Natural compound from a deep-water marine sponge found to reduce pancreatic tumor size

Scientists at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute found that a deep-water marine sponge collected off of Fort Lauderdale's coast contains leiodermatolide, a natural product that has the ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells as well as block cancer cells from dividing using extremely low concentrations of the compound. This work resulted in the award of a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office protecting the use of the compound against various forms of cancer. Sea sponges are an ancient group of animals that appeared more than 600 million years ago that have many of the same genes as humans. These scientists are taking advantage of this similarity in human and sponge genomes to isolate marine natural compounds from these organisms to develop medicines useful in the treatment of human diseases such as cancer. The researchers are expanding on their original findings, recently showing that leiodermatolide can reduce pancreatic tumor size in vivo, publishing the results of this study in the International Journal of Cancer (IJC).

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Pancreatic cancer patients have less than a seven percent survival rate within five years of diagnosis, and 74 percent of patients die within the first year of diagnosis. In recent years, pancreatic cancer has received considerable attention because many well-known individuals have died from the disease. September marks seven years since the passing of actor Patrick Swayze, and October will be five years since the death of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs. The great tenor Luciano Pavarotti also died from this disease almost a decade ago.

Six leading scientists to receive prestigious Novartis Prizes for Immunology at 16th International Congress of Immunology

Today Novartis announced that six scientists will receive the 2016 Novartis Prizes for Immunology at the upcoming 16th International Congress of Immunology (ICI) in Melbourne, Australia on Aug 22, 2016. The Novartis Prizes for Immunology are awarded every three years for breakthrough contributions to the fields of basic and clinical immunology. Each of the two Prize categories is endowed for CHF 100,000 and can be shared by up to three scientists.

"This year's prize recipients are scientific pioneers who have delivered novel concepts and opened the door to uncharted fields at the forefront of immunological research," said Dhavalkumar D. Patel, M.D., Ph.D, Head of Research Europe and Global Head, Autoimmunity, Transplantation and Inflammation research at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. "We are proud to sponsor these prizes as part of our continued commitment to supporting innovative research in immunology."

The winners were selected by an independent jury of seven world-class immunologists for their groundbreaking research into the biology of the immune system. Each recipient has had a tremendous impact on the understanding of T-cell mediated mechanisms such as tolerance (basic immunology) and how these principles can be exploited to design therapeutic approaches (clinical immunology).

The Novartis Prize for Basic Immunology 2016 is shared by John Kappler (National Jewish Health, USA), Philippa Marrack (National Jewish Health, USA) and Harald von Boehmer (Emeritus, Harvard Medical School, USA) for their work in demonstrating how the immune system is able to discriminate "self" from "non-self" through a process in the thymus based on positive and negative selection via T-cell receptor mediated recognition of peptide-MHC complexes.

Why is breast cancer common but heart cancer rare?

Malignant cancers strike certain organs, such as the colon or breast, more often than others. In an Opinion publishing August 9 in Trends in Cancer, researchers propose that this vulnerability in some organs may be due to natural selection. Humans can tolerate tumors in large or paired organs more easily than in small, critical organs, such as the heart, and so the larger organs may have evolved fewer mechanisms to defend against cancerous cells.

"The organs that are the most important to keeping you alive and capable of reproduction, such as the heart, brain, or uterus, may enjoy a better protection against cancer, all other things being equal," says Frédéric Thomas, an evolutionary biologist at the Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Cancer Research in France. "We are not saying that this is the main factor to explain the different susceptibility of organs to cancer, but it is a factor that contributes with others."

Many oncologists have explained the difference in rates of organ cancer by looking at either external risk factors, such as smoking or UV light exposure, or internal factors, such as how often cells must divide in an organ. Thomas and his coauthors, including senior author Beata Ujvari, an evolutionary ecologist at Deakin University in Australia, now propose this evolutionary theory to supplement the current understanding.

The team suggests that natural selection has favored strong anti-cancer protection for small organs that are critical to human survival and reproduction. "Organs that are large or in pairs could potentially accumulate larger numbers of oncogenic manifestations without being impaired, whereas small and important organs like the pancreas could be easily compromised with only a few tumors inside," says Thomas. Therefore, so the theory goes, the pancreas should be better at defending against cancer compared to an organ like the kidney, if all other factors are equal. Anti-cancer protection mechanisms vary from organ to organ, but in general, they make an organ resistant to tumor formation.

