Re: Pills to ward off cancer on the horizon?

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

Sorry to be so skeptical about this " New Breakthrough On the Horizon " .

This type of HeadLine Attention Grabber is " Old Hat " and people want results

not hype. ( The old Aussie saying " If pigs pould fly " ...is really on the

mark....) Why are our hospitals so full of dying people with all the

Billions being spent on research? I say, stop the Federal funding/ money

flow and let`s regain our sanity ( and possibly health!). Thanks and best,

Mike Cinelli

==================================================================

[ ] Pills to ward off cancer on the horizon?

>

> Dec. 29, 2001, 12:52AM

>

> Pills to ward off cancer on the horizon?

>

> Grant to fuel study of chemoprevention

>

> By TODD ACKERMAN

> Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle Medical Writer

>

> Even if you've never heard of chemoprevention, you've undoubtedly used

> it.

>

> It's the suntan lotion you slather on to minimize the chances of skin

> cancer. And the calcium tablets you pop to slow the progression of

> osteoporosis.

>

> But in its strictest sense, in Dr. Waun Ki Hong's laboratory at the

> University of Texas M.D. Cancer Center, chemoprevention

> involves pills that prevent cancer. There, for the past 15 years, Hong

> has investigated how to stop the deadly disease -- mostly lung cancer,

> still cancer's No. 1 killer -- before its onset.

>

> " It's not enough to quit smoking, " said Hong, head of M.D. 's

> division of cancer medicine. " Though we've seen some improvement in

> the treatment of lung cancer in the last decade, there's been little

> impact on survival. Chemoprevention is a better strategy: heading off

> the disease in those greatest at risk. "

>

> Hong's research team recently received a $10 million grant from the

> National Cancer Institute for chemoprevention studies. The grant will

> fund a clinical trial and parallel genetic, molecular and

> pharmacological studies in the lab.

>

> When the studies are done, Hong says he hopes to have found the

> " tamoxifen " for lung cancer. Chemoprevention, a word first used in a

> 1976 paper, got a boost three years ago when the drug tamoxifen was

> found to cut the risk of breast cancer in half.

>

> The challenge is determining which drugs will prevent particular

> cancers and which patients will benefit from the drugs.

>

> Hong's clinical trial will involve Celebrex, a drug often prescribed

> in the treatment of osteoarthritis but recently found effective in

> reducing intestinal polyps in patients with familial adenomatous

> polyposis, a precancerous condition that leaves the surface of the

> colon essentially carpeted in small polyps.

>

> Hong's trial will enroll patients who smoke or used to smoke one pack

> a day for 20 years or two packs a day for 10 years.

>

> Smoking is the cause of 90 percent of the roughly 170,000 new cases of

> lung cancer diagnosed every year in the United States, and there are

> about 45 million current smokers and 45 million former smokers. Once

> lung cancer has spread, the average survival period is eight to l0

> months.

>

> Chemoprevention takes advantage of the fact that, in its early stages,

> cancer is a slow burn rather than an explosion: It can take years, and

> sometimes decades, for a normal cell to transform into a tumor. By

> chemoprevention specialists' estimates, more than 22 million

> unsuspecting Americans are now experiencing some silent stage of

> cancer germination.

>

> Hong, also chairman of M.D. 's department of thoracic/head and

> neck medical oncology, became interested in chemoprevention out of

> frustration with taking action only after cancer arose -- a philosophy

> compared to waiting until people have heart attacks before encouraging

> them to lower their cholesterol and start exercising.

>

> Hong fast became one of the field's pioneers, making key discoveries.

> He found that ex-smokers still show signs of genetic damage to the

> lining of the lungs that puts them at high risk of eventually getting

> the disease. He also found that synthetic relatives of vitamin A can

> prevent precancerous conditions from progressing to cancer as well as

> prevent second tumors from occurring in patients successfully treated

> for head and neck cancers. And he identified a biomarker for tracking

> the effectiveness of chemoprevention strategies.

>

> Celebrex's great appeal as a lung-cancer preventative is that it

> causes few side effects and thus can be taken on a long-term basis.

