Carcinoid Cancer Foundation Sets Sights On Raising Awareness

Several high-profile cancers are infamous for being silent killers - but they are not the only cancers that catch victims by surprise. Carcinoid cancer can go undetected for many years. Over 90% of all carcinoid/neuroendocrine tumor (NET) patients are initially incorrectly diagnosed and treated for the wrong disease. Carcinoid cancers are frequently diagnosed accidentally.



Carcinoid and related neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) grow slowly and are found mostly in the gastrointestinal system, but can be in other body parts like the pancreas and lung. It usually takes many years before they cause symptoms. If the disease manifests in advanced stages, it can be deadly. Caught early, however, carcinoid cancer can often be managed or treated, an option not fully realized within the medical community or patient circles, according to Sharon Devereaux, the newly appointed president/CEO of the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation(TM) (CCF, http://www.carcinoid.org). Increasing awareness of this disease and opportunities for early detection are an integral part of the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation's mission, and Devereaux's initiatives include intensification of efforts to accomplish these goals.



"Carcinoid cancer occasionally creeps into the headlines, usually when some public figure is living with it or passes away," Devereaux says. "But that's where the news value ends because it's perceived as rare - 110,000 U.S. patients are experiencing carcinoid cancer today. However, new research and anecdotal evidence suggests that it's more widespread than is documented, yet it's tough to provide treatment because established opportunities for early-diagnostic testing don't exist."



Richard R.P. Warner, MD, Medical Director of CCF and one of the world's leading experts on these rare cancers, explains "that although a number of new drugs are being developed and tested, at present the only cure for carcinoid/NETs is dependent on early detection and surgery before these cancers have spread from their original site of origin." The CCF is a non-profit organization that strives to encourage and support research, in addition to educating the general public and healthcare professionals, about carcinoid cancer and NETs. Recently, the CCF has drawn attention to its cause through its "Zebra Ball - Stars for Stripes" (http://www.thezebraball.com), an annual benefit event held at The Peninsula Chicago to support The Carcinoid Cancer Foundation(tm). This year's ball, so named because zebra stripes symbolize "camouflaged" conditions, featured the stories of carcinoid cancer patient Don Meyer, Northern State University's (Aberdeen, S.D.) basketball coach, and cancer survivor Kari Jones of Indianapolis. The gala coincided with Valentine's Day, which has been designated by Mayor Richard Daley as Carcinoid Cancer Awareness Day in Chicago.



For more information or to donate, visit http://www.carcinoid.org or http://www.firstgiving.com/carcinoid.



About the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation(TM)



The Carcinoid Cancer Foundation(TM) is a non-profit organization chartered by the State of New York in 1968 for the purpose of encouraging and supporting research and education on carcinoid and related neuroendocrine cancers.



Carcinoid Cancer Foundation

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Research And Markets: Lymphoma Drug Pipeline Update 2009

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Lymphoma Drug Pipeline Update 2009" report to their offering.



Lymphoma is a broad term encompassing a variety of cancers of the lymphatic system. There are today more than 200 therapeutics targeting lymphoma in active development, from early preclinical to marketed drugs. In addition, the accumulated number of ceased drugs over the last three years amount to another 50 drugs.



Lymphoma Drug Pipeline Update lists all drugs and gives you a progress analysis on each one of them. Identified drugs are linked to 123 different targets. These targets are further categorized on the CD-ROM by 44 classifications of molecular function and with pathway referrals to BioCarta, KEGG and NetPath. Read more below on how the Lymphoma Drug Pipeline Update is organized.



How May Drug Pipeline Update Be of Use?



- Show investors/board/management that you are right on top of drug development progress in your therapeutic area.

- Find competitors, collaborations partners, M&A candidates etc.

- Jump start competitive drug intelligence operations

- Excellent starting point for worldwide benchmarking

- Compare portfolio and therapy focus with your peers

- Speed up pro-active in-/out licensing strategy work

- Fast and easy way of tracking drugs using search engines; just one click from inside the application and you may search the World Wide Web and PubMed for any drug.

- Drug Pipeline Update is delivered to you as a CD-ROM application, which requires no installation on your computer. Please read more about application features and system requirements below.



For more information visit here.



