Prostate Cancer Researchers Develop Personalized Genetic Test to Accurately Predict Recurrence Risk

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Newswise (TORONTO, Canada Nov. 13, 2014) Prostate cancer researchers have developed a genetic test to identify which men are at highest risk for their prostate cancer to come back after localized treatment with surgery or radiotherapy.

The findings are published online today in Lancet Oncology. Study co-leads Dr. Robert Bristow, a clinician-scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Dr. Paul Boutros, an investigator at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, report that the gene test provides a much-needed quick and accurate tool to determine with greater precision the men who will do well with local treatment only (surgery or radiation), and those who will need extra treatment (chemotherapy and hormone therapy) to ensure the cancer is completely eradicated. Dr. Bristow talks about the research at http://youtu.be/7dZyVm_y5WU

Our findings set the stage to tackle the ongoing clinical problem of under-treating men with aggressive disease that will recur in 30% to 50% of patients due to hidden, microscopic disease that is already outside the prostate gland during initial treatment, says Dr. Bristow.

This genetic test could increase cure rates in intermediate- to high-risk men by preventing progression to this metastatic spread of prostate cancer. The next step will be testing the gene signature on many more patients worldwide for three to five years to turn the test into one that is readily available in the clinic to guide personalized prostate cancer treatments.

The predictive test analyses biopsy tissue taken before treatment even starts to identify abnormal genetic characteristics (abnormal DNA) of the prostate cancer and its oxygen content. Low oxygen, or hypoxia, is an already known factor in the spread of prostate cancer. Together, this information can predict with almost 80% accuracy and in about three days those prostate cancer patients who are at greatest risk of their disease returning, the study shows.

The clinical potential is enormous for thousands of patients, says Dr. Bristow. This is personalized cancer medicine to the hilt the ability to provide more targeted treatment to patients based on their unique cancer genetic fingerprint plus whats going on in the cancer cells surrounding environment. We hope to improve cure rates by reducing the chances of the cancer recurring and prevent the cells from spreading.

The researchers developed the genetic test with two groups of patients. In the first group, the team analyzed DNA from initial diagnostic biopsies of 126 men who were treated with image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and followed for an average 7.8 years. In the second group, the team used the test on 150 men whose tumours were removed surgically (radical prostatectomy). The genetic test produced similar results in both groups and therefore can be used in patients who choose radiotherapy or surgery as their initial treatment.

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Prostate Cancer Researchers Develop Personalized Genetic Test to Accurately Predict Recurrence Risk

Personalized genetic test could predict prostate cancer recurrence

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TORONTO - Canadian researchers have developed a genetic test to identify which men are at highest risk for recurrence of prostate cancer following localized treatment with surgery or radiation therapy.

The genetic test provides a quick and highly accurate tool to determine which men with prostate cancer would do well with only surgery or radiation, and those who would need additional treatment chemotherapy and hormone therapy, say the researchers, whose findings are described in Wednesday's online edition of the journal Lancet Oncology.

"Our findings set the stage to tackle the ongoing clinical problem of under-treating men with aggressive disease that will recur in 30 per cent to 50 per cent of patients due to hidden, microscopic disease that is already outside the prostate gland during initial treatment," said Dr. Robert Bristow, a clinician-scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto.

"This genetic test could increase cure rates in intermediate- to high-risk men by preventing progression to this metastatic spread of prostate cancer," said Bristow, who co-led the study with Dr. Paul Boutros, a scientist at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

The predictive test analyzes biopsy tissue taken before treatment even starts to identify abnormal genetic characteristics in the tumour and its oxygen content. Low oxygen, known as hypoxia, makes prostate cancer cells "leaner and meaner," giving them the ability to invade blood vessels and spread throughout the body.

Together, this information can predict with almost 80 per cent accuracy which men with prostate cancer are at greatest risk of their disease returning in the form of secondary tumours outside the prostate, the study shows.

"The clinical potential is enormous for thousands of patients," said Bristow. "This is personalized cancer medicine to the hilt the ability to provide more targeted treatment to patients based on their unique cancer genetic fingerprint plus what's going on in the cancer cell's surrounding environment. We hope to improve cure rates by reducing the chances of the cancer recurring and prevent the cells from spreading."