> Synthetic vitamin A, on the other hand, causes a fair amount of

> toxicity.

>

> Other projects funded by the NCI grant will examine the molecular

> mechanisms of the -2 enzyme, which cancer cells use to propogate

> and spread; why some compounds are effective for some patients and not

> others; and the molecular and cellular changes in lung tissue and

> mechanisms that stimulate cell proliferation.

>

> M.D. researchers also are gathering and analyzing final

> results of a recent study with former smokers. One third of the former

> smokers took a combination of a synthetic vitamin A derivative and a

> synthetic form of vitamin E, a third received a vitamin A derivative

> and a third received a placebo.

>

> This is the fourth NCI grant that M.D. has received to

> conduct chemoprevention research. In 1995, Hong's multidisciplinary

> team was awarded $6 million for the first comprehensive lung cancer

> chemoprevention program, and in 1991 and 1996 it received a total of

> $14 million to study the biology and chemoprevention of head and neck

> cancer. The new grant will be awarded over five years.

>

> M.D. and other institutions across the nation are conducting

> chemoprevention trials for cancers of the breast, colon, prostate,

> head and neck, bladder and cervix.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Mike!

Oh, you don't have to apologize for being skeptical about this " New

Breakthrough on the Horizon " --I am too! I don't trust allopathic

medicine or their doctors--I've had too much experience! ;-) LOL

I do, however, think that it is wise to read and study from as many

different sources as possible.

Kind regards,

Trudy

Message: 8

Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2001 22:32:48 +0800

From: " Milpara " <milpara@...>

Subject: Re: Pills to ward off cancer on the horizon?

Hi all,

Sorry to be so skeptical about this " New Breakthrough On the

Horizon " . This type of HeadLine Attention Grabber is " Old Hat " and

people want results not hype. ( The old Aussie saying " If pigs pould

fly " ...is really on the mark....) Why are our hospitals so full of

dying people with all the Billions being spent on research? I say,

stop the Federal funding/ money flow and let`s regain our sanity ( and

possibly health!). Thanks and best, Mike Cinelli

[Guest guest]

< >

Copies to: " Bartley Schmitz " <bartssvd@...>

From: " Milpara " <milpara@...>

Date sent: Sun, 30 Dec 2001 22:32:48 +0800

Subject: Re: [ ] Pills to ward off cancer on the horizon?

Send reply to:

> Sorry to be so skeptical about this " New Breakthrough On the Horizon " .

> ( The old Aussie saying " If pigs pould fly " ...is really on the mark....)

> Why are our hospitals so full of dying people with

> all the Billions being spent on research? I say, stop the Federal funding/

> money flow and let`s regain our sanity ( and possibly health!). Thanks and

> best, Mike Cinelli

Hi,

Nothing I ever write on this list should be taken as medical advice, I

recently had to leave an email list because someone said I was giving medical

advice, something I would never do.

Pigs do fly. The article talks about lung cancer, magic pills, COX-2,

vitamin E and money for research.

It says the average lung cancer survival at stage 4 is 8 months or so. My

neighbour went from an initial diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer with 10 tumors,

to

zero tumors (CT Scan) in just 7 months. She took a magic pill, the COX-2

inhibitors

(not celebrex), vitamin E and took some other products that were all supported

by

lots of good research. She also took chemo, but according to her oncologist, the

chemo was unlikely to have caused her rapid remission.

It is becoming well known that Celebrex is a COX-2 inhibitor under clinical

trial for cancer. But is Flax seed oil (Linseed Oil) a COX-2 inhibitor, I think

so.

Is curcummin (from tumeric) a COX-2 inhibitor, I think it is.

Now why is celebrex under clinical trial instead of Flax Seed Oil - because

it is

a patented drug and the drug company can pay for the trials. So who exactly is

going

to fund the trials of Flax Seed Oil? No One is going to fund those trials, that

is

the way the system works. Flax Oil could cost the system a lot of money if it

were

proven to work.

Vitamin E may be synergistic with aspirin. There is some evidence to suggest

it

is, Reference 3.

