Pancreatic Cancer News From AACR

This week’s collection of news and journal articles include a number of announcements made at the recent AACR meeting in Chicago.

News

In this weeks news:

• Whole genome sequencing not informative for all, Johns Hopkins study shows | e! Science News
  With sharp declines in the cost of whole genome sequencing, the day of accurately deciphering disease risk based on an individual’s genome may seem at hand. But a study involving data of thousands of identical twins by Johns Hopkins investigators finds that genomic fortune-telling fails to provide informative guidance to most people about their risk for most common diseases, and warns against complacency born of negative genome test results. Findings from the Johns Hopkins researchers’ evaluation of the predictive value of whole genome sequencing are published online April 2 in Science Translational Medicine.
• ApoCell’s Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) Capture Technology First to Reliably Detect and Recover Deadly Liver Cancer Cells – MarketWatch
  Scientists at ApoCell, Inc., in partnership with researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Cancer Center, have used the company’s revolutionary ApoStream(TM) technology for a new first —the reliable isolation and recovery of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most common forms of liver cancer. Globally, liver cancer is the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths.
• Pfizer to Present New Data Highlighting Ongoing Research at 2012 Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research – MarketWatch
  Pfizer Oncology will present data from a variety of preclinical and clinical studies of Pfizer’s early-stage compounds, including data from Pfizer’s investigational antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) portfolio and research evaluating several molecules targeting novel pathways that play a crucial role in basic cellular functions, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2012 in Chicago, IL, from March 31-April 4.
• Immunomedics to Report Progress With Novel DNL Agents Targeting Solid Tumors at Cancer Conference – MarketWatch
  Immunomedics, Inc. IMMU -1.16% , a biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on the development of monoclonal antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases, today announced that six posters will be presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) to be held in Chicago, IL, from March 31 — April 4, 2012.
• KRAS gene mutation and amplification status affects sensitivity to antifolate therapy
  Testing patients with non-small cell lung cancer for both mutations and amplifications of the KRAS gene prior to therapy may help to predict response to treatment with antifolates, according to the updated results of a preclinical study presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 – April 4.
• Two awards to advance pancreatic cancer research
  The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the American Association for Cancer Research have awarded Stephanie K. Dougan, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and Oliver G. McDonald, M.D., Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, the 2012 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network-AACR Pathway to Leadership Grants.
• AACR Annual Oncology Meeting: A Look Into Various Abstracts – Seeking Alpha
  The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) holds its annual meeting this coming Saturday, March 31 through Wednesday, April 4, 2012. This meeting is the “lead-in” to oncology’s largest annual meeting – ASCO, in June. The AACR Annual Meeting highlights the best and latest findings in all major areas of cancer research. Investigators in a variety of disciplines will attend and benefit from hearing about these advances and networking with their colleagues. While most of the meeting focuses on pre-clinical activity and pre-clinical studies, some of the meeting will have early to late-state human studies available for presentation. Many of the abstracts and discussions at AACR have direct implications on future trial-design, and rationale for further exploration of a particular molecule/drug compound in a particular oncology indication.
• Oncolytics Biotech® Inc. Announces Reovirus Research to be Presented at AACR Annual Meeting – MarketWatch
  Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (“Oncolytics”) CA:ONC +3.30% ONCY +4.50% announced today that abstracts of preclinical research on reovirus (REOLYSIN®) are available on the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) website at http://www.aacr.org . The research is scheduled to be presented at the 2012 AACR Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL, which takes place from March 31 to April 4, 2012.
• Promising Data Presented at AACR Further Support New Lung Cancer Treatment Combination as Well as Ongoing Studies of Peregrine’s Bavituximab – MarketWatch
  Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PPHM -2.18% , a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases, today highlighted data(1) presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) from a Phase Ib Investigator Sponsored Trial (IST) evaluating Peregrine’s lead PS-targeting antibody bavituximab in combination with carboplatin and pemetrexed in patients with previously untreated Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Data from the initial five patients including two dose levels of bavituximab indicate a promising safety profile comparable to that expected for the chemotherapy combination alone, with 3 patients achieving a partial tumor response and no signs of unexpected safety events. The study is currently ongoing and additional data is expected in 2012 as patient treatment and follow-up continues.
• Nutritional Supplement Works Against Some Pancreatic Cancer Cells in Mice
  The dietary supplement gamma-linoleic acid can inhibit the growth of a subset of pancreatic cancer cells and selectively promote cancer cell death in mice, a Mayo Clinic study has found. The supplement, a fatty acid also known as GLA, worked particularly well when combined with the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine, the researchers say. The findings were presented today by Mayo Clinic pathologist Ruth Lupu, Ph.D., at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2012. “One of the most devastating facts about pancreatic cancer is the paucity of effective drugs that exist to halt a tumor,” Dr. Lupu says. “We knew from studies done about 20 years ago that polyunsaturated fatty acids such as GLA could influence cancers in general, but we didn’t know which type of fatty acids and to what degree.”

Articles

Here are the latest additions to the Mendeley Pancreatic Cancer Genomics collection.

• Whole-exome sequencing of neoplastic cysts of the pancreas reveals recurrent mutations in components of ubiquitin-dependent pathways.
• Tif? Suppresses Murine Pancreatic Tumoral Transformation by an Smad4-Independent Pathway.
• The novel hypoxic cytotoxin, TX-2098 has antitumor effect in pancreatic cancer; possible mechanism through inhibiting VEGF and hypoxia inducible factor-1? targeted gene expression.
• Syndecan-2 promotes perineural invasion and cooperates with K-ras to induce an invasive pancreatic cancer cell phenotype.
• Chemokine CXCL12 activates dual CXCR4 and CXCR7-mediated signaling pathways in pancreatic cancer cells.
• Targeting mTOR Pathways in Human Malignancies.
• Increased CDC20 expression is associated with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma differentiation and progression.
• Metformin Use Is Associated with Better Survival of Diabetic Patients with Pancreatic Cancer.
• Pro-tumour activity of interleukin-22 in HPAFII human pancreatic cancer cells.
• Genetic mutations associated with cigarette smoking in pancreatic cancer.
• Graviola: A Novel Promising Natural-Derived Drug That Inhibits Tumorigenicity and Metastasis of Pancreatic Cancer Cells In Vitro and In Vivo Through Altering Cell Metabolism.
• SMAD4 gene mutations are associated with poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer.
• Mutant proteins as cancer-specific biomarkers.
• Recurrent GNAS mutations define an unexpected pathway for pancreatic cyst development.
• Altered telomeres in tumors with ATRX and DAXX mutations.
• Metabolic flux increases glycoprotein sialylation: implications for cell adhesion and cancer metastasis.
• SLC5A8 Nuclear Translocation and Loss of Expression are Associated With Poor Outcome in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.
• SDF-1/CXCR4 signaling induces pancreatic cancer cell invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in vitro through non-canonical activation of Hedgehog pathway.
• Road to Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer: Attempts to Utilize Epigenetic Biomarkers.
• Changes in the expression of serum markers CA242, CA199, CA125, CEA, TNF-? and TSGF after cryosurgery in pancreatic cancer patients.

Related articles

• At the AACR (scienceblogs.com)
• Cancer stem cell vaccine in development shows antitumor effect (eurekalert.org)