Latest Medical & OCAN News Articles

The Ovarian Cancer Alliance of Nevada wants to help extend your knowledge by keeping you informed about the latest happenings in this area of your health. They consist of articles not only about medical breakthroughs, but of success, hope, and actions. The following links are to articles for the current month, that have appeared in newspapers and publications from sources throughout both the U.S. and world wide, and are available with on-line editions. Each listing has a short opening paragraph of the article. The listing of the links are by date published, with the most recent found listed first.

For archived articles prior to the current calendar month, please see: Ovarian Cancer Archived News


December 2005

Dec 31, 2005 - "Times Newspapers Ltd", UK
'I still hope I might have my own child'
DEBBIE HOWELLS was 26 when ovarian cancer was diagnosed, requiring treatment that was guaranteed to leave her infertile: the removal of both ovaries and a hysterectomy. The thought of never having children that were genetically her own left her more devastated than the diagnosis.

Dec 29, 2005 - "The Sun News", Myrtle Beach, SC
DR. Elizabeth Smoots Practical Preventiion Detecting ovarian cancer
At age 50, Janet Allemeier had symptoms she'd never experienced before. After a brief bout of diarrhea, she developed severe abdominal bloating that persisted for more than a month. "When I put my pants on, they looked like this," Allemeier says, forming a big V in the middle of her abdomen with her hands to show how the zipper and button no longer reached. "I looked pregnant and I felt uncomfortable." She also noticed feeling full after eating only three or four bites of food. "Something must be wrong with me," she thought, "because I'm never like this."

Dec 28, 2005 - "Longview News Journal", Longview, TX
Vitamin D May Prevent Some Cancers
Forget the fiber. You may be able to fend off colon, breast or ovarian cancer by simply getting enough vitamin D, a new analysis of previous research suggests. But if you're overweight, black, older or live in the Northeast, there's a good chance you're not getting enough vitamin D in your diet, said study co-author Cedric F. Garland, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego.

Dec 28, 2005 - "Belfast Telegraph", UK
Ulster experts cautious over cancer claims for vitamin D
ULSTER experts gave a cautious welcome today to a report that a large daily dose of vitamin D can cut the risk of common cancers. But they echoed warnings that the news should be treated responsibly and needs further scrutiny. US researchers say that the 'natural' form of the vitamin, known as D3, appears to dramatically reduce the chances of developing breast, ovarian and colon cancer, as well as others, by up to 50%.

Dec 27, 2005 - "Shelbyville Daily Union", Shelbyville, IL
Senate Week In Review: New Laws For 2006
Ovarian cancer (SB 521/P.A. 94-0112) – Requires insurers to cover surveillance tests for ovarian cancer for female customers who are at risk for ovarian cancer.

Dec 22, 2005 - "News Wise", Charlottesville, VA
UCSD Researchers State Vitamin D Needed to Cut Cancer Risk
Taking 1,000 international units of vitamin D3 daily appears to lower an individual’s risk of developing certain cancers – including colon, breast, and ovarian cancer – by up to 50 percent, according to cancer prevention specialists at the Moores Cancer Center at the Medical Center.

Dec 16, 2005 - "Fresno Bee", Fresno, CA
Cancer survivor given award
Eighteen-year-old Jaime Spray survived ovarian cancer at age 10. In the past eight years, Jaime and her mother, Lynda Spray, have walked in seven annual Relay for Life benefits in Visalia for the American Cancer Society. The mother-daughter team frequently choose the early morning hours to walk, to underscore the often-lonely struggle that many cancer patients face battling the disease.

Dec 16, 2005 - "The Daily Bulletin", Ontario, CA.
Montclair woman has display fit for a king
Reba Riggle, 66, did not expect to live to see Christmas this year. The Montclair woman was diagnosed with ovarian cancer on Dec. 15, 2004, and doctors told her she would have six months to a year to live. So this holiday season is especially meaningful to her, and to celebrated she decorated her house inside and out, taking her 15-year holiday tradition to a new level.

Dec 15, 2005 - "The Derbyshire Telegraph", UK
Tears And Joy On Our Holiday Of A Lifetime
For two years, and with the support of her friends, family and hundreds of well-wishers behind her, cancer sufferer Fiona Hearnshaw had been planning a holiday to remember. Now she has returned from her trip to Florida and says her precious memories will keep her and her family going through the tough times that lie ahead.