An estimated 23,600 Canadian men will be diagnosed this year with prostate cancer, the most common cancer diagnosed in men and the third leading cause of death from cancer. About 4,000 Canadians will die from the disease this year, according to Canadian Cancer Society statistics.

The researchers developed the genetic test with two groups of patients. In the first group, they analyzed DNA in biopsied cancer cells from 126 men who were treated with image-guided radiotherapy, monitoring them for an average of eight years. The test was also used in a second group of 150 men whose tumours were removed surgically.

The study showed that the men with the best outcomes those who had a less than seven per cent recurrence of prostate cancer at five years had low levels of genetic changes and little hypoxia. For men with high levels of genetic changes and high hypoxia, outcomes were worse more than half had their cancer come back.

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Personalized genetic test could predict prostate cancer recurrence

IU-Led Research Team Identifies Genetic Variant Linked to Better Memory Performance

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Newswise INDIANAPOLIS -- People with a newly identified genetic variant perform better on certain types of memory tests, a discovery that may point the way to new treatments for the memory impairments caused by Alzheimer's disease or other age-associated conditions.

In what the international research team is calling the largest study to date of human memory, an analysis of genomic data and memory test results from more than 14,000 older adults identified a location in the genome that was associated with better memory performance. The researchers noted that the gene has not been associated with cognition in the past.

The research team, led by IU School of Medicine post-doctoral researcher and medical student Vijay K. Ramanan, Ph.D., and Andrew J. Saykin, Psy.D., director of the Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center and the IU Center for Neuroimaging, reported its results in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

The genome-wide study found that better performance on tests of episodic memory was associated with a change in the DNA on chromosome 2 -- a G instead of the more common A nucleotide in a gene known as FASTKD2. The genetic variant -- known as a single nucleotide polymorphism, or SNP -- was also associated with a larger hippocampus and more dense gray matter in the brain on magnetic resonance imaging scans. The hippocampus is a brain structure involved in storing and retrieving memory. The inability to recall a recent current event, a newspaper article or what one had for dinner is one of the earliest symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and is also related to hippocampal atrophy.

The FASTKD2 gene is responsible for the production of a protein involved in apoptosis, a process of programmed cell death. The researchers also examined cerebrospinal fluid samples from 82 participants and found lower levels of proteins associated with cell death in the participants with the memory-protective G variant.

More research will be needed to determine whether drugs targeting the FASTKD2 gene could be used to protect against memory loss and related issues in Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Saykin said.

"There is likely no single 'memory gene'; we expect that memory is driven by a combination of multiple genes along with environment and lifestyle," Dr. Saykin said. "Although the influence of FASTKD2 was modest, there are parallels to research in diabetes, cancer and hypertension that uncovered genetic variants with similar effects that turned out to be targets for drugs that are now commonly used."

Other researchers contributing to the work were Kwangsik Nho, Ph.D., Li Shen, Ph.D., Shannon L. Risacher, Ph.D., Sungeun Kim, Ph.D., Brenna C. McDonald, Psy.D., Martin R. Farlow, M.D., Tatiana M. Foroud, Ph.D., and Sujuan Gao, Ph.D., of the IU School of Medicine; on behalf of the AddNeuroMed Consortium: Hilkka Soininen, M.D., Ph.D. University of Eastern Finland; Iwona Koszewska, M.D., Ph.D., Medical University of Lodz, Poland; Patrizia Mecocci, M.D., Ph.D., University of Perugia, Italy; Magda Tsolaki, M.D., Ph.D., Aristotle University, Greece; Bruno Vellas, M.D., Ph.D., University of Toulouse, France and Simon Lovestone, Ph.D., MRCPsych, University of Oxford, U.K.; Paul S. Aisen, M.D., University of California, San Diego; Ronald C. Petersen, M.D., and Clifford R. Jack, Jr., M.D., Mayo Clinic Minnesota; Leslie M. Shaw, Ph.D., and John Q. Trojanowski, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Michael W. Weiner, M.D., University of California, San Francisco; Robert C. Green, M.D., M.P.H., and Philip L. De Jager, M.D., Ph.D., Harvard Medical School; Arthur W. Toga, Ph.D., University of Southern California; Lei Yu, Ph.D., and David A. Bennett, M.D., Rush University Medical Center, Chicago.

