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Myriad Genetics, Inc. (MYGN) Hits a New 52-Week High – Modern Readers

August 21st, 2017 12:44 pm

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The company is trading unchanged by 0.00 percent from yesterdays close. Company shares last traded at $28.80 which is significantly higher than the 50 day moving average which is $25.48 and a great deal higher than the 200 day moving average of $21.36. The 50 day moving average was up $3.32 and the 200 day average went up by +34.86%.

Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Myriad), launched on November 6, 1992, is a molecular diagnostic company. The Company is involved in the discovery, development and marketing of transformative molecular diagnostic tests. The Company operates through two segments: diagnostics and other. The diagnostics segment provides testing and collaborative development of testing that is designed to assess an individuals risk for developing disease later in life, identify a patients likelihood of responding to drug therapy and guide a patients dosing to enable optimal treatment, or assess a patients risk of disease progression and disease recurrence. The other segment provides testing products and services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical research industries, research and development, and clinical services for patients, and also includes corporate services, such as finance, human resources, legal and information technology..

Here are a few additional firms who have increased or decreased their stake in (MYGN). Bb&t Investment Services, Inc. trimmed its investment by shedding 31 shares a decrease of 1.0% as of 12/31/2016. Bb&t Investment Services, Inc. owns 2,927 shares valued at $49,000. The value of the position overall is down by 14.0%. As of quarter end Advisory Services Network, LLC had disposed of 200 shares trimming its holdings by 11.8%. The value of the companys investment in Myriad Genetics, Inc. increased from $32,000 to $39,000 a change of $7,000 quarter over quarter.

As of the end of the quarter Disciplined Growth Investors Inc /mn had bought a total of 2,335 shares growing its position 0.2%. The value in dollars went from $26,097,000 to $35,182,000 a change of 34.8% since the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC downsized its ownership by selling 32,878 shares a decrease of 1.7%. Sterling Capital Management LLC controls 1,848,772 shares worth $47,772,000. The total value of its holdings increased 32.2%.

On August 18 the company was upgraded from Buy to Hold in a statement from Deutsche Bank. On August 9 Barclays kept the company rating at Equal-Weight but raised the price target from $22.00 to $26.00.

Myriad Genetics, Inc. currently has a P/E ratio of 90.28 and market capitalization is 1.97B. In the last earnings report the EPS was $0.32 and is estimated to be $1.02 for the current year with 68,437,000 shares presently outstanding. Analysts expect next quarters EPS to be $0.25 with next years EPS anticipated to be $1.16.

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’20 seconds of burning’: Friends partly blinded after watching solar eclipse warn of dangers – Washington Post

August 21st, 2017 12:44 pm

Capital Weather Gang's Angela Fritz explains what could happen to your eyes if you were to watch the Aug. 21 eclipse without special sunglasses and how to spot the ones that work. (Claritza Jimenez,Daron Taylor,Angela Fritz/The Washington Post)

It was a clear day when Louis Tomososki's science teacher mentioned that a partial solar eclipse would be visible from their hometown of Portland, Ore., that afternoon.

So after classes let out, Tomososki, then 16, found Roger Duvall, his friend since the fourth grade and a fellow science buff. The pair ambled up the steps to their high school's baseball field and planted themselves about 10 feet behind third base.

They stood and waited, squinting toward the sky. Sure enough, the teenagers eventually spottedwhat they had been looking for: a partial eclipse of the sun.

And yeah, there it is! You could see the moon taking a bite out of the sun, Tomososki remembered thinking then.

That was more than 50 years ago. Both men, now 70, say they wish they had known about the long-term harm that afternoon would do to their eyesight.

We didn't know right that second that we damaged our eyes, Duvall said in a phone interview Sunday. At that time, we thought we were invincible, as most teenagers do.

Both estimate they had glanced up for about 20 seconds or so each using a different eye. Immediately afterward, Tomososki's right eye and Duvall's left eye bothered them slightly.

We had looked down at the ground and you're still looking at part of the eclipse like it's imprinted in your eye, Duvall said.

[Everything you need to know about the Aug. 21 solar eclipse]

It was only through separate eye exams later that both men learned they had permanently damaged their retinas. For Tomososki, his good eye compensates for his bad one when both are open. When his left eye is closed, however, he sees a scrambled, whitish spot through his right eye.

Have you ever seen a news story where they don't want the license plate seen at home? That's the exact same color of everything, except mine's the size of a pea, he said. And that was 20 seconds worth of burning. If we had looked longer or the worst thing, if you switch eyes looking at the sun then you're in real trouble.

Through the decades, some of the exact details from that day have faded: For instance, Tomososki remembers few people, if anybody else, had been standing on the baseball field with them that afternoon, while Duvall recalls that several others also had been out trying to catch a glimpse of the eclipse.

Both men remember that the eclipse took place after school in 1963, when they were high school juniors, but the eclipse that year occurred on July 20, a Saturday.In some news reports about Tomososki and Duvall's experience, the year is pinned as 1962; that year, a solar eclipse took place on Feb. 5, a Monday.

Regardless, what hasn't faded has been the urgency with which both men want to warn others about the dangers of improperly viewing eclipses. With parts of Oregon in the path of totality for Monday's highly anticipated solar eclipse, Tomososki said he contacted a local television stationand cautioned viewers not to stare directly at the sun for any amount of time.

He's particularly worried about people buying phony eclipse glasses thatdon't offer sufficient protection, or children who look up at the completely covered sun during totality but don't put their eclipse glasses back on in time after the moon moves off it.

[Still need a pair of solar eclipse glasses? Heres where to find them. (Maybe.)]

My question Tuesday morning, when this thing's all over, is are people going to be calling me and saying 'Lou, did you hear how many people damaged their eyes?' And my stomach's just rolling over. I don't want to hear that, he said. If I can save one person from having a catastrophic thing happening with their eyes, it's a good thing.

Staring at the sun can cause a condition called solar retinopathy, which leads to a decrease or a distortion of a person's central vision, said Sveta Kavali, an ophthalmologist and retina specialist at Saint Louis University.

That damage is typically irreversible, and there's no treatment for this, Kavali said in a Saint Louis University video about viewing the eclipse safely. The way the damage occurs on a cellular basis is that the UV rays from the sun induces a photochemical reaction that damages the photo receptors of the retina, and the part of the retina that's damaged is the part that's responsible for yourcentral vision. So it's very important not to look at the partial eclipse, not to look at the sun, without the proper viewing protection.

