Blood Cancer &
 Leukemia

SuperGen Announces Publication of Phase II Studies of Dacogen(TM) in Advanced MDS Patients

Friday July 9, 8:00 am ET
Low-Dose Therapy Had Clinically Significant Effect on Platelet Count

DUBLIN, Calif., July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SuperGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUPG - News) announced publication of results from three consecutive Phase II clinical trials of Dacogen(TM) (decitabine) for injection in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). The principle investigator for these European studies was Professor Pierre W. Wijermans, MD. The manuscript was published in the August 2004 issue of the journal Leukemia Research (van den Bosch et al., Leuk. Res. 2004 August; 28 (8):785-90). An editorial entitled, "Myelodysplasia, megakaryocytes, and methylation" was also published in the same issue of Leukemia Research (Steensma, Leuk Res. 2004 August; 28(8):775- 776).

The combined Phase II trials enrolled 170 patients with intermediate and high-risk MDS. Investigators retrospectively analyzed the effect of low-dose Dacogen therapy on platelet response in 162 of the 170 patients. Platelets are a type of blood cell that prevents and stops bleeding. Seventy-eight percent of the patients analyzed had low platelet counts associated with their MDS at baseline. All patients had an IPSS risk score of Intermediate I or higher.

Platelet responses occurred in 63% of patients. Platelet responses occurred quickly and were usually (58%) observed after only one cycle of Dacogen. Furthermore, platelet response predicted for favorable overall survival (p<0.0001). The study concludes that Dacogen has a clinically significant, often long lasting, effect on the platelet count in a substantial number of high-risk MDS patients.

"This analysis provides additional clinical evidence that Dacogen might have a positive effect on survival outcome in MDS patients," said Karl Mettinger MD, Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer and Senior VP. "These data demonstrate that Dacogen's clinical activity in MDS patients should be recognizable early in the treatment cycle, and will further support the Phase III data being submitted, as part of our rolling NDA for Dacogen, later this quarter."

About Decitabine

Decitabine is an investigational drug. It has not yet been approved for marketing in the U.S. or by other regulatory agencies in their respective countries; therefore, safety and efficacy have not yet been established in any patient population. Currently, SuperGen is in the process of filing an NDA for Dacogen in MDS.

Decitabine has been shown to have a broad spectrum of activity in several hematological malignancies as well as solid tumors. Decitabine belongs to a new class of drugs called hypomethylating agents, with a unique mechanism of action. Methylation is a process in which methyl (CH3) groups are added to DNA to inactivate or "silence" genes.

Previously reported data from the randomized Phase III study of Dacogen in MDS patients demonstrated that adverse events observed were more common in patients receiving Dacogen than supportive care alone. These adverse events included leucopenia, febrile neutropenia, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, pneumonia, arthralgia, headache and insomnia.

About SuperGen

Based in Dublin, California, SuperGen is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the acquisition, rapid development and commercialization of therapies for solid tumors, hematological malignancies and blood disorders. The company's website is http://www.supergen.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of section 21A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and is subject to the safe harbor created thereby. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding expectations about Dacogen, the effect of low-dose Dacogen therapy on platelet response and the Company's rolling NDA for Dacogen in the treatment of MDS. The success of Dacogen(TM) could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties associated with drug development. Such factors include, but are not limited to: risks and uncertainties related to the Dacogen NDA filings, how long the FDA review processes will take, and if Dacogen will ever be approved by the FDA and reach the market. References made to the discussion of the risk factors are detailed in the Company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission including the report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2004. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and the company disclaims any obligation to update or revise the information contained in any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise

Jul. 09, 2004

Actor Martin Milner seeks help for ill daughter

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Actor Martin Milner is seeking the public's help in finding a bone marrow donor for his leukemia-stricken daughter.

Milner, who starred in the TV series "Route 66" and "Adam 12," said a marrow transplant may be the only hope for Amy Milner, and locating a match requires widespread blood testing.

Amy Milner, 45, a single mother who lives in Encinitas in San Diego County, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in February 2003.

"It was right out of the blue," said Martin Milner. "She had no suspicions there was anything wrong with her when she went in for a regular checkup."

The disease, which Milner called one of the more virulent types of leukemia, was treated with chemotherapy and seemed to be in remission for several months. But it returned, he said.

Amy, who has an 11-year-old son, visits the hospital every other day for blood work and, if needed, transfusions. Milner and his wife, Judy, live nearby in Carlsbad and take her in for treatment.

Blood drives to find a match are scheduled in San Diego and Carlsbad this month and one is set for the Screen Actors Guild in Los Angeles on July 16. Kent McCord, Milner's friend and "Adam 12" co-star, is heading the SAG drive.

A donor was not found among family members or on the national registry, said Milner, adding that the effort for his daughter probably will help others.

"There's a good likelihood that somebody else could be saved, somebody not related to us at all. ... There are a lot of people waiting for good news," Milner said.

Amy remains "very upbeat," he said. "She really feels like it's going to work, they're going to find a match and she'll be cured."

