July 2008:
Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD. - Roswell Park Cancer Institute -
"Approaches for Enhancing Tumor Immunity in Ovarian Cancer"
The goal of this project is to develop strategies for
harnessing the immune system for improving the outcome
of ovarian cancer patients. This is based on several lines
of evidence indicating that the immune system has the
capacity to recognize and kill ovarian tumor targets.
However, it has become clear that ovarian cancer utilizes
a number of strategies to evade immune attacks.
First, ovarian cancer commandeers aspects of pregnancy that
make itpossible for the fetus to escape maternal immune
attack. In this regard, ovarian tumors produce an enzyme,
indole-amine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO) that not only causes
"effector" immune cells to die, but also promotes the
development of a subset of immune cells with suppressive
properties.
Second, ovarian cancer cells reduce the number of target
molecules ("antigen") on their surface, so as to become
invisible to vaccine induced immune cells.
This project focused on:
* understanding the genetic basis of generation and function
of"suppressor" cells;
* testing and optimizing strategies to counteract IDO;
* testing and optimizing strategies to minimize loss of
antigen in ovarian cancer; and
* testing a novel multi-modal strategy in a clinical trial
by enhancing anti-tumor response with a vaccine in combination
with an agent that will prevent loss of tumor antigen.
Together, these studies are likely to generate critical
information that is imperative for successfully utilizing
the immune system to promote remission in ovarian cancer
patients.
Karen Greendale, MA, CGC
Director, Cancer Support and Survivorship Initiatives
Bureau of Chronic Disease Services
NYS Department of Health
phone: (518) 474-1222
email: kxg03@health.state.ny.us
Birth control pill lowers ovarian cancer risk: study
Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:21pm EST
By Michael Kahn
LONDON (Reuters) - Birth control pills can protect women against ovarian
cancer for 30 years or longer after they stop taking them and have so far
prevented 100,000 ovarian cancer deaths worldwide, British researchers said
on Thursday.
The longer women stay on the pill, the lower their risk of developing the
disease, which is more common after age 50, the researchers wrote in the
journal Lancet. For example, women who take the pill for 15 years cut their
risk in half, they said.
Worldwide the pill has already prevented 200,000 women from developing
cancer of the ovary and has prevented 100,000 deaths from the disease,
Valerie Beral of the University of Oxford and colleagues wrote in their
report.
The findings are the strongest evidence yet of the benefits of the pill
when it comes to ovarian cancer, and show the protection lasts far longer
than people had thought, Beral said.
"When you are 60 it matters whether you took it for five years or 10 years
in your twenties," Beral said in a telephone interview. "The longer you
took it, the better off you are when the risk of ovarian cancer is high."
An estimated 300 million women have used the contraceptive pill since its
introduction in the early 1960s. Hundreds of studies have looked at its
safety, some suggesting benefits and others showing a raised risk of breast
and cervical cancer.
Beral and colleagues said their research, analyzing 45 studies on ovarian
cancer in 21 countries, shows that the benefits of the pill outweigh the
risks. Ovarian cancer is particularly deadly because women often have mild
or no symptoms until the disease has progressed.
The breast cancer risk -- which also extends to stroke and blood clots --
is much smaller and exists only while women are taking the pill and soon
after they stop, Beral added.
"Whereas for ovarian cancer the protection persists for decades," Beral
said.
Taking the pill for 10 years cut the risk of ovarian cancer before the age
of 75 from 12 per 1,000 women to 8 per 1,000. It also reduced the risk of
dying from the disease from 7 per 1,000 women to 5 per 1,000 before the age
of 75, the study found.
More than 100 million women now take the pill, so it will eventually
prevent more than 30,000 ovarian cancer cases annually over the next few
decades, the researchers wrote.
The study also showed ethnicity, education, family history and other
factors do not seem to make much difference in reducing risk when it comes
to using the pill.
The researchers said they did not know exactly why the pill provides
protection but said the benefits make sense because the drug suppresses the
ovaries' function when women are taking it.
Worldwide there are more than 190,000 new cases of ovarian cancer a year,
the International Agency for Research on Cancer says.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Maggie Fox and Tim Pearce)
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of
Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is
expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters
and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the
Reuters group of companies around the world.
******"Ovarian Cancer Survivors Tell Their Stories", a +new
DVD produced by the NYS Department of Health Ovarian Cancer
Program (with funding from the CDC
-- NYS Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan) and the University
at Albany School of Public Health, is now available.
