Stand Up To Cancer Conference Call

I received an email from Stand Up To Cancer regarding an upcoming telephone conference call to announce grant awards for ground-breaking cancer research.  Here’s the information if anyone is interested in calling in.

MEDIA ADVISORY  – TELEPHONE CONFERENCE CALL

 

STAND UP TO CANCER TO ANNOUNCE GRANT AWARDS FOR
GROUND-BREAKING CANCER RESEARCH ON MAY 27

 

 FUNDS TO SUPPORT MULTI-DISCIPLINARY “DREAM TEAMS”

WITH MORE THAN 200 RESEARCHERS AT 20 INSTITUTIONS

 

MEDIA INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN TELEPHONE CONFERENCE CALL WITH NEWLY SELECTED DREAM TEAM LEADERS AND STAND UP TO CANCER EXECUTIVES IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27

12 – 1 PM EST / 9 – 10 AM PST

 

ADDITIONAL DETAILS AND DREAM TEAM LEADERS’ NAMES

WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE PRIOR TO CALL

 

Stand Up To Cancer, the charitable initiative supporting ground-breaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated timeframe, will announce the awarding of the first installment of three-year grants to multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional research Dream Teams.

 

To learn more and discuss details, media are invited to participate in a telephone conference call immediately following the announcement.

 

WHO:             SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee Chairman Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Nobel Laureate

Ten Researchers from the newly announced Dream Teams

                        Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), CEO of American Association for Cancer Research

Lisa Paulsen, President & CEO, Entertainment Industry Foundation*, SU2C Executive Leadership Council

Diane Balma, Moderator, SU2C Executive Director

 

WHAT:           Media Telephone Conference Call

                        Each participant will speak briefly followed by an open Q&A

 

WHEN:           Wednesday, May 27

                        12 – 1:00 PM EST / 9 – 10:00 AM PST                                                          

                        Please dial in 10 minutes before the start of the conference call

 

WHY:             The projects address some of the most critical and promising areas of cancer research today. Collectively, the research that will be done could impact the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of cancers.

                       

DETAILS:      U.S./Canada Dial-In #:  (888) 282 – 7404

International Dial-In #:   (763) 488 – 9184

Conference Code: 10324648

 

For more information or to RSVP to participate in conference call, contact Drew Beitz or at 212-843-9234 or via e-mail at dbeitz@Rubenstein.com

 

RSVP not required, but requested

 

*Stand Up To Cancer is a program of EIF, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit that serves as a collective charitable organization for the television and film businesses.

National CFIDS Foundation Funds Leukemia Research Investigations

The National CFIDS Foundation announced that they will be funding two grants totaling $225,000 to fund new research into CFIDS/ME and its association with a leukemic cell phenotype that it has identified in some patients with the disease.  A paper written by Kerr also noted abnormal expressed genes “associated with hematologic disease.  You can read Karr’s paper at this link: Gene Expression Subtypes in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

Through bone marrow biopsies and blood samples, researchers say they have a “preliminary indication” that problems exist in the bone marrow of the ME/CFS patients with this problem.

By using the latest in flow cytometry technologies combined with cytogenetic profiles, the NCF has been able to advance its own theories about the disease. This has allowed us to share important data with various top experts worldwide in the leukemia field as well as those engaged in bone marrow research.”

Receiving these research grants are Hany El-Shemy, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry at Cairo University in Egypt. He will be will be evaluating numerous compounds in-vitro against acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines. He likes to use plant-based botanicals to eradicate the acute myeloid leukemia cell lines.

Receiving the other grant is Tsvee Lapidot, PhD, Professor of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. His research interests include the mechanisms of stem cell migration and immune development, the regulation of the bone marrow reservoir of immature and maturing luekocytes as part of host defense and repair during homeostasis and alarm situations and the role of stromal cells, cytokines, chemokines, adhesion molecules and proteolytic enzymes in normal and leukemic human hematopoiesis.

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Breast Cancer – Click For Free Mammograms

The Breast Cancer Site gives away free mammograms to women who need them by clicking on their site, but they have not been hitting their quota lately. They need a lot of clicks daily in order to meet their quota of one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman.

It only takes a second to click each day and by clicking you can help save someone’s life. Please pass this on to as many people as you know so that the site can continue giving away these much needed mammograms.

My paternal grandmother died as a result of breast cancer so this is a cause that is very near and dear to my heart. I watched her die a slow, horrible, miserable death from breast cancer. The last time I saw her I told her I loved her, but she was so out of it and in so much pain she didn’t even know who I was. It was heartbreaking.

Please Keep This Family In Your Prayers…

I have been reading this blog, Bryce D. Brown, for a while now and my heart goes out to this family. I believe this family could really use a large prayer circle right now and I am sending this out hoping that everyone reading will pray for Bryce, his wife and their baby daughter today, and every day.

Bryce has skin cancer, Melanoma, and he is a Stage 4. He has been battling hard for quite some time now and the strength of this family is amazing. They continue to fight against all of the odds and refuse to give up and refuse to let cancer win.

Please stop over at the website, read about Bryce, and leave a nice comment for them.

The other week when I was reading through the blog and some of the comments I was horrified. I could not believe how insensitive some people could be and the hurtful and ignorant things they were saying to this family knowing what they are going through.

Bryce and his wife have a beautiful baby girl and everyone is rooting for him to be around to see her grow up. Again, please keep this family in your prayers.

More News on Aspartame’s Role In Cancer

Italian researchers published a new study recently that showed aspartame might cause leukemia, lymphoma and breast cancer in rats.

This was the second study by the same lab that showed aspartame causes cancer in rats.

After hearing of yet another claim from researchers that aspartame causes cancer, a U.S. consumer group called for an urgent FDA review. But once again, the FDA concluded that aspartame is safe as a “general purpose sweetener in food”.

One of the concerns is that aspartame is found in so many products, not just diet sodas, so people are consuming more and more aspartame all of the time. You can actually view the Italian study in PDF form here.

I don’t think it matters how much proof is given to the FDA on aspartame causing cancer. The FDA is not always looking out for our best interests. It’s all about the money in my opinion.

Is New Alli A Cancer Worry?

I was reading a post on The Cancer Blog that discusses the new Alli (which was formerly a prescription diet drug by the name of Orlistat) as a cancer worry.

The over-the-counter version weight loss pills are supposed to be more effective with less side effects but it is believed to cause colon cancer. A non-profit group, Public Citizen, says Alli has been shown to cause pre-cancerous lesions in the colons of mice.

The group believes that since there were no long-term studies done on humans that the FDA should never have approved the drug.

” It’s not clear whether or not the pre-cancerous spots will lead to colon cancer but the mere suggestion that it might is enough”, says a Public Citizen spokesperson.

“What we do know is that these lesions occur much more frequently in people who do get colon cancer,” he said. “Why do we recommend that everyone get a colonscopy at the age of 50? Because you pick up on these polyps when you do one. And, even though not all of the polyps are pre-cancerous, no (doctor) does a colonscopy without removing every single polyp that is found. And you do this because you know if you don’t, it greatly increases the chances of getting cancer.”

Stress Contributing To Cancer

A study conducted at Wake Forest University has found that the “fight or flight” stress hormone epinephrine (adrenaline) may contribute to the development of cancer and cause cancer cells to resist treatment. Epinephrine is found to be elevated in those suffering from depression.

Epinephrine is produced by the adrenal glands. When we are in a stressful situation, our levels of epinephrine are increased and they can continuously be elevated during continual stess and depression.

Back in April 2007, a report was published that scientists from Wake Forest University School of Medicine found that epinephrine causes changes in prostate and breast cancer cells that may make them resistant to cell death.

George Kulik, DVM, PhD, an assistant professor of cancer biology adn senior researcher on the project said, “These data imply that emotional stress may contribute to the development of cancer and may also reduce the effectiveness of cancer treatments”.

Even though a link between stress and cancer has been suggested, studies in large groups of people have been mixed. There is currently no evidence that stress DIRECTLY changes cancer cells.

While studying prostate and breast cancer cells, Kulik and other researchers found that the protein BAD that causes cell death becomes inactive when cancer cells are exposed to epinephrine.

Kulik is now studying blood samples of prostate cancer patients to determine if there is a link between levels of stress hormones and severity of disease. They have also started studying the effects of epinephrine in mice with prostate cancer.

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