ON THE NET

http://www.sandiegobloodbank.org

Gene Profiles Could Improve Leukemia Diagnosis and Provide Insights Leading to Better Treatments

Microarray data will help classify major subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia and speed understanding of the altered biology that causes this cancer in adults and children

MEMPHIS, Tenn., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The results of a microarray analysis of genes from both children and adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) could significantly improve the ability to make accurate diagnoses and prognoses for the major genetic (molecular) subtypes of the pediatric form of this disease and lead to better treatments. This finding, by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, is published in the journal Blood.

AML is a cancer that arises in bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) or progenitor cells that are destined to become myeloid cells (cells normally committed to fighting infections). Gene microarray technology uses small chips containing gene "probes" to measure the level of expression of thousands of specific genes simultaneously by using samples of genetic material obtained from normal or diseased cells. HSCs are parent cells in the bone marrow that can potentially give rise to any one of the various types of blood cells. Progenitor cells are those that have arisen from HSC and are committed to producing a specific type of blood cell.

The study of children and adults found that leukemic cells of each major known prognostic subtype of AML had a specific "signature" of gene expression. The exact signature depended on the underlying genetic mutation that contributed to the formation and growth of the leukemic cells; and it corresponded to over- or under-expression of sets of genes from leukemic cells as compared to their expression in normal white blood cells. Prognostic subtypes are categories of different forms of AML that are recognized because they tend to have known, predictable outcomes following treatment.

Importantly, this study also demonstrated that the gene expression signatures identified in the pediatric leukemias could also be used to accurately diagnose the identical form of leukemia when it occurs in adults. Thus, insights gained from pediatric AML, which is a relatively rare disease, should rapidly lead to improved understanding of adult AML, which occurs at a much higher incidence.

The identification of AML subtype signatures is important because the outlook for a particular patient depends on whether he or she has the subtype that is favorable, intermediate or unfavorable, according to James Downing, M.D., chair of the St. Jude department of Pathology and co-leader of its Hematological Malignancies program. For example, the subtype PML-RAR-alpha has a favorable prognosis, while other subtypes have a poorer prognosis.

Downing is senior author of the Blood report.

"The gene expression signatures will also give us insights into the causes of each subtype of AML, which is an important step toward developing new and more effective treatments," he says.

Another discovery was that an expression signature could be identified for a subtype of AML, which results from a mutation in the MLL chimeric fusion gene regardless of which type of white blood cell gave rise to it. A partial duplication of the MLL gene resulted in a completely different gene signature than the one caused by the MLL chimeric fusion gene. This suggests that the two different mutations of the same gene cause AML by two different mechanisms.

"Our ability to make such fine distinctions among the various subtypes of AML based on gene expression signatures is much like developing a dictionary," Downing said. "In this case, one gene expression signature defines a person as having a specific subtype of AML, while a person with another signature has a different type of AML."

Knowing which subtype of AML a patient has makes it easier to determine the best treatment and that treatment's chance of success, according to Downing. "This study will also contribute to our understanding of the various underlying causes of AML. In other words, it will help take a lot of the educated guesswork out of managing AML," he said.

Other authors of this paper are Mary E. Ross, Rami Mahfouz, Mihaela Onciu, His-Che Liu, Xiaodong Zhou, Guangchun Song, Sheila A. Shurtleff, Stanley Pounds, Cheng Cheng, Jing Ma, Raul C. Ribeiro, Jeffrey E. Rubnitz, Kevin Girtman, W. Kent Williams, Zusana C. Raimondi, and Ching-Hon Pui (St. Jude); Der-Cherng Liang (Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan); and Lee-Yung Shih (Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan).

This work was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute, the St. Jude Physician Scientist Training Program and ALSAC.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tennessee, St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. No family ever pays for treatments not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. St. Jude is financially supported by ALSAC, its fundraising organization. For more information, please visit http://www.stjude.org .

-------------------------------------------------
Source: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Help for Leukemia Survivors

Reporter: Shannon Samson

The most common form of childhood cancer, a specific type of leukemia, has about an 85% cure rate. Unfortunately, the chemotherapy used to treat it can have lasting effects on the brain.

Chemotherapy got rid of Loren Johnson's leukemia, but it left him with a constant reminder. Linda Johnson's, Loren's mother says, "It was very difficult for him to stay focused and sit still."

Loren still has problems in school, but recently his grades have improved. Loren started going to cognitive remediation therapy, a new kind of therapy to help young survivors improve their learning skills.

Pediatric neuropsychology Dr. Robert Butler says, "We teach them skills that we know will improve their attention, concentration, and memory."

During this activity, Loren has to ignore the background noise, and listen for two sequential days of the week. If he runs into a problem, Loren has a list of strategies he's expected to use.

Preliminary results from a study of 160 kids are positive. Dr. Butler says, "We had a fairly big impact for a psychological study on arithmetic achievement, reading abilities, and spelling."

The drawback is cognitive remediation therapy is expensive. Four to six months of therapy can cost $5,000 to $7,000, but the good news is some insurance companies will cover part of the cost.