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Gaumard introduces OMNI 2 touch-screen wireless interface

Gaumard Scientific Company announced the launch of OMNI 2, a touch-screen wireless interface that transforms training with value-priced simulators and skills trainers into an easy, intuitive tap-and-go experience.

OMNI 2 can be used on the fly for active mobile scenarios and provides full control over simulator physiology and response.

OMNI 2 will drive value-priced simulators and skills trainers to deliver additional functionality with features long associated with the company's high-fidelity simulators. Simulations and clinical scenarios will be included in one complete package.

For those with a limited budget and resources, OMNI 2 is an affordable, easy-to-use solution.

OMNI 2 controls obstetric and neonatal simulations and facilitates CPR training and monitoring for over 35 vitals, including HR, ECG, RR, BP, O2SAT and ETCO2.

Play, Pause and Reset features bring greater flexibility and control to obstetric simulations such as shoulder dystocia. And OMNI 2 features real-time monitoring of ventilation performance to improve neonatal resuscitation technique.

Berry wine, minus the alcohol, may offer help for those with diabetes

Blueberries, and berries in general, are among foods labeled as "diabetes superfoods" by the American Association of Diabetes. Food science researchers at the University of Illinois have found that fermenting berries may improve their antidiabetic potential even more.

Recent research at the U of I includes the development of an alcohol-free blueberry-blackberry "wine" that those suffering from diabetes - who typically must avoid alcohol - can enjoy, while potentially reducing the effects of Type 2 diabetes.

"Unfortunately the number of people with diabetes is increasing astronomically around the world," says Elvira de Mejia, a food chemist in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at U of I. "There are 100 million people around the world who have diabetes and that is increasing, without counting the ones who may be pre-diabetic and not know it."

Previous research has shown that dietary blueberries may play a role in reducing hyperglycemia in obese mice, therefore de Mejia and colleagues wanted to determine if a fermented, dealcoholized blueberry-blackberry beverage would enhance the potential of the phenolic compounds in the berries that are responsible for reducing diabetic markers.

A new study shows that the fermented berry beverage did reduce the development of obesity and blood glucose levels in mice on a high-fat diet.

The researchers had already determined that the berries, when fermented at low temperatures, resulted in an improved and higher concentration of anthocyanins. Anthocyanins, found in the pigments of fruits such as blueberries, grapes, and apples, have been shown to promote insulin sensitivity, decrease blood glucose levels in the blood, and enhance insulin secretion.

"We know that fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, and berries are good, but here we explain that after fermentation we improve and increase the concentration of these pigments [anthocyanins] and they are very high antioxidant components that benefit the body," de Mejia says.

A previous cell culture study with the alcohol-free blueberry-blackberry wine, showed good results toward inhibiting enzymes related to glucose absorption.

"In this in vivo study, as we increased the concentration of these anthocyanin-enriched extractions from blueberries and blackberries we saw an improvement in the uptake of glucose, meaning that the animals with the increased concentration were not as much in a state of hyperglycemia as the other animals."

The beverage included a ratio of 70 percent fermented blackberries to 30 percent fermented blueberries. The berries were collected from varieties grown at U of I's Dixon Springs Agricultural Research Station in southern Illinois. Alcohol was removed from the beverage by rotoevaporation and was replaced with water. Some of the sugars left over after fermentation were also removed in the process.

"We optimized the best ratio between blueberries and blackberries. Blackberries are very unique and I think that's one of the reasons why we selected a high concentration of them in this study. Blackberries have a very specific profile of anthocyanins, and that was amazing at lowering the absorption of glucose in this case," de Mejia says.

During the study, groups of mice with diet-induced obesity and hyperglycemia were given the fermented berry beverage or the beverage with higher or lower enriched concentrations of the anthocyanins (0.1x, 1x, or 2x). Another group was given sitagliptin, a commonly used medication for diabetes, and another group was given water only. All groups ate the same diet, calories, and amount of sugars otherwise.

