New Drug May Boost Survival for Advanced Prostate Cancer Patients: Study - Drugs.com MedNews

A pill that blocks male hormone activity can improve survival and delay the need for chemotherapy in men with advanced prostate cancer, a new clinical trial has found.

Men who took a daily dose of the drug enzalutamide started chemotherapy nearly a year and a half later than men who received a placebo, even though their prostate cancer had spread to other parts of their bodies, said senior study author Dr. Tomasz Beer, deputy director of the Knight Cancer Center at Oregon Health and Science University.

New Drug May Boost Survival for Advanced Prostate Cancer Patients: Study

New Drug May Treat Constipation Caused by Strong Painkillers - Drugs.com MedNews

A new drug holds promise as a safe and effective treatment for constipation caused by prescription narcotic painkillers, new research states.

Constipation is a common side effect experienced by patients taking these powerful medications for chronic pain. When laxatives failed to provide relief, two phase 3 trials found the once-daily drug naloxegol could help.

"The studies showed rapid and sustained improvement for these patients, without compromising their pain management," study author Dr. William Chey, a gastroenterologist and professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Health System, said in a university news release.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as health agencies in Canada and Europe, are reviewing the drug for possible approval.

Naloxegol (structure) was specifically designed to treat constipation caused by the narcotic painkillers that are often used to treat chronic health issues, such as osteoarthritis and back pain. These medications ease patients' pain by binding to certain receptors in the brain, but they also bind to receptors in the bowel, which raises the risk of constipation.

Naloxegol works by preventing the painkillers from binding to receptors in the bowel, but not the brain, according to the news release.

One of the new studies involved 652 people. The other study included 700 participants. The patients were randomly assigned to receive one 12.5 milligram (mg) or one 25 mg dose of naloxegol daily, or an inactive placebo.

New Drug May Treat Constipation Caused by Strong Painkillers 

Green tea could reduce pancreatic cancer risk: Study explains how

A study recently published online by the journal, Metabolomics, offers an explanation that researchers say could open a new area of cancer-fighting research. The study reports that EGCG, the active biologic constituent in green tea, changed the metabolism of pancreatic cancer cells by suppressing the expression of an enzyme associated with cancer, LDHA.

The researchers also found an enzyme inhibitor, oxamate, which is known to reduce LDHA activity, operated in the same manner: It also disrupted the pancreatic cancer cells metabolic system.

"Scientists had believed they needed a molecular mechanism to treat cancer, but this study shows that they can change the metabolic system and have an impact on cancer," said Wai-Nang Lee, MD, corresponding author of the study and a Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) lead researcher. "By explaining how green tea's active component could prevent cancer, this study will open the door to a whole new area of cancer research and help us understand how other foods can prevent cancer or slow the growth of cancerous
cells."

Using sophisticated metabolic profiling methods, the researchers found EGCG disrupted the balance of "flux" throughout the cellular metabolic network. Flux is the rate of turnover of molecules through a metabolic pathway. The researchers found the EGCG disrupted this balance in the same manner that oxamate, a known LDHA inhibitor, did.

Based on this finding, they concluded that both EGCG and oxamate reduced the risk of cancer by suppressing the activity of LDHA, a critical enzyme in cancer metabolism, thereby disrupting the balance in the cancer cells metabolic functions.

Green teacould reduce pancreatic cancer risk: Study explains how  

New drug for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia passes early test

The drug,
alisertib or MLN8237, inhibits the enzyme aurora A kinase, which is known to be
very active during cell division. The present study, published in the journalInvestigational
New Drugs, looks at the safety, tolerability, and preliminary success of
alisertib in treating non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic
leukemia (CLL).

"An advantage with this drug is it is oral and very effective in a significant number of patients with aggressive lymphoma when used at that dose for 7  days out a 21 day cycle," said hematologist Swaminathan Iyer, M.D., who led the multi-site study. 

Drugs commonly used to treat NHL and CLL are chemotherapeutic drugs and some biological targeted agents such as the monoclonal antibodies rituximab, ofatumumab and obinutuzumab with varying degrees of success.