Dec 15, 2005 - "News-Medical.Net ",
65% of ovarian cancer cells sideline body's defences
Ovarian cancer tumour cells use two separate mechanisms to evade the body's defensive reaction - and in so doing also elude a newly discovered counteraction from the surrounding tissue. Details on these strategies, which have been observed in 65% of the cancer cells tested, are published today in Clinical Cancer Research by a group at the Medical University of Vienna led by Prof. Michael Krainer.

Dec 14, 2005 - "Baltimore Business Journals", Baltimore, MD.
United Therapeutics' cancer drug in late-stage testing
A cancer drug being developed by United Therapeutics is getting closer to commercialization. The Silver Spring biotech company has completed enrollment in one of two Phase III clinical trials for Ovarex, United Therapeutics' experimental drug for patients with late-stage ovarian cancer.

Dec 13, 2005 - "Washington TImes", Washington, DC
Silver Spring firm moves to testing of its cancer drug
United Therapeutics Corp. yesterday said it moved one step closer to federal government approval for its ovarian cancer drug, OvaRex. The Silver Spring biotechnology company, which has reported solid sales growth for its only marketed drug, Remodulin, said it reached its goal of enrolling 177 patients for one of two patient studies for OvaRex.

Dec 12, 2005 - "WOAI - TV 4", San Antonio, TX
Could Tea Help Fight Ovarian Cancer?
Swedish researchers have found tantalizing but far-from-conclusive evidence that drinking a couple of cups of tea every day might help reduce the risk of developing ovarian cancer.
Related site: Study: Tea May Help Fight Ovarian Cancer

Dec 12, 2005 - "NZ Herald", New Zealand
Survivors face other cancer risks
Women who survive a bout with breast cancer are more likely to develop cancers of the lung, stomach and colon, among others, research suggests.

Dec 11, 2005 - "EP Trail", Estes Park, CO
The climb of a lifetime
Judy Rosen embarks to Tanzania next week to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in an effort to raise funds for the High-Risk Breast and Ovarian Cancer Clinic in Arizona. Judy Rosen thrums with energy, which is good, because she is going to need it later this month to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Dec 08, 2005 - "WSYR - TV 9", Syracuse, NY
Ovarian Cancer: Warning Signs
Ovarian cancer is often thought of as a silent killer. Many women don't discover they have it until it's in the later stages, and it's too late. But it turns out that there are warning signs, you just have to know what they are.

Dec 08, 2005 - "Seattle Post Intelligencer", Seattle, WA
Ovarian cancer war must shift to early detection
The California multimillionaire had just cashed out as a top executive for Cisco Systems and formed his own computer company when he learned his mother had late-stage ovarian cancer. It was a tragic, defining moment for Don Listwin -- a turning point that would eventually bring him to Seattle, away from his career and toward scientists who have grown frustrated with what they believe is a misguided, losing strategy for the war on cancer.

Dec 06, 2005 - "Collegiate Times", Blacksburg, VA
'Wit' leaves an emotional impression on its sold-out audience
"I have never been so moved before by any stage performance,” said Maggie Clifford, sophomore interdisciplinary studies major. Clifford was talking about the Dec. 1 performance of the workshop production of “Wit,” presented by the Virginia Tech Department of Theatre Arts.

Dec 06, 2005 - "The Journal Standard", Freeport, IL
Spreading the word
Cancer survivor wants to raise awareness, share support. Cindy Smith is a survivor. To be a survivor, she didn't go on a reality television program. She didn't bounce back after a bad breakup. Three years ago, Freeport resident Cindy Smith was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She fought her illness and she lives today to share her story.

Dec 05, 2005 - "Johns Hopkins University", Baltimore, MD
New Nanosensor Uses Quantum Dots to Detect DNA
Using tiny semiconductor crystals, biological probes and a laser, Johns Hopkins University engineers have developed a new method of finding specific sequences of DNA by making them light up beneath a microscope. The researchers, who say the technique will have important uses in medical research, demonstrated its potential in their lab by detecting a sample of DNA containing a mutation linked to ovarian cancer.

Dec 05, 2005 - "News-Medical.Net",
Phenoxodiol - docetaxel combination for women with recurrent ovarian cancer
A clinical study of ovarian cancer initiated by investigators at Yale School of Medicine will combine the anti-cancer drug phenoxodiol with docetaxel for women with recurrent ovarian cancer. "Advanced-stage ovarian cancer is one of the most devastating forms of cancer, with half of the women diagnosed with it dying within five years," said principal investigator Thomas Rutherford, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale and a member of the Yale Cancer Center. "One of the imperatives facing doctors who treat these patients is to find ways to restore sensitivity to drugs such as taxanes once they start to lose that sensitivity."

