City of Hope Receives $5 Million Grant to Develop T Cell Treatment Targeting Brain Tumor Stem Cells

May 25, 2012 06:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time  DUARTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--City of Hope was granted a $5,217,004 early translational research award by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to support the development of a T cell-based immunotherapy that re-directs a patient’s own immune response against glioma stem cells. City of Hope has been awarded more than $49.7 million in grant support from CIRM since awards were first announced in 2006. “Because cancer stem cells are heterogeneous, our proposed therapy will target multiple antigens to cast as wide a net as possible over this malignant stem cell population” . City of Hope is a pioneer in T cell immunotherapy research, helping to develop genetically modified T cells as a treatment for cancer. This strategy, termed “adoptive T cell therapy,” focuses on redirecting a patient’s immune system to specifically target tumor cells, and has the potential to become a promising new approach for treatment of cancer.“In this research, we are genetically engineering a central memory T cell that targets proteins expressed by glioma stem cells,” said Stephen J. Forman, M.D., Francis and Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and director of the T Cell Immunotherapy Research Laboratory. “Central memory T cells have the potential to establish a persistent, lifelong immunity to help prevent brain tumors from recurring.”The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 22,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with a brain tumor this year, and 13,700 will die from the disease. Glioma is a type of brain tumor that is often difficult to treat and is prone to recurrence. Currently, less than 20 percent of patients with malignant gliomas are living five years after their diagnosis. This poor prognosis is largely due to the persistence of tumor-initiating cancer stem cells, a population of malignant cells similar to normal stem cells in that they are able to reproduce themselves indefinitely. These glioma stem cells are highly resistant to chemotherapy and radiation treatments, making them capable of re-establishing new tumors.Researchers at City of Hope previously have identified several proteins as potential prime targets for the development of cancer immunotherapies, such as interleukin 13 receptor alpha 2, a receptor found on the surface of glioma cells, and CD19, a protein that is active in lymphoma and leukemia cells. Both investigational therapies are currently in phase I clinical trials. Forman is the principal investigator for the newly granted study which will develop a T cell that targets different proteins expressed by glioma stem cells. Christine Brown, Ph.D., associate research professor, serves as co-principal investigator, and Michael Barish, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Neurosciences, and Behnam Badie, M.D., director of the Brain Tumor Program, serve as co-investigators on the project.“Because cancer stem cells are heterogeneous, our proposed therapy will target multiple antigens to cast as wide a net as possible over this malignant stem cell population,” said Brown.“While in this effort, we are targeting a neurological cancer, our approach will lead to future studies targeting other cancers, including those that metastasize to the brain,” added Barish.“The CIRM grant will help us to build a targeted T cell therapy against glioma that can offer lasting protection, determine the best way to deliver the treatment, establish an efficient process to manufacture these T cells for treatment, and get approval for a human clinical trial,” said Badie.City of Hope is also a collaborative partner – providing process development, stem cell-derived cell products and regulatory affairs support – in two other CIRM-funded projects that received early translational research grants. Larry Couture, Ph.D., senior vice president of City of Hope’s Sylvia R. & Isador A. Deutch Center for Applied Technology Development and director of the Center for Biomedicine & Genetics, is working with Stanford University and Children’s Hospital of Orange County Research Institute on their respective projects.

About the CIRM Early Translational Research III AwardsCIRM’s Early Translational Awards program supports projects that are in the initial stages of identifying drugs or cell types that could become disease therapies. These awards mark the third round of funding for the Early Translational Awards program, and marks the stem cell agency’s first ever collaboratively funded research projects with China, the federal government of Australia, and a new project with Germany.“Our collaborative funding program brings together the best researchers around the world,” said Alan Trounson, Ph.D., CIRM president. “These partnerships are critical in engaging the best minds and enabling the elite scientists of the world to work together to drive research towards the clinic for patients. Our 25 collaborative projects with nine funding partners have so far leveraged more than $65 million in funding for stem cell research projects worldwide. The sun now never sets on the CIRM collaborative projects and scientists are stretching out to one another across the globe to achieve discoveries that will be game changing in medicine.”
About CIRMCIRM was established in November 2004 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. The statewide ballot measure, which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions, was overwhelmingly approved by voters, and called for the establishment of an entity to make grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities and other vital research opportunities. A list of grants and loans awarded to date may be seen here: http://www.cirm.ca.gov/for-researchers/researchfunding.
About City of HopeCity of Hope is a leading research, treatment and education center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Designated as a comprehensive cancer center, the highest recognition bestowed by the National Cancer Institute, and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, City of Hope's research and treatment protocols advance care throughout the nation. City of Hope is based in Duarte, Calif., just northeast of Los Angeles, with community practice sites in South Pasadena, Glendale, Santa Clarita, the Antelope Valley and Palm Springs. Its hospital is ranked as one of "America's Best Hospitals" in cancer by U.S.News & World Report. Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a pioneer in the fields of bone marrow transplantation and genetics. For more information, visit www.cityofhope.org or follow City of Hope on facebook, twitter, youtube or flickr. 

