plus 4, Poor nations see rise in breast cancer - WIVB

Poor nations see rise in breast cancer - WIVB
New damages trial for Wyeth in Ark. hormones case - KING-5
Global Phase III Study Results Show Eribulin Meets Primary Endpoint of ... - Genetic Engineering News
Egypt-Israel frictions complicate US peace efforts - 89.3 KPCC
Survey Finds Americans Ignorant About Diabetes Dangers - WGRZ TV

Poor nations see rise in breast cancer - WIVB

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 08:37 AM PST

WASHINGTON (AP) - 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" — 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, 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, whose husband is a former health minister of Mexico, 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 groupm Cancer de Mama, 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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New damages trial for Wyeth in Ark. hormones case - KING-5

Posted: 02 Nov 2009 04:02 PM PST

Posted on November 2, 2009 at 4:01 PM

Updated yesterday at 4:01 PM

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal appeals court says Wyeth Pharmaceuticals will get a new trial to determine if the drugmaker should pay punitive damages to a woman who got breast cancer after taking hormone replacement therapy.

An Arkansas jury had awarded Donna Scroggin $2.75 million in compensatory damages and $27 million in punitive damages. Jurors said Wyeth inadequately warned Scroggin that drugs Premarin and Prempro carried an increased risk of breast cancer. The suit also involved Upjohn's estrogen-only drug Provera.

A federal judge struck down the punitive damages.

Monday's appeals court ruling agrees Upjohn shouldn't pay punitive damages. It says a new trial must determine if Wyeth should pay them.

Both Madison, N.J.-based Wyeth and Upjohn are now part of New York-based Pfizer Inc.

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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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Egypt-Israel frictions complicate US peace efforts - 89.3 KPCC

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 11:51 AM PST

Clinton, who extended her Mideast trip by a day to come to Cairo, arrives at one of the lowest ebbs in three decades of Egyptian-Israeli peace. Over the past month, Egypt has been scaling back its already limited contacts with Israel in an apparent protest over Israel's refusal to halt Jewish settlement in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Egypt has tried to keep Israelis away from several international forums and censured an academic for meeting Israel's ambassador to Cairo. Egyptians have also bitterly blamed Israel for their culture minister's loss of the top post at the U.N. culture agency, UNESCO, and even for attempts by African countries to grab a bigger share of the Nile's waters.

"If generally they have been cool, now their ties seem to be frosty," said Samir Ghattas, head of the Cairo-based Maqdus Center for Strategic Studies.

Israel acknowledged the Egyptian frictions but tried to play them down, contending the hard line against the Jewish state comes more from the society than from Egypt's government.

Egypt was the first Arab country to make peace with Israel in 1979 and though ties have never been warm, it has played a critical role as Mideast peace mediator. The Egyptians helped end the Gaza war early this year. More recently, Egyptian and German mediators brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas to exchange 20 Palestinian women prisoners for the first video images of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit since he was captured in a cross-border raid from Gaza in 2006.

The deterioration of relations poses another obstacle to the Obama administration's plan for Egypt and other Arab countries to forge a regional peace deal.

Other Arab countries — most of which refuse all contact with Israel — have rejected the U.S. call for small steps toward normalization with Israel that could create a better environment to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Palestinians are demanding a total settlement freeze before they will return to talks, suspended since late last year.

Clinton angered Arabs this week when she lauded Israel for what she called an unprecedented offer to curb Jewish settlement on lands Palestinians hope to incorporate in a future state. It was unusually strong praise for Israeli peace efforts without explicitly mentioning any positive acts by the Palestinians.

Arab governments interpreted her comments in Jerusalem as a tilting of U.S. policy toward Israel. On Monday in Morocco, Clinton issued what she called a clarification, saying her words in Jerusalem were meant as "positive reinforcement" for the Israelis. She said Israel's effort still fell far short of U.S. expectations, and strongly praised the Palestinians.

Her decision to extend her Mideast trip with a hastily arranged visit to Cairo, where she arrived late Tuesday, appeared linked to Egyptian concerns about signs of a recalibration of the U.S. approach to the peace process.

And there are other signs the process is not moving in the direction Washington would like.

Last week, Bahrain's lower house of parliament approved legislation penalizing all contact with Israel. Around the same time in Jordan — the only other Arab country to have signed a treaty with Israel — a coalition of opposition parties and trade unions demanded a "cancellation" of the 1994 peace agreement, saying it has only benefited Israel.

Egyptian officials are reluctant to speak publicly about the tensions with Israel. But behind closed doors, they express frustration at Israel's continued settlement.

That frustration was expressed two weeks ago when Egypt rescinded an invitation for Israeli doctors to attend a breast cancer awareness conference in Cairo sponsored in part by U.S.-based Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The U.S. foundation said it launched a diplomatic campaign to reverse the decision and the Israelis eventually were invited, but chose to stay away.

Last week, Egypt pressed other Arab countries to block a key meeting for the Mediterranean Union, which includes Arab states, the European Union and Israel, because controversial Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman planned to attend the Paris forum.

"Egypt's line, which other countries followed, was not to be associated with Israel," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor. "They politicized the whole thing in a very negative manner."

Another setback came when Hala Mustafa, a liberal-minded member of Egypt's ruling party and editor of the quarterly journal Democracy, was censured for meeting with Israel's ambassador to Egypt.

Senior Israeli officials also are visiting Egypt less frequently these days.

And experts saw another sign of the heightened tensions in Mubarak's speech to his ruling party this week. He made little mention of the stalled peace process, a topic that usually tops his foreign policy statements.

Instead, he talked about water supplies. In recent weeks, Egyptian state-owned papers have accused Israel of inciting African countries, who control the Nile River's water, to work against Egypt. These countries have been demanding a new Nile water sharing that will reduce Egypt's quota.

Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosny's failure to win the top job at UNESCO recently further soured relations. He blamed "a group of the world's Jews" for the loss and also criticized Israel. Israel did not comment on the criticism.

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Survey Finds Americans Ignorant About Diabetes Dangers - WGRZ TV

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 12:48 PM PST

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Ignorance can kill.

Survey results just released by the American Diabetes Association show Americans don't realize diabetes can kill. Less than half of the respondents chose diabetes when asked whether diabetes, breast cancer or AIDS causes the most deaths. Diabetes kills more than breast cancer and AIDS combined.

Sue McLaughlin of the American Diabetes Association says people with diabetes show few external symptoms, so they aren't viewed as seriously ill. But she says the disease damages every tissue inside the body.

President Barack Obama has proclaimed this National Diabetes Month, and McLaughlin says it should encourage people to learn more about the disease. She says the number of cases in the U.S. works out to the equivalent of one diagnosis every 20 seconds and people need to know that it's serious.

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Breast Cancer

Tuesday, November 3, 2009