06/09/2011 21:00:22 Women over the age of thirty who test positive for HPV (Human Papillomavirus) should be re-tested two years later as part of cervical cancer screening, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. HPV infection is the main cause of cervical cancer, although most women infected with HPV do not have cervical pathology and most HPV infections in women under the age of 25 go away. Screening is recommended for women over age thirty, and the type of HPV strain to screen for is important, since only some are associated with cervical cancer risk.Furthermore, only persistently detectable infections seem to be associated with cervical cancer risk. However, few long-term studies have been done on the persistence of these infections and cervical cancer risk. To determine the association between persistent HPV infections and cervical cancer risk in women over the age of thirty, Hui-Chi Chen, PhD, of the Genomics Research Center of Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan, and colleagues, followed a cohort of 11,923 women aged 30–65 over a period of 16 years. The women underwent baseline exams that included HPV DNA testing and cytological tests, and the tests were repeated two years later. Incidence of cervical cancer was determined from cancer registries and death registries. In total, 6,666 women participated in both baseline and second visits, whereas the other 3,456 patients underwent only the first exam. The researchers found that the 16-year risk of cervical cancer was 6.2% for women infected with any carcinogenic strains of the virus. Among women who were persistently infected with carcinogenic HPVs over the 2-year testing period, cervical cancer risk was 12.4%, whereas the risk was only 0.14% for women who repeatedly tested HPV negative. Since the duration of infection, rather than one-time infection, predicts cervical cancer risk, the researchers said it would not be useful to repeat HPV testing more frequently than every two years for HPV-positive women. The authors write, "Our findings suggest that, if upon testing an HPV infection is found, re-testing 2 years later would provide useful guidance as to the duration of infection and its risk." Furthermore, they say, "The accumulated evidence suggests that it is time to include HPV testing in cancer screening programs for the general population." The researchers add that genotyping may improve HPV testing since certain carcinogenic HPV strains—namely HPV16 and HPV58—were associated with a higher risk of cervical cancer than others. In an accompanying editorial, Kevin A. Ault, MD, of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine notes that "persistent HPV infection is an intermediate step in the development of cervical cancer." He notes the study has several strengths, including long duration of follow-up, a large sample size, and linkage to the national cancer registry. He also adds that the study shows that women with negative HPV tests have a greatly reduced risk of developing cervical disease.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
聯安生技有意腸病毒71型疫苗開發?!!
腸病毒71型疫苗初步成效佳 未來爸媽不必年年怕 欣傳媒 (2011-09-07) 每年一到夏天，家長就嚇得「皮皮剉」，擔心腸病毒71型不曉得會不會找上自家的小寶貝，國人自行研發的腸71型疫苗初步試驗能產生抗體，等疫苗正式研發，爸媽就不必擔心了。 多年前一場腸71感染大流行引發兒童發生數百例重症及數十死亡病例，害得家有兒童的爸媽每到夏天就擔心受怕，國家衛生研究院感染症研究所所長蘇益仁今（6）日指出，雖然腸病毒71型疫苗台灣領先開發，卻被中國大陸搶先完成第1期試驗；不過，台灣疫苗已申請7項國際認證，符合國際標準，不但能緊急生產自用，未來也能外銷。 蘇益仁說，國產的腸病毒疫苗完成的第一期臨床試驗是以成人為對象，初步顯示接種後產生的抗體反應可達600倍以上，預計明年將進行第2期臨床實驗，招收不同年齡層的受試者。目前國衛院已和國光、基亞2家生技公司簽署非專屬專利授權同意書，聯安生技則在洽談中。 若腸病毒71型疫苗若能達到8到9成的預防保護效果，即屬於有效的疫苗，國衛院除了發表腸病毒71型疫苗的研發成果，也表示研發中的腦膜炎雙球菌疫苗成果也不錯，今年底將開國際標招募合作研發夥伴。
翁啟惠..是………科學家
醣類權威 商品化難不倒他 2011-09-07 工商時報 【杜蕙蓉】 行政院政務委員朱敬一曾說，台灣的生技公司投入新藥研發好像很困難，但中研院院長翁啟惠做新藥成功率卻是百分百。 翁啟惠是以酵素有機合成醣類化合物的第一人，他以儲存好的電腦資料庫加以運算，能夠在幾小時，甚至不到一小時內完成多醣體各式的合成，打破傳統必須花上幾個月尋找適當表面合成物的方法，透過這個「多醣體化學合成技術」，讓他享譽全球醫學研究界，也吸引不少公司要求授權。 他開發的「酵素抑制劑」，在1987年技術移轉給美國第一大農業生技公司孟山都；而投入研發的「醣類合成技術」，也在1994年技轉給費城的Neose醣類製造公司。 1998年，翁啟惠將自己創辦的Combichem公司，以「高速化學平台」賣給杜邦製藥，售價高達2億美元。 現在台灣浩鼎研發中獲得衛生署許可即將進入人體第三期臨床試驗，美國FDA第二期臨床的第一類乳癌新藥OPT-822，係以多醣技術平台的架構者，也得自翁啟惠。 這位全球知名酵素有機合成及碳水化合物（醣類）權威學者，是台大生化科學研究所碩士、美國麻省理工學院化學博士，哈佛大學博士後研究，他曾在德州農工（Texas A＆M）大學擔任化學系教授，是該系創立以來最年輕的教授。 由於早年有創業的經驗，翁啟惠是國內少數有商品化概念的學者，台灣浩鼎董事長張念慈認為翁啟惠「是一個懂商業的科學家」。 翁啟惠關心國內生技產業的發展，不僅極力推波產、官、學資源應整合，將學術論文轉為可獲利的商品，也極力延攬人才，TMF創投基金負責人張有德就說過，任何人碰到翁啟惠都很難說「不」，他獲亞瑟科博獎，更被認為是台灣人的福氣與榮耀，將有助於台灣生技產業在國際市場發光發熱。
基亞確定上櫃!!
基亞生技上櫃案獲准2011-09-08 【時報】櫃檯買賣中心上櫃審議委員會通過基亞生物科技(3176)公司申請上櫃案。基亞生物科技申請時資本額9.65億元，董事長為張世忠，推薦證券商係永豐金證券、群益金鼎證券及日盛證券；該公司99年營業收入為3763萬元，稅後純損為1.07億元，每股純損為1.29元。
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