The Truth About Cholesterol From Better Way Health!

 May 26, 2012Filed under Health Posted by Orlando Beach  We all know the word – Cholesterol. In fact, it has become one of the most overused words in the last decade. Out of nowhere, it seems that cholesterol rose to the top of the charts when it came to illness, heart attack, and death in the United States, and very few companies, manufacturers or products seem to be THE thing to help stop this crises from turning into an epidemic. BetterWayHealth.com is a company we speak a great deal about, and a company that is also finally getting ‘seen’ as the makers of products that are a must-have to achieve better health and a longer lifespan. The creator of this company had an idea – had a battle, in fact – between Western medicine and his own will and determination to prove them wrong and live far past what the ‘doctors’ said he could. And he did. The products – especially the Beta Glucan – is slowly becoming the only vitamin, mineral, supplement, etc. that people wish to have in their cabinets at home – and they’re absolutely right. Now, there are a million and one reports about Cholesterol. In fact, many people are truly tired of trying to keep up, especially when reports vary and some are downright wrong. As with most health concerns, people want to live, but they get so tired of hearing only bad news they simply – as with a bad T.V. program – switch it off and decide to just try their best to live as long as possible. I can’t blame anyone, really; the news brings on the heart attacks all by itself. An easy ‘cheat sheet?’ Cholesterol is simply a fat that is produced by the liver and is crucial for normal body functioning. Cholesterol exists in the outer layer of every cell in our body and has many functions. .The functions of cholesterol are important, to say the least. It builds and maintains cell membranes; it is essential for determining which molecules can pass into the cell and which cannot; it is involved in the production of sex hormones and is essential for the production of hormones released by the adrenal glands; it aids in the production of bile; converts sunshine to Vitamin D (VERY IMPORANT as we’ve all seen in the news recently); it is important for the metabolism of vitamins A, D, E, and K; and it insulates nerve fiber. The amount of cholesterol in human blood can vary from 3.6 mmol/liter to 7.8 mmol/liter, with the National Health Service saying that any reading over 6 mmol/liter is high, and will significantly raise the risk of arterial disease. The dangers are there – right along with the much-needed support that cholesterol gives (as with the rest of the systems operating in our bodies). High cholesterol can cause a variety of issues and illnesses ranging from atherosclerosis to heart disease to causing heart attacks. Other cardiovascular conditions come into play involving diseases of the heart and blood vessels, and people are at much higher risk for stroke. Lifestyle causes are truly the one thing that can be altered to halt the issues brought by high cholesterol. Nutrition, not vitamins, will always be the most important thing to regulate in order to bring down the cholesterol levels. Although some foods already contain cholesterol (eggs, kidneys, some seafood, etc.) dietary cholesterol does not have much of an impact in human blood cholesterol levels. BUT, saturated fats do! Foods high in saturated fats include everything from red meat to cakes, cream, pastry, and many, many more. When you add these choices to a sedentary lifestyle with people who do not exercise and spend most of their time sitting/lying down, they have significantly higher levels of bad cholesterol. And, of course, both of these items combine to cause obesity. Smoking, alcohol intake – we all know the ‘bad’ stuff, and cholesterol factors in with every single one of them. High cholesterol levels are the highest risk factor when speaking about heart disease – the leading cause of death in America. Whole grains have been studied for their impact on cholesterol, but researchers mainly focused on more popular grains, such as oats. But barley’s cholesterol-lowering powers have also been seen in small studies, and beta-glucan is the soluble fiber found in many whole grains, like barley. A diet with the most beta-glucan involves things like barley flakes, barley flour, and pearled barley instead of rice and wheat. Beta-glucan makes a difference and has been seen to make huge differences in cholesterol when it came to certain research projects. In fact, when participants ate diets with low, medium, and high levels of beta-glucan in various project, their total cholesterol dropped by 4%, 9%, and 10%, respectively. Beta-glucan is highly touted by BetterWayHealth and their products are extremely needed and extremely helpful for people to change the course of their lives and their health. The whole ‘body of evidence’ accumulated shows that beta-glucan, or foods containing it, modestly improve a person’s cholesterol profile. Modest improvements of up to 10% have been seen. Beta-glucan also modestly improves blood pressure levels and may help limit the rise in blood sugar that occurs after a meal. The other ‘big’ research issue when it comes to beta-glucan is its positive effects on the immune system. Studies suggest that beta-glucans can alter various measurements of immune function. Some of the immune-related effects seen in studies include alterations in the activity of certain white blood cells. Which is why, the word ‘beta-glucan’ is coming up more and more at your local doctor’s office. Beta-glucan products are now being praised for the treatment of conditions as diverse as cancer, infections, and sepsis (overwhelming infection following major trauma, illness, or surgery). Not to mention they are also being mentioned ten-fold when it comes to the world of aging skin and gingivitis. Frankly, with BetterWayHealth.com, you and yours can find out all there is to know about the effects of cholesterol, and the amazing benefits that beta-glucan brings to the table. So forget the reports, the research that’s forty thousand miles long with words that not even your doctor can give you the meaning to, and head straight to BetterWayHealth.com in order to get better, stay healthy, and live long!

