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


July 2005

July 27, 2005 - "Camden Herald", Camden, ME
Brower races to help cancer institute
Martha Brower of Camden will be one of 10,000 runners taking part in the Falmouth Road Race, Aug. 14, but she will be doing more than taking on the famous 7-mile course. Brower is raising money for cancer research and care, as a member of the Dana-Farber Running Team. Along with more than 40 other runners, she has committed to raising at least $1,000 for the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The fight against cancer is a personal one for Brower. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer seven years ago and has been treated at Dana-Farber.

July 23, 2005 - "The Tampa Tribune", Tampa Bay, FL
Ovarian Cancer Study Gets Aid
Because of unusually close ``town-gown'' cooperation among cancer specialists, Tampa Bay researchers have come a step closer to developing the first mass screenings for ovarian cancer. This week, the National Cancer Institute awarded a $3.5 million grant to H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute at the University of South Florida to expand its search for telltale signs of the disease that can be found in a blood sample.

July 23, 2005 - "Berkeley Daily Planet",
LBNL ResearchersWork Toward Cures
High on a hilltop above the city, the researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab are working every day to contribute to both the scientific and world communities. In the Donner Lab under Dr. Kenneth Downing, graduate student Alison Killilea works on a microscopic level to understand the medications used to treat breast, lung and ovarian cancer. She works with a chemotherapeutic drug, commercially sold as Taxol and generically known as paclitaxel, which inhibits the replication, or mitosis, of cells. Rapid mitosis is the basis for tumors.

July 22, 2005 - "St. Petersburg Times", St. Petersburg, FL
Triathletes raise money for research
St. . Petersburg's downtown streets were crowded with women triathletes of all ages last weekend. As many as 300 competitors showed support for ovarian cancer research by participating in the Reebok Women's Triathlon Series No. 2 at Spa Beach. The national series has raised more than $95,000 this year with stops in Chicago and St. Petersburg.

July 21, 2005 - "The Kansas City Channel - CH 9", Kansas City, KS
DNA Test Could Provide Early Warning Of Disease Risk
Physician Skeptical About Public's Understanding Of Genetic Test Results. Tens of thousands of people in Missouri and Kansas will be diagnosed with some form of cancer this year alone. But as Kelly Eckerman discovered a simple test could tell you whether you're at high risk. An Internet-based company claims that knowing about your genes could help you stay healthy, and its researchers have developed a way to test your genetic makeup from the privacy of your own home. The company, DNADirect.com, provides a personal genetic testing kit to clients, then tests their results before offering a risk profile.

July 19, 2005 - "Anchorage Daily News", Anchorage, AK
Survivors of ovarian cancer aim to raise symptom awareness
A group of Alaska women have tried one thing after another to bring attention to a deadly disease. They've plastered city buses with posters about ovarian cancer. For two years, they made up their faces and modeled fancy clothes from local shops. For some, strutting the runway was out of their comfort zones, but they did it anyway to bring attention to the disease they'd all fought. Most recently, the women who make up the Alaska division of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition went the route tried by supporters of breast and prostate cancer awareness: They organized a footrace. On July 30, the group will host the third annual Run/Walk for the Whisper, starting on the west end of Westchester Lagoon.

July 17, 2005 - "Bay Area News - CH 9", Tampa Bay, FL
Women compete in St. Petersburg triathlon
The Third Annual Reebok Women's Triathlon -- running, biking and swimming -- took place in St. Petersburg Sunday. The event was an effort to raise $250,000 to fight ovarian cancer. The athletes swam a half mile, biked 20 kilometers and ran 5 kilometers. More than 650 women competed this year, compared to 500 last year. Event coordinator Kim Richardson said most of the women who participated either have been affected by ovarian cancer or know of someone who has.

July 16, 2005 - "Harvard Gazette", Cambridge, MA
Blood vessel drugs halt cancer growth
Nobody believed Judah Folkman when, in the 1960s, he claimed that the growth of cancers could be stopped, even reversed, by blocking the tiny vessels that feed them blood. Over the years, however, he has survived peer rejection of his theory, and gone on to develop drugs that did what he predicted they would do.

July 15, 2005 - "Medical News",
Novel treatment for ovarian cancer
The Tulane University Section of Hematology and Medical Oncology is investigating a novel treatment for ovarian cancer by using intravenous Ontak to deplete harmful cells that inhibit the body's natural immune response to fight cancer. Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cancer killer of women in the United States.

Related Articles: Using Ontak to deplete Tregs in Ovarian Cancer (RxPG News)
Tulane pioneers novel ovarian cancer treatment (Medical News Today)
July 11, 2005 - "Forbes.com ", New York, NY
Kelly Ripa to Serve as an Honorary Chair for National Ovarian Cancer Coalition Philadelphia's 'Day of Healing' Walk
PHILADELPHIA, July 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC)'s Philadelphia division announced today that Kelly Ripa, co-host of ABC's "Live with Regis and Kelly," and co-star of ABC's comedy series, "Hope and Faith," will join the honorary chair committee for the Philadelphia National Ovarian Cancer Coalition's Walk for the Whisper with the special "Day of Healing" theme. Other honorary chairpersons include Michele McCormack, anchor of WPVI -- Channel 6 Action News; George Coukos, M.D, and PhD -- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; and Michael Tozzi, WJJZ Smooth Jazz mid-day Host.

