First-line dacomitinib may improve advanced NSCLC survival

 

Preliminary research suggests that the second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) dacomitinib (see right structure)may improve progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations.

Noting that the majority of patients develop resistance to the first-generation TKIs, such as gefitinib and erlotinib (below structures from left and right side respectively), Pasi Jänne (Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA) and co-workers explain that alternative agents are needed to improve patient outcomes.

 

The open-label, phase II trial included 89 treatment-naïve patients with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC who were selected for dacomitinib once-daily treatment on the basis of clinical markers (never or former light smokers) or molecular markers (absence of KRASmutation in non-Asian patients or EGFR mutation).

First-line dacomitinib may improve advanced NSCLC survival

Isis announces top-line results from ISIS-PTP1B Rx Phase 2 study in type 2 diabetes patients

Isis announces top-line results from ISIS-PTP1B Rx Phase 2 study in type 2 diabetes patients

Added benefit of daclatasvir drug not proven for chronic hepatitis C infection

In continuation of my update on daclatasvir 

The drug daclatasvir (trade name Daklinza) has been available since August 2014 for the treatment of adults with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined in a dossier assessment whether this new drug offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy.

The drug manufacturer presented data for patients without cirrhosis of the liver who are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1, and for patients with HCV genotype 4. However, these data are unsuitable in various aspects to prove an added benefit.

The manufacturer dossier contained no data at all for three further patient groups with HCV genotype 1 infection (pretreated patients, untreated patients with cirrhosis of the liver, and patients with HIV coinfection) as well as for patients with HCV genotype 3 (with compensated cirrhosis and/or treatment-experienced).

Added benefit of daclatasvir drug not proven for chronic hepatitis C infection

Penn researchers find effective way to inhibit inflammatory response during kidney dialysis

Frequent kidney dialysis is essential for the approximately 350,000 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients in the United States. But it can also cause systemic inflammation, leading to complications such as cardiovascular disease and anemia, and patients who rely on the therapy have a five-year survival rate of only 35 percent. Such inflammation can be triggered when the complement cascade, part of the body's innate immune system, is inadvertently activated by modern polymer-based dialysis blood filters. New work by Penn researchers has found an effective way to avoid these problems by temporarily suppressing complement during dialysis. Their work appears online in Immunobiology ahead of print.

Over the past several years, lead author John Lambris, PhD, the Dr. Ralph and Sallie Weaver Professor of Research Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and his colleagues have developed small molecule versions of the drug compstatin, which inhibits a component of the complement immune response called C3. Lambris explains that this next-generation compound, called Cp40, "is a small peptide similar to cyclosporine in many aspects, however it uses a different mechanism of action."

Previous studies by Lambris and his team, in which modern polymer-based hemodialysis filters were perfused with human blood, showed significant complement activation and an increase in inflammatory biomarkers. This response could be suppressed using compstatin, suggesting that it might be used in dialysis to decrease the inflammatory response side effect.

The new study took place in non-human primates to validate Cp40's complement-inhibiting properties in whole animals. Even after undergoing a single session of dialysis using a pediatric hemodialysis filter with high biocompatibility, healthy animals showed strong complement activation with 5 percent of their C3 being converted to a form that can trigger inflammation and stimulate the immune system.

Ref : http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/penn-researchers-tame-inflammatory-response-kidney-dialysis

Penn researchers find effective way to inhibit inflammatory response during kidney dialysis

SLU researcher discovers new information about how antibiotics stop staph infections

In research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Saint Louis University Mee-Ngan F. Yap, Ph.D., discovered new information about how antibiotics like azithromycin stop staph infections, and why staph sometimes becomes resistant to drugs.

Her evidence suggests a universal, evolutionary mechanism by which the bacteria eludes this kind of drug, offering scientists a way to improve the effectiveness of antibiotics to which bacteria have become resistant.

Staphylococcus aureus (familiar to many as the common and sometimes difficult to treat staph infection) is a strain of bacteria that frequently has become resistant to antibiotics, a development that has been challenging for doctors and dangerous for patients with severe infections.