European Union approves drug-eluting stents

Updated Sunday, May 27, 2012 0:09 am TWN, The China Post news staffThe EU recently provided CE Marking for the use of a dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT) for patients suffering from coronary artery disease. Instead of undergoing at least a year of further medications after a stent placement, patients can now take advantage of a reduced medication period of a minimum of three months. Following drug-eluting stent (DES) implantations, patients are usually prescribed DAPT — a combination of aspirin and an anti-platelet medication — to protect them from developing blood clots and experiencing other discomfort or medical complications.Patients are recommended to remain on DAPT for six to 12 months, according to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines for myocardial revascularization published in 2010.Those treated with the newly CE-marked DES, however, are not only at lower risk of internal bleeding, but can more safely discontinue medication if surgeries are required or in the event of medical complications.Commenting on this recent medical technological progress, Hwang Juey-jen (黃瑞仁), a physician from the National Taiwan University Hospital Cardiology Department, said, “Reducing the amount of time patients need to remain on DAPT can have a significant impact on patient health and could lead to decreased health care costs.”

Tafamidis: US Panel Split On Pfizer Rare Disease Drug

  By Balaji SridharanMay 25, 2012 8:49 AM EDT (Reuters) - A U.S. health advisory panel on Thursday issued a split vote on data for Pfizer Inc's drug to treat a rare neurodegenerative disease.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel voted 13 to 4 that the drug did not show that it met the main goal in a study in treating the fatal condition. However, the panel also voted 13 to 4 that the drug treated a surrogate endpoint, which may correlate with treating the underlying disease.The panel's recommendation will be considered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration when it takes a decision on tafamidis, a relatively minor product for the world's largest drugmaker.FDA staff on Tuesday recommended rejecting the drug saying the data did not prove that it worked well in treating the disease.Tafamidis, which is already approved in Europe under the name Vyndaqel, is meant to treat familial amyloid polyneuropathy, a fatal condition that affects as many as 10,000 people worldwide, including about 2,500 Americans.

QUAND LA PEAU DEVIENT UN COEUR QUI BAT.

