Daily Archives: January 23, 2014

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

22-Jan-2014

Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2156 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, January 22, 2014Metastatic melanoma has a poor prognosis, but treatment with high-dose interleukin-2 (IL2) can extend survival. Now, a combination of IL2 therapy and activation of patients' immune systems using personalized vaccines made from their own tumor cells has been shown to improve survival rates even more than IL2 alone, according to a new article in Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals website.

"High-Dose IL2 in Metastatic Melanoma: Better Survival in Patients Immunized with Antigens from Autologous Tumor Cell Lines" describes a statistically significant improvement in survival for patients who received IL2 plus tumor cell-based immunotherapy. Authors Robert Dillman, Carol DePriest and Stephanie McClure, Hoag Institute for Research and Education, Hoag Family Cancer Institute, and Cancer Biotherapy Research Group, Newport Beach, CA, found that administration of immunotherapy after IL2 treatment resulted in longer patient survival than if individuals were vaccinated before receiving IL2.

"This is an important addition to the literature on IL2 treatment for metastatic melanoma demonstrating that personalized vaccine therapy contributed to an increased survival rate," says Co-Editor-in-Chief Donald J. Buchsbaum, PhD, Division of Radiation Biology, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.

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About the Journal

Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals, published 10 times a year in print and online, is under the editorial leadership of Editors Donald J. Buchsbaum, PhD and Robert K. Oldham, MD, Lower Keys Cancer Center, Key West, FL. Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals is the only journal with a specific focus on cancer biotherapy, including monoclonal antibodies, cytokine therapy, cancer gene therapy, cell-based therapies, and other forms of immunotherapy. The Journal includes extensive reporting on advancements in radioimmunotherapy and the use of radiopharmaceuticals and radiolabeled peptides for the development of new cancer treatments. Topics include antibody drug conjugates, fusion toxins and immunotoxins, nanoparticle therapy, vascular therapy, and inhibitors of proliferation signaling pathways. Tables of content and a sample issue are available on the Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals website.

About the Publisher

Read the original post:
Can personalized tumor vaccines improve interleukin-2 treated metastatic melanoma?

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

21-Jan-2014

Contact: Sophie Mohin smohin@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 x2254 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, January 21, 2014 Too much information can be overwhelming, but when it comes to certain types of data that are used to build predictive models to guide decision making there is no such thing as too much data, according to an article in Big Data, the highly innovative, peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Big Data website.

To determine whether more data is really better for predictive modeling, Enric Junqu de Fortuny and David Martens, University of Antwerp, Belgium, and Foster Provost, New York University, NY, tested nine different applications in which they built models using a particular type of data called fine-grained data, such as observing an individual's behavior in a certain setting. In the article "Predictive Modeling with Big Data: Is Bigger Really Better?" the authors state that "certain telling behaviors may not be observed in sufficient numbers without massive data."

"The power of any analytic tool is in using it appropriately," says Founding Editor, Edd Dumbill. "Sweeping assumptions such as 'bigger is better' can be dangerous. This paper significantly advances our knowledge of when massive datasets improve decision-making ability."

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About the Journal

Big Data, published quarterly in print and online, facilitates and supports the efforts of researchers, analysts, statisticians, business leaders, and policymakers to improve operations, profitability, and communications within their organizations. Spanning a broad array of disciplines focusing on novel big data technologies, policies, and innovations, the Journal brings together the community to address the challenges and discover new breakthroughs and trends living within this information.

About the Publisher

Excerpt from:
Bigger (data) is better and can improve decision making

AP/January 22, 2014

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) New Hampshires House killed a bill Wednesday that would have required genetically modified foods to be labeled.

The House voted 185-162 to kill the bill, despite supporters arguments it is time for states like New Hampshire to lead on the issue regardless of the federal governments position.

Supporters argued New Hampshire residents have a right to know whether their food is produced with genetic engineering, but critics said the federal Food and Drug Administration has not mandated the labeling because it determined the foods are safe.

The reality is most of us are living every day with the benefits of genetic engineering, said Rep. Linda Lauer, D-Bath. She said insulin has been genetically engineered since 1982. Prior to that insulin was taken from the pancreas of farm animals, she said.

Lauer said the labeling required under the bill would not tell consumers what was in the food, only that it had been genetically engineered. She said the label wouldnt provide accurate information about the foods. For example, genetically engineered beets are used to produce sugar, which is a pure chemical compound. Despite its purity, any foods containing the sugar would have to be labeled, she said.

But Rep. Peter Bixby, D-Dover, said people have a right to know if genetic engineering modified the foods.

People are responsible for their own decisions, but to make those decisions they need information, he said.

But opponents said wary consumers could buy organic foods or foods labeled as not being genetically modified. They said the industry is beginning to respond to consumers wishes for genetically engineered foods to be labeled,

The market will solve this problem. It moves a little slow, but it will solve the problem, said Rep. Robert Haefner, R-Hudson.

See the article here:
House rejects genetically modified foods labeling