Yap and her research team studied staph that had been treated with the antibiotic azithromycin and learned two things: One, it turns out that the antibiotic isn't as effective as was previously thought. And two, the process that the bacteria use to evade the antibiotic appears to be an evolutionary mechanism that the bacteria developed in order to delay genetic replication when beneficial.

The team studied the way antibiotics work within the ribosome, the site where bacteria translates the genetic codes into protein. When the bacteria encounter a potential problem in copying its genetic material, as posed by an antibiotic, it has a mechanism to thwart antibiotic inhibition by means of "ribosome stalling" that is mediated by special upstream peptide elements.

Ref  http://www.pnas.org/content/111/43/15379.abstract?sid=94feec3e-058d-4239-97fb-bb9db8f148bb

SLU researcher discovers new information about how antibiotics stop staph infections

Mylan announces U.S. launch of Celecoxib Capsules

In continuation of my update celecoxib

Mylan Inc. (Nasdaq: MYL)      announced the U.S. launch of its Celecoxib Capsules,   50 mg,  100 mg,  200 mg, and 400 mg,  one  of the  first  available  generic  versions        of   Pfizer's elebrex®       Capsules,     which    is   indicated for  the  relief  of the  signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis, and for the management of acute pain in adults.

Celecoxib Capsules, 50 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, and 400 mg, had U.S. sales of approximately $2.5 billion for the 12 months ending September 30, 2014, according to IMS Health.

Currently, Mylan has 286 ANDAs pending FDA approval representing $111.6 billion in annual brand sales, according to IMS Health. Forty-five of these pending ANDAs are potential first-to-file opportunities, representing $29.5 billion in annual brand sales, for the 12 months ending June 30, 2014, according to IMS Health.

Mylan announces U.S. launch of Celecoxib Capsules

Midazolam drug helps recover full consciousness in traumatic brain injury patient

A patient who had suffered a traumatic brain injury unexpectedly recovered full consciousness after the administration of midazolam, a mild depressant drug of the GABA A agonists family. This resulted in the first recorded case of an "awakening" from a minimally-conscious state (MCS) using this therapy. Although similar awakenings have been reported using other drugs, this dramatic result was unanticipated. It is reported in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.

Traumatic brain injuries occur at high rates all over the world, estimated at 150-250 cases per 100,000 population per year. These injuries can result in several outcomes, ranging from vegetative state, minimally conscious state, severe disability to full recovery. In most cases, the outcome will cause catastrophic changes for his/her family and a significant drain on both human and financial resources.

Two years after the injury caused by a motor vehicle accident, the patient was mildly sedated, in order to undergo a CT scan, using midazolam instead of the more commonly used propofol. As the authors described in the article, the patient began to interact with the anesthetist and soon after with his parents. He talked by cellphone with his aunt and congratulated his brother when he was informed of his graduation; he recognized the road leading to his home. When he was asked about his car accident, he did not remember anything and apparently he was not aware of his condition. This clinical status lasted about two hours after drug administration and disappeared quickly thereafter, taking the patient back to the previous condition.

Midazolam drug helps recover full consciousness in traumatic brain injury patient

Scientists zero in on obesity pill 'that could replace the treadmill'

Scientists at Harvard University have created a way of screening potential drugs that turn white fat cells – which are "bad" – into the brown fat cells that are healthier. They have already identified two compounds that work on human cells growing in the laboratory.

Researchers believe it may be possible to lower the levels of white fat, which is linked with diabetes and heart disease, by increasing the proportion of brown fat, which burns off excess energy. It could lead to a “pill that can replace the treadmill” for the control of obesity, they said.

Meanwhile, Imperial College researchers in London have identified an enzyme that drives the craving for sugar in the brain’s hypothalamus, which regulates food intake. The scientists believe the enzyme, called glucokinase, could be a viable target for an anti-obesity drug.

