Celsion Corporation (Nasdaq: CLSN), a biotechnology drug development company, announced that it has been awarded a competitive Phase I Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to support the proposal, “New Thermal Sensitive Carboplatin Liposomes for Cancer”. This funding will support the Company’s efforts to develop its proprietary heat-activated liposomal technology in combination with carboplatin, an approved and frequently used oncology drug for treatment of a wide range of cancers…

Responding to the new energy bill announced in the Queen’s Speech, Mike Hobday, Head of Campaigns at Macmillan Cancer Support said: ‘Whilst the mandatory support from energy companies will help some vulnerable people struggling with their fuel bills, it is vital that cancer patients are not left out in the cold. Cancer patients undergoing treatment are twice as likely to fall into fuel poverty as the general population and must be included in any new support schemes…

Treatments for childhood cancer and other pediatric catastrophic diseases can affect appetite. At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a team of dietitians work with patients to ensure proper nutritional care. Treatment side effects can cause nausea, unusual allergies and mouth sores as well as changes to the sense of taste. Nutritional care that helps patients achieve normal growth and weight gain, and continue normal activities is important to overall well-being…

A novel mechanism used by adenovirus to sidestep the cell’s suicide program, could go a long way to explain how tumor suppressor genes are silenced in tumor cells and pave the way for a new type of targeted cancer therapy, report researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the Aug. 26, 2010 issue of Nature. When a cell is under stress, the tumor suppressor p53 springs into action activating an army of foot soldiers that initiate a built-in “auto-destruct” mechanism that eliminates virus-infected or otherwise abnormal cells from the body…

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ: SNTA), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing small molecule drugs to treat severe medical conditions, announced that the first patient has been treated in its clinical trial of STA-9090 in combination with docetaxel for the treatment of advanced solid tumor malignancies. This is the first clinical trial of STA-9090, a potent second-generation, small-molecule Hsp90 inhibitor with a chemical structure unrelated to the first-generation, ansamycin family of Hsp90 inhibitors (e.g…

SIAM awards the Julian Cole Lectureship every four years for an outstanding contribution toward the mathematical characterization and solution of a challenging problem in the physical or biological sciences, or in engineering. Contributions in the development of mathematical methods for the solution of such problems are also recognized. Established in 2000, the prize is awarded in honor of the legendary American mathematician, Julian D. Cole, who was best known for his research in nonlinear equations…

Researchers at the BC Cancer Agency Genome Sciences Centre have provided the first published example of genome-scale RNA and DNA sequencing of a tumour to aid in clinical decision making and therapeutic choice. Published in the journal Genome Biology, the research focuses on a rare tumour of the tongue, which had progressed to metastatic disease. The rarity of this tumour meant that no established treatment options existed. Analysis of the complete genomic sequence allowed the comprehensive discovery of the genetic changes that had accumulated within the tumour…

International leaders in the fight against cancer launched the Global Access to Pain Relief Initiative (GAPRI), calling for universal access to controlled pain medication for cancer patients worldwide. Action is needed now to ease the suffering of the millions of cancer sufferers around the world who are forced to go without adequate pain treatment. GAPRI is expected to play a major role in meeting World Cancer Declaration target eight - one of 11 targets which, if achieved, will help reverse the cancer epidemic by 2020…

One third of all cancers are preventable, but urgent action is still needed from governments, individuals and the medical community to stop the rise in cancer deaths, according to leading experts attending the World Cancer Congress 2010. “A large percentage of cancers, approximately 40%, are caused by lifestyle factors, infectious diseases and environmental or occupation-related hazards, meaning they are potentially preventable”, said Professor David Hill, International Union Against Cancer (UICC) President 2008-2010…

Dallas businessman and philanthropist H. Ross Perot has donated $20 million to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for research to advance and design novel targeted therapies. The funds will be divided equally between two new initiatives at MD Anderson: an Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy (IPCT) and a Center for Targeted Therapy (CTT)…