July 07, 2005 - "iol.co.za", S. Africa
Pineapple crush may aid fight against cancer
Sydney - Australian scientists have discovered that pineapple molecules can act as powerful anti-cancer agents and said on Thursday the research could lead to a new class of cancer-fighting drugs. Scientists at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) said their work centred on two molecules from bromelaine, an extract derived from crushed pineapple stems that is used to tenderise meat, clarify beers and tan hides. One of the molecules, CCZ, stimulates the body's immune system to target and kill cancer cells, the other, CCS, blocks a protein called Ras, which is defective in 30 percent of all cancers.

July 06, 2005 - "BELLEVILLENEWSDEMOCRAT.COM ", Belleville, IL
New women's health legislation
PEORIA, Ill. - Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed four bills Wednesday to improve cancer screening for at-risk women and boost funding for cancer research. The new laws will: - Require insurers to cover mammograms for women under 40 with a family history of breast cancer or other risk factors. - Require insurers to cover tests for ovarian cancer for at-risk women.

Related Article: Blagojevich signs bills to boost cancer research, screening for women

July 06, 2005 - "KOIN TV - CH 6", Portland, OR
Washington Ovarian Cancer Rates Highest In Nation
Washington has the highest rate of ovarian cancer in the United States, according to the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research. The state has more than 10 cases per 100,000 people.

July 06, 2005 - "PR Newswire", New York, NY
Across the Lone Star State, Medical Researchers are Developing a New Generation of Diagnostic Tests
In the international race to find more accurate and reliable ways of detecting serious diseases, the major medical research institutions in Texas are at the forefront of what is pointing to a major transformation in medical diagnostics. A cluster of medical centers across the Lone Star State ranging from the MD Anderson Cancer Center and Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, the University of Texas Medical Center in Dallas, and the CRTC Institute for Drug Development in San Antonio, are working on developing a variety of different tests based on the body's proteins. The researchers are rapidly exploring hundreds of proteins often in a single blood sample in their quest to identify which ones can be used to detect a specific disease such as breast or ovarian cancer.

July 06, 2005 - "ABC News", NYC, NY
New cancer hope stems from pineapples
Austrailan researchers are harvesting pineapples as a possible source of anti-cancer drugs, after a fluke discovery of their potential healing properties. QIMR's Tracey Mynott says they have also found that hidden inside the stem are two molecules that could change the way cancer is treated. One can stimulate the body's immune system to kill cancer cells; the other can stop a protein found in 30 per cent of all cancers. While the research is only in its early stages, scientists say lab tests have shown the molecule can stop the growth of tumour cells in breast, lung, bowel and ovarian cancer.

July 05, 2005 - "Doctors Guide",
Doctors Able to Predict Potential Ovarian Failure After Radiation
Doctors in the United Kingdom have created a table to predict when a woman who has undergone radiation therapy as a part of cancer treatment regimen in her abdominal or pelvic area may become sterile, according to a new study published in the July 2005 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of ASTRO, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

July 02, 2005 - "BBC News", UK
Doctors hail ovarian cancer test
UK doctors say they have found an easier way to diagnose ovarian cancer. By passing a needle up through the vagina, the Manchester University researchers were able to take a sample of ovarian tissue for testing. They said it is better than passing a needle through the abdomen, and less invasive than cutting a woman open to find the tumour.

July 01, 2005
Here in Las Vegas, "The World Series of Poker" has started and two men are playing for OCAN. One is the local comedian, Vinnie Favorito, who will be playing on July 6th ( which happens to be Crispin's birthday!) at the celebrity table. He was asked to designate a charity and his wife, Nicole, suggested OCAN. Nicole had contacted OCAN quite a while ago and we have been maintaining email contact since then.
The other person is from out of state - Jim Lea from Kent, WA. Jim is playing in memory of his beloved Aunt, Jane Matheson of Battleground, WA who passed away on 4/4/05, from ovarian cancer and I was contacted by his wife about their desire to donate a portion of his winnings to OCAN, I met with them and they are lovely people. Jim is using as a "card protector" (that's a poker player's good luck charm), a chip with a teal ribbon on one side and a photo of Aunt Jane on the other. Jim's wife, Louise has been handing out symptom cards all over town. They're dedicated to joining with OCAN to save women's lives. I will be sitting with his wife July 1, at the Rio to watch him play.

July 01, 2005 - "doctorndtv.com", India
Infertility may predict a risk of cancer
Women with a history of fertility problems appear to run the risk of developing certain cancers. In a study, researchers from the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland, compared the risk of cancer among 12,193 U.S. women treated for infertility between 1965 and 1988 with that of the general population. Over an average period of nearly 19 years, the infertility patients had a 23 percent higher likelihood of developing cancer than women in the general population.

July 01, 2005 - "Medical News Today", UK
Debate Over New Approaches to Ovarian Cancer Detection
The Washington Post on Tuesday examined the debate among researchers over how to move forward with new technologies in ovarian cancer detection. Researchers disagree over whether to advocate for a screening test sensitive enough to be used in high-risk women -- such as those with family histories of breast or ovarian cancers -- or one inexpensive enough to use among all women. David Fishman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at New York University Medical Center, uses a multitiered approach to determine which women are at highest risk of ovarian cancer and would benefit from intensive tests.