While benefits were seen in all groups drinking the fermented beverage, de Mejia says the group on the highest concentration of anthocyanins (2x) showed the greatest results, comparable to what was observed in the group on sitagliptin. This included no increase in body weight, which de Mejia says was a surprise.

Pfizer aims to become industry leader in gene therapy with acquisition of Bamboo Therapeutics, Inc.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) has acquired Bamboo Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company based in Chapel Hill, N.C., focused on developing gene therapies for the potential treatment of patients with certain rare diseases related to neuromuscular conditions and those affecting the central nervous system. This acquisition significantly expands Pfizer's expertise in gene therapy by providing Pfizer with a clinical and several pre-clinical assets that complement the company's rare disease portfolio, an advanced recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus (rAAV) vector design and production technology, and a fully functional Phase I/II gene therapy manufacturing facility that Bamboo acquired from the University of North Carolina earlier this year.

Gene therapy is an emerging area of medical research focused on highly specialized, one-time, transformative treatments addressing the root cause of diseases caused by genetic mutation. Gene therapy is a promising investigational technology, especially for patients with rare diseases, many of which are caused by a single genetic mutation. The technology involves introducing genetic material into the body to deliver a corrected copy of a gene to a patient's cells to compensate for a defective one. The genetic material can be delivered to the cells by a variety of means, most frequently using a viral vector such as rAAV. There have been no gene therapy products approved in the U.S. to date.

"The field of gene therapy research has made tremendous strides in recent years, and we are pleased to be able to further enhance our leadership position in this area through this transaction with Bamboo," said Mikael Dolsten, President, Pfizer Worldwide Research & Development. "We believe that gene therapy may hold the promise of bringing true disease modification for patients suffering from devastating diseases, and we hope to see this promise come to fruition - through new and existing in-house capabilities and potential partnership opportunities - in the years to come."

Bamboo's portfolio includes potential best-in-class rAAV-based gene therapies that will complement Pfizer's rare disease and gene therapy portfolios in two priority areas: neuromuscular, with a pre-clinical asset for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD); and central nervous system, with pre-clinical assets for Friedreich's Ataxia and Canavan disease, and a Phase I asset for Giant Axonal Neuropathy.

Bamboo's approximately 11,000-square foot, fully staffed and operational manufacturing facility has experience producing Phase I/II materials using a superior suspension, cell-based production platform that increases scalability, efficiency and purity. This helps enable the DMD program and other projects requiring large amounts of rAAV. The facility, previously known as the University of North Carolina Vector Core facility, has served as a qualified supplier of rAAV vectors for several healthcare companies and academic institutions.

Bristol-Myers Squibb reports second quarter financial results

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) today reported results for the second quarter of 2016, which were highlighted by strong sales, key regulatory and clinical milestones in Immuno-Oncology and business development transactions that strengthened the company's Immuno-Oncology pipeline.

"During the second quarter we delivered strong sales and earnings growth, achieved important regulatory milestones with Opdivo across multiple types of cancer, and further advanced our leadership in Immuno-Oncology through the breadth of the clinical data we presented at ASCO," said Giovanni Caforio, M.D., chief executive officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "I am confident strong performance of our in-line products, progress with our diversified pipeline and our focused approach to business development position us well for continued success."

Second quarter financial results

• Bristol-Myers Squibb posted second quarter 2016 revenues of $4.9 billion, an increase of 17% compared to the same period a year ago. Global revenues increased 18% adjusted for foreign exchange impact. Excluding Abilify and Erbitux , global revenues increased 24% or 26% adjusted for foreign exchange impact.
• U.S. revenues increased 46% to $2.7 billion in the quarter compared to the same period a year ago. International revenues decreased 6% primarily from lower Hepatitis C Franchise sales in Japan and France. When adjusted for foreign exchange impact, international revenues decreased 4%.
• Gross margin as a percentage of revenues was 75.2% in the quarter compared to 75.7% in the same period a year ago.
• Marketing, selling and administrative expenses increased 9% to $1.2 billion in the quarter.
• Research and development expenses decreased 32% to $1.3 billion in the quarter. Research and development expenses in the second quarter of 2015 include an $800 million charge resulting from the Flexus acquisition.
• The effective tax rate was 26.4% in the quarter, compared to 311.5% in the second quarter last year. The second quarter 2015 Flexus acquisition was non-deductible for tax purposes.
• The company reported net earnings attributable to Bristol-Myers Squibb of $1.2 billion, or $0.69 per share, in the quarter compared to a net loss of $130 million, or $0.08 per share, a year ago. The results in the second quarter of 2015 include a $0.48 per share charge from the Flexus acquisition.
• The company reported non-GAAP net earnings attributable to Bristol-Myers Squibb of $1.2 billion, or $0.69 per share, in the second quarter, compared to $890 million, or $0.53 per share, for the same period in 2015. An overview of specified items is discussed under the "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information" section.
• Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $7.9 billion, with a net cash position of $1.2 billion, as of June 30, 2016.