Although about 1/2 of patients participating in the phase I study experienced side effects most of which were manageable events, Iyer said that is not unusual for such
biologic (non chemotherapy) drugs.

"The side effects were fairly tolerable in this study," Iyer said. "We would like to see more information from a larger group of patients to fully understand the drug's safety and tolerability for those experiencing the middle-to-later stages of these diseases."

Iyer and his group recommend 50 mg, twice-daily doses of alisertib for the advanced phase trials of the drug, which Iyer says has begun enrollment. Alisertib is not yet approved for general medical use by the FDA. Its impact on T cell lymphoma is being investigated in a separate, phase III trial for a specific type of  lymphoma called the T cell lymphomas. Houston Methodist is a participating study site for that project. Initial phase II reports in these T cell lymphomas showed a 57% response, the highest ever noted for any single agent in this disease entity.

New drug
for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia passes early test  

Leptin also influences brain cells that control appetite, researchers find -- ScienceDaily

Twenty years after the hormone leptin was found to regulate metabolism, appetite, and weight through brain cells called neurons, Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that the hormone also acts on other types of cells to control appetite...

Published in the June 1 issue of Nature Neuroscience, the findings could lead to development of treatments for metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. "Up until now, the scientific community thought that leptin acts exclusively in neurons to modulate behavior and body weight," said senior author Tamas Horvath, the Jean and David W. Wallace Professor of Biomedical Research and chair of comparative medicine at Yale School of Medicine. "This work is now changing that paradigm."

Leptin, a naturally occurring hormone, is known for its hunger-blocking effect on the hypothalamus, a region in the brain. Food intake is influenced by signals that travel from the body to the brain. Leptin is one of the molecules that signal the brain to modulate food intake. It is produced in fat cells and informs the brain of the metabolic state. If animals are missing leptin, or the leptin receptor, they eat too much and become severely obese.

Leptin's effect on metabolism has been found to control the brain's neuronal circuits, but no previous studies have definitively found that leptin could control the behavior of cells other than neurons.

To test the theory, Horvath and his team selectively knocked out leptin receptors in the
adult non-neuronal glial cells of mice. The team then recorded the water and food intake, as well as physical activity every five days. They found that animals responded less to feeding reducing effects of leptin but had heightened feeding responses to the hunger hormone ghrelin.

"Glial cells provide the main barrier between the periphery and the brain," said Horvath. "Thus glial cells could be targeted for drugs that treat metabolic disorders, including obesity and diabetes."

Leptin also influences brain cells that control appetite, researchers find 

New therapy for pancreatic cancer patients shows promising results -- ScienceDaily

New therapy for pancreatic cancer patients shows promising results 

A Cinical trial conducted by researchers at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Clinical Trials, a partnership between Scottsdale Healthcare and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), showed that a new drug called MM-398 (below structure), given in combination with 5-flourouracil (5FU) and leucovorin, produced a significant overall survival rate in patients with advanced, previously-treated pancreatic cancer.

FDA Approves Incruse Ellipta...

GlaxoSmithKline plc today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Incruse Ellipta (umeclidinium) as an anticholinergic indicated for the long-term, once-daily, maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema. Umeclidinium is GSK’s first once-daily anticholinergic, a type of bronchodilator also known as a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA), and is contained in the Ellipta® inhaler. The FDA-approved strength is 62.5 mcg.

Following this approval by the FDA, it is anticipated that launch activities in the US will commence during the fourth quarter of 2014.

The phase III pivotal programme for umeclidinium included seven clinical studies which involved over 2,500 COPD patients treated with umeclidinium or placebo.

Incruse Ellipta (umeclidinium) Information from Drugs.com

FDA Approves Zontivity to Reduce the Risk of Heart Attacks and Stroke

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration  approved Zontivity (vorapaxar) tablets to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, cardiovascular death, and need for procedures to restore the blood flow to the heart in patients with a previous heart attack or blockages in the arteries to the legs.

