Study Weight loss may lower cancer riskTue, 26 Dec 2006 19:25:14 GMTBy DANIEL YEE, Associated Press Writer ATLANTA - Here's another reason for men to avoid packing on extra pounds over the holidays: A new study has found that losing weight reduces the risk of an aggressive form of prostate cancer. After tracking the weight of nearly 70,000 men between 1982 and 1992, researchers from the http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/rapidpdf/1055-9965.EPI-06-0754v1.pdf Poor records plague Bush AIDS effortTue, 26 Dec 2006 18:04:09 GMTBy RITA BEAMISH, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - http://www.pepfar.gov U.S. Agency for International Development background on AIDS: http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/aids/ Family Health International: http://www.fhi.org Scientists get OK for engineered peanutsTue, 26 Dec 2006 16:41:29 GMTBy ELLIOTT MINOR, Associated Press Writer ALBANY, Ga. - A leading industry group has given scientists the go-ahead to build genetically engineered peanuts that could be safer, more nutritious and easier to grow than their conventional version. The work could lead to peanuts that yield more oil for biofuel production, need less rainfall and grow more efficiently, with built-in herbicide and pest resistance — traits that have already been engineered into major crops such as cotton, corn, soybeans and canola. For consumers, the work could lead to peanuts with enhanced flavor, more vitamins and nutrients, and possibly even nuts that are less likely to trigger allergic reactions, a life-threatening problem for a small percentage of the population and a major food industry concern. A few researchers have been genetically modifying peanuts for at least a decade, but their discoveries have had little impact because the industry, fearing a consumer backlash, was reluctant to support the work. However, with the two leading peanut-producing countries, China and India, working aggressively on transgenic peanuts, the American Peanut Council and its research arm, the Peanut Foundation, this month approved a major policy change. The council represents all segments of the industry — growers, shellers, exporters and manufacturers. The foundation urged scientists to move ahead with "due diligence" on genetically engineered peanuts. The work is expected to cost about $9.5 million and will require university, government and industry support. "It's a significant redirection in their thinking," said Peggy Ozias-Akins, a University of Georgia horticulture professor who has been working with genetically modified peanuts since the late 1990s. The foundation also called for additional genome studies to learn more about the location and function of the natural peanut genes. Because peanuts are considered a minor crop, their genetics still have not been studied as extensively as major crops such as soybeans, Ozias-Akins said. Peanuts are believed to have originated in South America at least 3,500 years ago. Farmers in the Southern U.S. only started cultivating them in the early 1900s when the boll-weevil made it nearly impossible to grow cotton. Now they are grown in 15 states from Virginia to New Mexico. Georgia is traditionally the nation's No. 1 producer. The U.S. peanut acreage dropped from nearly 1.7 million acres in 2005 to 1.2 million this year, while the acreage for two crops that benefit from genetic modification, cotton and soybeans, increased. While experts say peanut acreage may drop again next year, scientists believe genetically modified peanuts could help reverse the trend. A group of 14 university, U.S. http://www.peanutsusa.com STD may be to blame for lions blindnessTue, 26 Dec 2006 17:14:33 GMTSIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Researchers are trying to determine whether a sexually transmitted disease might have caused the blindness found in at least two mountain lions in the Black Hills. Steve Griffin, a wildlife biologist with the state Game, Fish and Parks Department, said tests on two lions are consistent with chlamydia, but nothing is confirmed. Three lions have been observed so far with opacity in their eyes. Two of them were confirmed blind. Griffin said the disease will not be confirmed unless eye swabs or blood samples can be taken from more cats. Jonathan Jenks, a wildlife and fisheries sciences professor at South Dakota State University, said he has contacted researchers in Wyoming and Florida to see whether any chlamydia cases have been documented in lions. He has yet to find a documented case, although he said chlamydia is "pretty common in domestic cats." Telik cancer drug fails trials stock plummetsTue, 26 Dec 2006 19:39:17 GMTBOSTON - Telik Inc. said on Tuesday that its experimental cancer drug failed to improve survival in patients with advanced lung cancer or in patients with ovarian cancer, sending its stock plunging nearly 70 percent. The biotechnology company said a late-stage, or Phase III, trial of its most advanced drug, Telcyta, did not significantly improve survival in patients with advanced lung cancer who had failed other treatments, which was the main goal of the trial. The Palo Alto, California-based company said a Phase III trial of patients with resistant ovarian cancer also failed the trial's main goal of demonstrating significant improvement in survival. "These results are extremely disappointing," Dr. Michael Wick, Telik's chief executive officer, said in a statement. A third trial, designed to demonstrate significant tumor shrinkage in patients with resistant ovarian cancer, may not be suitable to submit to regulators because of discrepancies between the clinical review of the tumor scans and the independent radiology review, the company said. About 25 percent of the patients were discontinued from the trial early. It was not just the results, though, that troubled some analysts. It was the way they were released. "We believe management's timing of data disclosure raises serious red flags," Eric Ende, a Merrill Lynch analyst, said in a report. "It is unusual for companies to withhold phase 3 data for extended periods, especially negative data as was presented today." Telik was not immediately available for comment, though Wick said in a statement that the company was conducting additional, detailed analyses of the data from the trials. "We plan to discuss those results with our advisers to determine the next development steps," Wick said. The lung cancer trial, known as ASSIST-2, tested 520 patients, of whom a portion received Telcyta and a portion received a drug called gefitinib. The 440-patient ovarian cancer trial, known as ASSIST-1, tested patients who had failed several previous treatments, some of whom received Telcyta and some of whom received the agents liposomal doxorubicin or topotecan. The third trial measuring the drug's impact on tumors was called ASSIST-3. "We believe Telik was hoping that positive data from the ASSIST-3 would offset negative data from the ASSIST-1 & 2 trials, but that hope backfired as all three trials failed," Ende said. The company's shares fell $11.38 to $4.88 in afternoon trading on Nasdaq. |