The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) will host news briefings with accompanying live webcasts on the top cancer research papers from its 51st Annual Meeting to be held this coming week in Chicago. Prostate cancer features in three of briefings. We’ll bring these stories when we have them, here are the headlines:
News briefing 1:
Monday, [...] (Source: psa-rising.com/blog)

Original post by psa-rising.com/blog and software by Elliott Back

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dick Despommier, Alan Dove, Jason Rodriguez, and Rich Condit
In episode 55 of the podcast “This Week in Virology”, the largest TWiV panel ever assembled takes on XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome, 2009 chemistry Nobel prizes for ribosome structure, finding new poxvirus vaccine candidates, a brouhaha over leaked Canadian data on influenza susceptibility, and transmission of H1N1 influenza to a pet ferret.
Download TWiV #55 (66 MB .mp3, 91 minutes)
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Links for this episode:
XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome
XMRV not found in German prostate cancer
2009 Chemistry Nobel Prize for ribosome structure
New poxvirus vaccines (e! Science and Virology articles – thanks Jim!)
Seasonal flu shots and …

Original post by virology blog and software by Elliott Back

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-like virus (XMRV) was discovered in 2006 during a search for viral sequences in prostate cancer tissues. The results of a recent study revealed that the virus is present in 23% of prostate cancers from patients in the US. Understanding the role of XMRV in prostate cancers requires more extensive epidemiological studies, including the examination of tissues from patients in other countries. The prevalence of XMRV in prostate cancers from German subjects has now been assessed.
Prostate tissue samples were collected from 589 patients undergoing prostatectomy at the Universitätsmedizin Berlin. DNA was extracted from the biopsy material, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the presence of XMRV. None of the samples were found to contain viral …

Original post by virology blog and software by Elliott Back

A retrovirus that has been implicated in prostate cancer has now been found in the blood of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. What is this virus and where did it come from?
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disease characterized by fatigue and chronic inflammation that can last years and may affect ~1% of the world’s population. The etiology of the disease is unknown, although several viruses have been suggested to be involved, including enteroviruses and herpesviruses.
The retrovirus XMRV (xenotropic Moloney murine leukemia virus-related virus) was recently identified in the tumor tissue of individuals with prostate cancer. XMRV nucleic acid was detected by polymerase chain reaction in the blood of 68 out of 101 samples (67%) from CFS patients. The virus was also found in 8 …

Original post by virology blog and software by Elliott Back

The little vaccine maker that could has added a couple of heavyweights to its board of directors.
Dendreon, which hopes to win FDA approval next month for its Provenge prostate cancer vaccine, recruited Ian Clark, a Roche exec who was recently tapped to lead the big drug maker’s Genentech unit (see photo at left), and Pedro Granadillo, who once headed manufacturing at Eli Lilly. Here’s the press release.
The move prompted speculation that Roche, which has a large presence in oncology, could become a bidder for Dendreon. As Reuters notes, Dendreon stock has jumped 10-fold since last spring, when data was released showing Provenge prolonged life for patients by about four months. Meanwhile, Dendreon has been ramping up production and some investors are betting an acquisition may …

Original post by Pharmalot and software by Elliott Back

Gavin Rodden, the 8 year boy fighting metastatic muscle cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma, which began in muscle in his prostate, now has a web page at CaringBridge, Gavin the Strong:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/gavinthestrong
Gavin is taking chemotherapy in Houston. To donate to the Medical Fund that Shannon’s employer has set up for Gavin (see details in our previous post) send [...] (Source: psa-rising.com/blog)

Original post by psa-rising.com/blog and software by Elliott Back

Eight-year-old Gavin Rodden was diagnosed recently with a rare childhood cancer, which began in his prostate.
Rhabdomyosarcoma (Rhab-do-my-o-sarcoma) is an aggressive form of cancer that starts in a muscle cell and may spread quite rapidly. In Gavin’s case the cancer has already spread from the prostate to his lungs. Possible treatments include surgery, radiation therapy, [...] (Source: psa-rising.com/blog)

Original post by psa-rising.com/blog and software by Elliott Back