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Consider being a part of a cure for cancer. All it will take is a simple questionnaire and one tube of blood. This is for people who have never had cancer. There are several places in Little Rock to join the study. St. Vincent will be a site to take part in this study. The American Cancer Society hopes that this nation wide effort will be one of the largest research studies ever attempted. Wouldn’t it be exciting to think that you could play a part in finding a cure for cancer?
Below is a pdf of more information or you can visit http://www.cancer.org
Ultrasharp Rainbow Nanoparticles Can Revolutionize Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
written and distributed by UAMS News, find full article here
A University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researcher and his team have discovered that by manipulating and fine-tuning the specific color of gold nanoparticles, cancer diagnosis can become more specific, and therapy more efficient.
The discovery by Vladimir Zharov, Ph.D., director of the Phillips Classic Laser and Nanomedicine Laboratory, Department of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery at UAMS, and his team is published recently in Nature Photonics, a prestigious monthly journal featuring groundbreaking research in all areas of light generation, manipulation and detection.
The finding builds on Zharov’s previous discoveries involving the use of cancer-detecting gold and magnetic nanoparticles. Zharov’s new discovery finds that by manipulating the color of the gold nanoparticles with a laser before injection into the bloodstream, they can return more precise and valuable diagnostic information as they match up with specific biomarkers in a patient’s bloodstream. This laser-based color amplification or inhibition that leads to “color holes” as a sign of therapeutic efficiency is universal and can be applied to the existing and newly developing world of nanoparticles.
The support for ovarian cancer managed to draw out Mr. Sunshine for a few hours on Saturday May, 9 – which allowed for a successful First Annual Hope Hike (Lisette C. Johnson Memorial Hike for Ovarian Cancer Education and Research) With over 60 hikers in attendance and over 100 virtual hikers, the Hike was able to raise over $2000. The money will be used for ovarian cancer research and education throughout the state of Arkansas.
Lisette’s family was in attendance and were truly touched by the support given to fight this deadly disease. Pictured below is a few of the local survivors in attendance.
Congratulations everyone! Thank you to all of the committee members that selflessly devoted their time!
The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance Plays Significant Role in Advocating PET Scan coverage for Medicare Patients Friday, April 3, 2009 (WASHINGTON, DC):
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its decision earlier today to cover Positron Emission Tomography (PET scan) for ovarian cancer patients. In contrast, many other cancer patients who receive care through Medicare will be covered for only one PET scan as part of initial treatment strategy development. Those patients can receive subsequent PET scans from Medicare only through a large clinical trial designed to collect data for a process known as Coverage with Evidence Development (CED). Ovarian cancer is an exemption to this decision and ovarian cancer patients will be able to access PET scans whenever their providers determine that it is medically necessary in the context of subsequent treatment strategy. The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance worked diligently with CMS and the cancer community to ensure that CMS’s decision supported ovarian cancer patients and is pleased with the resulting decision. CMS already provides full coverage of PET scans for nine types of cancer: breast, cervical, lymphoma, melanoma, non-small cell lung, colorectal, esophageal and head and neck cancer. This coverage will be continued.
The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance was the only cancer patient advocacy group to testify at the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage and Analysis Group meeting in August 2008. Cara Tenenbaum, Senior Policy Director for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, participated in the hearing. Tenenbaum noted that, “Our organization supports all evidence-based medicine and believes PET scans are a proven method for ovarian cancer patients when it comes to treating women who need restaging and or monitoring for recurrence or response to treatment. CMS’s decision today will aid doctors and patients in having a full and accurate measure of ovarian cancer, not only assisting with more accurate treatments, but ultimately helping to save lives.”
The National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) was a driving force behind the recent CMS decision because it proved thorough medical evidence that PET scans play a significant role in treating patients with cancer. The NOPR data showed that one-third of its PET scans led doctors to a change in treatment. For ovarian cancer patients, the data from the NOPR supports what patients already know – that PET scans are incredibly useful for restaging and monitoring recurrence: Overall, for the more than 4,500 ovarian cancer patients who had PET scans through the NOPR for any reason, approximately 40 percent had a change in treatment decision based on the results of the test.
The decision reads: CMS has reviewed evidence on the use of FDG PET imaging to determine subsequent treatment strategy in patients with ovarian cancer. CMS has determined that the available evidence is adequate to determine that FDG PET imaging improves physician decision making in the determination of subsequent treatment strategy in Medicare beneficiaries who have ovarian cancer, improves health outcomes and is thus reasonable and necessary under§1862(a)(1)(A) of the Act. Therefore, CMS has determined that FDG PET imaging is nationally covered for this indication for this tumor type.
There is no reliable early detection test for ovarian cancer, a tumor which seeds and spreads easily throughout the peritoneal cavity. It is often difficult to measure response to treatment, the spread of the disease and possible recurrences. PET scans were considered so effective by doctors, that almost as many ovarian cancer patients were scanned through the NOPR as prostate cancer patients, even though there are 11 times more prostate cancer diagnoses per year than ovarian cancer diagnoses. To learn more about the CMS PET scan announcement today or if you have additional questions, please contact Cara Tenenbaum, Senior Policy Director for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, by phone at 202.331.1332 or email at ctenenbaum@ovariancancer.org.
Researchers from cancer centers in the US and Europe have discovered a promising drug-MORAb-003- for treating women with epithelial ovarian cancer. More than 90% of epithelial ovarian tumors overexpress folate receptor alpha (FRA), which plays a role in tumor growth. MORAb-003, a targeted treatment, works by blocking FRA. Unlike chemotherapy, targeted treatments attack specific molecules and cell mechamisms thought to be important for cancer cell survival and growth. This specific targeting helps to spare healthy tissues and causes less severe side effects. Based on these promising early results, additional clinical trials of MORAb-003 with chemotherapy are planned.
There are few effective treatment options for women with ovarian cancer that no longer responds to initial treatments. However, doctors from the Nordic Society of GYN Oncology are studying a few new treatments that may offer hope to these women. The data in their clinical trial showed that adding tamoxifen (Nolvadex and others), which is a hormone treatment, to chemotherapy gave slightly better results. Tamoxifen is a worthwhile option for women with resistant ovarian cancer.