July 19, 2004

Donation helps older sister in leukemia battle
By Wilbert Wiggs
Staff Writer
HEALDTON -- Medically speaking, Marolyn Allen and Carolyn Price have extended the compatibility of sisterhood well beyond traditional limits. It's a relationship with life-saving consequences.

Allen and Price are currently at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston where preparations started last Thursday to provide Price a bone marrow transplant needed to overcome the devastation of leukemia that has afflicted the older sister for seven years.

While medical procedures are under way, friends and relatives back home are working feverishly to help provide financial help. Best efforts have raised $278 from a bake sale held in Lone Grove. Another bake sale was scheduled here Saturday.

"It's about the best we can do," Evelyn Pevytoe, a friend and care-giver for the mother, said. "The church has helped, but the expenses are extensive with travel, motels, meals and other things."

Bluntly stated, the families will face medical expenses exceeding $45,000 for surgical and post-op care. This is beyond 80 percent coverage from Medicare.

"She can't get insurance," Opal Allen, the mother said of Carolyn's situation.

Hoping for possible grants and private donations, friends have established a special account for contributions at First Bank and Trust of Healdton.

Reaching the point of the actual transplant has already provided evidence of the sisters' feelings they're doing the right thing. Doctors were convinced numerous tests would be necessary to find a compatible donor, looking at one in 10 million odds.

Marolyn's test results cut those odds to one in two (no zeros added). Doctors couldn't believe the report, asking if the two were twins because of a perfect DNA match. Marolyn is two years younger and followed a brother in test procedures.

Preparations for last week's surgical procedure required Marolyn to have injections for seven days and antibiotics. The cost: $14,000. She spent 10 days as an outpatient at the Anderson cancer center -- uninsured because she is a donor. Marolyn remains in the hospital this week. She has obtained some help for motel, meal and other expenses.

Two units of Marolyn's blood and the extracted bone marrow are frozen as preparation continues for the transplant.

Carolyn will undergo chemo a week before the transplant takes place and will remain in the hospital four weeks for post-op care. Beyond this is three months of staying close to the hospital for blood work and marrow biopsies. Staying close has become part of Carolyn's lifestyle. She's made weekly trips for treatment for some time, sometimes with weekend trips home to be with her family.

Together and individually, the sisters without hesitation say they have prayed. They believe this is what God wants them to do.

"After all, we are in the best of hands, God's hands," Marolyn told one interviewer. "No matter what happens, God will take care of us."

Married to Truman Price and Virgil Allen, Jr., the sisters have local ties dating to school years at Lone Grove. Marolyn and her family live on Prairie Valley Road. She attends the Full Gospel Evangelistic Church. Carolyn's family lives in Healdton and is identified with New Hope Free Will Baptist Church at Lone Grove.

Wilbert Wiggs , 221-6526

New therapy may help combat leukemia

UCLA research finds supplement that could relieve drug resistance

JOANNA JUAN GAN/daily bruin

Mike Burgess, a student in the dual M.D. and Ph.D graduate program, works in the lab of Charles Sawyers on experimental research for a compound that may help fight leukemia.

For those suffering from leukemia, good news regarding the possibility of a new treatment option has recently surfaced from the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center.

Scientists at the cancer center recently published research regarding an experimental therapy which could help patients suffering from chronic myeloid leukemia a slow progressing cancer that makes the body produce too many cancerous myeloid white blood cells.

The research led by Neil Shah and fellow researcher Charles Sawyer both oncologists at the cancer center revolves around developments in the study of a current cancer therapy drug called Gleevec. This research may lead to a supplemental drug which could make up for Gleevec's shortcomings.

Gleevec is a common drug used to treat leukemia patients and it is highly effective initially, but as time progresses, its potency decreases and it becomes more disease resistant, Shah said.

According to a UCLA Health Sciences press release, "about 15 to 20 percent of leukemia patients who take Gleevec become resistant to the drug and suffer a relapse, leaving them with few effective treatment options."

When Gleevec first came on the market in 2001 it slowed the rate of leukemia progression and the patients had fewer leukemic cells in their blood and bone marrow than others who were using the then-current medication.

The goal of Gleevec is to decrease the number of white blood cells in a patient's circulation, and then remove the abnormal cells, according to Gleevec's Web site.

At first patients responded positively to Gleevec, but the long-term revealed the decreased potency of the drug, UCLA researchers said.

An alternative treatment has eluded researchers for quite some time, but now help may come in the form of a new pill capable of battling Gleevec's resistance.

After receiving a developmental compound from pharmaceutical giant, Bristol-Myers Squibb, the research team discovered the compound had resistant qualities and it is now undergoing evaluation.

The results of the study concerning the new investigational compound were published last Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal "Science", and now the compound is in Phase 1 trials.

"The Phase 1 trials are designed to find out the efficacy of the pill and the appropriate dose," said Kathy Baum, a spokeswoman for Bristol-Myers Squibb.

UCLA researchers say that this investigational compound could add another dimension to the treatment of leukemia.