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Will Genetic Engineering And Organ Growing Bring Us The Dawn Of The Superman? – Video

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Will Genetic Engineering And Organ Growing Bring Us The Dawn Of The Superman?
The Fortean Slip Daily Dose 2 The Chris 2.0 Episode. In this episode Chris wonders if research into genetic engineering and organ growing will bring us the dawn of the superman. This webcast...

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Modified DNA backbone enables success of existing and novel oligonucleotide therapeutics

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

13-Nov-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, November 13, 2014--The two U.S. FDA approved oligonucleotide-based drugs on the market both have a modified chemical backbone made of phosphorothioates. The therapeutic advantages of the phosphorothioate group and the new types of gene expression-regulation oligonucleotide drugs that it is enabling are detailed in a Review article in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers. The article is available free on the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics website until December 13, 2014.

In the article "Phosphorothioates, Essential Components of Therapeutic Oligonucleotides," Fritz Eckstein, Max-Planck-Institut fr Experimentelle Medizin, Gttingen, Germany, describes how the chemical and biochemical properties of this significant nucleic acid modification have made DNA suitable for use as therapeutic agents. Initial applications focused on cleaving the mRNA product of genes to block protein production. Dr. Eckstein explores novel applications including microRNA and long non-coding RNA targets and the use of decoy oligonucleotides.

"We will advance the field of nucleic acid therapeutics by looking to key opinion leaders to educate and initiate the experienced and newcomers alike. In this review, Dr. Eckstein has produced a tour de force concerning the therapeutic application of phosphorothioates," says Executive Editor Graham C. Parker, PhD, The Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI.

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Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is under the editorial leadership of Co-Editors-in-Chief Bruce A. Sullenger, PhD, Duke Translational Research Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, and C.A. Stein, MD, PhD, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA; and Executive Editor Graham C. Parker, PhD.

About the Journal

Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is an authoritative, peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online that focuses on cutting-edge basic research, therapeutic applications, and drug development using nucleic acids or related compounds to alter gene expression. Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is the official journal of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics website.

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A birthday wish: 'Saving Eliza' gets final push for medical trial

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Linda Carroll TODAY contributor

6 hours ago

The parents of Eliza ONeill, the little girl with an incurable and deadly brain disorder, are making one final desperate push to raise funds for the clinical trial that will test a gene therapy for the diseaseand perhaps offer hope for Eliza.

Courtesy of Glenn ONeill

The ONeills have already raised $1.3 million through a viral video and hope that by Elizas fifth birthday on Sunday theyll hit their $1.8 million goal.

While there is no guarantee that Eliza will be among those chosen to participate in the trial, which could start sometime in the middle of 2015, its organizers say that at this point there is no reason that she wouldnt qualify.

Over the past year, the ONeills have tried to focus on aspects of life over which they have some control, such as helping to make the trial a reality and keeping their daughter as healthy as possible. Sometimes, they even allow themselves to think about what life might be like if Eliza was helped by the experimental medication.

Our hopes are for Eliza to have a life, and a good life, said her dad, Glenn ONeill. I sometimes let my mind go to places of future birthdays and her dating and getting married.

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A birthday wish: 'Saving Eliza' gets final push for medical trial

Effectiveness of innovative gene therapy treatment demonstrated in canine model of DMD

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

13-Nov-2014

Contact: Service de presse AFM-Tlthon gmonfort@afm-telethon.fr AFM-Tlthon @AfmPresse

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common neuromuscular disease of children (affecting 1 boy in 3500-5000 births). It is caused by a genetic defect in the DMD gene residing on the X chromosome, which results in the absence of the dystrophin protein essential to the proper functioning of muscles.

The treatment being developed by researchers at Atlantic Gene Therapies, Gnthon and the Institute of Myology, is based on the use of an AAV vector (Adeno Associated Virus) carrying a transgene for the skipping of a specific exon which allows functional dystrophin production in the muscle of the patient.

