The Associated Press: Skin Cancer Drug Said to Show Promise

"A very early test of an experimental drug seemed to slow the spread of advanced deadly skin cancer in a small study, the drug's U.S. developer reported in preliminary findings Wednesday. Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. of Lexington, Mass., reported that patients with advanced melanoma who got the drug survived an average of 3.7 months without new cancer lesions, compared to 1.8 months for those who got the standard treatment. The treatment, given as a pill, is so early in development it doesn't have a name. It must pass muster in much more rigorous testing before the company seeks U.S. approval. Synta's drug is one of several in development by other companies trying a new strategy against cancer — killing tumor cells by overloading them with oxygen. 'We are taking advantage of the Achilles heel of cancer cells,' said Dr. Anthony Williams, vice president of clinical research at Synta Pharmaceuticals. The drug has no effect on normal cells, which can adjust to higher levels of oxygen that cause cancer cells to self-destruct."

Breast cancer death rate drops more: report | Science & Health | Reuters

"The death rate from breast cancer continues to drop steadily by about 2 percent a year, but black women are not seeing the same benefits as whites, the American Cancer Society said on Tuesday. The group found that during 2001 through 2004, breast cancer diagnoses fell by an average of 3.7 percent a year -- in part because women stopped taking hormone replacement therapy and in part because fewer got mammograms and therefore were not diagnosed. Death rates fell by 2 percent during that period."

New test for prostate cancer

"A new genetic test for prostate cancer with the potential to transform the way the disease is detected and monitored was launched in the UK.
The test, the first of its kind, measures the activity of a gene closely linked to prostate cancer.
Doctors hope it will make diagnosis of the disease more accurate and reduce the unnecessary removal of tissue samples.
About 35,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the UK and 10,000 die from the disease.
Currently the standard diagnostic tool is the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test, which looks for raised levels of a protein in the blood that leaks out of the prostate gland.
But the PSA test is notorious for providing misleading results. Men with cancer might have low PSA scores, while others with benign conditions have high readings.
The uncertainty of the PSA test has led doctors to nickname it the "Producer of Stress and Anxiety" test.
The new test measures a genetic chemical, messenger RNA, which transfers DNA "instructions" from the PCA3 gene.
Elevated scores are only produced when prostate cancer is present, making the test highly specific."

Cervical Cancer Vaccine Beats Expectations

"The Gardasil vaccine offers protection against viruses that cause 90 percent of cervical cancers, researchers report. Gardasil came on the market last year for preventing infection with two strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), 16 and 18, that are responsible for up to 70 percent of all cervical cancers, and HPV 6 and 11, which account for 90 percent of genital warts. The new study, which involved about 11,000 young women aged 15 to 26, shows that the vaccine is also 38 percent effective against 10 additional HPV types, which are responsible for an additional 20 percent of cervical cancers. "The new study shows that Gardasil affords an extra degree of protection for young women," says researcher Darren R. Brown, MD, professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. "

Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer Using Light

"Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest diseases in the US. Out of almost 38,000 people diagnosed with the disease every year there are an estimated 34,000 deaths. Pancreatic cancer is hard to detect and requires invasive procedures, which are not always accurate and are usually performed too late. A group of researchers from Evanston, Illinois developed a way of detecting the deadly cancer in its early stages using a simple endoscopy. "

NYTIMES : San Francisco to Offer Care for Uninsured Adults

"Since contracting polio at age 2, Yan Ling Ho has lived with pain for most of her 52 years. After she immigrated here from Hong Kong last year, the soreness in her back and joints proved too debilitating for her to work.
That also meant she did not have health insurance. Not wanting to burden her daughter, who was already paying her living expenses, Ms. Ho delayed doctors’ visits and battled her misery with over-the-counter medications.
“Sometimes the pain was so bad, I would just cry,” she said. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
Last month, unable to bear her discomfort any longer, Ms. Ho went to North East Medical Services, a nonprofit community clinic on the edge of Chinatown, and discovered to her delight that she qualified for a new program that offers free or subsidized health care to all 82,000 San Francisco adults without insurance."