Des scientifiques israéliens permettent une approche nouvelle en matière de traitements pour insuffisance cardiaque.May 201227Par Vanessa Lamaire  Rubrique: Médical  Publié le 27 mai 2012  Pour la première fois, des scientifiques israéliens ont réussi à prendre des cellules de la peau de patients à insuffisance cardiaque et à les reprogrammer pour les transformer en cellules musculaires saines qui soient capables d’intégrer le tissu existant du cœur.La recherche, qui a été publiée en ligne hier dans l’European Heart Journal, ouvre la perspective de traiter les patients atteints d’insuffisance cardiaque avec leurs propres cellules souches pluripotentes (hiPSCs) pour réparer leurs cœurs endommagés. Comme les cellules reprogrammées seraient dérivées du patient lui-même, cela pourrait éviter le problème de rejet des cellules comme « corps étranger du système immunitaire des patients ».Les progrès récents en biologie des cellules souches et du génie tissulaire ont permis aux chercheurs d’examiner les moyens de restauration et de réparation avec des nouvelles cellules du muscle cardiaque, mais un problème majeur a été le choix des cellules du muscle cardiaque et le problème du rejet par le système immunitaire. Des études récentes ont montré qu’il est possible de faire évoluer les hiPSCs de personnes jeunes et en bonne santé et que celles-ci sont capables de se transformer en cellules cardiaques. Cependant, il n’a pas été démontré que les hiPSCs pouvaient être obtenus chez les patients âgés et malades. En outre, jusqu’à présent les chercheurs n’ont pas été capables de démontrer que les cellules cardiaques créés à partir de hiPSCs pouvaient intégrer des tissus cardiaques existants. Cependant, les chercheurs avertissent qu’il y a un certain nombre d’obstacles à surmonter avant qu’il soit possible d’utiliser de cette façon des hiPSCs chez les humains, et cela pourrait prendre au moins cinq à dix ans avant le début des essais cliniques.Le Professeur Lior Gepstein, professeur de médecine (cardiologie) et de la physiologie au laboratoire de recherche Sohnis pour l’électrophysiologie cardiaque et la médecine régénérative, l’Institut de Technologie au Technion à Haïfa en Israël, qui a dirigé la recherche, a déclaré: « Ce qui est nouveau et passionnant au sujet de notre recherche, c’est que nous avons montré qu’il est possible en fin de compte de transformer, dans une éprouvette de laboratoire, l’équivalent de cellules de la peau d’un patient âgé avec une insuffisance cardiaque avancée en ses propres cellules saines et jeunes dans l’ état du moment où il est né. »Mme Limor Zwi-Dantsis, qui est étudiante en doctorat dans le laboratoire de recherche Sohnis, du Professeur Lior Gepstein et leurs collègues ont pris des cellules de la peau de deux patients hommes avec insuffisance cardiaque (âgés de 51 et 61 ans) et ont reprogrammé le noyau de la cellule par la prestation de trois gènes ou « facteurs de transcription » (Sox2, Klf4 et Oct4), suivie d’une petite molécule appelée acide valproïque. Fondamentalement, ce cocktail de reprogrammation n’inclut pas un facteur de transcription, appelé c-Myc, qui a été utilisé pour créer des cellules souches, mais qui est un gène connu causant un cancer.« L’un des obstacles à l’utilisation de hiPSCs sur le plan clinique chez l’homme est la possibilité pour les cellules de se mettre hors de contrôle et de devenir des tumeurs », a expliqué le Professeur Lior Gepstein. « Ce risque potentiel peut découler de plusieurs raisons, y compris le facteur oncogène c-Myc et l’intégration au hasard dans l’ADN de la cellule du virus qui est utilisé pour transporter les facteurs de transcription – un processus appelé insertion oncogénique. »Les chercheurs ont également utilisé une stratégie alternative qui impliquait un virus qui délivrait des informations de reprogrammation du noyau de la cellule mais qui pouvait être retiré par la suite afin d’éviter l’oncogenèse par insertion.Les hiPSCs qui en résultent ont réussi à se différencier pour devenir des cellules du muscle cardiaque (cardiomyocytes) aussi efficacement qu’un hiPSCs qui avait été élaborée à partir de jeunes volontaires en bonne santé, ayant servi de contrôles pour cette étude. Ensuite, les chercheurs ont pu faire évoluer les cardiomyocytes en tissu musculaire cardiaque cultivé avec le tissu cardiaque préexistant. Dans les 24-48 heures, les tissus avaient le même battement. « Le tissu se comportait comme un petit tissu cardiaque microscopique composé d’environ 1000 cellules dans chaque zone de battement » affirme le Professeur Lior Gepstein.Enfin, le nouveau tissu a été transplanté dans les cœurs de rats en bonne santé et les chercheurs ont constaté que le tissu greffé a commencé à établir des connexions avec les cellules du tissu de l’hôte.« Dans cette étude, nous avons montré pour la première fois qu’il est possible d’établir des hiPSCs de patients atteints d’insuffisance cardiaque qui représentent la population cible des patients pour les stratégies de thérapie cellulaire futures et sont capables de se différencier en cellules de muscle cardiaque pouvant s’intégrer avec les tissus cardiaques de l’hôte, » affirme le Professeur Lior Gepstein. « Nous espérons que les cardiomyocytes dérivés de hiPSCs ne seront pas rejetés suite à une transplantation dans les mêmes patients dont ils dérivent. Si c’ est le cas, c’est l’objet de l’enquête. Un des obstacles en traitant de cette façon est que, à ce stade, nous pouvons seulement assurer la transplantation des cellules humaines dans des modèles animaux et donc nous devons traiter les animaux avec des médicaments immunosuppresseurs afin que les cellules ne soient pas rejetées. »Beaucoup de recherches doivent être effectuées avant que les résultats puissent devenir un traitement clinique pour les patients d’insuffisance cardiaque. « Il y a plusieurs obstacles aux essais cliniques » dit le Professeur Lior Gepstein. « cela concerne : des étapes pour transformer un nombre clinique pertinent de cellules ; de l’ élaboration de stratégies de transplantation qui accroîtront la survie de la greffe cellulaire, de la maturation, de l’intégration et du potentiel de régénération ; de l’ élaboration de procédures de sécurité afin d’éliminer les risques de cancer ou de problèmes de rythme normal du cœur ; d’autres tests chez les animaux ; et du financement car il est susceptible d’être très coûteux. Je suppose qu’il faudra au moins cinq à dix ans d’essais cliniques si nous pouvons surmonter ces problèmes. »Le Professeur Lior Gepstein et ses collègues traiteront des recherches supplémentaires dans certains de ces domaines, y compris l’évaluation à l’aide de hiPSCs dans la thérapie cellulaire et le génie des stratégies pour la réparation tissulaire des cœurs endommagés dans les divers modèles animaux, enquêtant sur les maladies cardiaques héréditaires et le développement de médicaments et de tests.