7389), discovered and developed by the company, in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

This global Phase III study, known as "EMBRACE," (Eisai Metastatic Breast Cancer Study Assessing Physician's Choice Versus E7389), was an open-label, randomized, parallel two-arm, multi-center study of 762 women with locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with at least two and a maximum of five prior chemotherapy regimens, including an anthracycline and a taxane.

The patients were treated either with eribulin (administered intravenously over two to five minutes on days 1 and 8 every 21 days) or with treatment of physician's choice. Treatment of physician's choice is defined as any single agent chemotherapy, hormonal treatment or biological therapy approved for the treatment of cancer; or palliative treatment or radiotherapy administered according to local practice.

Preliminary results from the study demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival, the primary endpoint, in eribulin-treated patients compared with the physician's choice of therapy. The safety profile of eribulin in this Phase III study was consistent with the adverse events seen in previous Phase II clinical studies and the most common adverse event reported was myelosuppression.

Eribulin is a new chemical compound discovered and developed by Eisai. It is a synthetic analogue of halichondrin B, a naturally-derived compound that was first isolated from a marine sponge. While taxanes inhibit cell division by stabilizing microtubules, eribulin is a microtubule dynamics inhibitor that arrests the cell cycle through inhibition of the growth of microtubules without interfering with microtubule shortening.

While early detection by breast cancer screening and the development of innovative anti-cancer drugs have contributed to the decline in breast cancer mortality around the world, breast cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer death in women. Although advances are being made every year in the treatment of breast cancer, women with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer have limited treatment options and the development of more effective treatment or anti-cancer drugs is critically important. It is believed that more than one million women are newly diagnosed with breast cancer each year around the world.

Eisai will complete a more detailed analysis of the data prior to submitting marketing authorization applications for eribulin to health authorities in Japan, the United States, and Europe for locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer by the end of the fiscal year 2009.

Eisai is currently conducting clinical trials of this compound in-house to evaluate the efficacy and safety not only in breast cancer, but also in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), hormone refractory prostate cancer, and sarcoma. Eisai also includes eribulin as one of the compounds in the co-development projects based on the strategic collaboration agreement with Quintiles and will proceed with joint clinical development of this compound for NSCLC as well as bladder cancer.

Eisai defines oncology as a therapeutic area of focus and is committed to developing novel anti-cancer agents and treatments for supportive care. With these efforts, Eisai will make further contributions to addressing the diversified needs of and improving benefits to patients and families affected by cancer as well as healthcare professionals.

For more information about eribulin, U.S. health care professionals and patients may call 1-877-220-3921.

Eisai Inc.

Eisai Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eisai Corporation of North America.

Established in 1995 and ranked among the top-20 U.S. pharmaceutical companies (based on retail sales), the company began marketing its first product in the United States in 1997 and has rapidly grown to become a fully integrated pharmaceutical business with fiscal year 2008 (year ended March 31, 2009) sales of approximately $3.7 billion. Eisai Inc.'s areas of commercial focus include neurology, gastrointestinal disorders and oncology/critical care. The company serves as the U.S. pharmaceutical operation of Eisai Co., Ltd., a research-based human health care (hhc) company that discovers, develops and markets products throughout the world. Headquartered in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, Eisai Inc. has several R&D facilities in Massachusetts, New Jersey and North Carolina, as well as manufacturing facilities in Maryland and North Carolina. For more information about Eisai, please visit www.eisai.com.

*On October 1, 2009, Eisai Research Institute of Boston, Inc. (established in 1987) and Eisai Medical Research Inc. (established in 2002) were merged into Eisai Inc.

Eisai Co., Ltd.

Eisai Co., Ltd. is a research-based human health care (hhc) company that discovers, develops and markets products throughout the world. Through a global network of research facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, Eisai actively participates in all aspects of the worldwide health care system. Eisai employs approximately 11,000 employees worldwide.

Eisai concentrates its R&D activities in three key areas:

-- Integrative Neuroscience, including Alzheimer's disease, neuropathic pain and epilepsy. -- Integrative Oncology, including anticancer therapies, tumor regression, tumor suppression and antibodies; supportive cancer therapies include nausea and vomiting. -- Vascular/Immunological Reaction including acute coronary syndrome, atherothrombotic disease and sepsis.

SOURCE Eisai Inc.

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One step at a time: Thousands of walkers begin 60-mile trek at Plano ... - Star Community Newspapers

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 06:09 PM PST

A good pair of socks and good pair of shoes goes a long way, said Plano resident Nancy Senetti.

And she ought to know. Senetti, along with eight friends, have committed to participate in the 2009 Dallas-Fort Worth Breast Cancer 3-Day, a 60-mile trek through Dallas and surrounding communities, in honor of their friend Molly Chapman who has battled breast cancer for the last 10 years.