"In the future, we may be combining therapies that can, amongst them, override all the resistance mechanisms that allow cancer to evade individual therapies. In the future, cancer may be treated similarly to HIV, with a cocktail of drugs," said Shah in the press release.

The recent work done on chronic myeloid leukemia by Shah, Sawyers and others is an accumulation of 20 years of work at UCLA.

Shah said 20 years ago, in the lab of Owen Whittey, researchers demonstrated that the underlying genetic abnormality with chronic myeloid leukemia was a result of an abnormal over productive protein.

Then, 15 years later researchers began studying an inhibitor associated with the abnormal protein in the context of clinical trials, he added.

Today, researchers have found that the abnormal protein has mutated so that the traditional methods of treatment are less effective, Shah said.

"In a nutshell, what we here at UCLA have hypothesized is that to target these mutant forms would be something of clinical value," Shah added.

There are two dozen different mutations in the abnormal protein which have been identified in patients that are resistant to Gleevec.

The results of the UCLA study show that the investigative compound is capable of inhibiting the enzymatic activity of 14 out the 15 Gleevec resistant mutants studied by the UCLA researchers, Shah said.

"We are hopeful that if it is safely administered to people it will be of obvious value," Shah said.

The Phase 1 trials are the first time a compound is administered to people and is "really designed to evaluate toxicities, however, occasionally it's possible to see responses", Shah said. "We are encouraged by what we are seeing thus far."

Future studies by Shah and Sawyers may also prove to be beneficial to sufferers of gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

The investigative compound that the UCLA researchers have been studying came from the labs of Bristol Myers, Baum said.

"The drug was discovered in our labs, and we worked fully to explore it and do as many clinical trials as we can ... now the UCLA researchers are also conducting trials," Baum added.

Depression May Explain Fatigue of Cancer Patients

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MONDAY, July 19 (HealthDayNews) -- The fatigue suffered by patients with blood cancer is most likely caused by depression and reduced physical performance, and not the disease itself, a new German study contends.

Up to now, fatigue symptoms were thought to be the result of anemia, a flagging immune system or other physical effects associated with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other blood cancers.

In the study, doctors looked at more than 70 patients in remission who had been free from treatment for at least three months.

The doctors could find no correlation between the fatigue and any physical symptoms, lead researcher Dr. Fernando Dimeo, of the Charite University Medical Center in Berlin, said in a statement.

However, the scores for depression were 10 times greater for people who suffered high fatigue, compared with people who reported little fatigue. Patients with high fatigue also had physical performance scores that were five times lower than people without fatigue.

The research appears in the July 19 issue of the Annals of Oncology.

More information

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has more about leukemia (www.leukemia.org ).

Permanent hair dyes tied to adult leukemia risk

www.chinaview.cn 2004-07-20 20:49:38

BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhuanet) --People who spent years using older permanent hair dyes may have an increased risk of developing leukemia. The older formulations may have chemicals that could cause cancer.

A new study shows that people who spent years using older permanent hair dyes may have an increased risk of developing leukemia. CRIENGLISH.com reported Tuesday.

Researchers say among men and women surveyed in the late 1980s, those who had used permanent hair dyes prior to 1980 were more likely to develop leukemia than adults who had never dyed their hair.

They believe the older formulations have chemicals that could cause cancer.

Single Cell Profiling Predicts Leukemia Response To Treatment

NEW YORK JUL 22, 2004 (Reuters Health) - Signal profiling of individual cancer cells may help clinicians determine the optimal treatment regimen, according to a report in the July 23rd issue of Cell.

"This is the first time we've been able to look at cancer signaling messages in a population of individual cells to distinguish treatment options," senior author Dr. Garry P. Nolan, from Stanford University in California, said in a statement.

Using flow cytometry, Dr. Nolan's team evaluated the phospho-protein responses of individual leukemia cells to environmental stimuli. Assessing the stimulated responses rather than just the basal levels of protein phosphorylation allowed the researchers to identify unique signaling profiles that correlated with treatment response and disease outcome.

The authors also found that not all cells from a particular cancer responded to the stimuli in the same way, "reflecting cancer heterogeneity at the level of the signaling response."

Evaluating the response of signaling proteins to one or more stimuli at the individual cell level "provides a fuller understanding of how cells process information in normal and diseased states," the researchers conclude.

July 23, 2004, 1:44 PM

New leukemia treatment developed

A Stanford University medical school professor Friday published details about a new technique he has developed for proscribing the correct drug to leukemia patients at the beginning of their treatment.

Acute myelogenous leukemia is the most common form of the cancer with approximately 10,500 new cases diagnosed each year. Individual patients with the disease can respond differently to the various chemotherapy drugs used for treatment, sometimes necessitating a time-consuming process of trial-and-error until an effective drug is found, according to Professor Gary Nolan.

Nolan has developed a technique, detailed in the issue of the scientific journal Cell dated today, for observing how the AML patients' cancerous white blood cells behave. By watching the cells' behavior doctors will be able to decide which patients need stronger chemotherapy drugs.

