Editorial
Welcome to the October 2011 homepage dition of i2P-Information to Pharmacists.
Well, the month just finished did so with a bang as the Blackmore's/Pharmacy Guild proposed alliance hit the fan.
And what a mess!
To such an extent that many of the articles for this month touch on the qualities of leadership and the ethics of pharmacy promotions, how we are connected as pharmacists and how we all become tainted when one segment of pharmacy does something that goes wrong-and we all have to share the collective blame whether we like it or not.
Columns
Dr Linda Bryant (PGDipPharm, MPharm, DPharm(Auck), FACPP, FNZCP, FPSNZ, MCAPA): Inside NZ
Loretta Marron BSc: Health Watch
Barry Urquhart: Marketing Focus
Harvey Mackay: Strategic Thinking
Mark Neuenschwander: I`ve been thinking about...Recent Comments
Past Editions
Volume 1 Number 1
Volume 1 Number 2
Volume 1 Number 3
Volume 1 Number 4
Volume 1 Number 5
Volume 1 Number 6
Volume 1 Number 7
Volume 2 Number 1
Volume 2 Number 2
Volume 2 Number 3
Volume 2 Number 4
Volume 2 Number 5
Volume 2 Number 6
Volume 2 Number 7
Volume 2 Number 8
Volume 2 Number 9
Volume 2 Number 10
Volume 2 Number 11
Volume 3 Number 1
Volume 3 Number 2
Volume 3 Number 3
Volume 3 Number 4
Volume 3 Number 5
Volume 3 Number 6
Volume 3 Number 7
Volume 3 Number 8
Volume 3 Number 9
Volume 3 Number 10
Volume 3 Number 11
Volume 4 Number 1
Volume 4 Number 2
Volume 4 Number 3
Volume 4 Number 4
Volume 4 Number 5
Volume 4 Number 6
Volume 4 Number 7
Volume 4 Number 8
Volume 4 Number 9
Volume 4 Number 10
Volume 4 Number 11
Volume 5 Number 1
Volume 5 Number 2
Volume 5 Number 3
Volume 5 Number 4
Pharma News
Hospital News
Health Politics
Climate Change
GP Super Clinics
EPublications
A new approach to cancer treatment
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Editing and Researching news and stories about global and local Pharmacy Issues | |
Scientists have discovered a mechanism that causes an aggressive type of lung cancer to re-grow following chemotherapy, offering hope for new therapies.
The study, conducted by an international team of researchers from Monash, Stanford and John Hopkins universities, represents not just the potential for new drugs, but a novel way of approaching cancer treatment.
Professor Neil Watkins, of the Monash Institute of Medical Research (MIMR) led the Monash research team of Dr Luciano Martelotto, MIMR, and Associate Professor Tracey Brown of the Department of Biochemisty and Molecular Biology
Professor Watkins said while many current cancer treatments and trials focus on shrinking existing tumours, this research had a different focus.
"Some aggressive types of cancer respond very well to chemotherapy, but then the real challenge is to stop the tumour coming back. That's what we investigated.
Lung cancer is the commonest cause of cancer-related death in Australia. Between 15 and 20 per cent of lung cancer cases are an extremely aggressive type known as small cell lung cancer (SCLC) that usually responds well to chemotherapy, but regrows and is then less responsive to the treatment.
The study showed that the regrowth of SCLC cells could be blocked by a drug that targets growth signals, which, in healthy cells, control organ development and repair.
Professor Watkins said that blocking the signalling pathway, known as 'Hedgehog', could form the basis of new SCLC treatments.
"This discovery gives us important clues for designing new treatment approaches. By using drugs to inhibit the Hedgehog signalling, we should be able to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy and reduce the risk of cancer relapse," said Professor Watkins
The latest study will feed into and change the focus of trials already being conducted at the Monash Medical Centre, located next to MIMR.
Dr Vinod Ganju, a medical oncologist at the Monash Cancer Centre, said conventional trials, focusing on tumour shrinkage, would not be useful in realising the potential of blocking the Hedgehog pathway.
"Based on this research, we need to change our approach. We will re-design our clinical trials to test how these new therapies can improve patient outcomes following chemotherapy," said Dr Ganju.
"Our relationship with MIMR means we can make this happen relatively quickly and take immediate advantage of this research breakthrough."
The study, supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Victorian Cancer Agency, was published today in the prestigious journal, Nature Medicine.
Return to homeResearch Reports
Staff Writer: A*STAR Scientists Uncover Critical Link Between Inflammation and Cancer | open full screen
Dr Andrew Byrne & Associates: First publication on Suboxone film gives little clinical information.Practice Development
Neil Retallick: Pharmacy Management Conference 2011- New Ideas & Thoughts
Peter Sayers: Survey Higlights a Need for Increased Dispensing Productivity 
Neil Johnston: Pharmacy Leaders Need Courage- a View of the Blackmore's Controversy | open full screen
Neil Johnston: Evidence Based Medicines+Evidence Based Care and the Exercise of Clinical Judgement = Evidence Based Practice | open full screen
Staff Writer: Monday’s medical myth: the placebo effect only works on the gullible | open full screen
Kay Dunkley - BPharm, Grad Dip Hosp Pharm, Grad Dip Health Admin, MPS, MSHPA: PSS launches development and expansion fund | open full screen
Information Technology
Dr David More: Weekly Overseas Health IT Links - 01 October, 2011.Staff Writer: Packing in Six Times More Storage Density With the Help of Table Salt | open full screen
Preventive Medicine
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