Both Tomososki and Duvall plan to watch the eclipse Monday, although neither has a desire anymore to look straight toward the sun.

Tomososki will drive to the nearby town of Colton, Ore., where about 37 seconds of darkness are anticipated during totality.

I'm going with my wife and I'm going to stand outside and look at thetrees and the fields, he said. I'm going to watch it get dark. I'm not looking up at the sky.

The cereal box solar eclipse theater is a good way to safely view the Aug. 21 solar eclipse. Here's how to make one at home. (NASA Goddard)

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Ever wondered why you shouldnt look at an eclipse?

The eclipse capital of the U.S. is over the moon for Mondays total solar eclipse

During the solar eclipse, lets not forget about the moon

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'20 seconds of burning': Friends partly blinded after watching solar eclipse warn of dangers - Washington Post

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Be Smart: A Partial Eclipse Can Fry Your Naked Eyes – NPR

August 21st, 2017 12:44 pm

A partial solar eclipse (left) is seen from the Cotswolds, United Kingdom, while a total solar eclipse is seen from Longyearbyen, Norway, in March 2015. Tim Graham/Getty Images/Haakon Mosvold Larsen/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

A partial solar eclipse (left) is seen from the Cotswolds, United Kingdom, while a total solar eclipse is seen from Longyearbyen, Norway, in March 2015.

The day of the long-awaited coast-to-coast solar eclipse has arrived and if history is any guide, it's likely that somebody's eyes are going to get hurt.

"The ones we're really concerned about are the people who have never seen an eclipse before or just decided that, you know, 'Today is a nice day to go take a look at a solar eclipse' and, 'Oh, I probably don't need to do very much to get ready to do that.' Then I get worried," says Ralph Chou, an optometrist and vision scientist at the University of Waterloo in Canada. He has seen 18 total solar eclipses.

You really can get blurred vision or blind spots after watching partial eclipses without protection, says Chou, even if there is just a tiny little crescent of sun left in the sky.

"I've seen a couple of patients over the years where, you know, you've got very distinct crescent-shaped scars from looking at a solar eclipse," says Chou.

It is never safe to look directly at a partial eclipse without special eclipse glasses or filters and most of the country will see only a partial eclipse.

The risk of injury to the retina is even greater if you look at a partial eclipse without protection through a telescope or binoculars, Chou warns.

"The damage," he says, "can happen extremely quickly."

Binoculars and telescopes need special filters it is not safe to look through them while just wearing regular old eclipse glasses. It is safe, however, to put eclipse glasses over your everyday prescription eyewear.

And if you never got around to buying the right sort of protective eclipse glasses, you can still safely "watch" the event projected on a wall or the ground, NASA reminds us, with the help of an index card, a bit of aluminum foil and some tape.

Because of the way the light exposure damages cells of the retina, says Chou, a person who has suffered eye damage typically does not realize that there is any problem until hours after the eclipse.

Experience from past eclipses suggests that it has been younger people who are more likely to ignore safety warnings, says Chou.

"It does tend to be young males," he says. "Teens to early 20s the ones who don't think about any protection for a number of different circumstances."

But don't be so stressed out about eye safety that you miss the dramatic event known as totality. If you're lucky enough to be in the thin stretch of land across the country that is going to see a total solar eclipse, it's absolutely OK to look up with your naked eyes during the couple of minutes or so when the moon is completely covering the sun. In fact, it's more than OK.

"It is spectacularly beautiful, and there's nothing else like it," says Rick Fienberg, press officer for the American Astronomical Society, who has seen a dozen total solar eclipses. "It's kind of like falling in love. You can't describe what that is unless you've experienced it."

When the sun completely blinks out, the safety glasses can come off so that you can enjoy the view of the sun's otherworldly corona and the eerie daytime darkness. But the instant a sliver of sun starts to re-emerge, he says, those glasses need to go back on if you want to keep watching.

"Going through life without seeing a total eclipse of the sun would be like going through life without ever falling in love," says Fienberg. "It would be a terrible shame not to have that fundamental, wonderful experience."

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Be Smart: A Partial Eclipse Can Fry Your Naked Eyes - NPR

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Stanford Medicine magazine reports on the future of vision – Stanford Medical Center Report

August 21st, 2017 12:44 pm

Many of the strategies being explored at the Stanford University School of Medicine to protect, improve and restore vision sound seriously sci-fi. Among them: cornea transplants conducted with magnetic fields instead of scalpels, virtual reality workouts to repair damaged retinas, and bionic vision.

The new issue of Stanford Medicine magazine, a theme issue on eyes and vision, includes details about these projects and others pushing the boundaries of biology and technology to help people see.

Studies show that when it comes to their health, the thing people most worry about, after death, is losing their vision, said Jeffrey Goldberg, MD, professor and chair of ophthalmology, in the reports lead article. Peoples productivity and their activities of daily life hinge critically on vision, more than on any other sense.

The lead article explains the basic workings of the eye and describes an array of ophthalmological research, including Goldbergs work to repair damaged corneas by injecting healthy cells into the eye and using magnets to pull the cells into position. A patient in a small early study entered the trial legally blind, with 20/200 vision, and left it with 20/40 vision close to normal. A larger study is planned to begin soon.

The fear of vision loss, even for people in lesser stages of disease, can be quite dramatic. So anything we can do to stabilize, better diagnose and hopefully one day restore vision in some of these diseases, I think, will have an enormous global impact, Goldberg said. This type of work is an example of Stanford Medicines focus on precision health, the goal of which is to anticipate and prevent disease in the healthy and precisely diagnose and treat disease in the ill.

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Man with eye damage from 1962 eclipse: Don’t make the same mistake I did – Today.com

August 21st, 2017 12:44 pm

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As Lou Tomososki and a friend walked home from Marshall High School in Oregon one afternoon in 1962, they gazed up at the sky. For weeks, everyone had been talking about the partial solar eclipse and the teens wanted to witness it. For a few seconds, they looked at the sun as a sliver of the moon slid over its surface.

While watching, he saw flashes of light, much like he would after having a picture taken with a camera with a flashbulb. He had no idea those flickers would lead to permanent damage.

We both got burned at the same time, Tomososki told TODAY. He got the left eye and I got the right eye.

During a partial eclipse in 1962, Lou Tomososki and his friend looked at the sun. They both experienced eye damage because of it.