Nolan likens his technique to trying to determine which people in a room are the most aggressive.

"If I go around and kick everybody in the shin I can see their response and learn something about that person," Nolan said.

Nolan's technique exposes the cancer cells to different molecules. Those cells that simply "look surprised" are fairly normal and will probably respond well to common chemotherapy treatment. Those that "glower" will need special treatment, Nolan said.

Leukemia is cancer of the body's white blood cells. The cancerous white blood cells divide out of control and drown out the other types of cells normally present in the blood. Leukemia sufferers tend to bruise easily because their body doesn't contain enough platelets to clot and they have a shortage of red blood cells causing fatigue.

Bay City News Service

Permanent Hair Dyes Tied to Adult Leukemia Risk

Sunday July 25, 2004
ISLAMABAD: People who spent years using older permanent hair dyes may have somewhat higher odds of developing leukemia, a new study suggests. Researchers found that among men and women surveyed in the late 1980s, those who had used permanent hair dyes prior to 1980 were more likely to develop leukemia than adults who had never dyed their hair.

Acute leukemia is a quickly progressing form of leukemia in which immature, non-functioning blood cells accumulate and crowd out normal cells. Hair dyes have long been studied as a potential risk factor for a number of cancers, but research has yielded conflicting findings. Older formulations contained potentially cancer-causing chemicals, and there is evidence tying hair dyes to the risk of blood-related cancers such as leukemia and multiple myeloma. Not all studies, however, have come to this conclusion.

The new study compared 769 acute leukemia patients with 623 adults without the disease. It found that men and women who had used permanent dyes one to five times per year for 15 years or longer were more than twice as likely to develop leukemia as people who had never dyed their hair. Temporary hair dyes that wash out with a few shampoos and hair dye use beginning in 1980 or later were not linked to the disease.

Together with past research, these findings suggest hair dye use is a "potential but not an especially strong risk factor" for leukemia and other blood-related cancers, according to lead study author Dr. Garth H. Rauscher of the University of Illinois in Chicago. And it does appear that long-term use and use of older coloring products are key factors, says Rauscher. He and his colleagues report the findings in the current issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The findings are similar to those of a study earlier this year that linked long-term use of older permanent hair dyes to an increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in women. Again, women who used hair dyes after 1980 did not have an elevated cancer risk, and the researchers speculated that changes in product formulations made in response to cancer concerns could be the reason. Rauscher said evidence so far suggests that while people who have colored their hair do not seem to face a greater risk of most cancers, the "possible exception" is cancer of the blood or lymph nodes-which includes leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The reason is unclear, but it may have to do with the fact that the blood is the "first point of contact" for cancer-promoting chemicals that are able to penetrate the scalp, Rauscher noted. However, he also pointed out that while some studies like his -- comparisons of leukemia or lymphoma patients with healthy adults -- have linked hair dyes to a higher cancer risk, other studies that have followed hair dye users over time have failed to do so.

Plantacor Enters Into Exclusive License Agreement With The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

Tuesday July 27, 7:05 am ET

HOUSTON, July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Plantacor, Inc. announced today that it has exclusively licensed the commercial rights to three preclinical cancer therapeutics from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. These therapeutic drug compounds include novel liposomal formulations of Curcumin and Emodin for the treatment of multiple cancers including leukemia, and Calagualine for the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma malignancies. Plantacor has granted M. D. Anderson an equity position in the company as part of the consideration for the agreement.

"We are very excited about working with Plantacor and assisting in developing new cancer drugs that potentially may play a significant role in the lives of cancer patients," said Gabriel Lopez-Berestein, M.D., professor of bioimmunotherapy at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. "Plantacor is an excellent partner to develop these therapeutic compounds as they are committed to accelerating the entrance of new drugs into the marketplace."

"This agreement is a continuation of our strategy to expand Plantacor's intellectual property portfolio in the field of safe and effective pharmaceuticals to meet the unmet needs of patients worldwide," said Robert C. Dose, chief executive officer for Plantacor. "We are very pleased that M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has entrusted Plantacor with the development of these potentially valuable therapeutic compounds."

"Plantacor is committed to making improvements in cancer treatment, not only through development and marketing anticancer therapeutic agents, but also through the utilization of technologies to minimize the adverse side effects of cancer therapy," said Gary H. Richardson, president of Plantacor. "With this license from M. D. Anderson, we are three steps closer to providing a better quality of life for cancer patients."

About Plantacor, Inc.

Plantacor, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the acquisition and development of natural, safe and effective therapeutic drugs, to address the unmet needs of patients worldwide. The Company's initial commercialization efforts have been focused on the preclinical development of a class of unique orally delivered tumor regressing compounds exclusively licensed from The Texas A&M University System, that are synthetic analogs of the anticancer diindolylmethane (DIM) compound derived from cruciferous vegetables. The acquisition of the rights to the three M. D. Anderson technologies broadens the depth and scope of the company's product pipeline.

http://www.plantacor.com

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Awards $9 Million in Grants to Researchers on The Forefront of New Cancer Treatments

Wednesday July 28, 2004
Translational Research Program Breaks $100 Million in Funding

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society today announced 25 Translational Research Program grants totaling $9,170,740 to researchers on the forefront of developing new treatments for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. The awards bring the program's total funding to more than $108 million since its inception in 1995.
The Society established the Translational Research Program to encourage and support research that shows strong promise for translating basic biomedical knowledge to new treatments that will ultimately prolong and enhance patients' lives. The program's goal is to accelerate the transfer of findings from the laboratory to clinical application. Significantly, three of the 25 recipients are receiving renewal grants, which are awarded to projects that have moved from the lab to an approved clinical trial.

