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


June 2005

June 30, 2005 - "Sun-News of Northland", ID
Relay For Life provides support network
Mary Hunt credits other cancer survivors for helping her get through Stage 3 ovarian cancer four years ago. "I had and still do have a tremendous support unit," Hunt, Liberty, said. "People were ready to help. But those phone calls that were the most inspiring to me were those that came from cancer survivors."

June 30, 2005 - "Health And Age",
New way of monitoring response to ovarian cancer treatment
Positron emission tomography imaging can be used to find out early on whether a woman is responding to treatment for ovarian cancer. In positron emission tomography (PET), the activity of tissue can be monitored in real time. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have found that ovarian tumors which do not respond to chemotherapy do not show a fall in activity, while those which do respond show reduced activity.

June 29, 2005 - "Reuters.com ", NYC, NY
Short-term OC use cuts ovarian cancer risk
Taking oral contraceptives (OC) for as little as 6 months offers significant protection against the risk of ovarian cancer, a study shows. "The implications of the findings are huge," Dr. Julia B. Greer told Reuters Health. "Ovarian cancer is the most fatal gynecologic malignancy and there is no good screening test for it," she said. "Reproductive factors that have been shown to decrease risk, such as childbearing, hysterectomy, and tubal ligation, are not always within a woman's control. Taking an oral contraceptive is an easy choice: there are numerous formulations, they are convenient, and insurance covers them for the most part."

June 28, 2005 - "Uinta County Herald", Evanston, WY
Cyclist jouneys across nation for ovarian cancer awareness
Lying before him is still another 2,000 miles, but competitive cyclist Don Dauphinais of Brooklyn, Conn. is both elated and optimistic about his continuing journey across the U.S. along the Lincoln Highway. He’s enthused because with every turn of the pedals, it brings him one step closer to educating those he meets along the way about the devastating disease known as ovarian cancer.

June 28, 2005 - "Washington Post", Washington, DC
Stopping an Elusive Killer
Detecting Ovarian Cancer at an Early, Treatable Stage Is a High-Tech Challenge. Another Snag: Making a Screen Affordable The human ovary, incubator of the eggs from which we all begin, is hidden deep in the pelvis. This protected location may enhance our chances for survival, but it also is a major reason why ovarian cancer often goes undetected until it is too late to save the patient. More than 22,000 U.S. women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year, estimates the American Cancer Society.

June 28, 2005 - "Washington Post", Washington, DC
Ovarian Cancer Facts and Figures
· Ovarian cancer is the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in U.S. women, behind lung, breast and colon cancers. · About 22,220 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year. · An estimated 16,210 women will die of the disease in 2005. · Five-year survival for ovarian cancer that has spread beyond the ovary is generally less than 15 percent. Diagnosis before spread can boost the five-year survival rate to over 90 percent.

June 28, 2005 - "Washington Post", Washington, DC
Recommendations for Women at Risk
Waiting for cancer researchers to develop a more sensitive screen isn't a good option for women considered at high risk for ovarian cancer. These women, experts say, should be undergoing specialized testing now. Those who should be examined for risk of ovarian cancer include: .....

June 21, 2005 - "WOWT TV - CH 6", Omaha, NE
Ovarian Cancer - Early detection can be difficult
Ovarian cancer is the seventh most common type of cancer in American women. The American Cancer Society estimates 22,220 new cases will be diagnosed this year in the U.S. It's the fourth leading cause of cancer death for women, estimated to kill about 16,210 of them in 2005. Risk for ovarian cancer increases with age - more than half of all cases are diagnosed after menopause. Early start of menstruation (before 12), later onset of menopause (after 50), not having children, or having a first child after 30 are associated with an increased risk. Women who are obese, have a personal history of breast cancer, a family history of breast, ovarian or colorectal cancer, or those who take fertility drugs for a prolonged period have a higher risk of ovarian cancer.

June 21, 2005 - "WISTV - CH 10", Columbia, SC
New line of research on ovarian cancer
OBGYN Benedict Benigno has seen what ovarian cancer is capable of, "It is a thief in the night." It hits patients hard, with very little warning, "You can have a pap smear, a pelvic exam, and an ultrasound every month and miss a stage three cancer of the ovary." Donna Lowry lived the nightmare twice, "Had there been a tumor marker for ovarian cancer, I would not have perhaps had to go through chemotherapy as long. We would have known earlier, that yes, you are, you know it's becoming a recurrence."

