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Daily Women's Health Policy Report Summarizes Studies Examining Ovarian Cancer
The following summarizes recent research related to ovarian cancer.~ Early periods linked to lower survival: Women who start menstruating at an early age or experience more menstrual cycles over their lifetimes appear to have a lower chance of surviving ovarian cancer, according to a study published this month in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention, Reuters reports. For the study, researcher Cheryl Robbins and colleagues analyzed the medical data of 410 ovarian cancer patients who participated in the Cancer and Steroid Hormone study between 1980 and 1982. The analysis found that the women who had their first period before age 12 had a 51% greater risk of dying than the women who began menstruating at age 14 or older. The women who had the highest number of lifetime menstrual cycles had a 67% greater risk of dying during follow-up than the women with the lowest number of cycles (Reuters, 7/24).~ Lung cancer risk higher for women after hysterectomy with ovary removal: Women who have had hysterectomies in which their uterus and both ovaries are removed to prevent ovarian cancer appear to have a higher risk for developing lung cancer, according to researchers at the University of Montreal, the New York Times reports. The researchers discovered the connection while looking for links between lung cancer and hormones for a study published in May in the International Journal of Cancer. Although they did not find a relationship between lung cancer risk and hormonal factors such as menstruation patterns, child-bearing or breastfeeding, the researchers found that women who had medically induced menopause had 1.92 times greater risk of developing lung cancer than women who had natural menopause (Caryn Rabin, New York Times, 7/24).~ Small tumors present for years before detection: Minute-sized ovarian tumors form and remain in the Fallopian tubes for an average of four years before they grow large enough to be detected, which might suggest why ovarian cancer frequently is diagnosed in its later stages, according to a study published in the journal PLoS Medicine, Reuters reports. For the study, lead researcher Patrick Brown of Stanford University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and colleagues analyzed the tumors of women whose Fallopian tubes and ovaries were removed because they had family histories of and genetic risk for ovarian cancer. They found small tumors -- most less than three millimeters in diameter -- that previously had not been detected in the women. In a statement, Brown said, "There is a long window of opportunity for potentially lifesaving early detection of this disease, but the tumor spreads while it is still much too small to be detected by any of the tests that have been developed or proposed to date." According to Reuters, blood tests for the compound called CA-125 may help guide therapy but do not indicate whether a woman has a tumor (Reuters, 7/28).
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Sleep Helps Build Long-Term Memories - Picower Institute Study Strengthens Link Between Sleep, Memory Formation
Experts have long suspected that part of the process of turning fleeting short-term memories into lasting long-term memories occurs during sleep. Now, researchers at the RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics of MIT"s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have shown that mice prevented from "replaying" their waking experiences while asleep do not remember them as well as mice who are able to perform this function.
News of the day
Biolex Therapeutics Announces Completion Of Enrollment In SELECT-2 Phase 2b Trial Of Locteron(R) In Chronic Hepatitis C
Biolex Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it has completed patient enrollment in the SELECT-2 Phase 2b trial of its lead product candidate Locteron® for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. Locteron, controlled-release interferon alpha 2b, is designed to improve patient care by providing a more convenient once-every-two week dosing schedule and by reducing the side effects, including flu-like symptoms, associated with pegylated interferons, the current standard of care.
Oncology

International Diabetes Study Establishes GlycoMark As Definitive Test For Blood Sugar Swings In Seemingly Well-Controlled Patients

A team of researchers sponsored by three major international diabetes organizations has definitively established that the GlycoMark® test (1,5-AG), a simple blood test used to measure glucose control in patients with diabetes, accurately reveals potentially dangerous fluctuations in blood sugar that are undetectable by other means. The findings support a need for a new paradigm that includes testing patients with the GlycoMark test for glucose variability in addition to the "hemoglobin A1C" test, which measures average glucose levels. A1C had long been considered the "gold standard" in determining whether patients" diabetes is under control. The study confirms earlier data and establishes the GlycoMark test as the only blood test proven to detect glycemic variability and hyperglycemic episodes in moderately controlled patients who have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes mellitus-- which affect a total of more than 246 million adults and children worldwide. The findings were announced on June 6, 2009, at the annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). "These results show that the GlycoMark test provides a much-needed tool to ensure that patients whose blood glucose levels appear to be well-controlled are not experiencing hypo- or hyperglycemia (or blood sugar swings) especially after meals," said Eric Button, President of GlycoMark Inc., the New York/North Carolina company that has developed the test, and who is a member of the research team. "Chronic hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes has been associated with increased risk of vascular complications that can lead to stroke, heart attack, and blindness. Severe hypoglycemia can lead to hospitalization. Better testing of glucose control is expected to decrease such risks." The widely-used hemoglobin AIC test measures average glucose levels over a two-to-three-month period. GlycoMark provides a much more sensitive measure of variation over a one-to-two-week period, thus indicating if blood glucose "peaks and valleys" that comprise the average are minimal or extreme and whether treatment changes are indicated. The GlycoMark test was proven particularly effective in patients with A1C values of less than 8%-that is, those whose blood sugars were previously thought to be nearing or in control. Studies have found that as many as 40% of type 2 diabetes patients with A1C levels in the moderately controlled range are experiencing dangerous glucose swings and need medical intervention, Button said. According to diabetes expert Irl Hirsch, Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine: "A1C is helpful in tracking broad glucose targets, but it only tells part of the story because it masks short term glycemic variability." "I would become concerned if a patient has an A1C level that is within target, but a GlycoMark score that is abnormal; there may be a risk for life-threatening hypoglycemia and I can immediately explore where therapy changes need to occur. GlycoMark is a critical adjunct to A1C testing and presents a new paradigm for effective diabetes management." The study was conducted as a follow on to the 2006-2008 international A1C- Derived Average Glucose (ADAG) study of more than 600 patients from ten research centers worldwide. ADAG is sponsored by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). The 2009 study, entitled "Anhydroglucitol concentrations and measures of glucose control and glucose variability" was carried out by: Judith C. Kuenen, MD, of the Department of Endocrinology/Diabetes Center, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Rikke Borg, MD, of the Steno Diabetes Center, in Copenhagen, Eric A. Button, MS, MBA, of GlycoMark, Inc., Winston-Salem, NC; David M. Nathan, MD, PhD, of the Diabetes Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston; Hui Zheng , PhD, of Harvard Medical School and the Diabetes Center and Department of Biostatistics at MGH; Piet J. Kostense of the Department of Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center and Michaela Diamant, MD, PhD, of the Eli Lilly Company, Inc., in Minneapolis. GlycoMark


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