While Tomososkis teachers warned him to use a pinhole projector box, which creates a reflection of the eclipse for safe viewing, he didnt heed the warning. Even today, the 70-year-old Oregon City man struggles to see if he relies only on his right eye.

We were just doing it for a short time, he said. I have a little blind spot in the center of my right eye.

Tomososki has been sharing his story because he worries people will look directly at the sun on Monday during the Great American Eclipse.

Millions of people out there are going to be looking out at it How many of them are going to say, Something happened to my eyes? he said. That makes me sick.

While his vision problem hasnt held him back, Tomososki wishes he would have known better than to look directly at a partially eclipsed sun.

Nothing has changed," he said. Its doesnt get any worse or better.

Fifty-five years after looking at the sun during a partial solar eclipse, Tomososki still has vision problems.

What Tomososki experienced is called solar retinopathy damage caused to the retina from looking at the sun. It's a pinpoint of blindness, often in the middle of the eye. People often experience it after looking at an eclipse because they mistakenly think that the suns rays arent as powerful since the sun is partially covered.

"Anyone who stares at the sun can get this blind spot, said Dr. Russell N. Van Gelder, a professor of ophthalmology at University of Washington School of Medicine and clinical spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. When you know that you have a problem is if that blind spot has not gone away (the next day)."

Eclipse fever: Cities along 'path of totality' prepare for flood of tourists Play Video - 2:50

Eclipse fever: Cities along 'path of totality' prepare for flood of tourists Play Video - 2:50

In half of patients with it, the blind spot diminishes. The other half experience the damage their entire lives. Thats why ophthalmologists urge people to never look at the sun even while wearing sunglasses.

It is never safe to look directly at the sun, Van Gelder said. The only way to treat solar retinopathy right now is to prevent it and not stare at the sun during the eclipse.

Those in areas experiencing the full eclipse can safely look directly at the sun at precisely one moment.

When the disc of the moon has completely blocked out the sun and the corona of the sun is visible, it is safe to look at the corona, Van Gelder said. The second the sun comes out, the eclipse glasses have to go back on.

Eclipse sunglasses warning: Beware fakes that won't protect your eyes Play Video - 4:01

Eclipse sunglasses warning: Beware fakes that won't protect your eyes Play Video - 4:01

Van Gelder recommends people refer to American Astronomical Associations website to find ISO-certified eclipse glasses.

He also stresses the light can damage a cell phone cameras sensors and says people need to use glasses over the sensor to take pictures of the eclipse.

You can burn out your camera in the cell phone just like your retina, he said.

For his part, Tomososki hopes people learn from his story and protect themselves.

I am just so concerned that somebody isnt going to listen, he said. I am going to be out in the eclipse, but I am not going to look at the sun at any circumstances, even in the totality."

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Man with eye damage from 1962 eclipse: Don't make the same mistake I did - Today.com

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Machen MacDonald: Trust your vision – The Union of Grass Valley

August 21st, 2017 12:44 pm

Just about everything we want and don't have is on the other side of what we fear.

The more money we want is on the other side of the thoughts of investing more hours and working harder. It's on the other side of asking for the order and the fear of being rejected.

The loving relationship we seek eludes us as we fear being laughed at and dismissed. That fear could come from asking the person we find attractive out on a first date.

The better health or more fitness we desire is on the other side of the fear of giving up the foods we enjoy, being uncomfortable during a workout, or subjecting ourselves to the critical scrutiny by others at the gym.

Unless we are willing to endure being uncomfortable for a period of time, to achieve what we really want, we won't do what it takes to get there and we slip into the trap of settling for what we don't really want.

To get what we desire we must develop a clear vision of what we truly desire for ourself. The more clear it is, the more we will find our way to trusting it will come about as we do what we must to make it happen.

We have all heard of the numerous obstacles that had to be overcome by people that accomplished great things. Nothing great was ever accomplished in a person's comfort zone. They had to endure hanging out outside of their comfort zone as they did what was needed to succeed. Where they found their comfort was in their vision that resided on the other side of whatever they feared.

The Wright Brothers, Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi all had a vision or a dream of a what was possible for the world. Each of them and others that achieved greatness were willing to endure the failures and setbacks that would pave the way to the other side.

To have a vision you must be visionary. To be visionary you must know when to trust acting from your insight and not just your eyesight. To be short sighted is to only rely on your eyesight. It may not allow you to see past what you fear. To have a vision activates your insight and empowers you to see past your fear.

Rather than permitting your current fear to employ your power and hold you back, I invite you to make a committed decision, regardless of how difficult it may be for a period of time, to get a vision of what you desire and move through what you fear.

Make it up, make it fun, and get it done!

No. 1 bestselling author Machen P. MacDonad, CPCC, CCSC is a certified life and business coach with ProBrilliance Leadership Institute in Grass Valley. He helps business people gain more confidence and clarity to live their ideal life. He can be reached at coach@probrilliance.com and 530-273-8000

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Doctors warn New Yorkers not to be tempted to view solar eclipse with unprotected eyes – New York Daily News

August 21st, 2017 12:44 pm

New York Daily News
Doctors warn New Yorkers not to be tempted to view solar eclipse with unprotected eyes
New York Daily News
As New Yorkers awaited the celestial wonder, experts were warning not to gaze at the sun with unprotected eyes or risk serious vision damage. The eclipse, where the moon covers the sun, is set to start at 1:23 p.m. and last until 4 p.m., peaking at 2 ...

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Eye health warning as blindness set to triple worldwide – Starts at 60

August 21st, 2017 12:44 pm

New research has revealed the world is going blind at an alarmingly fast pace.

There are currently 36 million blind people around the world, but that number is set to reach 115 million by 2050.

Optometrists say the numbers are shocking considering many of the conditions that lead to blindness, such as glaucoma, are preventable.

They call glaucoma the sneaky thief of sight because its painless, resident optometrist at Optometry Australia Luke Arundel told Starts at 60.

It can affect one eye at a time, but because we walk around with both eyes open we often wont notice it until its too late.

Similarly, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the leading cause of blindness for over-55s in developing countries, can damage vision beyond repair if not properly treated in the early stages.

AMD affects the macular or centre of the eye and causes blurring of central vision, blind spots and distortion or warping of straight lines.

Arundel says that along with ageing, lifestyle factors can also have a profound effect on eyesight.