"Every five minutes, someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma, and every ten minutes, someone dies from these cancers," said Dwayne Howell, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. "We are thrilled to fund these outstanding scientists, who are working toward developing more effective treatments for the more than 712,000 Americans battling these cancers."

The Society funds two major research programs in addition to the Translational Research Program. The Career Development Program provides stipends to investigators in early stages of their careers, allowing them to devote their time to leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma research. The Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) program encourages multidisciplinary research through the collaboration of leading-edge researchers from at least three research programs. The concept behind the program is that leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma treatments and cures will be discovered most quickly in an environment of collaboration and teamwork.

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society®, headquartered in White Plains, NY, is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. The Society's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, the Society has invested more than $360 million in research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

Translational Research Program Recipients
For a complete list of grant recipients, visit
http://www.lls.org/trp2005awards

Contact: Jon Garbo
Director of Public Relations
914-821-8969

Source: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Report: Highways bad for health

By April Yee
Post staff reporter

A Sierra Club report that combines the findings of 27 scientific studies on vehicle emissions offers a single conclusion: Living near busy highways is bad for your health.
This comes at a time when air quality in Cincinnati is at its best in years, thanks to a rainy summer.

Even after more stringent standards were imposed in the late 1990s, the counties of Hamilton, Warren, Butler and Clermont exceeded air quality standards of the U.S. EPA just six times, according to the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services.

Last year, the total was more than 100; the year before, more than 300.

And, there are zero so far in July, what typically is peak smog season.

On the other side of the river, Northern Kentuckians are enjoying "the cleanest air in the region," said John Schneider, chairman of the Cincinnati-based Alliance for Regional Transit.

But air quality problems have not and will not disappear, said Glen Brand, Midwest regional representative of the Sierra Club. Cincinnati was the subject of one of 10 case studies that were included in the report.

"The more that we widen our highways, as is proposed for the Interstate 75 stretch through Cincinnati, the more asthma attacks, premature deaths, childhood leukemia, and other serious respiratory problems, heart attacks and cancer our families will be exposed to," said Brand.

Roughly half of Americans breathe air with too much smog, soot and other health-threatening pollutants, according to the Sierra Club. Vehicles contribute about 44 percent of smog in the tri-state, according to Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, or OKI.

A recent University of Colorado study shows that children living near Denver roads are six times more likely to develop cancer and eight times more likely to develop leukemia.

The Sierra Club recommends two solutions: creating a passenger train service, like the proposed light rail, and practicing "smart growth land use" -- that is, slowing down the urban sprawl that plagues areas like Boone and Warren counties.

This follows the conclusion of OKI in June that light rail is no longer a priority of Greater Cincinnati transportation planners because of a lack of funding.

Other options include reducing speed limits and limiting where trucks can travel, said the study's authors.

The problem is especially concentrated in lower-income urban areas like parts of downtown Cincinnati.

Highway pollution could also help to carry biological allergens like pollen and mold, said Sergey Grinshpun, director of the Center for Health-Related Aerosol Studies at the University of Cincinnati.

He is contributing to a study on the health effect of living near a highway on children in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. About 800 families are signed up for the study, to be completed in 2006.

The Bush administration proposed cutting federal funding for public transportation by 30 percent.

"What we're calling on the Bush administration to do is to cut back on air pollution, not public transportation funding," said Brand.

Biotech Company Provides Lifesaving Technology as Public Service

Cord Blood Registry Provides No-cost Storage of Related Stem Cells

SAN BRUNO, Calif., July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Pregnant women who have a child
or family member fighting cancer, leukemia, or sickle cell anemia have a free
medical service available that can help save a life. Cord Blood Registry, the
leading provider of cord blood banking services, offers stem cell storage
-- at no cost -- to families dealing with life-threatening illnesses.
The most recent recipient of this lifesaving service, dubbed the
Designated Transplant Program (DTP), is eight-year-old Haley Knutsen of
Gilbert, Arizona. Haley has been battling leukemia since age two, but earlier
this month, the DTP enabled her to receive the best treatment option -- a
transplant of her newborn sibling's cord blood. Her physician and family hope
that she may soon be cured.