Safety, efficacy and stability of the treatment in dogs

In GRMD (Golden Retriever Muscular Dystrophy) dogs the treatment aimed at skipping exons 6, 7 and 8 of the dystrophin gene. The product was given by loco-regional administration in the forelegs of 18 dogs who were followed for 3.5 months after injection. It was well tolerated by all treated dogs; no immune response against the synthesized dystrophin was observed. Exon skipping resulted in high levels of expression of dystrophin in the treated muscles. The results of this treatment also indicate that, once injected into the muscle tissue a prolonged and stable effect is produced over the observation time of the study and, unlike antisense oligonucleotides already used clinically for exon skipping, it does not need to be re- administered regularly. The synthesis of "new" dystrophin is dependent on the dose of vector injected: the higher the dose, the greater the exon skipping is effective. Muscle strength also increases with dose. 80% of muscle fibers expressed the "new" dystrophin at the highest dose. This is a very encouraging result because a minimum of 40% of dystrophin in muscle fibers is believed to be necessary for the muscle force to be significantly improved.

A phase I/II clinical trial phase

These results open the way for a phase I / II clinical trial by loco-regional administration in the upper limb of non-ambulatory Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients which are amenable to treatment by the specific skipping of exon 53. The regulatory toxicology and biodistribution studies have just ended and the filing of an application with regulatory authorities is planned for 2015.

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Disruptive exponential organizations: Futurist Speaker Gerd Leonhard (CAExpo Australia) – Video

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Disruptive exponential organizations: Futurist Speaker Gerd Leonhard (CAExpo Australia)
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The power of buttermilk — confronting techno-optimism | The Amish Futurist | TEDxSanMigueldeAllende – Video

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The power of buttermilk -- confronting techno-optimism | The Amish Futurist | TEDxSanMigueldeAllende
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Intel's Brian David Johnson On Building A Human Future

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At the Compute Midwest conference in Kansas City today, Intels resident futurist Brian David Johnson kicked off the proceedings talking about his job. That job? He figures out the timeline of the technology in the next 10-15 years and sits down with engineers at Intel about whether they can get started acting on it.

What will the future look like? He asks. One thing he noted is that most pictures of the future lack the things that make us comfortable and diverse. Showing a picture of a typical futuristic, sterile apartment, he asks, Where are the baby toys? Where are the family photos? Where are the pillows?

These types of futures, he said, are kind of insulting to people. He then showed a future that looks, in his words, real a woman in a comfortable, more realistic looking living space. Yes, it has connected technologies, but also clutter and pillows.

Brian David Johnson

He then described that what he did as Futurecasting which is not, he emphaisized, not about predicting the future. But rather using social science, psychology, technology to figure out what the future should feel like and then build it.

You dont want to be the person who says, I was right, he said. Its our job to get right.

That is, he clarified, about creating a vision for the future and then figuring out how to get there.

One of the key technologies he focused on in his talk is that the size of computers keeps shrinking. But the goal, he said, isnt just to get them smaller. Its how making them smaller can make peoples lives better.

Essentially, what this means, he says, is that when were surrounded by smart devices, were all living in a giant computer. And computers, he note, can be optimized.

But the question is, he said. If were optimzing, what are we optimizing for?

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SpaceX Is Entering The Micro-Satellites Game

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On Twitter Twitter this week, SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted that the company is going to be enacting a program involving advanced micro-satellites operating in large formations. The formal announcement for the project is 2-3 months away.

The fact that the announcement is months away, however, hasnt stopped quite a bit of speculating over what the satellite system is likely to entail. (Hopefully not the orbital death ray platforms that sci-fi author Warren Ellis referred to when I interviewed him last summer.)

The most likely theory is that this will be an effort to bring high-speed satellite internet to areas that dont have the infrastructure to build fiber networks. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX is forming a relationship with WorldVu Satellites, Ltd. WorldVu was founded by Greg Wyler, who also founded high-speed internet satellite company O3b Networks. O3b has eight satellites in orbit now providing high speed internet and its next four satellites are already getting prepared to launch. Wyler left O3b (though he remains a significant shareholder) and went to Google to work on satellite internet. However, he has since left Google as well.

The Wall Street Journal report indicates that the two companies would plan to cooperate on a satellite manufacturing facility, a venture the report estimates to have a cost of around $1 billion. This also partially corroborates a report from SpaceNews in September that WorldVu and SpaceX had begun some sort of relationship. And Musks tweet, which came after the WSJ report came out, may be a response to that article. (A request for comment sent to SpaceX was not returned.)