Some of symptoms are changes due to ageing, but there are also things that accelerate ageing changes, things like UV damage, smoking and diet, he says.

Its never too late to protect from UV, which also accelerates cataract formation and ageing at the macular.

We know smoking is bad for pretty much everything, but many people dont realise it also increases your risk of blindness.

And diet is very important. A diet rich in antioxidants not just carrots!

Arundel says the best way to avoid blindness is through regular eye checks.

Go out there and get an eye test. Its painless and its simple.

Both glaucoma and ADM can be treated with daily drops or injections that slow the process of the conditions and help prolong eyesight for longer.

Arundel says both conditions are easy to detect and treat, but it takes patients being vigilant enough to visit their optometrist regularly.

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Designer babies the not most urgent concern of genetic medicine – Toronto Star

August 21st, 2017 12:43 pm

In this photo provided by Oregon Health & Science University, taken through a microscope, human embryos grow in a laboratory for a few days after researchers used gene editing technology to successfully repair a heart disease-causing genetic mutation. The work, a scientific first led by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University, marks a step toward one day preventing babies from inheriting diseases that run in the family.(Oregon Health & Science University via AP)

By Johnny Kung

Mon., Aug. 21, 2017

Recently, an international team of scientists successfully corrected a disease-causing gene in human embryos, using a gene editing technique called CRISPR. This has led to much excitement about the prospects of curing debilitating diseases in entire family lineages.

At the same time, the possibility of changing embryos genes has renewed fear about designer babies. The hype in both directions should be tempered by the fact that both these scenarios are some ways off a lot more work will need to be done to improve the techniques safety and efficacy before it can be applied in the clinic.

And because a lot of diseases, as well as other physical and behavioural characteristics, are controlled by the complex interaction of many genes with each other and with the environment, in many cases simple genetic fixes may never be possible.

But while the technology is still in early stages, now is the time to have frank, open and societywide conversations about how gene editing should be moving forward and genetic medicine more broadly, including the use of advanced genetic testing and sequencing to diagnose disease, personalize medical treatments, screening babies, etc.

We must raise broad awareness of the health benefits as well as the personal, social and ethical implications of genetics. This is important for individuals both to understand their options when making decisions about their own health care, and to participate as informed citizens in democratic deliberations about whether and how genetic technologies should be developed and applied.

In the U.S., affordability and insurance coverage strongly influence access to genetic medicine. In Canada, the reality of strapped budgets means access is far from equal either. But our public health-care system means it is at least conceivable that these technologies will eventually be available to a higher proportion of people who need them.

For example, OHIP currently pays for genetic testing and counselling for a number of diseases, such as http://www.mountsinai.on.ca/care/mkbc/medical-services/genetic-testingBRCA testingEND for breast and ovarian cancer, for patients who satisfy certain eligibility criteria. It also covers a kind of genetic screening tests called non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for eligible pregnant women. Precisely because of this potential for widespread adoption, there is all the greater need for broad-based conversations about genetics.

Crucially, to ensure that the largest possible cross section of society will benefit from, and not be harmed by, advances in genetic technologies, these conversations must include the voices of all communities.

This is especially true for those who, for well-justified historical reasons, may harbour deep distrust of the biomedical establishment. In the U.S., for much of the 20th century, the eugenics movement had resulted in a range of sterilization programs, discriminatory policies and scientific abuses (such as the infamous Tuskegee syphilis trials) that disproportionately targeted the poor and, especially, racial minorities such as African Americans.

While the eugenics movement might have been less established in Canada, where it did occur (e.g., the sterilization program in Alberta or the Indian hospitals in B.C.) it had most heavily affected Indigenous communities. In both countries, this shameful history has led to lower trust and usage of the health-care system by the affected communities.

As genetic medicine advances, many scientists and health researchers are pointing out the importance of having the diversity of human populations represented in genetic studies in order to gain medical insights that can benefit everyone. If we fail to fully engage these under-represented communities and ensure that genetics is not just another way to exploit and discriminate against them, then we risk worsening this historical and ongoing injustice.

New genetic technologies, such as gene editing, also bring issues of disability rights into sharper focus. While designer babies may not be an immediate concern, even the possibility of selecting and changing our offsprings characteristics raises thorny questions.

For example, what conditions count as medically necessarily to treat how about deafness, dwarfism, autism, or intersex conditions? Ultimately, it is about what kinds of people get to live, and who gets to make those decisions. Many disability rights advocates (e.g., the Down syndrome community) are already voicing concerns about what these emerging technologies mean for how their communities are seen and valued today.

We must make sure that the conversations around genetics are not only about generalized notions of safety or effectiveness, or concerns of playing God. These conversations must also encompass questions of access and justice, and acknowledge that the benefits and harms of genetic technologies, like any new technologies, are not distributed equally.

And these conversations must involve all communities (be they of different racial or ethnic background, gender or sexuality, and physical or cognitive abilities) in a way that ensures their voices are respected and heard.

This is a task that will involve concerted efforts from scientists, funders and industry, to build trust with these communities and to genuinely listen and respond to their concerns. And it will need to be done in collaboration with many partners, including schools, community and faith groups, and the art/entertainment industry.

The ability to understand and, perhaps one day, change our genetics has huge potential to improve human well-being. Lets make sure that everyone will enjoy these benefits, and that no communities are left behind, or worse yet, harmed in the process.

Johnny Kung is the director of new initiatives for the Personal Genetics Education Project (www.pged.org ) at Harvard Medical Schools Department of Genetics.

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Few women with history of breast cancer and ovarian cancer take a recommended genetic test – Medical Xpress

August 21st, 2017 12:43 pm

Of the nearly 4 million women in the United States who have had either breast cancer or ovarian cancer, at least 1.5 million have a high risk of carrying certain types of genetic mutations that could increase their risk for additional cancers in the future.

And although the mutations, including those that affect the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, can be identified through a simple blood or saliva test, more than 80 percent of those women have not taken the test or even discussed it with a health care provider, according to a new study from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

The study is published online August 18 in the peer-reviewed Journal of Clinical Oncology.

"Many of these women have inherited genetic changes that put them and their family members at risk for future cancers," said Dr. Christopher Childers, a resident physician in the department of surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the study's lead author. "Identifying a mutation is often important for surgical decision-making and cancer therapy, but its importance extends further than that. If individuals are aware that they have these mutations, they can take steps to lower their future cancer risk."

