Prostate Cancer

GRASS VALLEY, Calif. -- A new imaging device, ei-Nav/Artemis(TM), now officially cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), offers urologists breakthrough technology that will significantly help in the fight against prostate cancer. Artemis, designed by Eigen, a Northern California-based company known for developing innovative, affordable medical imaging solutions, will be introduced at the American Urological Association's (AUA) annual meeting May 17 - 22 in Orlando, FL.

SEATTLE -- Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have a lead role in a new public/private partnership to create the first systematic surveillance program of men with prostate cancer to look for biological clues to help determine when to wait and when to treat the disease. The project was announced by the Canary Foundation and the National Cancer Institute. Peter Nelson, M.D., of the Hutchinson Center's Clinical Research and Human Biology divisions, will lead the Canary Prostate Consortium.

SEATTLE -- Therapies under development to treat prostate cancer by inhibiting the ability of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) to activate its target receptor could have unexpected results, especially if a major tumor suppressor gene -- p53 -- is already compromised, according to new research by investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. IGF-1 is a polypeptide hormone that can influence growth, differentiation and survival of cells expressing the type 1 receptor (IGF-1R).

A tiny protein found in sunflower seeds is showing potential as a new therapy to stop aggressive prostate cancer tumours spreading to the bone. Australian scientists have developed a novel way of preventing enzymes from breaking down the connective tissue around tumours that allow cancer cells to migrate to other parts of the body. The preliminary breakthrough has so far only been demonstrated in the test tube, but if current trials on mice are successful, a new human therapy will be available targeting prostate cancer spread.

Recent studies have suggested an association between chronic inflammation and cancers of the prostate, colon, stomach and liver. Now scientists at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine report success in blocking an early step in metastasis of prostate cancer cells by interrupting the communication between the cancer cells and other cells that promote inflammation. Their success suggests new ways to control cancer spread and metastasis.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, announced that preclinical data presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) shows that a mouse equivalent of Peregrine's anti-phosphatidylserine (anti-PS) vascular targeting antibody bavituximab administered in combination with the chemotherapeutic agent docetaxel demonstrated excellent signs of efficacy in a preclinical model of hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

Prostate tumors grew more quickly in mice who exercised than in those who did not, leading to speculation that exercise may increase blood flow to tumors, according to a new study by researchers in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center (DCCC) and the Duke Prostate Center. "Our study showed that exercise led to significantly greater tumor growth than a more sedentary lifestyle did, in this mouse model," said Lee Jones, Ph.D., a researcher in the DCCC and senior investigator on this study.

Researchers at Rutgers' Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy have shown that administering a combination of the widely used drugs Celebrex (celecoxib, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) and Lipitor (atorvastatin, a cholesterol lowering drug) stops the transition of early prostate cancer to its more aggressive and potentially fatal stage. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States, with more than a quarter-million new cases appearing each year, according to the American Cancer Society.

Recent studies have suggested an association between chronic inflammation and cancers of the prostate, colon, stomach and liver. Now scientists at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine report success in blocking an early step in metastasis of prostate cancer cells by interrupting the communication between the cancer cells and other cells that promote inflammation. Their success suggests new ways to control cancer spread and metastasis.

Recent studies have suggested an association between chronic inflammation and cancers of the prostate, colon, stomach and liver. Now scientists at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine report success in blocking an early step in metastasis of prostate cancer cells by interrupting the communication between the cancer cells and other cells that promote inflammation. Their success suggests new ways to control cancer spread and metastasis.