Dec 05, 2005 - "Seattle Times", Seattle, WA
Ailing gardener's gift takes root at art colony
Patricia Ledesma left her Bellevue house and garden in September, a sudden departure forced by a scary diagnosis: ovarian cancer. Rakes and spades hang from a rack in the backyard. Summer's garden knick-knacks — terra cotta steppingstones and frogs, a turtle with a broken tail, wire bunnies and chicks — are still tangled in the dormant plants.

Dec 05, 2005 - "The Lawrence Journal-World", Lawrence, KS
Salon helps cancer patients find new style
Program teaches beauty techniques to combat chemo side effects - Bobbie Freyholtz thought she had prepared herself, but when she looked in the mirror, it still was a shock. Looking back at her was a Bobbie she didn’t recognize — a Bobbie with no hair and pale, dry, blotchy skin. A Bobbie who reflected the devastating side-effects of chemotherapy. On Aug. 17, during what was supposed to be a routine hysterectomy for Freyholtz, 55, doctors discovered a tumor that they diagnosed as Stage 4 ovarian cancer, an aggressive and often deadly form of the disease. The Salina woman immediately was scheduled for chemotherapy treatments.

Dec 02, 2005 - "InfoZine", Kansas City, KS
Researchers Discover Molecular Differences Between Low-grade and High-grade Ovarian Cancers
A new study suggests that ovarian tumors classified as serous borderline or low malignant potential (LMP) are not early precursors in the development of aggressive ovarian cancer, but may instead be part of an entirely different class of tumors.

Dec 02, 2005 - "Cancer Consultants", Ketchum, Id
Initial Surgery for Ovarian Cancer at Specialized Centers May Improve Survival
According to a recent article published in Gynecologic Oncology, patients with ovarian cancer who undergo initial surgery at a medical center with expertise in surgery for their disease appear to achieve a significant survival benefit. Approximately 25,000 new cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. each year. Standard treatment for ovarian cancer involves the surgical removal of as much cancer as possible (if the patient is eligible for surgery), as well as chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.

Dec 01, 2005 - "Womens Cancer Network", Chicago, IL
Who should be wary of genetic cancer
Mutations in the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 genes that cause a small percentage of breast and ovarian cancers can be detected through a blood test that has been in existence for about 10 years. Although there is no absolute standard for who should and should not be tested, Victoria Seewaldt, director of Duke Medical Center's Breast Cancer Prevention Program, says women might want to talk to a genetics counselor about testing if: .......

Dec 01, 2005 - "US FDA", Washington, DC
Genomics and Personalized Medicine
Genes determine the color of our eyes and shape of our bodies. Genes also determine our susceptibility to disease and how we respond to medicine. Researchers believe that each person has about 35,000 genes. The complete set of genes together is known as the human genome, commonly referred to as "the instruction manual" for how the body works. Each gene carries instructions for making proteins, which direct the body's cells and functions.

Dec 01, 2005 - "College Publisher Network", Evansville, IL
Musician finds success through tragedy, with God
Hoosier musician Jeremy Camp will be gracing the stage in Evansville at The Centre on February 18th. This 24-year-old guitar playing singer is may be new to the Christian music circuit, but his latest album sings like a veteran. Camp started singing and playing guitar after he left Lafayette, Ind., to go to college in California. While traveling, Camp met his future wife, and they began a relationship with each other. After only a few months of marriage tragedy struck when Camp's young wife died of ovarian cancer.

Dec 01, 2005 - "Cancer Consultants", Ketchum, Id
Ovarian Cancer Information Center
A new or recurrent diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer often results in fear and confusion for patients and their family members. Understanding treatment options, accessing new and innovative therapies through clinical trials, as well as understanding the role of supportive care and complementary and alternative medicine are essential. Cancer screening, genetic testing and prevention are equally relevant to all individuals, especially those related to someone diagnosed with cancer.

Dec 01, 2005 - "Pharmaceutical-Business-Review", London, UK
Marshall Edwards initiates trial of chemo-sensitizer
Marshall Edwards and Sanofi-Aventis are jointly supporting a phase Ib/IIa study of the investigational anticancer drug phenoxodiol in combination with docetaxel for women with recurrent ovarian cancer. The investigator-initiated clinical study will take place at the Yale University School of Medicine and will enroll 60 women with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or abdominal cavity cancer after treatment with a platinum and paclitaxel.