Zontivity is the first in a new class of drug, called a protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR-1) antagonist. It is an anti-platelet agent, designed to decrease the tendency of platelets to clump together to form a blood clot. By decreasing the formation of blood clots, Zontivity decreases the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Like other drugs that inhibit blood clotting, Zontivity increases the risk of bleeding, including life-threatening and fatal bleeding. Bleeding is the most commonly reported adverse reaction in people taking Zontivity. The drug’s prescribing information (label) includes a Boxed Warning to alert health care professionals about this risk.

Zontivity must not be used in people who have had a stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), or bleeding in the head, because the risk of bleeding in the head is too great.

“In patients who have had a heart attack or who have peripheral arterial disease, this drug will lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death. In the study that supported the drug’s approval, Zontivity lowered this risk from 9.5 percent to 7.9 percent over a 3-year period – about 0.5 percent per year,” said Ellis Unger, M.D., director of the Office of Drug Evaluation I in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

FDA Approves Zontivity to Reduce the Risk of Heart Attacks and Stroke

Amrubicin promise for etoposide-naïve SCLC patients

Patients with chemotherapy-refractory small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) may benefit from treatment with the topoisomerase II inhibitor amrubicin, research from Japan suggests.

The 82 patients enrolled in the open-label, single-arm Japan Clinical Oncology Group Study JCOG0901 trial received amrubicin 40 mg/m2 for 3 days on a 21-day cycle, for a median of four cycles. All patients had already experienced no response, or progression, following treatment with at least one platinum-based regimen, with 51.2% previously treated with etoposide and 57.3% with irinotecan.

The overall response rate, defined as an independently assessed complete or partial response, was highly significant, at 32.9%, compared with a null hypothesis threshold of 10.0% or below. Median progression-free survival was 3.5 months and overall survival was 8.9 months, with over a third (35.7%) of patients alive 1 year later.

And amrubicin showed particular promise for patients who had not previously received etoposide, another type of topoisomere II inhibitor, say Haruyasu Murakami (Shizuoka Cancer Center) and colleagues.

Etoposide-naïve patients achieved an objective response rate of 45.0%, compared with 21.4% for those previously treated with the agent, a significant difference.

Both median progression-free survival and overall survival were also significantly higher in etoposide-naïve than pretreated patients, at 5.1 versus 2.9 months and 13.1 versus 7.9 months, respectively.

The reduced benefit of amrubicin found in patients previously treated with etoposide may be due to downregulation of topoisomerase II following the initial treatment, Murakami et al suggest in Lung Cancer.

Amrubicin promise for etoposide-naïve SCLC patients

Promising discovery in fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria .....

Researchers at  the  University  of British  Columbia  have identified a small molecule  that prevents  bacteria from forming into biofilms, a frequent cause of infections. The anti-biofilm peptide works on a range of bacteria including many that cannot be treated by antibiotics...

Hancock and his colleagues found that the peptide known as 1018  consisting of just 12 amino acids, the building blocks of protein  destroyed biofilms and prevented them from forming.

Bacteria are generally separated into two classes, Gram-positives and Gram-negatives, and the differences in their cell wall structures make them susceptible to different antibiotics. 1018 worked on both classes of bacteria as well as several major antibiotic-resistant pathogens, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli and MRSA.

"Antibiotics are the most successful medicine on the planet. The lack of effective antibiotics would lead to profound difficulties with major surgeries, some chemotherapy treatments, transplants, and even minor injuries," says Hancock. "Our strategy represents a significant advance in the search for new agents that specifically target bacterial biofilms."

Promising discovery in fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria 

New details on microtubules and how the anti-cancer drug Taxol works

A pathway to the design of even more effective versions of the powerful anti-cancer drug Taxol has been opened with the most detailed look ever at the assembly and disassembly of microtubules, tiny fibers of tubulin protein that form the cytoskeletons of living cells and play a crucial role in mitosis. Through a combination of high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and new methodology for image analysis and structure interpretation, researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have produced images of microtubule assembly and disassembly at the unprecedented resolution of 5 angstroms (Å). Among other insights, these observations provide the first explanation of Taxol's success as a cancer chemotherapy agent.