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Mesoblast Limited Presents Positive Adult Stem Cell Results To American Academy Of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS)

Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB)(PINK:MBLTY) Australia's regenerative medicine company today announced that three separate papers disclosing clinical and preclinical trial results were presented this week to orthopaedic specialists attending the 55th annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the Orthopedic Research Society (ORS). The meetings, underway in Las Vegas, attract an estimated 15,000 orthopedic healthcare professionals from around the world.



A major highlight at the AAOS was the invited presentation given by Mr Richard de Steiger, the Principal Investigator of Mesoblast's long bone non-union clinical trial at The Royal Melbourne Hospital. Mr de Steiger presented the positive results from the company's successful trial in 10 patients treated with the proprietary adult stem cells for non-healing fractures of the tibia and femur.



At the ORS, Dr Tony Goldschlager of Mo! nash University in Melbourne presented results from preclinica! l trials showing that Mesoblast's allogeneic, or "off-the-shelf", cells were safe and highly effective for interbody fusion of the cervical spine in the neck.



Also at the ORS, Professor Peter Ghosh presented preclinical results which showed that a single injection of Mesoblast's allogeneic cells into knee joints with pre-existing osteoarthritis reduced disease progression and supported reconstitution of knee joint cartilage six months after administration.



Mesoblast will continue to ensure that its clinical achievements and cutting edge research are highlighted and recognised at respected and prestigious conferences, meetings attended by key opinion leaders, and peer-reviewed publications.



About Mesoblast Limited



Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB)(USOTC:MBLTY) is an Australian biotechnology company committed to the development of novel treatments for orthopaedic conditions, including the rapid commercialisation of a unique adult stem cell technology aimed at the regeneration and repair of bone and cartilage. Our focus is to progress through clinical trials and international regulatory processes necessary to commercialise the technology in as short a timeframe as possible.



Mesoblast has the worldwide exclusive rights for a series of patents and technologies that have been developed over more than 10 years and which relate to the identification, extraction and culture of adult Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs). The Company has also acquired a substantial interest in Angioblast Systems Inc, an American company developing the platform MPC technology for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, including repair and regeneration of blood vessels and heart muscle. Mesoblast and Angioblast are jointly funding and progressing the core technology. Mesoblast's strategy is to maximise shareholder value through both corporate partnerships and the rapid and successful completion of clinical milestones.



Mesoblast Limited

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Annual Event For Entrepreneurs In Biotech, Pharma And Healthcare - France

Profession Bio-Entrepreneur, France's annual event for entrepreneurs in biotech, pharma and healthcare will take place this year on Thursday and Friday 12-13 March. It is organized by Centrale-Santé, part of the association of the Ecole Centrale, one of France's top graduate schools in partnership with MEDEC, France's annual healthcare show and conference. There is no charge for entry and registration may be done on-line (as long as space is available).



This 8th edition of the forum takes place at a time of great financial uncertainty and offers industry professionals two days of intense debate and networking to identify new issues and opportunities which will enable them to be better "bio-entrepreneurs".



This year's theme is "The convergence of diagnostics, therapeutics, imaging, medical devices and engineering".



The forum will also focus on Switzerland, the country which is this year's guest of honour, and which is a leading player in the international life sciences industry. Representatives of Roche, Merck-Serono, Debiopharm, Addex Pharmaceuticals, the Swiss Biotech Association, Biocartis and the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne) are all planning to take part.



You can download the provisional programme of Bio-Entrepreneur 2009 and register for free on http://www.bio-entrepreneur.net.



Event partners include bodies such as the Adebiotech biotech association, ACIP (Association des Cadres de l'Industrie Pharmaceutique - Pharma industry managers' association), AMIPS (Association des Médecins des Industries des Produits de Santé - doctor's association), Leem (Les Entreprises du Médicament - French pharmaceutical industry association), Catalyse Biosciences, a group of regional bodies responsible for encouraging the life science industries, and Interbiotech, an association to stimulate networking and business development across all life sciences. Media partners are Biotech Info, Innovation, Pharmaceutiques with Andrew Lloyd & Associates handling the public relations. There are also a number of industry partners.



http://www.bio-entrepreneur.net

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Government's GP Extended Opening Policy Widens Rich-Poor Gap, United Kingdom

The UK Government's extended hours initiative has deprived small GP practices, and those in the poorest areas of the country, of millions in funding according to a major Pulse investigation.



Smaller practices find it far more difficult to offer evening and weekend appointments compared to those with a large number of GPs, disadvantaging their patients and reducing their funding by thousands of pounds.



