Prometheus Laboratories Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical and diagnostic company, announced the execution of a research collaboration and license agreement with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany, a worldwide leading specialty pharmaceutical company. The collaboration partners Prometheus’ proprietary oncology diagnostic platform with Bayer’s broad oncology pipeline in an effort to stratify patients to appropriate drug candidates and potentially accelerate the development of novel oncology therapeutic products…

Although Asian Americans have long been portrayed as a “model minority” with few major problems, data released online in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) reveal that distinct groups of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AA and NHPI) differ widely in death and disease rates, including from breast cancer and other conditions such as heart disease, and stand to benefit strongly from culturally appropriate care. In the first issue of a major health journal devoted to AA and NHPI populations, data show striking disparities…

Cancer death rates for African-Americans far exceed non-Hispanic Caucasians in the United States, and only community-driven approaches to reducing health disparities will lessen the gap, says Edward Partridge, M.D., president-elect of the American Cancer Society (ACS) National Board of Directors and director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Comprehensive Cancer Center. Tobacco use and related cancers have decreased the mortality gap but not significantly, say Partridge and his co-author, Mona Fouad, M.D…

Celsion Corporation ( CLSN) announced that an abstract about the Phase I/II trial of ThermoDox® in Recurrent Chest Wall Cancer (RCW) has been accepted for presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2010 Annual Meeting. The abstract presents the background, rationale, and design of the DIGNITY study which is ongoing and evaluating ThermoDox in combination with hyperthermia in women with recurrent breast cancer on their chest wall. The ASCO Annual Meeting will be held June 4 - 8, 2010 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois…

UroToday - Our study of nephron sparing surgery in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) invading the segmental branches of the renal vein is consistent with the trend towards increased utilization of “partial nephrectomy” during surgical management of RCC. This strategy is particularly useful in those with preexisting impairment of renal function and with a modest follow-up we have found good cancer control in these select patients…

USA Today: “The cost of cancer treatment is ’skyrocketing’ - both for individual patients and the nation, a new analysis shows. From 1990 to 2008, spending on cancer care soared to more than $90 billion from $27 billion. The increase was driven by the rising costs of sophisticated new drugs, robotic surgeries and radiation techniques, as well as the growing number of patients who are eligible to take them, says Peter Bach of New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Cancer, co-author of an analysis in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association…

Mammograms, pap smears and early detection tests for prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and other malignancies are critical for catching cancer before it becomes deadly. However, a new study by University at Buffalo researchers shows that persons of different ethnic groups have different ideas and opinions about whether they are at risk for developing cancer — perceptions that can influence whether they undergo screening…

UroToday.com - The availability of novel and promising targeted therapies for the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), such as bevacizumab plus interferon and sunitinib, has meant important increases in options for patients and physicians treating this deadly disease. It has also meant that patients can take medications, non-curatively, for long periods of time. So an understanding of the treatment-associated side effects with these therapies is very important, as is an understanding of the costs of these treatments…

PARASITOLOGY: Cancer drug beneficial in models of infectious disease Drugs known as receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (RTKIs) are routinely used to treat several forms of cancer, but whether they could be used to effectively treat infectious diseases has not been determined…

MDRNA, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA), a leading RNAi-based drug discovery and development company, announced enhanced efficacy for tumor reduction when two UsiRNA were combined within a single formulation. The UsiRNAs targeted two proteins survivin, a protein involved in cell division and inhibition of apoptosis, and PLK1 (Polo-like Kinase 1), a protein involved in cell mitosis and tumor progression. Both UsiRNA were encapsulated in the Company’s proprietary DiLA2-based formulation, and delivered directly to the bladder (intravesical) in an orthotopic cancer model…