June 20, 2005 - "Biz Journals", Buffalo, NY
Female marketers' PSA targets ovarian cancer
Quiller & Blake Advertising Inc. hopes to turn up the volume on a fatal disease that often goes undiagnosed. The Buffalo-based agency has created a public-service announcement campaign for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance and its Canadian counterpart, the National Ovarian Cancer Association. The work was done pro bono by Quiller & Blake's Female Engineered Marketing division. Account executive Stacy Hughes and copywriter Jennifer Rung were motivated to create the campaign by personal experience: Both are the daughters of ovarian cancer survivors.

June 18, 2005 - "Belleville News Democrat", Belleville, IL
Several cancer vaccines may soon be out
PHILADELPHIA - More than a dozen cancer vaccines are now in the final phase of human testing, the last step before Food and Drug Administration approval is sought for marketing. Provenge, a prostate-cancer vaccine, may be the first to be approved, possibly this year. Vaccines for skin, kidney and lung cancers are on the horizon. Not far behind are versions for leukemia and myeloma, as well as breast, ovarian, pancreatic, colorectal and brain cancers.

June 16, 2005 - "Cancer Research", UK
Early trial of cancer drug shows promise
Promising results from the UK's first clinical trial of a prototype cancer drug have raised the prospect of an effective new treatment against a range of cancers, including breast, prostate, bowel, kidney, ovarian and skin cancer.
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Trial breakthrough as 'superdrug' makes inroads on cancers

June 14, 2005 - "The Dispatch", Lexington, nc
Miss USA 2005 honored at Legislature
Miss USA 2005, Chelsea Cooley of Charlotte, told House and Senate members honoring her Tuesday that her two months as the reigning pageant winner already have been an "amazing ride." Cooley will spend the next year traveling the country supporting education and research for breast and ovarian cancer.

June 13, 2005 - "Dr. Koop",
Social Support May Aid Women with Ovarian Cancer
Relationships linked to lower levels of a telltale protein, a new study finds. - Women have lower levels of an inflammatory protein released by the immune system, which could mean a more favorable prognosis, new research suggests. At high levels, the protein called interleukin-6, or IL-6, is linked with a poorer outcome for ovarian cancer patients, said Erin Costanzo, a graduate fellow in psychology at the University of Iowa. She is the lead author of the study, published in the July 15 issue of Cancer, which evaluated the IL-6 levels of 61 women with advanced ovarian cancer. "The closer the women's social attachment, the lower their IL-6, on a kind of continuum," Costanzo said. For the study, social attachment was defined as having at least one other person with whom you have a close connection in your life.

June 09, 2005 - "Women's Cancer Network ",
Blood Test for Ovarian Cancer Shows Promise
Yale researchers have developed a blood test they hope will be able to detect ovarian cancer while it is still in its early stages. In preliminary experiments, the test -- for four different proteins -- distinguished between healthy women and women with ovarian cancer with 95 percent effectiveness. Experts cautioned, however, against too much optimism. "This is not the answer," said Dr. David Fishman, director of gynecologic oncology, cancer prevention and early detection at New York University Cancer Institute, and director of the National Ovarian Cancer Early Detection Program. "These proteins are not unique to ovarian cancer. Further evaluation is required to see if this has any clinical relevance."

June 09, 2005 - "Z Wire - PrimeZone Media Network",
Casanova beats ovarian cancer; now takes part in Relay for Life
A week later, she was in surgery, which was followed by six months of chemotherapy treatment and a followup surgery after that to make sure there weren't any signs of the cancer. "It was a tough six months," she said. Although she is now cancer free, she continues to visit doctors for routine checkups every six months. If there's no reoccurrence after five years, she said, doctors consider a patient cured. As she looks back on that six-month battle, Casanova said, she was constantly problem solving and determining what she was going to do next to overcome the next obstacle.

June 08, 2005 - "Doctor's Guide Publishing Ltd.",
TopAbstracts in Ovarian Cancer 06/08/2005
TopAbstracts™ in Ovarian Cancer are the abstracts most highly rated/most read by nearly 300,000 physicians who received a Doctor's Guide™ newsletter or visited a website Powered by Doctor's Guide™ in the past 28 days. Over 2000 peer-reviewed journals are covered by TopAbstracts.