That said, while a lot of signs point to SpaceX joining forces with WorldVu for satellite internet (WorldVu has the rights to the key spectrum needed until the end of the decade), this isnt the only possibility. Microsatellites are currently being used for a number of applications, particularly Earth-based imaging satellites. Other companies are working a different angle, such as Planetary Resources, which is developing small space telescopes that could be used to find likely candidates for asteroid mining.

Its plausible that rather than looking to SpaceX to manufacture satellites, WorldVu is in talks with SpaceX to launch them. After all, with a short time period to begin using the spectrum it has rights to, its possible that WorldVu would prefer to turn to an established satellite manufacturer rather than wait for a new venture to get up and running.

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Study: The Internet of Things Has An Enthusiasm Gap

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Yesterday in my Digital Media class I showed students several videos about the Internet of Things. The first I showed them was an explanation from IBM, produced in 2010. The second was a recent video from the Shots of Awe channel on YouTube. We compared the differences and similarities of the two videos. Some were obviousIBM put a premium on data, while Jason Silva focused on the impact the Internet of Things would have on us. One key similarity was the highly positive narrative about IoT.

The discussion, as it often does whenever I talk to my undergrad students, eventually led back to how to balance that future vision of machine- and data-driven lives with what it means to be human. One student pointed to the movie Interstellar (which I havent seen) and noted that there was a storywhere the machines and humans worked well together, which seemed more realistic to her than robot overload tropes.Others worried about security and the increasing reliance on energy for our functionality. Some worried about losing basic human capabilitiesdeep reading, map-reading, analog conversation, etc.butother students argued this was more of a forecast concern than reality.

In the end, they were more skeptical of the hype, on either side of the discussion, than they were with possibility of smart appliances surrounding our lives.

All thatmatches up well with a study about IoT, released yesterday by Affinnova, a Massachusetts-based consulting and research firm owned by Nielsen. Most of my students had maybe heard the term, but didnt know much about the Internet of Things. Affinnova noted from a previous study by Acquity Groupthatonly 4 percent owned an IoT device and 87 percent said they never heard the term, as of this year. This might surprise tech-saturated folks, but it says something about howdisconnected the cutting edge gets with life as most people live it.

Fine, but what about the concept itself? Dont most people want their lives to get technologically smarter?The large consensuswas ehhh? From the study:

92 percent say its very difficult to pinpoint what theyd want from smart objects, but feel that theyll know it when they see it. This means traditional consumer surveys are likely to provide very limited insight, leaving companies unsure about which features to include and how to communicate their value.

What is useful about this study is that it really wasnt just another consumer survey. Affinnovaused four steps to better understand where we are with things of the Internet. First they identified different use concepts, then narrowed use cases down to four: smartlight bulbs, scales, tap water filters and food packaging. Third, 500 participants were asked to scrutinize elements (descriptors, features, claims, benefits and taglines) of the smart devices and finally 500 participants answered questions about, attitudes toward possibilities for the Internet of Things, motivations, barriers, product preferences, demographics and psychographics.

So what did they find? Four clear themesemerged, according to the researchers. Thethemes together sound, to me, like an enthusiasm gap between futurists/developers and potential users. From the report:

Slow down, future: some consumers fear loss of control. Despite what one might think, consumers are shying away from the captivating possibilities of a fully automated life.

I can be in two places at once! Being able to access or control objects remotely is the most desired functionality for smart products with 53 percent of consumers expressing interest.

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Study: The Internet of Things Has An Enthusiasm Gap

CEFTUS Westminster Debate Battling the Censors: Freedom of Journalism in New Turkey 5 – Video

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CEFTUS Westminster Debate Battling the Censors: Freedom of Journalism in New Turkey 5
In this Westminster Debate titled #39;Battling the Censors: Freedom of Journalism in #39;New Turkey #39;, Mr Ahmet Sik and Mr Ismail Saymaz elaborate on freedom of expression and freedom of journalism...

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CEFTUS Westminster Debate Battling the Censors: Freedom of Journalism in New Turkey 3
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