Childers said people who know they have the mutations would be advised to undergo more frequent and specialized screening (such as breast MRI), consider preventive medications, undergo risk-reducing surgery or make lifestyle modifications (including improving diet and exercise habits, and stopping smoking).

Testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, which are still the leading risk factors for inherited breast and ovarian cancer, has been available since the mid-1990s. But scientists now know that mutations in several other genes can increase the risk for breast and ovarian cancers; those mutations can also be detected by contemporary genetic tests.

The researchers examined data from the 2005, 2010 and 2015 National Health Interview Surveys, which are conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Then, drawing from the National Cancer Center Network's guidelines for managing care for people with cancer, the scientists identified five criteria to determine women for whom the genetic test would be most beneficial:

Of 47,218 women whose records were reviewed, 2.7 percent had had breast cancer. Among those who met at least one of these four criteria, 29 percent had discussed the genetic test with a health care provider, 20.2 percent were advised to undergo the test, and only 15.3 percent had taken it.

Some 0.4 percent of women in the survey had had ovarian cancer. Of them, 15.1 percent discussed the genetic test with a health care provider, 13.1 percent were advised to undergo the test and just 10.5 percent had taken it.

Based on those figures, the UCLA researchers estimated that 1.2 million to 1.3 million women in the U.S. who would be most likely to benefit from the test have not taken it.

"Many women are not receiving vital information that can aid with cancer prevention and early detection for them and their family," said co-author Kimberly Childers, a genetic counselor and regional manager of the Providence Health and Services Southern California's clinical genetics and genomics program. "Thus, we have identified an incredible unmet need for genetic testing across the country."

The paper suggests some reasons that so few women have undergone the test, including that NCCN guidelines have changed over the years, and the relatively small number of board-certified genetic counselors who specialize in cancer testing. (The researchers also note that genetic counselors are unevenly distributed throughout the country, with 500 in California but only five each in Wyoming, Alaska, Missouri and Mississippi.)

"Also, when women change doctors, their new physicians may not be aware of their histories or of the new eligibility guidelines," said James Macinko, professor of health policy and management and of community health sciences at the Fielding School, and the study's senior author.

The study has some limitations, including that data was self-reported and not verified by medical records, and that subjects may not have accurately remembered whether they discussed or took the genetic test.

Explore further: Genetic predisposition to breast cancer due to non-brca mutations in ashkenazi Jewish women

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Few women with history of breast cancer and ovarian cancer take a recommended genetic test - Medical Xpress

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Life Lessons: Next generation testing – WFMZ Allentown

August 21st, 2017 12:43 pm

VIDEO Life Lessons: Next generation...

When Audrey Lapidus 10-month old son, Calvin, didnt reach normal milestones like rolling over or crawling, she knew something was wrong.

He was certainly different from our first child, said Lapidus, of Los Angeles. He had a lot of gastrointestinal issues and we were taking him to the doctor quite a bit.

Four specialists saw Calvin and batteries of tests proved inconclusive. Still, Lapidus persisted.

I was pushing for even more testing, and our geneticist at UCLA said, If you can wait one more month, were going to be launching a brand new test called exome sequencing, she said. We were lucky to be in the right place at the right time and get the information we did.

In 2012, Calvin Lapidus became the first patient to undergo exome sequencing at UCLA. He was subsequently diagnosed with a rare genetic condition known as Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome, which is most commonly characterized by developmental delays, possible breathing problems, seizures and gastrointestinal problems.

Though there is no cure for Pitt-Hopkins, finally having a diagnosis allowed Calvin to begin therapy.

The diagnosis gave us a point to move forward from, rather than just existing in that scary no-mans land where we knew nothing, Lapidus said.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people living in that no-mans land, desperate for any type of answers to their medical conditions, said Dr. Stanley Nelson, professor of human genetics and pathology and laboratory medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Many families suffer for years without so much as a name for their condition.

What exome sequencing allows doctors to do is to analyze more than 20,000 genes at once, with one simple blood test.

In the past, genetic testing was done one gene at a time, which is time-consuming and expensive.

Rather than testing one sequential gene after another, exome sequencing saves time, money and effort, said Dr. Julian Martinez-Agosto, a pediatrician and researcher at the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA.

The exome consists of all the genomes exons, which are the coding portion of genes. Clinical exome sequencing is a test for identifying disease-causing DNA variants within the 1 percent of the genome which codes for proteins, the exons, or flanks the regions which code for proteins, called splice junctions.

To date, mutations in the protein-coding parts of genes accounts for nearly 85 percent of all mutations known to cause genetic diseases, so surveying just this portion of the genome is an efficient and powerful diagnostic tool. Exome sequencing can help detect rare disorders like spinocerebellar ataxia, which progressively diminishes a persons movements, and suggest the likelihood of more common conditions like autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy.

More than 4,000 adults and children have undergone exome testing at UCLA since 2012. Of difficult to solve cases, more than 30 percent are solved through this process, which is a dramatic improvement over prior technologies. Thus, Nelson and his team support wider use of genome-sequencing techniques and better insurance coverage, which would further benefit patients and resolve diagnostically difficult cases at much younger ages.

Since her sons diagnosis, Lapidus helped found the Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome Research Foundation. Having Calvins diagnosis gave us a roadmap of where to start, where to go and whats realistic as far as therapies and treatments, she said. None of that would have been possible without that test.

Next, experts at UCLA are testing the relative merits of broader whole genome sequencing to analyze all 6 billion bases that make up a persons genome. The team is exploring integration of this DNA sequencing with state-of-the-art RNA or gene expression analysis to improve the diagnostic rate.

The entire human genome was first sequenced in 1990 at a cost of $2.7 billion. Today, doctors can perform the same test at a tiny fraction of that cost, and believe that sequencing whole genomes of individuals could vastly improve disease diagnoses and medical care.

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Comprehensive genomic analysis offers insights into causes of Wilms tumor development – Medical Xpress

August 21st, 2017 12:43 pm

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A comprehensive genomic analysis of Wilms tumor - the most common kidney cancer in children - found genetic mutations involving a large number of genes that fall into two major categories. These categories involve cellular processes that occur early in kidney development. The study, published in Nature Genetics, offers the possibility that targeting these processes, instead of single genes, may provide new opportunities for treatment of Wilms tumor.