What of magic pills like beta glucan + vitamin C? Well again the problem is

in

the patent. Patented forms of beta glucan are trialed and shown to work well.

But

non patented forms are not trialed as no one will put up the money for the

trials.

Of course in invitro studies of human cancer the non patented yeast derived

beta

glucan worked fine, allowing the tumor cells to be killed by the immune system,

when

previously the immune system could not kill those same human tumor cells.

References:

1: J Immunol 1997 Jul 15;159(2):599-605

Targeting of natural killer cells to mammary carcinoma via naturally occurring

tumor cell-bound iC3b and beta-glucan-primed CR3 (CD11b/CD18).

Vetvicka V, Thornton BP, Wieman TJ, Ross GD

Department of Pathology, University of Louisville, KY 40292, USA.

Despite exhibiting membrane-bound C3,

serum-opsonized breast tumor cell lines were not killed by CR3

(CD11b/CD18)-bearing NK cells. Priming of NK cell CR3 with small

soluble yeast beta-glucan polysaccharides enabled CR3-dependent

killing of these same C3-bearing tumor cell lines.

PMID: 9218574, UI: 97361613

2: Immunopharmacology 1999 May;42(1-3):61-74

Therapeutic intervention with complement and beta-glucan in cancer.

Ross GD, Vetvicka V, Yan J, Xia Y, Vetvickova J

Department of Pathology, University of Louisville, KY 40292, USA.

This review discusses a novel type of immunotherapy

for cancer that uses soluble yeast beta-glucan to override the normal resistance

of iC3b-opsonized tumor cells to the cytotoxic activation of phagocyte and NK

cell CR3, allowing this important effector mechanism of the C system to function

against tumor cells in the same way that it normally functions against bacteria

and yeast. Moreover, the cytotoxic activation of beta-glucan-primed NK cell CR3

by iC3b-opsonized tumors is shown to be accompanied by a tumor-localized

secretion of the cytokines TNFalpha, IFNalpha, IFNgamma, and IL-6.

PMID: 10408367, UI: 99334852

3: Free Radic Biol Med 2000 Dec;29(11):1135-42

Synergistic inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 expression by vitamin E and aspirin.

Abate A, Yang G, Dennery PA, Oberle S, Schroder H.

The use of aspirin in rheumatoid arthritis is limited since inhibition of the

pro-inflammatory enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 occurs only at higher aspirin doses

that are often associated with side effects such as gastric toxicity. Using a

macrophage cell line (J774. 1A), the present study explores possible synergistic

effects of aspirin and vitamin E on the expression and activity of

cyclooxygenase-2. Lipopolysaccharide-induced prostaglandin E(2) formation was

significantly reduced by aspirin (1-100 microM) or vitamin E (100-300 microM).

When combined with vitamin E, aspirin-dependent inhibition of prostaglandin E(2)

formation was increased from 59% to 95% of control. Likewise,

lipopolysaccharide-induced cyclooxygenase-2 protein and mRNA expression were

virtually abolished by the combined treatment of aspirin and vitamin E, whereas

the two agents alone were only modestly effective. Our results show that

co-administration of vitamin E renders cyclooxygenase-2 more sensitive to

inhibition by aspirin by as yet unknown mechanisms.

PMID: 11121721 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

> ==================================================================

>

>

> [ ] Pills to ward off cancer on the horizon?

>

>

> >

> > Dec. 29, 2001, 12:52AM

> >

> > Pills to ward off cancer on the horizon?

> >

> > Grant to fuel study of chemoprevention

> >

> > By TODD ACKERMAN

> > Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle Medical Writer

> >

> > Even if you've never heard of chemoprevention, you've undoubtedly used

> > it.

> >

> > It's the suntan lotion you slather on to minimize the chances of skin

> > cancer. And the calcium tablets you pop to slow the progression of

> > osteoporosis.

> >

> > But in its strictest sense, in Dr. Waun Ki Hong's laboratory at the

> > University of Texas M.D. Cancer Center, chemoprevention

> > involves pills that prevent cancer. There, for the past 15 years, Hong

> > has investigated how to stop the deadly disease -- mostly lung cancer,

> > still cancer's No. 1 killer -- before its onset.