Doctors use stem cells, like those found in cord blood, to treat over
75 serious conditions including sickle cell anemia and acute and chronic
leukemia. Haley's brother, Jayce had his cord blood collected when he was
born, frozen in liquid nitrogen, and stored. It was then thawed for use in
Haley's transplant earlier this month. Transplants using cord blood stem cells
from a genetic relative have been shown to provide more than double the
survival rate when compared to unrelated donor cord blood transplants.
The DTP is available to expectant parents who have a child or other family
member who has been diagnosed with a disease that may require a stem cell
transplant. The newborn's cord blood is collected in a risk-free, painless
procedure immediately following birth. Cord blood is routinely discarded with
the placenta, but a growing number of doctors and consumers are advocates of
cord blood banking.

"Cord Blood Registry recognizes the medical value and importance of
related stem cells, and we are committed to saving lives," says Tom Moore, CEO
and founder of Cord Blood Registry. "To date, we have facilitated cord blood
storage for over 1,000 families through the DTP. We also direct significant
resources to help make sure expectant mothers and physicians are aware of this
program."

The Knutsen family, along with Haley's doctor Michael Graham, M.D.,
director of pediatric bone marrow transplantation at the University Medical
Center in Tucson, Arizona, appeared on CBS's The Early Show on July 23, 2004,
to talk about the benefits of having her brother's cord blood available.
"What is notable this time is that Haley has suffered far fewer side
effects, that it's a much milder transplant to go through," said Dr. Graham.
"And that's part of the excitement of being able to do it from a related
donor."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/23/earlyshow/health/main631412.shtml

To learn more about family cord blood banking or Cord Blood Registry's
Designated Transplant Program, visit http://www.cordblood.com or call
1-888-CORD BLOOD.

About Cord Blood Registry
Cord Blood Registry is the leader in cord blood stem cell processing and
cryopreservation for familial use in transplantation and regenerative
medicine. The cord blood stem cells preserved by CBR are collected immediately
after the birth of a newborn and are then available to be used in treatments
for the newborn, siblings, and any compatible genetic family member. Once
transplanted, the cells have the ability to repair damaged or diseased tissues
with little risk of rejection and increased long-term survival. CBR's unique
storage system protects each unit from potential cross-contamination over
extended periods of time. The company's research and development is focused on
collection, processing, and storage improvement to optimize cell yield.

Additionally, CBR facilitates collection of donated research samples to
provide a cellular resource for the nearly 200 research programs worldwide
that are focused on stem cell expansion and cell-based therapies. Current stem
cell research includes treatment of injuries and diseases of the central
nervous system such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, as well as heart
disease, and liver and pancreas diseases and injury. CBR was the first cord
blood bank to be accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks in 1998
and has successfully provided more than 30 viable samples for use in
lifesaving medical treatments. For more information visit
http://www.cordblood.com , or call 1-888-CORD BLOOD. Cord Blood Registry is a
registered trademark of Cbr Systems, Inc.

SOURCE Cbr Systems, Inc.
Web Site: http://www.cordblood.com

High-level meeting Monday on possible blood platelet bank

LINDA STOCKWELL, Staff Writer July 31, 2004

Tullahoma could be the site of a blood platelet donation center and bank housed in the planned expansion at the Coffee County Senior Citizens Center.
A platelet blood bank would serve the region and be much more convenient for dozens of donors who now have to travel to Murfreesboro, Chattanooga or Nashville to give platelets for lifesaving transfusions.

At 11 a.m. Monday, a number of high-ranking state politicians will gather in Tullahoma to discuss the possibility of locating the facility in part of the Senior Center at 410 N. Collins St.

State Rep. Judd Matheney of Tullahoma strongly supports the effort and organized the Monday session with state Sen. Jerry Cooper and representatives from the offices of Congressman Lincoln Davis and U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bill Frist.

Platelets are the clotting component of whole blood but are extremely fragile and last only five days. Leukemia patients need platelets to survive the disease.
A special device called a hemapheresis machine collects platelets from whole blood. The remaining blood cells and plasma can then be returned to the donor. The machines are costly and require training to operate.

At present the closest place to donate platelets is Murfreesboro, a 90-mile round trip, and it only accepts platelet donations on Fridays and Saturdays.
Nashville, a 180-mile round trip accepts platelets every day of the week; Chattanooga is similar, but that's 150 miles in both directions.
The need for a regional platelet blood bank is growing, according to Tullahoma resident Guy Gardner, who lost his wife to luekemia last year.

"I personally know of 10 people who need these transfusions in just this area, but think of the numbers who do in Fayetteville and Shelbyville," Gardner said.
Often a group of dedicated platelet donors will give for a specific person, but if the blood banks in Murfreesboro or Nashville have no platelets, a patient must suffer through an agnozing time of waiting.
The body's normal platelet count should be between 150,000 to 400,000. Gardner recalls one desperate day when his wife's count was 4,000 and there were no platelets available.

"She was bleeding from her eyes and her gums - it was the only time she ever cried during the whole course of her illness," Gardner said.
Gardner plans to be at the meeting Monday to talk about his experiences.
"It would be perfect to have the platelet collection point here," he said. "You can give platelets every three days and I'd be happy to do that if a center were so close."