There is also evidence the extended hours policy is widening the gap between rich and poor. Only 61% of urban practices in the highest quartile for deprivation will qualify for the average £18,000 annual payment for providing extended hours, compared with 75% of those in the lowest quartile for deprivation.



Only 44% of one-GP practices and 60% of those with two or three partners are currently offering extended hours, compared to 83% of those with eight or more partners, shows our analysis of 200 randomly selected practices from more than 100 PCTs.



Payments were recycled from other parts of the contract, meaning practices that are not offering extended hours are receiving less funding compared to one year ago.



Official government figures show the proportion of practices not offering extended opening has stabilised at almost 30%.



Pulse's investigation identifies for the first time specifically which practices are opening longer - based on calls to each practice to confirm extended opening, data on practice size from NHS Choices and indices of deprivation data from the Office for National Statistics.



The location of a practice is also a key factor, says the report. Some 68% of urban practices offer extended hours, compared with 59% in rural areas.



Dr Asad Mubarik, a GP in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, said his 'semi-rural' practice could not afford to open longer. "We would make a loss if we did,' he said, adding practices in deprived urban areas also faced safety concerns. Opening in deprived urban areas can be very scary. I know a GP who was assaulted after work and ended up in intensive care. The number of staff you would have to have working in the evening would be significant."



A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: "The issue is not the size of practice, their location or the patients they treat - it is whether GPs make the decision to provide extended hours for their patients. In some PCTs, nearly 100% of practices, from singlehanded to large surgeries and in both urban and rural areas, are delivering extended hours."



Richard Hoey, deputy editor of Pulse, said: "The Government insists that whether a GP practice offers extended opening is purely a matter of choice, but our statistics show that it is much easier for some practices than others. That means some groups of patients miss out twice over, because they don't get access to longer hours, and neither does their practice receive as much money for their healthcare. What's worse is that it is often poorer patients who are missing out, and it is they who often find it hardest to take time off work to see a GP."



About PulseToday



PulseToday is the GP's website in the UK providing general practice news, clinical education and practice information to GPs and primary care staff.



www.pulsetoday.co.uk



Written by - Christian Nordqvist

Copyright: Medical News Today

Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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Diabetes Rising Faster In UK Than America

A new study found that the rate of new cases of diabetes in the UK rose by 74 per cent between 1997 and 2003, and has now overtaken the rate in North America, which has one of the highest incidences of diabetes in the world.



The study's lead author is Elvira Massó González of the Spanish Centre for Pharmacoepidemiologic Research in Madrid, and is to be published this week in the online issue of Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.



According to the Telegraph, Massó González told the press:



"Our results suggest that, although the incidence of diabetes remains lower in the UK than in the USA or Canada, it appears to be increasing at a faster pace."



The study looked at new and existing cases of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the UK, using data from the Health Improvement Network database between 1996 and 2005.



The researchers found that over those ten years, 42,642 people in the UK were diagnosed either with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.



Type 1 usually affects younger people, and type 2 usually develops later in life due to being obese or overweight, but in recent years patients have been getting younger, some as young as seven, said a report from the BBC.



Of those newly diagnosed cases, just over 1,250 were for type 1 and more than 41,000 were for type 2 diabetes.



The results showed that the overall prevalence of diabetes went up from 2.8 per cent of the population in 1996 to 4.3 per cent in 2005, equal to an annual rise of just under 5 per cent and an increase of 54 per cent over the decade. The prevalence was found to be 29 per cent higher among men than among men.



The rise is predominantly due to a rise in type 2 cases: new cases of type 1 have remained much the same every year for those ten years, but type 2 new cases went up from 2.6 to 4.31 cases per 1,000 patient years, equivalent to a rise of 69 per cent over the decade, and rising even more rapidly in the latter part: by 74 per cent between 1997 and 2003.



Diabetes UK reports that the study shows obesity playing a significant role in the sharp rise of type 2 diabetes in the UK.



In 1996 of the people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, 38 per cent were overweight and 46 per cent were obese. In 2005, these figures were 32 and 56 per cent respectively.



2.5 million of people in the UK have been diagnosed with diabetes and another half million have it and don't know it.



Douglas Smallwood, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK , said in a press statement:



"This research is a sad indictment of the current state of the UK's health."



"Sadly, the statistics are not surprising, as we know that the soaring rates of type 2 diabetes are strongly linked to the country's expanding waistline," he added.



