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Advocates Express Concern About Embryonic Stem Cell Research Guidelines As Comment Period Closes
Supporters of embryonic stem cell research have expressed concern about the impact on existing research efforts under the Obama administration"s draft guidelines outlining criteria for federal funding of stem cell research, the Washington Post reports. The public comment period for the guidelines ends Tuesday and has generated more than 20,000 comments addressing nearly every element of the proposal. The guidelines, which NIH issued in April, propose limiting federal funding for the research to stem cells derived from unused embryos created for fertility treatments and willingly donated by patients who have given written consent. Former President George W. Bush in August 2001 enacted restrictions limiting federal funding for the research to the 21 stem cell lines existing at the time. Although President Obama in March signed an executive order lifting Bush"s restrictions, some proponents of embryonic stem cell research have suggested that Obama"s plan could actually jeopardize many existing research efforts. The Obama administration is expected to issue its final version of the guidelines by July 7, the Post reports.After Bush restricted federal funding to the embryonic stem cell lines already in existence, many researchers turned to private donors and state governments for the financial support to create hundreds of new lines. Although supporters of the research initially were pleased that the Obama administration"s guidelines would allow federal funding for research on these new existing lines, some are now concerned that certain stipulations in the new guidelines could actually disqualify these research efforts from receiving federal funding. For example, NIH"s proposal requires that couples who wish to donate unused embryos for research sign a consent form indicating that they were fully informed of their alternatives. Although many fertility clinics provide information for couples about their other options, few clinics note these details in written consent forms, according to the Post. Therefore, existing stem cell lines derived from embryos donated by couples who did not sign the required consent forms could be ineligible under NIH"s draft proposal, the Post reports. In addition, many stem cell research supporters also expressed disappointment that only unused embryos created for fertility treatments would be eligible for federal funding.George Daley of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute said that the Obama administration"s guidelines "take 2009 standards and attempt to apply them retroactively, which isn"t really a standard that would allow most of the pre-existing lines to be acceptable for NIH funding." Lawrence Goldstein, director of the University of California-San Diego"s stem cell program, said, "It"s not that past practices were shoddy. But they don"t necessarily meet every letter of the new guidelines moving forward." Goldstein added that researchers would "have to throw everything out and start all over again" under the new proposed guidelines. Amy Comstock Rick, CEO of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, said that her group is "very concerned" about the funding prospects for existing research efforts, adding that if NIH officials do not modify the guidelines, "very little current research would be eligible" to receive federal funds. However, Raynard Kington, acting NIH director, said the agency is aware of the concerns and "will take them into consideration." He added that "it"s unambiguous that the intent of the president was to expand opportunities and research in this area," as long as such research is "scientifically worthy" and "ethically responsible" (Stein, Washington Post, 5/25).
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New Publication Indian Journal Of Surgical Oncology To Be Launched By Springer
Springer, one of the leading publishers in the fields of science, technology and medicine, has signed a co-publishing agreement with the Indian Association of Surgical Oncology (IASO), to launch the society"s official publication, the Indian Journal of Surgical Oncology (IJSO). Dr. Vijay Kumar, Secretary of the Indian Association of Surgical Oncology; Dr. K.S. Gopinath, editor of the IIndian Journal of Surgical Oncology; Dr. William F. Curtis, President of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC; and Sanjiv Goswami, Managing Director of Springer India, signed the agreement at Bangalore.
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Scientists Slowed Growth Of Ovarian Tumors In Mice Using Nanoparticles To Deliver Suicide Genes

Scientists in the US have found a way of slowing the growth of ovarian cancer tumors in mice by using nanoparticles to deliver suicide genes to the exact tumor location without damaging healthy cells. They hope a therapy using this method could be tested in humans within the next two years. The study was the work of lead researcher Dr Janet Sawicki, a professor at the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and colleagues and is published online in the 1 August issue of the journal Cancer Research. Although early stage ovarian cancer can be treated with a combination of surgery and then chemotherapy, there are currently no effective treatments for patients with advanced ovarian cancer that recurs after surgery and primary chemotherapy, meaning that most relapse. For the study Sawicki and colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted preclinical tests in mice with primary and advanced ovarian cancer tumors. First they measured the volume of the tumors and then they injected them with nanoparticles (these are less than one thousandth of the thickness of human hair) carrying a special type of suicide gene. Some mice were not injected (the controls). More specifically, they used a "cationic biodegradable poly(beta-amino ester) polymer as a vector for nanoparticulate delivery of DNA encoding a diphtheria toxin suicide protein (DT-A)". When they compared the volume of the tumors before and after treatment, they found that while the treated tumors had doubled in size, this was significantly less than what they found in the untreated mice: their tumors had increased to between four and six times their original size. Also, four of the treated tumors didn"t grow at all, while all the tumors in the control mice grew, they said. They also found that giving the nanoparticle therapy to mice with three different types of ovarian cancer prolonged lifespan by nearly four weeks, suppressed tumor growth more effectively, and with minimal general toxic side effects, compared with mice treated with cisplatin and paclitaxel (a standard combination chemotherapy for women with advanced ovarian cancer). Sawicki told the press that there was "reason to hope": "We now have a potential new therapy for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer that has promise for targeting tumor cells and leaving healthy cells healthy." The study is striking because it appears to overcome a common problem in ovarian cancer research: how to hit the target accurately without damaging healthy tissue. Dr Edward Sausville, an associate editor of Cancer Research and associate director for clinical research at the Greenebaum Cancer Center at the University of Maryland, said the study was remarkable because of the multiple ways the researchers show it"s possible to target ovarian cancer cells. They were able not only to deliver the toxin gene to the tumor site (in the peritoneum), but they were also able to selectively activate it inside the cancer cells. "A real plus of a cancer therapy like this is not just the functionality of the nanoparticle construct molecule, but the ability to deliver the toxin to the tumor cells," said Sausville, who agreed with the authors" estimate that clinical trials in humans could be just 18 months away. "Nanoparticle-Delivered Suicide Gene Therapy Effectively Reduces Ovarian Tumor Burden in Mice." Yu-Hung Huang, Gregory T. Zugates, Weidan Peng, David Holtz, Charles Dunton, Jordan J. Green, Naushad Hossain, Michael R. Chernick, Robert F. Padera, Jr., Robert Langer, Daniel G. Anderson, and Janet A. Sawicki. Cancer Res. 2009 69: 6184-6191. Published August 1, 2009. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-09-0061 Additional American Association for Cancer Research . Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today


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