"It is very difficult to therapeutically target over 40 genes that may be mutated in Wilms tumor," said senior author Elizabeth Perlman, MD, from Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. "We discovered that many of these genetic mutations converge into two developmental pathways that lead to cancer. Early development of the kidney starts with rapid proliferation of undifferentiated cells. Within these cells, a signal triggers a switch to undergo differentiation into the normal cells of the kidney. In Wilms tumors, one set of mutations promotes abnormal and continued proliferation of the undifferentiated cells. A second set of mutations impacts the differentiation switch itself. Targeting these two different pathways in future studies might be more efficient than targeting individual gene mutations."

Perlman is the Head of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Lurie Children's and a Professor of Pathology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is the Arthur C. King Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

In the study, Perlman and colleagues in the Children's Oncology Group and the National Cancer Institute initially identified all genetic mutations in 117 Wilms tumor cases. Then they focused on a set of genetic mutations that occurred in more than one case and conducted a targeted analysis of these recurrent mutations in 651 Wilms tumors to validate the results. They found that the most common genes mutated in Wilms tumor were TP53, CTNNB1, DROSHA, WT1 and FAM123B.

In an unexpected finding, Perlman and colleagues also identified underlying germline mutations - or mutations in all the cells of the body - in at least 10 percent of Wilms tumor cases. "Our discovery of germline mutations in so many cases of Wilms tumor means that the children and family members of these patients may be at risk for tumor development," said Perlman.

Explore further: Researchers find new gene mutations for Wilms Tumor

More information: A Children's Oncology Group and TARGET initiative exploring the genetic landscape of Wilms tumor. Nature Genetics (2017). DOI: 10.1038/ng.3940

Journal reference: Nature Genetics

Provided by: Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

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TPR Lifeline: Clinical Genetics Is A Growing Field – Texas Public Radio

August 21st, 2017 12:43 pm

We all have about 24,000 genes. How those genes are structured and interact can determine our current health and our future health.

Modern medicine includes specialists in this field called Clinical Geneticists. In todays TPR Lifeline, Bioscience-Medicine reporter Wendy Rigby talks to Baylor College of Medicines Scott McLean, MD, about his work at the Childrens Hospital of San Antonio.

Rigby: Dr. McLean, what is clinical genetics?

McLean: Clinical genetics is the medical specialty that uses genetic information to improve your genetic health or to understand the basis for a variety of medical conditions.

Those of us who have had children in Texas know that while youre still in the hospital, you get some genetic testing done. What is that called and what are you looking for?

We have newborn screening which is actually a blood test that is given to all babies 24 and 48 hours of age. The blood test involves collecting that blood on a piece of paper, filter paper, and sending that to the Texas State Department of Health Services in Austin where they do a series of tests.

This is the foot prick?

This is where you prick the heel. It seem awfully cruel. Babies cry. Parents dont like it. But its actually a wonderful test because it allows us to screen for over 50 conditions.

Give us some examples. What are some of the genetic conditions we might have heard of?

Well, the initial condition that was screened for in newborn screening in the United States was PKU which stands for Phenylketonuria. This is a condition that results in intellectual disability and seizures. We can change that outcome if we are able to identify the condition early enough and change the diet.

Lets say a child comes in to Childrens Hospital of San Antonio. Doctors are having trouble figuring out whats going on. Are you called in to consult?

Most of our patients that we see in the outpatient clinic are sent to us by consultation from physicians in the community or from nurseries, neonatal intensive care units. They range from situations such as multiple birth defects, to autism, intellectual disability, seizures, encephalopathy, blindness, deafness. Theres a whole gamut of reasons that folks come to see us.

When these children become grownups, does that information that youve learned about them help them out if theyre planning to have their own children in the future?

So when pediatric patients make the transition from pediatric care to adult care, its very common for information and ideas to get lost. And we certainly would hope that people remember that. Sometimes when we have identified a situation in a little baby, I tell the parents that I want them to put a sticky note on the last page of their baby book so that when they are showing the baby book to their childs fiance and they get to the last page, it reminds them you need to go back to see the geneticist because theres this genetic situation that you need to have a nice long chat about so that you can plan your family as carefully as possible.

Right. So the work youre doing today could help someone 30 years in the future.

Well, genetics is a very unique specialty in that regard because when we see a patient were not thinking about their next year of life or their next two years of life or the next month. We do think about that. But this is a lifelong diagnosis and a lifelong situation. So I often joke with my patients that Im going to try to put them on the 90-year plan. What we figure out now about their genetics is going to be helpful for them throughout their entire lifespan, at least up until 90 years. And then after that theyre on their own. But well get them to 90.

So its an exciting time to be in the field.

Very exciting. I think the era of gene therapy which for many people we thought was never going to happen, its very promising because we have new technologies that I think are going to allow for advances in that area.

Dr. Scott McLean with Baylor College of Medicine and the Childrens Hospital of San Antonio, thanks for the information.

Youre quite welcome.

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From bio to biotechnology – Muscat Daily

August 21st, 2017 12:41 pm

Biology is a scientific branch from which emerged biotechnology, a multidisciplinary subject, which is growing fast in this modern world, having its impact on most of the activities in our day to day life. In simple terms, it is making products using living organisms. It is purely a research-oriented field, where the young minds who are interested in research can flourish. Biotechnology is a diverse field which benefits us in health, environment, industry, research, medical, agriculture and many more areas.

Although biotechnological impact was made in agricultural and industrial fields only in the early periods of the 20th century, it has its roots long back in BCs where beer, wine and bread were produced using single celled organisms via a process known as fermentation. Microorganisms were discovered later, who were the stepping stones to the modern biotechnological field. Karl Ereky, a Hungarian agricultural engineer, coined the term biotechnology. I can be a true biotechnologist only if I mention the two great names James Watson and Thomas Crick who discovered DNA in 1953, after which everyone came to know about the genetic material and how information passes at the molecular level. Later in 1970s, genes were manipulated by scientists, which led to the development of the wide area Genetic Engineering.

Green Biotechnology, Blue Biotechnology, White Biotechnology and Red Biotechnology are the fields which help us know more about the significance of biotechnology in agriculture, marine organisms, industrial products and medical processes. Improved varieties of crops are being produced which can better adapt to the existing environmental conditions. Flavr Savr tomato is a well known example. A better understanding of Blue Biotechnology helps us improve the seafood supply and safety. It is highly impossible to survive in the world without enzymes, the biological catalysts, which are produced through bioprocess technology utilising bioreactors and microorganisms. Thus, biotechnology has proved its importance in the industrial area too. In the medical field, biotechnology gains attention in gene therapy, production of humulin (recombinant insulin), recombinant vaccines etc. Drug designing and drug targeting has also gained too much interest in recent years with the advent of bioinformatics. Nanotechnology is also exploring the chances of developing and utilising nanoparticles for the benefit of mankind.