Studies show it's possible for people to significantly reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by keeping to a healthy weight and waistline.



"It is imperative that we raise awareness of the importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet and doing at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day if we want to make any headway in defusing the diabetes time bomb," warned Smallwood.



Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum said that future projections show there is worse to come.



"Rates of obesity and diabetes will continue to rise unless we do something urgently," Fry told the BBC.



BBC News also reported that Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, said early detection and treatment was vital.



"We must do whatever we can to find the half-million people who don't know they've got it," said Maryon-Davis.



Diabetes UK estimates that the NHS spends ten per cent of its budget, about 1 million pounds an hour, treating diabetes and its complications.



A spokesperson for the Department of Health told the BBC that the rise in recorded cases could be partly due to improved diagnosis, as well as rising obesity rates and an ageing population.



Click here for Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.



Sources:Diabetes UK, BBC News, Telegraph.



Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD

Copyright: Medical News Today

Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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DWP Minister Replies To UKAF On Autism And Winter Fuel Poverty

DWP Minister Rosie Winterton MP, (who is the Minister with responsibility for the Winter Fuel Payment) has replied to the call made by the UK Autism Foundation for urgent help for families and adults with autism and Asperger's Syndrome who are below the poverty line.



While Winter Fuel Payments are directed towards the elderly, the UK Autism Foundation has appealed to the Chancellor Alistair Darling to help all families with autism and Asperger's Syndrome who are in low-income households. There are families with autism who who have had to choose between heating and eating as they struggle to cope with life during the economic crisis.



Ivan Corea of the UK Autism Foundation said: 'We are delighted that DWP Minister Rosie Winterton is taking a long hard look at Autism and Winter Fuel Poverty. We urge Rose Winterton and Her Majesty's Government to look at the whole issue of Winter Fuel Payments and increase them for families with autism and Asperger's Syndrome in the 2009 Budget. The recession is affecting so many families with autism. Life is hard in any case, on a daily basis and the deepening recession is making matters worse. Parents, carers,children and adults with autism and Asperger's Syndrome in the UK need urgent financial help and support.'



Support for the UKAF's call came from parliamentarians of all parties in the House of Commons, in Westminster, with 55 MPs signing an early day motion (EDM 281) tabled by Rudi Vis MP on Autism and Winter Fuel Poverty in December last year.



DWP Minister Rosie Winterton has replied Ivan Corea's call to the Chancellor Alistair Darling to increase Winter Fuel Payments. The Minster said: ' We have negotiated a voluntary agreement with energy suppliers which means that the total level of assistance offered to vulnerable households by suppliers will increase to £150 million a year by 2011.' She added 'You may be interested to know that, as the Chancellor announced in his Pre-Budget report in November last year, for 2008/09 only, an extra payment of £60 will be made on top of the £10 Christmas Bonus. The Christmas Bonus is payable to those in receipt of a qualifying benefit during the relevant week.'



The DWP has also requested people to contact the following helpines regarding winter fuel payments:



* Disability Living Allowance and the disability premiums in the income-related benefits provide additional weekly payments and are related to the individual's circumstances. The most severely disabled people receive an additional amount of almost £8,000 per year in recognition of their extra costs. Employment and Support Allowance customers can receive an additional component for disability after 13 weeks rather than waiting 52 weeks for the payment of a disability premium as with Income Support. Where the support component is payable, there is also automatic entitlement to the enhanced disability premium (currently £12.60 for a single person).People can find out more about these benefits by telephoning the Benefit Enquiry Line on 0800 88 22 00.



* For information on the Warm Front, the main programme for tackling winter fuel poverty in the private sector in England, providing grants for insulation and home improvements to households in receipt of qualifying benefits - householders should call 0800 316 6011. Householders in Wales should call 0800 316 2815, householders in Scotland should call 0800 316 6009 to find out more about Warm Deal or 0800 316 1653 to find out more about the Central Heating Programme, householders in Northern Ireland should call 0800 181 667 to find out more about the Warm Homes scheme.



* To check whether a competing energy supplier can offer a better deal customers can can contact Consumer Direct on its consumer helpline, 08454 04 05 06. The Home Heat Helpline, 0800 33 66 99, run by the energy companies can also supply on fuel matters, including discounts that are available to certain groups of people.



UK Autism Foundation

Woodford Business Centre

113-115 George Lane

South Woodford

London E18 1AB

United Kingdom

http://www.ukautismfoundation.org

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