> >

> > " It's not enough to quit smoking, " said Hong, head of M.D. 's

> > division of cancer medicine. " Though we've seen some improvement in the

> > treatment of lung cancer in the last decade, there's been little impact

> > on survival. Chemoprevention is a better strategy: heading off the

> > disease in those greatest at risk. "

> >

> > Hong's research team recently received a $10 million grant from the

> > National Cancer Institute for chemoprevention studies. The grant will

> > fund a clinical trial and parallel genetic, molecular and

> > pharmacological studies in the lab.

> >

> > When the studies are done, Hong says he hopes to have found the

> > " tamoxifen " for lung cancer. Chemoprevention, a word first used in a

> > 1976 paper, got a boost three years ago when the drug tamoxifen was

> > found to cut the risk of breast cancer in half.

> >

> > The challenge is determining which drugs will prevent particular

> > cancers and which patients will benefit from the drugs.

> >

> > Hong's clinical trial will involve Celebrex, a drug often prescribed in

> > the treatment of osteoarthritis but recently found effective in reducing

> > intestinal polyps in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis, a

> > precancerous condition that leaves the surface of the colon essentially

> > carpeted in small polyps.

> >

> > Hong's trial will enroll patients who smoke or used to smoke one pack a

> > day for 20 years or two packs a day for 10 years.

> >

> > Smoking is the cause of 90 percent of the roughly 170,000 new cases of

> > lung cancer diagnosed every year in the United States, and there are

> > about 45 million current smokers and 45 million former smokers. Once

> > lung cancer has spread, the average survival period is eight to l0

> > months.

> >

> > Chemoprevention takes advantage of the fact that, in its early stages,

> > cancer is a slow burn rather than an explosion: It can take years, and

> > sometimes decades, for a normal cell to transform into a tumor. By

> > chemoprevention specialists' estimates, more than 22 million

> > unsuspecting Americans are now experiencing some silent stage of cancer

> > germination.

> >

> > Hong, also chairman of M.D. 's department of thoracic/head and

> > neck medical oncology, became interested in chemoprevention out of

> > frustration with taking action only after cancer arose -- a philosophy

> > compared to waiting until people have heart attacks before encouraging

> > them to lower their cholesterol and start exercising.

> >

> > Hong fast became one of the field's pioneers, making key discoveries. He

> > found that ex-smokers still show signs of genetic damage to the lining

> > of the lungs that puts them at high risk of eventually getting the

> > disease. He also found that synthetic relatives of vitamin A can prevent

> > precancerous conditions from progressing to cancer as well as prevent

> > second tumors from occurring in patients successfully treated for head

> > and neck cancers. And he identified a biomarker for tracking the

> > effectiveness of chemoprevention strategies.

> >

> > Celebrex's great appeal as a lung-cancer preventative is that it

> > causes few side effects and thus can be taken on a long-term basis.

> > Synthetic vitamin A, on the other hand, causes a fair amount of

> > toxicity.

> >

> > Other projects funded by the NCI grant will examine the molecular

> > mechanisms of the -2 enzyme, which cancer cells use to propogate and

> > spread; why some compounds are effective for some patients and not

> > others; and the molecular and cellular changes in lung tissue and

> > mechanisms that stimulate cell proliferation.

> >

> > M.D. researchers also are gathering and analyzing final

> > results of a recent study with former smokers. One third of the former

> > smokers took a combination of a synthetic vitamin A derivative and a

> > synthetic form of vitamin E, a third received a vitamin A derivative and

> > a third received a placebo.

> >

> > This is the fourth NCI grant that M.D. has received to

> > conduct chemoprevention research. In 1995, Hong's multidisciplinary team

> > was awarded $6 million for the first comprehensive lung cancer

> > chemoprevention program, and in 1991 and 1996 it received a total of $14

> > million to study the biology and chemoprevention of head and neck

> > cancer. The new grant will be awarded over five years.

> >

> > M.D. and other institutions across the nation are conducting

> > chemoprevention trials for cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, head

> > and neck, bladder and cervix.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >