oncologywatch

Mead MN. Strong signal for cell phone effects. Environ Health Perspect. 2008 Oct;116(10):A422. PMID: 18941554.

Drawing upon a meta-analysis published in the May 2008 issue of the International Journal of Oncology, finding significant associations between long-term cell phone use and brain tumor risk, this review encourages limiting children’s use of cell phones and using speaker phones to minimize direct exposure to the head.

“We found that cell phone use is linked to gliomas [malignant brain tumors] and acoustic neuromas [benign tumors of the brain’s auditory nerve] and are showing up after only ten years,” says lead author Lennart Hardell, an oncologist and cancer epidemiologist at University Hospital in Örebro, Sweden. Specifically, for studies that included at least 10 years of exposure, there was a doubling in the risk of gliomas for ipsilateral (same-side) but not contralateral (opposite-side) exposures to the head (as reflected by which hand the subject typically used to hold his/her cell phone). A 2.4-fold increase in risk was seen for acoustic neuromas due to ipsilateral exposures, whereas no increased risk occurred for meningiomas (tumors that occur in the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord).

 

OncologyWatch: Posts about free-access articles on aspects of oncology theory, practice and policy (about the blogger). This blog is not a source for medical advice.

technorati tags: cell phones

Comments and Links Appreciated!

Walker I, Newell H. Do molecularly targeted agents in oncology have reduced attrition rates? Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, advance online publication, 14 November 2008.

Rational drug design has improved the fundamentals of oncology R&D, according to this benchmark study by Cancer Research UK.

In a study of 974 cancer drugs, researchers found that, if current trends continue, about 18% will become standard treatments (up from previous estimates of about 5%). Kinase inhibitors, which include Novartis’s Gleevec (imatinib), were almost three times more likely to make it to the clinic than other types of anti-cancer drugs.

"…We conclude that attrition rates within the oncology field as a whole are 82% (including NDR projects). However, for kinase inhibitors as a subset the attrition rate is only 53%. In addition to the reduced overall attrition rate, kinase inhibitors are more successful in the high-risk transition from Phase II to Phase III. This analysis has further demonstrated the benefits of developing molecularly targeted therapeutics for cancer."

The bar has been raised. Time for innovation to reduce attrition rates even further.

OncologyWatch: Posts about free-access articles on aspects of oncology theory, practice and policy (about the blogger). This blog is not a source for medical advice.

technorati tags: research and development

Comments and Links Appreciated!