PAPANICOLAOU CORPS FOR CANCER RESEARCH – DEC. 2009

(Please note—all of the physicians listed are with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine)

Dr. Jefferey Vance, director of the Center for Genomic Medicine at the John P. Hussman Institute for Homan Genomics, is one of several collaborators working in a Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network that has just received funding from the National Institutes of Health.

A genetic variant seems to predict resistance to the breast cancer drug, tamoxifen. The finding could help doctors predict which women will benefit most from the drug.

Four major studies were recently held in advance of the 2009 Breast Cancer Symposium being held in San Francisco. Among them were mortality rates for women who don’t receive regular mammograms and the benefit of adding ultrasound prior to breast cancer surgery. The studies also include advance early detection and treatments of breast cancer.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius is urging people to get inoculated against the swine flu, calling the vaccine “safe and secure”.

Good news for people with chronic low back pain: About four in ten will recover within a year, according to a study that challenges the common belief that recovery from this pain is unlikely.

A new study takes aim at the theory that comfort food helps people cope with stress in their lives. Researchers say people undergoing significant change in their lives often pick unfamiliar, even healthier food.

People suffering from blocked renal arteries fare just as well as when treated with medication as they do by having the narrow artery opened by surgery and having a stent implanted. Taking a combination of blood pressure lowering drugs, cholesterol lowering drugs such as statins and aspirin, or other anti-clotting drugs, can control the condition without the risks associated with revascularization surgery plus medical treatment, or medical treatment alone.

A new class of drugs—called biologics—is giving renewed hope to thousands of patients with cancer and other devastating diseases. What makes biologics unique is that unlike conventional chemical drugs these are produced by living organisms and specifically target human proteins that are involved with disease. Some of these biologics are: Avastin, which has proved to be effective in many cancers, Herceptin for breast cancers, Enbrel and Rituxan which is used to treat lymphomas. Because these new drugs are so expensive to develop and manufacture and there is no process by the FDA to develop generics, these drugs are extremely expensive and not prescribed very frequently. These expensive drugs can prolong life or possibly cure some patients. Isn’t it indisputable that any patient should have access to these drugs, regardless of income or insurance status?

Naomi Prever—VP-Education