There was an article this past week in the San Francisco Business Times about a local biotech - OncoMed Pharmaceuticals - getting a $1.4 billion deal with GlaxoSmithKline. The company has developed a series of monoclonal antibodies to target cancer stem cells in specific tumors. The antibodies are proteins that attach themselves to cancer cells to induce an immunological response from the body. In other words, they grab the cancer cells then wave a red flag to attract help to kill the cancer cells.

I’ve heard a lot about stem cells but this was the first time I’ve heard anyone talk about cancer stem cells. The company says that traditional chemotherapy kills the tumor parts that are not stem cells, but does not kill the cancer stem cells. As a result, the cancer stem cells generate additional cancer cells which eventually cause the cancer to return. Sort of like when you cut weeds in your yard but don’t pull the roots, then have the weeds return later.

One of the cofounders of OncoMed, Dr. Michael Clarke, published a paper in 2003 showing that only a handful of cells in a human breast tumor were capable of metastasizing, or seeding new tumors. He also first reported finding cancerous stem cells in breast cancer patients in 1994.

The article mentioned a critic of theirs and the NY Times, so I went online and found the article from the NY Times that discusses both the cancer stem cell idea as well as criticism of the theory. I put a link to the article at the bottom of this blog entry.

Prior to the 1990’s, there was still a question of whether all cells in a tumor had the ability to keep the cancer going or not. When tumor cells were transplanted into a mouse with no immune system, not all the cells could form tumors. It wasn’t until the early 90’s that a Toronto researcher found stem cells in acute myelogenous leukemia, a blood cancer. While the stem cells made up just 1% of the cancer cells, they were the only ones that could form tumors in mice. Since then, stem cells have been found in other cancers, such as brain, prostrate, lung, colon, etc.

There is still some disagreement on the stem cell idea. Some studies suggest that stem cells may make up anywhere between 10 and 50% of tumor cells. If treatment shrinks a tumor by 99%, then some of the stem cells would appear to indeed be susceptible to treatment, which is contrary to the idea that treatment cannot kill stem cells. Also, cells that may produce a tumor when transplanted into one part of a mouse may not produce a tumor if transplanted into anothe part.

Another interesting fact was that one researcher, Dr. Kornelia Polyak, has found that cancer cells can change from stem cells to non-stem cells and back again. This surprised many people (including me) who had thought that stem cells might change to tumor cells but then would stay there. This is one more fact that may play havoc with cancer treatments.

Three studies are getting underway this year to look at this stem cell idea. One of the drugs was developed for Alzheimer’s but found not to work. However, it did kill breast cancer stem cells in lab studies. So some interesting research will occur in the near future.

The link to the NY Times article:

NY Times article

There have been a couple of interesting medical related stories lately.

BREAST CANCER:
Interesting story in the paper today. Researchers are working on a saliva test that will help detect breast cancer. The initial study looked at 30 patients, half of which were healthy and half of which had either benign or malignant breast tumors. The scientists found 49 proteins that differentiated the three groups. Earlier, with just one protein identified, they were able to identify patients with malignancies 85% of the time. With 49 proteins, they are shooting for a 95% accuracy rate.

Dr. Charles Streckfus, a professor at UT-Houston, hopes to launch a large trial within two years and seek federal approval within five years. In the future, dentists should be able to catch cancers before women can feel a lump. Undoubtedly that will increase the survival rate. Currently more than 1.2 million people worldwide are diagnosed each year with breast cancer, more than 500,000 die.

ASTHMA:
Canadian researchers have found that children of Asian and African descent may be misdiagnosed with asthma or overmedicated for the condition because their breath contains higher level of nitric oxide. While white children had a mean nitric oxide reading of 13 parts per billion, Asian children had a reading of 23 parts per billion and African children had a reading of 18 parts per billion. Up till now, measuring the amount of nitric oxide in exhaled breath has been one of key tests in detecting asthma. If the levels are high, you were thought to have asthma, and doctors often prescribe inhaled steroids until your levels drop. So there may have been cases where kids have been either overmedicated or needlessly medicated.

LIVING LONGER:
British researchers have calculated that if you don’t smoke, exercise regularly, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and drink alcohol in moderation, you may live an average of 14 years longer than your peers. The benefits were seen regardless of what social class people came from or whether they were fat or not. The study looked at adults in the 45 to 79 age bracket. It had them fill in a health questionnaire from 1993 to 1997, and tracked them until 2006. Participants who did one of the four behaviors mentioned scored one point for each behavior. People who scored four points were four times less likely to die than those that scored zero.

FRUITS:
A 2005 study in Pharmacological Research found that rats showed improvements in cognitive performance (i.e, memory) and that blueberries may help protect or reduce effects of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinsons and MS.

A 2003 Finnish study found apples may give you a 20% reduction in heart attack risk. Apples also provide antioxidant activity, maintain regularity, manage cholesterol, and help escort heavy metals such as mercury out of the body.

And that’s your health update for today.....

Just a few short things today.

Link to a humorous clip of Bill Gates speech at the Consumer Electronics show, about his upcoming last day at Microsoft, is posted below. Even though I don’t like Microsoft all that much, the clip is pretty good:

BillGates

The other thing I thought I’d post was a link to article about the window washer who fell 47 stories in New York and survived. Amazing story.
Windowwasher

The paper this weekend had some political funnies collected by Daniel Kurtzman with NY Times company. Thought I’d post a few:

Joe Biden:
“I mean think about it, Rudy Guiliani, there’s only three things he mentions in a sentence - a noun and a verb and 9/11, and I mean, there’s nothing else”.

David Letterman:
Sen Larry Craig (caught in the Idaho restroom) gave “new meaning to the word caucusing” when he was caught playing footsie in the men’s room with his infamous “wide stance”.

Conan O’Brien:
Craig announced his resignation from the Senate, then later reversed his decision after “talking it over with guy in Stall No. 3”

Jay Leno:
Craig was inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame - not the entire hall, “just the men’s room”.

Mike Huckabee:
After John Edwards billed his campaign for two $400 haircuts, Huckabee quipped “We’ve had a Congress that’s spent money like John Edwards at a beauty shop”.

Mitt Romney:
No quotes here. Story just mentions that Romney once strapped the family dog to the roof of his car during a long road trip. The dog was apparently not happy with the arrangement, and registered its protest with excrement on the roof and windows. (I had never heard this story, and can’t believe that someone would even tie a dog to a car roof. I can’t see voting for someone this stupid.)

Two George Bushisms:
In 2000, George Bush asked “Is our children learning?”
In 2007, Bush said, “Childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured.”
Maybe one day, George will learn to speak the English language.

Miss Teen USA (non political):
Miss Teen South Carolina, Lauren Caitlin Upton, was asked why 1 out of 5 Americans can’t locate the United States on a map. Her answer:
“I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, um, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as, uh, South Africa and , uh, the Iraq and everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the United States should help the United States, uh, should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future”.

(Sounds like she’s been taking English lessons from George W Bush).

In the spirit of Christmas, good will toward men, etc, here’s a link to a story about brawling priests in Bethlehem:

PriestsFighting

It reminds me of a story I heard when I was in Jerusalem last year. There is one church there in the Old Town that is shared by four groups - Catholic, Coptic Christian, Armenian, and Ethiopian. The Coptics have possession of two chapels on the grounds. One Easter the Coptics were together praying in another location, and the Ethiopians came in and changed the locks and took possession of the two chapels.

I think nowadays the keys to the areas are kept by an Arab resident who acts as a neutral party.

Interesting link to video on hotels and drinking glasses.

DrinkingGlasses

Once you get to the page, click on the play arrow.