“This is the first time anyone has discovered a system in the brain that responds to a specific nutrient, rather than energy intake in general. It suggests that when you’re thinking about diet, you have to think about different nutrients, not just count calories,” said James Gardiner of Imperial College, who led the study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Tests on rats showed that boosting the activity of the enzyme within the brain caused the animals to consume more glucose in preference to normal food. A drug targeting glucokinase or its metabolic pathway could potentially prevent obesity by lowering the desire for sugary foods, the scientists suggest.

Scientists zero in on obesity pill 'that could replace the treadmill' - Health News - Health & Families - The Independent

Carboplatin and paclitaxel show promise for advanced thymic carcinoma

In continuation of carboplatin and paclitaxel

A multicentre, phase II study of carboplatin and paclitaxel (CbP) in chemotherapy-naïve patients with advanced thymic carcinoma has shown that the treatment has promising efficacy compared with standard anthracycline-based chemotherapy.

Thymic carcinoma is very rare, and consequently it is hard to investigate it separately from thymoma. Previous studies evaluating chemotherapy regimens have included patients with both types of tumour, explain Takashi Seto (National Kyushu Cancer Center, Fukuoka, Japan) and colleagues.

Forty patients from 21 centres across Japan were enrolled in the current study from May 2008 until November 2010. One patient subsequently dropped out. The sample size was decided on the basis that it was large enough to reject the primary endpoint of an objective response rate (ORR) of 20%.

Carboplatin and paclitaxel show promise for advanced thymic carcinoma

Injectable 3-D vaccines could fight cancer, infectious diseases

One of the reasons cancer is so deadly is that it can evade attack from the body's immune system, which allows tumors to flourish and spread. Scientists can try to induce the immune system, known as immunotherapy, to go into attack mode to fight cancer and to build long lasting immune resistance to cancer cells. Now, researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) show a non-surgical injection of programmable biomaterial that spontaneously assemblesin vivo into a 3D structure could fight and even help prevent cancer and also infectious disease such as HIV. Their findings are reported in Nature Biotechnology.

Selenium compounds appear to have beneficial effect on cancer

The immune system is designed to remove things not normally found in the body. Cells undergoing change, e.g. precursors of cancer cells, are therefore normally recognised and removed by the immune system. Unfortunately, the different cancer cells contain mechanisms that block the immune system's ability to recognise them, allowing them to freely continue cancer development.

Certain cancer cells overexpress immunostimulatory molecules in liquid form. Such over-stimulation has a negative impact on the immune system:

"You can say that the stimulating molecules over-activate the immune system and cause it to collapse, and we are, of course, interested in blocking this mechanism. We have now shown that certain selenium compounds, which are naturally found in, e.g., garlic and broccoli, effectively block the special immunostimulatory molecule that plays a serious role for aggressive cancers such as melanoma, prostate cancer and certain types of leukaemia," says Professor Søren Skov, Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, University of Copenhagen.

Study: Selenium compounds appear to have beneficial effect on cancer

FDA Issues Complete Response Letter for Macrilen (macimorelin) NDA in Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency

Macimorelin is a drug being developed by Æterna Zentaris for use in the diagnosis of adult growth hormone deficiency. As of January 2014, it is in Phase III clinical trials. 

Macimorelin is a mimic of ghrelin, a growth hormone secretagogue. It binds to the growth hormone secretagogue receptor(GHSR) causing release of growth hormone from the pituitary gland.

Now, Aeterna Zentaris Inc. today announced that the Company has received a Complete Response Letter (“CRL”) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for its New Drug Application (“NDA”) for Macrilen (macimorelin), a novel orally-active ghrelin agonist, for use in evaluating adult growth hormone deficiency (“AGHD”). Based on its review, the FDA has determined that the NDA cannot be approved in its present form.

FDA Issues Complete Response Letter for Macrilen (macimorelin) NDA in Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency

BPA Exposure May Change Stem Cells, Lower Sperm Production

BPA (Bisphenol A) and other estrogenic compounds hamper development of the stem cells responsible for producing sperm in mice, which suggests such exposure could contribute to declining sperm counts in men, according to a new study.

