Endocan, previously called endothelial cell specific molecule-1 (ESM-1), is over expressed in human tumors, and its serum levels are elevated in late-stage lung cancer and experimental tumors, as measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay or by immunohistochemistry. The RNA level of endocan is also recognized as one of the most significant molecular signatures with a poor prognosis of several types of cancer including lung cancer. The research team led by Prof.

Yale Cancer Center researchers have identified a genetic biomarker that may help to determine why some people are at an increased risk of developing lung cancer. The findings, published in the journal Cancer Research, could help identify smokers who should be carefully screened for lung cancer.

Many millions of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, and tuberculosis could be averted in China if smoking and biomass and coal fuel use in homes were phased out over the next 25 years. These are the conclusions of authors of an Article published early Online and in an upcoming edition of The Lancet. The three diseases above are three of the ten leading causes of death in China, where prevalences of smoking and solid fuel use are also high.

Research from the US predicts that if smoking and solid fuel use in homes continues in China they will cause a total of 83 million deaths between 2003 and 2033 and that only large-scale interventions stand a chance of reducing this number. The research is the work of a team from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in Boston, Massachusetts, and is published online on October 4th and in the October 25th print issue of The Lancet.

Genentech, Inc. (NYSE:DNA) and OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:OSIP) today announced that a randomized Phase III study (BeTa Lung) evaluating Avastin® (bevacizumab) in combination with Tarceva® (erlotinib) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease had progressed following platinum-based chemotherapy did not meet its primary endpoint of improving overall survival compared to Tarceva in combination with placebo.

Moderate consumption of red wine may decrease the risk of lung cancer in men, according to a report in the October issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. “An antioxidant component in red wine may be protective of lung cancer, particularly among smokers,” said Chun Chao, Ph.D.

Alex A. Adjei, MD, PhD, Senior Vice President of Clinical Research and the Katherine Anne Gioia Chair in Cancer Medicine at Roswell Park Cancer Institute is the chair of a newly-launched national clinical trial: the first ever to determine if biomarkers can help guide therapies for lung cancer.

Oncologists at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in La Jolla are hoping to stave off the relentless march of advanced lung cancer by treating patients with a novel kind of cancer vaccine. While many vaccines attempt to pump up the immune system to fight off a cancer, the new vaccine, Lucanix, is genetically engineered to also trick the cancer into turning off its immune system-suppressing activities.

lung cancer is one of the most common and deadliest cancers. Small cell lung cancer makes up about 10 percent to 15 percent of all lung cancers. Because of early metastatic spread, small cell lung cancer has very poor long-term survival with less than 10 percent of patients surviving two years after diagnosis. Chemotherapy is the most common treatment for small cell lung cancer and many consider drugs containing platinum the most effective agents.

The 3-D structure of the virus, known as Seneca Valley Virus-001, reveals that it is unlike any other known member of the Picornaviridae viral family, and confirms its recent designation as a separate genus “Senecavirus.” The new study reveals that the virus’s outer protein shell looks like a craggy golf ball - one with uneven divets and raised spikes - and the RNA strand beneath it is arranged in a round mesh rather like a whiffleball.