The future generation interested in this multidisciplinary field should plan a career accordingly from school days itself. It is always beneficial to opt for a biotech programme from the undergraduate level. After completing Masters in the respective branch, the young budding scientist can enter into the research field which leads to a doctoral degree that can be followed by post doctoral research. The job that can be taken up by biotechnologists is of a research scientist, and they can also be absorbed as a research associate, research assistants, laboratory technicians (food, water, environment labs, medical labs etc), teachers/lectures/professors, marketing personnel, business development officer, sales representative etc.

The door to the world of biotechnology is wide open. Lets enter it by contributing our the knowledge we have gained, which can improve and help sustain our life on earth.

Akhila RajanAsst Professor, Dept of Biotechnology, Waljat College of Applied Sciences

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Experts urge use of agricultural biotechnology as response to climate change – VietNamNet Bridge

August 21st, 2017 12:41 pm

VietNamNet Bridge Agricultural biotechnology is one of the key tools that can improve the yield and quality of agricultural products in a time of climate change, experts said.

Delegates meet at an APEC High-Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology workshop in Can Tho on August 18-19. Photo: VNS

The experts were attending an APEC High-Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology (HLPDAB) workshop in Can Tho on August 18-19.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, chair of the HLPDAB, and director general of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments Department of Science, Technology and Environment, said that Viet Nam, like many other economies, was facing multiple challenges due to climate change, including shrinking agricultural area and land degradation caused by urbanisation and saline intrusion caused by rising sea levels.

Many localities are suffering severe consequences of extreme weather, such as heavy rains, floods, flash floods, coastal shoreline erosion and salinity intrusion. These are threatening peoples livelihoods and agricultural production, she said.

Viet Nam has identified its response to climate change as one of the key tasks of its entire political system.

Strengthening international dialogue and co-operation in response to climate change is a priority set by the Government. This includes encouraging the use of new innovative technologies to promote sustainable agriculture, in which agricultural biotechnology is one of the key tools.

Speaking on the sidelines of the workshop, Pham Van Toan, associate professor at the Viet Nam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said climate change, drought and saline intrusion were seriously affecting agricultural production.

With biotechnology, we can create drought-resistant and saline-resistant varieties to help the agricultural sector make products that meet market demand and food security, he said.

Biotechnology can help create new crop varieties that adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and especially helps improve the efficient usage of nutrients of crop plants, he said.

Globally, more than 400 genetic modification events (an insertion of a particular transgene) had been approved for food and animal feed, he said, adding that more than 20 events (maize and soybean) had been approved in Viet Nam.

Viet Nams biotechnology industry had begun development 20 years ago, but its achievements remained modest, he said.

Tomorrow, the annual meetings of the Ocean and Fisheries Working Group and the APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology will be held.

Source: VNS

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Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI): A Look at Recent Performance – FLBC News

August 21st, 2017 12:41 pm

Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) has ended the week in the black, yielding positive results for the shares at they ticked 1.66%.In taking a look at recent performance, we can see that shares have moved -15.83% over the past 4-weeks, 98.14% over the past half year and 57.11% over the past full year.

Traders are keeping a keen eye on shares of Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI). The Average Directional Index or ADX may prove to be an important tool for trading and investing. The ADX is a technical indicator developed by J. Welles Wilder used to determine the strength of a trend. The ADX is often used along with the Plus Directional Indicator (+DI) and Minus Directional Indicator (-DI) to identify the direction of the trend. Presently, the 14-day ADX is resting at 39.85. Generally speaking, an ADX value from 0-25 would indicate an absent or weak trend. A value of 25-50 would indicate a strong trend. A value of 50-75 would signal a very strong trend, and a value of 75-100 would indicate an extremely strong trend.

Some investors may find the Williams Percent Range or Williams %R as a helpful technical indicator. Presently, Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI)s Williams Percent Range or 14 day Williams %R is resting at -62.25. Values can range from 0 to -100. A reading between -80 to -100 may be typically viewed as strong oversold territory. A value between 0 to -20 would represent a strong overbought condition. As a momentum indicator, the Williams R% may be used with other technicals to help define a specific trend.

When performing stock analysis, investors and traders may opt to view technical levels. Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI) presently has a 14-day Commodity Channel Index (CCI) of -39.59. Investors and traders may use this indicator to help spot price reversals, price extremes, and the strength of a trend. Many investors will use the CCI in conjunction with other indicators when evaluating a trade. The CCI may be used to spot if a stock is entering overbought (+100) and oversold (-100) territory.

Checking in on moving averages, the 200-day is at 51.87, the 50-day is 86.05, and the 7-day is sitting at 79.11. Moving averages may be used by investors and traders to shed some light on trading patterns for a specific stock. Moving averages can be used to help smooth information in order to provide a clearer picture of what is going on with the stock. Technical stock analysts may use a combination of different time periods in order to figure out the history of the equity and where it may be headed in the future. MAs can be calculated for any time period, but two very popular time frames are the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Shifting gears to the Relative Strength Index, the 14-day RSI is currently sitting at 42.18, the 7-day is 40.31, and the 3-day is currently at 41.06 for Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI). The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a highly popular momentum indicator used for technical analysis. The RSI can help display whether the bulls or the bears are currently strongest in the market. The RSI may be used to help spot points of reversals more accurately. The RSI was developed by J. Welles Wilder. As a general rule, an RSI reading over 70 would signal overbought conditions. A reading under 30 would indicate oversold conditions. As always, the values may need to be adjusted based on the specific stock and market. RSI can also be a valuable tool for trying to spot larger market turns.

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Food security experts shift focus to biotechnology – The Express Tribune

August 21st, 2017 12:41 pm

A labourer sifts wheat crop in a field. PHOTO: REUTERS

LAHORE:There is a dire need for increasing the agricultural yield to feed an increasing global population, food security experts emphasised on Saturday, highlighting biotechnology and its sub-fields as the key to increasing the productivity per acre.

Remedies derived from biotechnology could allow crop adaptation to biotic and abiotic stresses arising due to massive climate change at the global level, they said, adding technologies like genetic engineering could transform agricultural practices massively to make the sector more productive.