Losing weight lowered levels of proteins associated with tumor growth

Overweight or obese women who lost weight through diet or a combination of diet and exercise also significantly lowered levels of proteins in the blood that help certain tumors grow, according to a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study published July 14 in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Two study leaders - Dr. Catherine Duggan, principal staff scientist in the Public Health Sciences Division, and Dr. Anne McTiernan, cancer prevention researcher in the Public Health Sciences Division and the article's senior author - are available to provide details on the study and its implications.

The study:

• Measured three proteins that are known to enhance tumor-related angiogenesis - the formation of blood vessels that feed tumors and enable them to grow.
• Was intended to see how cancer-promoting proteins changed when overweight, sedentary, postmenopausal women lost weight through diet or diet and exercise over the course of a year.
• Enrolled 439 healthy women (they did not have cancer), placing each participant in one of four study arms:
  • Calorie- and fat-restricted diet.
  • Aerobic exercise five days a week.
  • Combined diet and exercise.
  • Control (no intervention).
• Found that women in the diet arm and the diet and exercise arm lost more weight and had significantly lower levels of angiogenesis-related proteins, compared with women in the exercise-only arm and the control arm.

The authors said that it is known that being overweight and having a sedentary lifestyle are associated with increased risk for developing certain cancers, but the reasons for this relationship are not clear.

Over 750 biomarkers identified as potentials for early cancer screening test

Researchers have identified 788 biomarkers in blood that could be used to develop an early stage cancer screening test for the general population. The study, led by the University of Sheffield, is the first to create a comprehensive list of relevant cancer blood biomarkers that have been researched in the last five years. The study also groups them by molecular function and records the technologies that can be used to detect them.

The team - from the Universities of Sheffield, Coventry and Warwick - started with over 19,000 scientific studies published over the last five years that investigated blood based biomarkers. Systematic review methods - including ruling out studies in fewer than 50 patients - reduced this to 4,000 studies from which the final biomarker list was compiled.

Lead researcher, Dr Lesley Uttley, from the University of Sheffield's School of Health and Related Research, said: "Because of the sheer number of publications in this field, previous reviews have only been able to look at one biomarker or a small group of biomarkers. Our data mining approach allowed us to take in all relevant research findings from the five-year period, which meant we could map the full range of potential blood-based biomarkers that are particularly relevant for early detection of cancer."

The work was carried out on behalf of the Early Cancer Detection Consortium, a group of nearly 40 organisations, including universities, hospitals and commercial companies. The Consortium was funded by Cancer Research UK to investigate whether a cost-effective screening test can be used in the general population to identify people with early stage cancers.

The next step will be to look in detail at the research behind each biomarker, to check that it is robust and that the biomarker could feasibly be used as part of a screening test. Biomarkers will also be grouped by cancer type at this stage. The validated biomarkers will then be put through a clinical study, using samples from cancer patients and healthy controls, to check how effectively they identify the presence of cancer.

Finally, those biomarkers which work successfully in the study will be taken forward into a clinical trial, to see if the screening test works in practice and is cost-effective.

ECDC Director and Molecular Pathologist at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Professor Ian Cree, said: "Our expectation is that, once the validation and clinical studies are completed, we will have a suite of around 50 biomarkers, identified using four different tests, that can go into the clinical trial. To complete the validation and the trials will take six to eight years, but in theory, we could have a test ready within three years for use in high risk groups".