But this isnt the first time Mollys Golden Girls did it. They were among the 3,200 people who formed a column six miles long during the 2008 DFW Breast Cancer 3-Day.

The blisters on their feet are painful, but they [the blisters] dont need chemo. Those blisters are well-earned, said Chapman, team namesake.

Chapman, now a retired Plano Independent School District teacher, was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer on June 7, 1999.

Its one of those dates youll never forget -- like Where were you when Kennedy was shot? she said.

She had put off having a mammogram because of other health issues, but when Chapman finally decided to undergo the procedure, she knew something was wrong based on the doctors expression.

They wanted to start chemo right away, so the next day, I went to the breast surgeon, she said. He wanted me to have a CAT scan and a bone scan before starting chemo, and thats when we found out it was already in Stage 4.

Chapman successfully underwent chemotherapy treatments to shrink the tumor, and later had a mastectomy. After additional chemo treatments and radiation therapy, the cancer went into remission.

Over the next six years, Chapmans cancer sporadically went in and out of remission.

In 2002, Chapmans journey suddenly went darker, as her husband passed away.

It was definitely a very lonely journey after that. He was always there for me, with me during all of my treatments. He kept me grounded, Chapman said. But luckily I found the light again as my friends and church and faith stepped up. I rely on their strength to help me through it all.

With an overwhelming sense of support and encouragement from her friends and faith, Chapman began rebuilding her strength and desire to battle breast cancer.

Doctors have told me that a woman can live up to 20 years if the cancer stays contained in the bones, she said. Ive had my 10 and a half, I want my other nine and a half. Its one of the most devastating news that a woman can get, but theres nothing else to do but bounce back and keep going.

Thats when Senetti, a friend from Chapmans support group, decided to take action and participate in the 2008 Breast Cancer 3-Day.

The 3-Day is just one of those crazy things one of my friends mentioned about two years ago, Chapman said. Its a fun challenge to give to myself considering all the hardships that Molly went and is going through with cancer.

Senetti and her husband had participated the 150-mile bike tour with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society twice before. When a friend suggested they put together a team for the Breast Cancer 3-Day, Senetti jumped at the chance.

I thought that this is just one small thing I could do for Molly, she said. I went to the informational meeting at Oak Point Park the January before the walk, where I met volunteers and previous walkers. After speaking with them and hearing their stories, I was hooked and knew this was something I had to do.

Senetti quickly found out that other people also jumped at the chance to contribute in the fight against breast cancer.

Each walker was to raise $2,200 in sponsorships, and at the time, I remember thinking that it was a very big feat, she said. But within a few days, I had found almost all my sponsors.

Though walking 60 miles is a daunting task, Senetti easily recruited three friends and they formed the team Mollys Golden Girls.

It was the most fun in 72 hours that Ive ever had, she said. Every part of my body hurt during and after the walk, but it was still the best time. Theres a feeling of euphoria knowing that such simple actions are contributing to the fight against cancer.

Shortly after the 2008 3-Day, the team decided to participate in the 2009 walk and set a goal to double the teams roster. Mollys Golden Girls is currently nine-women strong and is eager to grow.

Chapman said she is overwhelmed with pride and awe that her friends would commit to a huge accomplishment in her honor.

It means the world to me that they can and are willing to do this in my name, she said. After last years walk, they were tired and sore and their feet were raw, but 24 hours later, they were ready to go at it again. It amazes me. Theyre not walking for just me, but every woman in the world.

Senetti said she plans to continually recruit more walkers to join Mollys Golden Girls in the years to come.

Mollys been fighting breast cancer for 10 years; well keep walking as long as it takes to keep her fighting, she said.

Plano residents are encouraged to be a part of the DFW Breast Cancer 3-Day opening ceremony Friday morning at Plano Centre. Festivities begin at 6:30 a.m.

The first official cheering station will also be in Plano. By 8 a.m., walkers are expected to arrive in the Haggard Park area.

The public is invited to come to Haggard Park and other cheering stations along the 60-mile route to support the walkers along the way.

Taking place in 15 cities nationwide, the Breast Cancer 3-Day is a series of three-day, 60-mile walks that raise millions of dollars for breast cancer research, education and community health programs. Breast Cancer 3-Day participants raise a minimum of $2,300 and walk an average of 20 miles a day, educating tens of thousands of people about breast health with every step. As the primary beneficiary of the Breast Cancer 3-Day, Susan G. Komen for the Cure receives 85 percent of net proceeds and the remaining 15 percent goes to the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund. Please visit www.The3Day.org or call 800.996.3DAY for information.

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Breast Cancer

Thursday, November 5, 2009