New details on microtubules and how the anti-cancer drug Taxol works  

Isis Pharmaceuticals reports positive data from ISIS-GCGRRx Phase 2 study in patients with type 2 diabetes

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  announced positive data from a Phase 2 study of ISIS-GCGRRx in patients with type 2 diabetes uncontrolled on stable metformin therapy. In this study, patients in the per protocol efficacy population treated with ISIS-GCGRRx achieved statistically significant reductions in measures of glucose control. The absolute mean reductions in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were greater than 2 percentage points>Rx also experienced increased plasma GLP-1 levels. Isis will present additional detail from this study as a late-breaking abstract program at the American Diabetes Association 74th Scientific Sessions. In conjunction, Isis will host an investor event on June 15, 2014 at 7:00 a.m PT. 

"These results reported today represent the potential for a major advance in diabetes therapeutics. ISIS-GCGRRx employs a unique mechanism to treat patients with type 2 diabetes. It is well known that as type 2 diabetes progresses, dysregulated glucagon action becomes a more significant contributor to the disease. The ability of ISIS-GCGRRxto improve glycemic control without causing any clinically significant increases in blood pressure or lipids offers a significant advantage for both patients and treating physicians," said Robert Henry, M.D., chief, VA endocrinology & metabolism and professor of medicine in residence, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. "The additional effect on increasing GLP-1 means that ISIS-GCGRRx treatment could help to preserve pancreatic function and enhance insulin secretion in diabetic patients."

Isis Pharmaceuticals reports positive data from ISIS-GCGRRx Phase 2 study in patients with type 2 diabetes

Probiotics prevent deadly complications of liver disease, study finds -- ScienceDaily

Probiotics are effective in preventing hepatic encephalopathy in patients with cirrhosis of the liver, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Hepatic encephalopathy is a deterioration of brain function that is a serious complication of liver disease.

Probiotics prevent deadly complications of liver disease, study finds 

Researchers identify drugs to slow progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Researchers in separate clinical trials found two drugs slow the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a fatal lung disease with no effective treatment or cure, and for which there is currently no therapy approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Paul W. Noble, MD, chair of the Department of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai and director of the Women's Guild Lung Institute, is the senior author of the multicenter study that found that the investigational drug pirfenidone significantly slowed the loss of lung function and reduced the risk of death. Pirfenidone was developed by InterMune Inc. and in 2011 was approved by the European Union for the treatment of idiopa Studies Published In New England Journal Of Medicine Identify Promising Drug Therapies For Fatal Lung Disease thic pulmonary fibrosis.

The findings of the ASCEND drug trial are published online by the New England Journal of Medicine and are being presented this week at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego. "What we discovered about the anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic properties of pirfenidone offers help and encouragement to so many patients suffering from this relentless disease that robs them of breath and life," said Noble.

Researchers identify drugs to slow progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Novel drug for patients with inoperable CTEPH shows improvement in international trial

After a year of being treated with a novel drug, patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and those with persistent or recurrent pulmonary hypertension after an operation for the disease showed sustained improvement in a multicenter, international trial presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

The drug, riociguat, is a guanylate cyclase stimulator that works independently and in concert with endogenous nitric oxide to induce vasodilation. A long-term extension study, CHEST-2 enrolled patients from CHEST-1, which followed these patients for 16 weeks and achieved its primary endpoint: improved six-minute walking distance (6MWD).

"The pivotal study, CHEST-1, showed significant improvements in exercise capacity and hemodynamics in patients treated with riociguat," said principal investigator Marius Hoeper, MD, of the Hannover Medical School (Germany). "However, the study was relatively short, and CHEST-2 adds important information on the long-term tolerability and efficacy of riociguat in patients with CTEPH."

CTEPH is a relatively rare disease; about 5000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with the disease each year. It occurs when blood clots from previous episodes of acute pulmonary embolism do not resolve, causing persistent obstruction of the pulmonary vasculature, which may ultimately lead to pulmonary hypertension.

Novel drug for patients with inoperable CTEPH shows improvement in international trial