Coffee County Senior Center officials are fund-raising for the $400,000 project now and hope to complete the 10,500-square-foot addition in 2006.
An emergency shelter for the community is also part of the proposed expansion. Most homes in Tullahoma do not have basements, the best place to take shelter during a severe storm or tornado threat. A platelet blood bank seemed to organizers to be a perfect fit for the expansion.

"What a benefit it would be to the community to have this blood platelet collection center and bank," said center director Doris Pearson. "This area seems to have a high rate of leukemia so the need is there."
For more information on the planned expansion project or to donate funds toward the effort contact the Coffee County Senior Citizens at 455-2504.

New Drug Treatments Offer Hope to Leukemia Patients

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Sept. 28 (HealthDayNews) -- Scientists call them "molecularly targeted" drugs, and they represent a remarkable gain in the war against blood cancers.

Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are some of the rarest yet most deadly forms of cancer. They account for only 2 percent to 3 percent of all cancers, but cause 10 percent of all cancer deaths, said Alan Kinniburgh, vice president of research for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

These so-called "liquid cancers" cannot be surgically removed and up until recently have been treated with radiation and chemotherapy.

But promising new therapies all involve "molecularly targeted" drugs that disrupt the spread of cancer by honing in on specific mechanical processes that cancer cells to grow.

These breakthrough treatments merit attention in September, which is Leukemia & Lymphoma Awareness Month.

Kinniburgh foresees a day when these new drugs will work together to halt blood cancers, "all hitting the same target, but hitting the target in different ways so the target can't escape being killed."

An estimated 106,000 Americans were diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma last year, according to estimates by the National Cancer Institute (news - web sites). Another 57,500 people died from one of the diseases.

The diseases each begin with one damaged cell that turns cancerous, explained Hildy Dillon, vice president of patient services for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

"They are usually the result of an acquired genetic injury to the DNA of a single cell, which then becomes malignant and starts to reproduce," Dillon said.

The blood cancers interfere with the production of healthy blood cells, Dillon said.

If red blood cells are affected, the person initially suffers from anemia and fatigue. If white blood cells are stricken, the patient initially suffers a high risk of infection. And since the cancers affect blood's ability to clot, patients also suffer unexplained bruises.

If left untreated -- or detected too late -- the blood cancers will kill.

The biggest recent leukemia breakthrough involved the drug Gleevec, which inhibits an enzyme that pushes cells to reproduce uncontrollably. The drug, which gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) approval in 2001, has been stunningly successful in treating people with chronic myeloid leukemia, often returning patients' blood cell counts to near normal within three or four weeks.

Building on the success of Gleevec are three other new therapies that hold promise, Kinniburgh said.

The first involves clofarabine, a drug that disrupts DNA replication in cancer cells. The drug has been found in clinical trials to put about one-quarter of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients into remission when other treatments have failed, Kinniburgh said.

"That provides extra time for a patient to undergo a bone marrow or stem-cell transplant," he said. "That's going to save children's lives." The drug is awaiting FDA (news - web sites) approval.

Another set of drugs undergoing clinical trials are FLT-3 inhibitors, which can disrupt cellular communications that spur cancer growth. Again, about one-quarter of patients with acute myeloid leukemia respond to the drugs, but those who do respond show an 80 percent to 90 percent reduction of cancer cells in the blood, Kinniburgh said.

The third drug, which Kinniburgh calls "Son of Gleevec," is an ABL-kinase inhibitor that targets cancer cell mutations that escape treatment with Gleevec. The drug, BMS-354825, is being tested in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia whose bodies are resistant to Gleevec.

Doctors generally don't know what causes blood cancers. Benzene, smoking, radiation and the Epstein-Barr virus have all been linked to the diseases, but most of the time physicians have no idea why a specific person has contracted a blood cancer.

"Most often, there really isn't a known cause," Dillon said. "These are not diseases that can be prevented."

There also are multiple types of each of the diseases, which can make it tough for doctors to know how to proceed, Dillon said.

"The challenge is to determine the type of blood cancer a person has because the treatments are designed very specifically," she said. "They're beginning to be able to really target the specific mechanics of each of these different types of cancer.

Leukemia involves cancer of the bone marrow and blood cells, and strikes about 30,600 Americans each year. Another 21,900 die from the disease annually.

Lymphomas are malignancies of the lymphocites, a type of white blood cell. This is the most common blood cancer, afflicting 61,000 people a year and killing 24,700.

Myeloma affects the plasma cells, or white blood cells found primarily in the bone marrow. About 14,600 people are diagnosed with this disease each year, and another 10,900 die.

Leukemia has a five-year survival rate of 44 percent. Lymphoma has a 52 percent survival rate, and myeloma has a 28 percent survival rate.

Kinniburgh said all of the new drug treatments could ultimately be used in concert to specifically target different blood cancers, no matter how rare or obscure.

"With several of these agents hitting each other's cross-resistance, it's certainly very likely we may be able to treat all patients without radiation or chemotherapy," he said. "At some point the goal and the dream would be the drugs could be withdrawn from the patients and they would go on in remission."

More information

To learn more about blood cancers, visit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

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