June 07, 2005 - "Z Wire - PrimeZone Media Network",
Antisoma Starts Phase II Trial of AS1404 in Ovarian Cancer
Cancer drug developer Antisoma (LSE:ASM) announces that it has started a phase II trial of its vascular disrupting agent AS1404 in recurrent ovarian cancer. This is the third and final trial in a series evaluating AS1404 in combination with chemotherapy drugs. Phase II studies in lung and prostate cancers are ongoing, with the first efficacy data expected from the lung study during the second half of this year.

June 04, 2005 - "moneyplans.net",
Blood test may be superior to Ct scans in predicting survival in some ovarian cancer patients
A new study shows that the CA125 blood test, which measures the level of protein produced by ovarian cancer cells in the blood, may be superior to standard imaging techniques like CT scans in predicting survival in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. The study, to be published online September 13 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, is the first to compare the two procedures with respect to survival. "This is good news for patients – our study indicates that selected patients can be safely monitored by blood tests alone and thus avoid costly and time consuming CT scans," said Bo Gronlund, MD, lead author and head of the CODOVA database at the Department of Oncology at Rigshospitalet, the Copenhagen University Hospital.

June 04, 2005 - "moneyplans.net",
Researchers identify novel target for detecting ovarian cancer in blood
Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have found a new way to detect ovarian cancer in the blood. Reported in the Sept 15, 2004, issue of Cancer Research, the new method targets hypermethylation--one mechanism used by cancer cells to turn off genes that protect against tumor development. When these tumor-suppressor genes are inactivated by hypermethylation, they cannot do their job, which then allows cancer cells to develop. This research marks the first time hypermethylation has been examined for the detection of ovarian cancer.

June 04, 2005 - "moneyplans.net",
Columbia research lifts major hurdle to gene therapy for cancer
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered a way to overcome one of the major hurdles in gene therapy for cancer: its tendency to kill normal cells in the process of eradicating cancer cells. In a new study published in the Jan. 25 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers demonstrated that the technique works by incorporating it into a specially designed virus. The virus eradicated prostate cancer cells in the lab and in animals while leaving normal cells unscathed. Gene therapy based on the new technique should also be effective for a wide range of tumors - such as ovarian, breast, brain (glioma), skin (melanoma) and colon cancer - because the virus is constructed to exploit a characteristic of all solid cancers.

June 03, 2005 - "richmond.com", Richmond, VA
Celebrating Life
National Cancer Survivors' Day is Sunday, June 5. - When people think of cancer, the words fear, sickness, doctors, chemo and even death often come to mind. What they usually don't think of is the one word that has the most meaning for any cancer patient: survivor. So on Sunday, cancer survivors around the world will make a point to celebrate life as part of National Cancer Survivors' Day, typically held the first Sunday in June in more than 700 communities nationwide. "This is a celebration of people who are living," said Patricia McGlone, 57, a Richmond-area survivor of ovarian cancer. "They are not [depressed], they're not focused on dying. They recognize [cancer] as something that happened . . . and this celebrates how far it's come."

Related Articles:Fighting with a postive attitude
June 02, 2005 - "The Madison Eagle", Madison, NJ
Ovarian cancer foundation honors congressman
The Kaleidoscope of Hope Foundation honored Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, R-11, with its “Color of Hope Award” on Saturday, April 9, while presenting more than $200,000 to cancer programs in the area, including a new Kaleidoscope of Hope Fellowship program at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. The event was the fourth and largest awards dinner for the group, with 140 supporters and advocates for ovarian cancer research filling the Morris County Golf Club in Morris Township.

June 01, 2005 - "Medical News Today", East Sussex, UK
Psychosocial Aspects of Genetic Testing for Hereditary Cancers at Jefferson Symposium June 9-10
What is the likelihood of developing breast cancer if I have a family history? Should I have genetic testing? What are my options? Is surgery an effective choice? How can I help my children? What do I tell my health insurance company and my employer? These are some of the questions confronting individuals who have a history of breast and ovarian cancer in the family and who are considered “at risk.” Genetics is revolutionizing the way medicine is practiced today and will be practiced in the next 5 to 10 years and beyond.