Please contact Bernice Antoniak by email at
bha01@health.state.ny.us if you would like to order a single
copy. There is no charge for these DVDs.
Please provide your full mailing address.
If you'd like more than 1 copy, please send an email to
Claire Qu, Coordinator, Ovarian Cancer Program at
cxq01@health.state.ny.us and providea brief description
of your plans for distribution.
******CancerCare is a national non-profit organization
that provides free professional counseling, education
programs, financial assistance and practical help to
people with cancer, their loved ones and the bereaved
across the country.
They have started a new telephone support
group for women with ovarian cancer. Please feel free to
contact for more details:
Robin Hershkowitz, LCSW
Women's Cancers Program Director
CancerCare
National Office
275 Seventh Ave
New York, NY 10001
Tel: 212-712-6133
Tel: 1-800-813-4673 X 6133
Fax: 212-712-8495
rhershkowitz@cancercare.org
Ovarian Cancer Drug Gets Boost From Cranberries
Cranberries Give Boost to Cancer Drug
In Test Tube, Cranberry Extract Makes Ovarian Cancer Drug
More Effective
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Aug. 21, 2007 A simple cranberry juice extract makes
platinum-based cancer drugs six times more potent against
ovarian cancer. The test-tube findings are a long way from
cancer patients' bedsides. But Rutgers University
natural products researchers Ajay P. Singh, PhD, and
Nicholi Vorsa, PhD,
are optimistic.
"This has opened up exciting possibilities for therapeutic
intervention associated with platinum therapy," Singh
and Vorsa say in a news release.
Platinum-based chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment
for ovarian cancer. But over time, the cancers tend to
become resistant to the drugs. This means increased
chemotherapy dosage -- and increased toxicity to patients.
The researchers note that compounds isolated from
cranberries kill human ovary, brain, and prostate cells in l aboratory studies. This anticancer activity seems to come
from a family of chemicals called proanthocyanidins (PACs).
These "amazing chemical entities," Singh and Vorsa
suggest, are unique to cranberries and are not found in
other fruits.
Exactly how the cranberry compounds work isn't known.
But in their lab studies, Singh and Vorsa tested them
against platinum-resistant ovarian cancer cells.
Singh and Vorsa found that in the presence of cranberry
extract -- which came from a commercially available,
27% juice cranberry drink -- platinum-based chemotherapy
was six times more effective against platinum-resistant
ovarian cancer cells.
They will soon begin animal studies to see whether this happens outside the laboratory. For the time being,
however, they warn patients not to start drinking significant quantities of cranberry juice without their doctors'
permission. Cranberry juice itself, they note, is not a cure
for cancer. Singh and Vorsa reported the findings in a
presentation to the 234th national meeting of the American Chemical Society.
SOURCES: 234th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, Boston, Aug. 19-23, 2007. News release,
American Chemical Society.
2007, WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.
President Bush Signs Johannas Law to Launch a National Gynecologic Awareness Campaign
President Bush has signed Johanna's Law, landmark
legislation that authorizes development of a national gynecologic cancer awareness campaign. The federal campaign would educate American women and health professionals about the signs and symptoms of ovarian and other gynecologic cancers.
The President signed the bill on Friday, January 12. Both houses of Congress unanimously approved Johannas Law: the Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act late last year.
Johanna's Law authorizes $16.5 million over a three-year period to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the awareness and education campaign. It is named for Johanna Silver Gordon, who died from ovarian cancer in 2000.
"This achievement is the result of the tireless work and dedication of all of our Congressional champions, the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, and a far-reaching alliance of grassroots activists whose lives have been touched by gynecologic cancers," said Sherry Salway Black, executive director of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance. "The ovarian cancer community in particular has played a critical role in the passage of Johannas Law through the Ovarian Cancer Action Network."
"This is an exciting development in our efforts to save women's lives through earlier detection of ovarian cancer," said Johanna's sister, Sheryl Silver, who conceived Johannas Law and has worked tirelessly for its passage. "By educating the public about the risk factors and symptoms of gynecologic cancers, Johanna's Law will help women recognize potentially dangerous symptoms and seek appropriate medical attention sooner."
OCAN and other advocates now have another hurdle to overcome. Because Johanna's Law is an authorizing measure, it does not include any appropriations, so OCAN and other advocates will need to work to urge Congressional funding for the campaign.
Sherry Salway Black
Executive Director
Ovarian Cancer National Alliance
910 17th St., NW, Suite1190
Washington, D.C. 20006
202-331-1332 (phone)
202-331-2292 (fax)
www.ovariancancer.org
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