Monthly Archives: January 2009

Cancer cells – a sense of awe and wonder

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One of the amazing things about science and biology is coming across amazing photos and microscopic shots like these, before and after treatment of lung cancer from the Government website Ocean Explorer. 

Cancer cells a sense of awe and wonder
Cancer cells a sense of awe and wonder

For a moment I was wondering what on earth human cancer cells were
doing on an oceanic site, then I realised that they discuss a
collection of sponges and sea fauna, which may contain the active
ingredients for the development of various cancer therapies.  The
active ingredient is isolated and often re-engineered in the laboratory
to create a synthetic version that is more viable for the long term
health of the planet.

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Lipid technology and cancer therapy for GBM

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Continuing the recent theme of new and interesting technologies in cancer therapeutics, today’s blog post looks at neolipid technology and examines how a novel Trojan horse strategy might make existing chemotherapy more efficient and effective.

Tumor cells need to consume large amounts of fat to sustain their rapid growth (angiogenesis).  Neolipid technology takes advantage of this by entrapping anti-cancer agents inside liposomes, which are microscopic membrane-like structures created from lipids (fats).  The tumour then eats the liposome and absorbs the anti-cancer agent at the same time.

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A genetic cause for neutropenia associated with cancer chemotherapy?

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A fascinating article in the New England Journal of Medicine caught my eye this morning basically saying that a genetic cause has been found for severe congenital neutropenia. The German study found that severe congenital neutropenia can arise from mutations in the gene for glucose-6-phosphatase.
Studies in five patients from two interrelated families of Middle Eastern descent revealed that all were heterozygous for the same mutation in the gene.


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Time is the most priceless commodity we have, especially for cancer patients

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Today's Thought for the Day comes in the form of a story a friend shared with me.  It made me think about my own family and the many friends who are going through cancer treatment right now.  Sometimes we need to stop and smell the roses and think about what is really important to us.


A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door. 

SON: 'Daddy, may I ask you a question?' 

DAD: 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the man. 

SON: 'Daddy, how much do you make an hour?' 

DAD: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the man said angrily. 

SON: 'I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?' 

DAD: 'If you must know, I make $50 an hour.' 

SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down. 

SON: 'Daddy, may I please borrow $25?' 

The father was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.' 

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. 

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? 

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down , and started to think: 

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. 

'Are you asleep, son?' He asked. 

'No daddy, I'm awake,' replied the boy. 

'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the man. 'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $25 you asked for.'

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you daddy!' he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. 

The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. 

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father. 

'Why do you want more money if you already have some?' the father grumbled. 

'Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied. 

'Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.' 

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness. 

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love. 

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

Thanks to Nigel Grainger of Fleet Risk Consultants for sharing the story.


With regards to a cancer patient's real life story, you can't get any better than the delightful Alicia Staley (@Stales) who shared this great post on her experiences – read it, it will make you stop and think a bit - LINK.  I am truly humbled to be her online Twitter buddy and follow her story of courage and determination.  Alicia, you ROCK!
Permanent link to this post (647 words, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)

Diesel fumes and lung cancer – hazardous to health or not?

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I found this fascinating quote today:

"Recent research suggests that lung cancer risks are higher among trucking industry workers because of diesel fume exposure.  According to a new study published in the January issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, workers in the trucking industry with an estimated 20 years on the job have an elevated risk of lung cancer with each increasing year of work due to their diesel fume exposure."

Lung Cancer, whats that got to do with Delivery Drivers
This is a logical approach in the same way that number of pack years is relevant to the risks of developing lung cancer from smoking.  What does other research say?  Is there anything to back this assertion up? 

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Scientists unravel structure of key breast cancer target enzyme aromatase

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Today's blog post is much later than usual due to ongoing consulting commitments, but when an alert flashed up on my email with the above header, I couldn't resist taking a break and reading it:

"Scientists at the Ghosh lab at the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWI) in Buffalo, New York have uncovered the molecular details of Aromatase, the key enzyme required for the body to make estrogen."

Wow, that got my attention.  Here's a link to the letter published in Nature.

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New simple strategies for enhancing cancer chemotherapy treatment

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Patients undergoing treatment for cancer with chemotherapy may often not receive the optimal drug combination or dosing for a number of reasons.  These include debilitating side effects, high interstitial fluid pressure, leaky vessels or the development of tumour resistance. 

In recent years, researchers have started to look at novel ways of making treatment more effective.  On such way is to change the formulation, develop more targeted agents that specifically inhibit the abnormal protein or better sequencing of available therapies.  Some of these have had mixed success as the stories of Gleevec, Tarceva, Iressa and Avastin have shown, albeit in some, but not all patients.

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Cancer and oncology links up to 1-9-2009

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The value of new drugs is dropping – Jan 8th
"In 2008, the Food and Drug Administration approved 24 brand new
medicines, the most in three years. But medicines approved through June
produced lower sales than had been seen in the preceding decade."  And yet in oncology, the prices (and presumably revenues) have been rising over the last 5 years.  Interesting, perhaps it reflects the number of novel compounds rather than the me-toos seen in the consumer markets.

Skin cancer ups the risk of further cancers – Jan 8th
"Researchers studying nearly 23,000 cases of people treated for skin
cancer found that melanoma, the most severe form, was linked to double
the risk of having another primary cancer."

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Market meltdown offers opportunities for big Pharma with cash

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The recent financial crisis and market meltdown that led to a credit crunch will have impacted many start-ups and baby biotechs, many of whom will have a year or less of cash to survive.

This creates new opportunities for buyouts from larger pharma companies with cash in their pockets looking for good deals – Pfizer, Novartis, Roche and GSK are all known to have reserves as do medium sized biotechnology companies such as Celgene.  Baby biotechs with good products and data will not have a problem finding a suitor but it in the current depressed market they may be forced to consider this option earlier than anticipated and for a lesser price.  Such is life.

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