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Norway Chooses The Four-Type HPV Vaccine Gardasil(R) For The National Vaccination Programme
The four-type (6,11,16,18) human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil®, has been chosen by the Norwegian authorities for the national vaccination programme after the assessment of a variety of criteria, including efficacy in the prevention of cervical cancer, safety and evidence of long-lasting protection. All available data was considered, including new data presented during the 25th International Papillomavirus Conference (IPC) in May in Malmē¶, Sweden.

Global Health Programmes Improve Specific Health Outcomes But Can Constrain Health Systems Of Poor Countries
The emergence of global health initiatives (GHIs), eg, The Global Fund and PEPFAR, has resulted in a striking expansion of key health interventions in recent years, from which millions have benefited. There is also evidence, however, that such initiatives can constrain the health systems of poor countries and that many opportunities to improve efficiency, equity, value for money and outcomes in global public health are still being missed. The health systems strengthening agenda needs more investment, and to be infused with the same sense of ambition and speed that has characterised GHIs. This is one of five key recommendations in a new multi-partner report published in a Health Policy paper in this week"s edition of The Lancet.
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UPMC Surgeon Performs 2,000th Prostate Cancer Surgery In Pittsburgh
Joel B. Nelson, M.D., chairman of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center"s (UPMC) Department of Urology, performed his 2,000th radical prostatectomy at UPMC Shadyside, a milestone achieved by only a handful of surgeons worldwide. Radical prostatectomy, or removal of the entire prostate gland, is the most common treatment for patients with localized prostate cancer. Studies show that recovery from prostate cancer is significantly associated with a surgeon"s lifetime experience performing this operation.
Public Health

Researchers Identify Gene That Regulates Tumors In Neuroblastoma

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified a gene that may play a key role in regulating tumor progression in neuroblastoma, a form of cancer usually found in young children. Scientists hope the finding could lead to an effective therapy to inhibit the expression of this gene. According to Paul B. Fisher, M.Ph., Ph.D., who is the first incumbent of the Thelma Newmeyer Corman Endowed Chair in Cancer Research with the VCU Massey Cancer Center, and Seok-Geun Lee, Ph.D., assistant professor in the VCU Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, co-lead investigators of the study, the team has shown that astrocyte elevated gene-1, AEG-1, a cancer promoting gene, is frequently activated in neuroblastoma. In the study published online in the May issue of the journal Oncogene, Fisher, Lee and their team found that the elevated expression of AEG-1 makes cancer cells highly aggressive and resistant to factors that may influence cell suicide, and that loss of AEG-1 reduces the tumor-causing properties of highly aggressive neuroblastoma cells. Additionally, the expression of AEG-1 was significantly elevated in six of 10 neuroblastoma patient-derived samples compared to normal peripheral nerve tissues. Furthermore, they have shown the potential correlation between AEG-1 and MYCN in neuroblastoma. MYCN is a known genetic determinant of neuroblastoma and elevated levels have been observed in one third of neuroblastoma patients. MYCN is linked to aggressive tumor formation and poor clinical outcome. "We believe that activation of AEG-1 in addition to MYCN is critical to the development and progression of neuroblastoma. This works shows that AEG-1 plays a crucial role in the development and progression of neuroblastoma through activating important signaling pathway and induction of MYCN," said Fisher, who also is professor and chair of the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, and director of the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine in the VCU School of Medicine. "In addition, we have shown that AEG-1 could be a potential prognostic marker for neuroblastoma and a potential target for novel therapeutic strategies for neuroblastoma patients," he said. The team has already begun analyzing the expression of AEG-1 and its relationship with MYCN status in neuroblastoma patient samples. Through collaboration with John Maris, M.D., chair of neuroblastoma research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the team will acquire data from approximately 2,000 neuroblastoma patient tissues. They will also test if inactivation of AEG-1 using small interfering RNA could be a therapeutic intervention for neuroblastoma through second collaborative effort with Bill Weiss, M.D., associate professor of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco. This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, the Dana Foundation, and the Goldhirsh Foundation. Fisher worked with a team that included VCU School of Medicine researchers Zaozhong Su, Ph.D., associate professor in the VCU Department of Human and Molecular Genetics; Devanand Sarkar, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., assistant professor and Harrison Endowed Scholar in Cancer Research at the VCU Massey Cancer Center, the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine and the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics; H-Y Jeon, J.E. Richards, and N. Vozhilla, D.V.M., with the VCU Department of Human and Molecular Genetics; and T Van Maerken, M.D., with the Center for Medical Genetics at the Ghent University Hospital in Ghent, Belgium. Sathya Achia Abraham Virginia Commonwealth University


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