The study, published online today in PLoS Genetics, is the first to suggest that low, brief exposures to bisphenol-A, or other estrogens such as those used in birth control but found as water contaminants, early in life can alter the stem cells responsible for producing sperm later in life.

Exposure to estrogens “is not simply affecting sperm being produced now, but impacting the stem cell population, and that will affect sperm produced throughout the lifetime,” said Patricia Hunt, a geneticist at Washington State University who led the study.

BPA is a ubiquitous chemical found in most people and used to make polycarbonate plastic and found in some food cans and paper receipts. People also are exposed to synthetic estrogens used in birth control as they are commonly found contaminating water, even after treatment. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned BPA from baby bottles in 2012 but maintains that BPA currently used in food containers and packaging is safe. And this week the European Food Safety Authority announced in a new assessment there is “no consumer health risk from bisphenol-A exposure.

”BPA Exposure May Change Stem Cells, Lower Sperm Production  

Study indicates major added benefit of propranolol in some children with haemangioma

The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) investigated in a dossier assessment whether propranolol offers an added benefit in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapy in infants with proliferating infantile haemangioma (sometimes called "strawberry mark").

According to the findings, there is an indication of major added benefit of propranolol (structure) in some children, i.e. those with haemangioma with a risk of permanent scars or disfigurement. In contrast, an added benefit is not proven for children with life- or function-threatening haemangioma, or with ulcerated haemangioma with pain or lack of response to simple wound care measures, because informative data are lacking.

Study indicates major added benefit of propranolol in some children with haemangioma

Three-drug combination produces better results in multiple myeloma patients

In continuation of my update on dexamethasone, lenalidomide and  carfilzomib (above respective structures from left to right)....

In the treatment of multiple myeloma, the addition of carfilzomib to a currently accepted two-drug combination produced significantly better results than using the two drugs alone, according to a worldwide research team led by investigators from Mayo Clinic.

Their findings will be reported online Dec. 6 in the New England Journal of Medicine, and presented on Dec. 7 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), held in San Francisco.

Interim analysis of the ASPIRE clinical trial, which enrolled 792 patients with relapsed multiple myeloma from 20 countries, found an "unprecedented" prolongation of the time patients were free of disease progression, says the study's lead investigator, Keith Stewart, M.B., Ch.B, a Mayo Clinic oncologist in Arizona. "Patients taking three drugs -- carfilzomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone -- stayed free of disease progression for 26 months on average," he says. "No one has reported anything like this before for relapsed multiple myeloma."

Researchers found that adding carfilzomib to standard treatment (lenalidomide and dexamethasone) resulted in 8.7 months of longer remission, almost 50 percent longer than the standard two-drug combination (26.3 months versus 17.6 months).

The number of patients who responded to treatment was also significantly improved by adding carfilzomib to standard treatment -- 87.4 percent versus 66.9 percent-- and more than three times more patients had no detectable disease after the three-drug treatment (31.8 percent versus 9.3 percent). Although results were preliminary, there was also a trend toward improved overall survival, Dr. Stewart says. "Importantly, patients on the three-drug cocktail also reported a better quality of life despite a higher intensity of treatment," he says.

These findings highlight increasing success in treating myeloma, the second most common blood cancer, says Dr. Stewart.

"Survival of multiple myeloma has almost doubled over the last decade, and the very positive outcomes from use of the three-drug combination will likely further improve outcomes," he says. "This is a nice story to tell."

Lenalidomide, a potent derivative of thalidomide, affects immune system function. Dexamethasone is a steroid drug. Carfilzomib is a proteasome inhibitor approved for use in 2012 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patients with advanced, end-stage multiple myeloma. The drug specifically targets regulation of the proteins that fuel growth of multiple myeloma.

Three-drug combination produces better results in multiple myeloma patients