Food Security Policy: PARC finalises draft for cabinet review

Biotechnology is playing an important role in mitigating adverse impacts of climate change on agricultural output by reducing emission of greenhouse gases, said Professor of Biotechnology at FCC University Lahore Dr Kauser Malik.

He said the use of biofuels, for example, would help solve energy supply problems by providing renewable and cheap energy for farmers, apart from reducing the adverse impact of carbon dioxide emissions.

Carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by using traditional and genetically modified crops such as sugarcane, oilseed and rapeseed, he said, adding the need for tillage could also be reduced with the help of genetically modified crops.

We can modify plants through genetic engineering so that they absorb relatively more carbon from the atmosphere and convert it into oxygen. Soil fertility can also be increased by mixing microbes in the soil. In this context, modern environmental biotechnology has gained immense importance in coming up with innovative ways of increasing productivity, Malik said.

Experts claim that rainfall volatility, increasing drought conditions and drastic rises in temperatures all symptoms of climate change affect food production and are also responsible for pest, disease and weed outbreaks in crops.

Fast-paced climate change, experts claim, is not providing crops enough time to adjust to the changing environment, thereby stifling growth. According to an estimate, in 20 to 25 years, the world will get to a point where climatic conditions in most fertile areas will become too extreme for growing crops.

Pakistan Agriculture Research Council: Govt dept fires 500 employees

Malik said under the circumstances, increasing the area under production and improving productivity on the existing farmland were the only two choices to overcome food security challenges and adapt to changing climatic conditions.

Transgenic canola and soybean have been modified to be resistant to specific herbicides. Fungi, bacteria and virus-resistant GM cassava, potatoes, bananas and other crops are also being developed with some having already been commercialised while others are undergoing field trials, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20th, 2017.

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Ventilin inhaler – Ventolin salbutamol syrup dosage for adults – The Santa Clara

August 21st, 2017 12:40 pm

The Santa Clara
Ventilin inhaler - Ventolin salbutamol syrup dosage for adults
The Santa Clara
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Vitamin C stops blood cancer in mice – NEWS.com.au

August 20th, 2017 12:47 am

A US study has shown high dose Vitamin C halts the progression of blood cancer in mice by encouraging "faulty" stem cells in the bone marrow to die.

The findings, published in journal Cell, has raised the possibility of new new combination therapies for leukaemia patients carrying a specific gene mutation known as TET2.

"We're excited by the prospect that high-dose vitamin C might become a safe treatment for blood diseases caused by TET2-deficient leukemia stem cells, most likely in combination with other targeted therapies," said Dr Benjamin Neel, director of the Perlmutter Cancer Center.

The TET2 gene carries a protein that produces and matures stem cells, a process beneficial to blood cancer patients.

It's estimated TET2 mutations are found in 10 per cent of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 30 per cent of those with a form of pre-leukemia called myelodysplastic syndrome, and in nearly 50 per cent of patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.

Previous research had suggested that TET2 could be activated by high-doses of Vitamin C.

"So we had the idea that high-dose Vitamin C be used as a therapy for some forms of Myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia, particularly those forms who have mutations in this gene called TET2," said Dr Neel.

In the lab, scientists at the Perlmutter Cancer Center in New York added high doses of the Vitamin C to human leukemia cells carrying the TET2 mutations.

"We saw that that stops the growth," said pathologist Dr Iannis Aifantis.

A similar result was produced when tested on genetically engineered mice, according to the study.

It was also found the Vitamin C treatment had an effect on leukemic stem cells that resembled damage to their DNA, says first study author Luisa Cimmino.

"For this reason, we decided to combine Vitamin C with a PARP inhibitor, a drug type known to cause cancer cell death by blocking the repair of DNA damage, and already approved for treating certain patients with ovarian cancer," she said.

The combination had an enhanced effect on leukemia stem cells, further shifting them from self-renewal back toward maturity and cell death.

Scientists are now trying to apply the findings in clinic, with plans underway for a human clinical trial later this year.

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New Experimental Drug Kills Cancer Cells When Combined With Chemotherapy – TrendinTech

August 20th, 2017 12:47 am

Although the traditional chemotherapy drug, cisplatin, is somewhat successful in its own right, researchers have discovered that when combined with a new experimental drug the results are astounding. In a recent University of Michigan study carried out using mice, researchers found that when this combination was used in mice it destroyed a rare form of salivary gland tumor and stopped it from recurring within a 300 day period.

This rare form of cancer in question is called *adenoid cystic carcinoma, or ACC for short. It affects around 3,000 to 4,000 people annually and is most commonly found in the salivary glands. Unfortunately, its one of those cancers that isnt usually detected until its at an advanced stage, is very resistant to therapy, and as of yet has no cure. Normally these type of tumors is treated with surgery and radiation. Chemotherapy is usually avoided as ACC is very slow-growing and chemotherapy is better used on rapidly growing tumors, confirmed Jacques Nor, a UM professor of dentistry, otolaryngology, and biomedical engineering, and principal investigator on the study.

The experimental drug used in the study is called MI-773, and when combined with cisplatin, is very effective at warding off cancer. It does this by preventing the interaction taking place that disarms the vital cancer-fighting protein, p53. As the researchers explain it, by blocking that interaction, ACC cancer cells become sensitized to cisplatin. This drug MI-773 prevents that interaction, so p53 can induce cell death, says Nor. In this study, when researchers activated p53 in mice with salivary gland cancer, the cancer stem cells died.

As part of the study, researchers carried out two different types of experiments in order to fully test how much the ACC tumors were reducing in size as well as their recurrence patterns. The first experiment involved treating tumors in mice with the combination of MI-773 and cisplatin. The results were that the tumors shrank considerably from around the size of an acorn to almost nothing. In the second experiment, researchers removed the acorn sized tumors surgically and followed it up with one months worth of MI-773 treatment.

We did not observe any recurrence in the mice that were treated with this drug after 300 days (about half of mouse life expectancy), and we observed about 62 percent recurrence in the control group that had only the surgery, said Nor. Its our belief that by combining conventional chemotherapy with MI-773, a drug that kills more cancer stem cells, we can have a more effective surgery or ablation. One slight drawback to the study is that it is based on an observational period of 300 days, whereas nearly half of all ACC tumors recur only after around 10 years. Its still early days for the drug combo in terms of being used on human patients but is still a good place to start nonetheless.

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