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First Pig Stem Cells Made In China
Achieving a world first, scientists in China have induced cells from pigs to become pluripotent stem cells, which like embryonic stem cells are
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Segregation Decreases Access To Surgical Care For Minorities, Study Finds
New research published in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons reveals that in counties with the highest levels of segregation, an increase in the African-American or Hispanic population was associated with a decrease in the availability and use of surgical services and an increase in the number of emergency room visits. This research supports prior studies that have shown that minority groups in the United States have comparatively poorer access to a range of health care services, often resulting in late diagnosis of illness and delayed treatment.
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Houston Effort Seeks To Screen 15,000 Young Adults For HIV
The Houston Department of Health and Human Services, along with several community health agencies, over the next three weeks is seeking to test 15,000 young adults for HIV as part of an effort to commemorate National HIV Testing Day on June 27, the Houston Chronicle reports. To encourage people to participate, those who take the test and receive their results and one hour of HIV education will get free tickets to a local hip-hop concert. A similar effort last year tested 2,700 young adults in two weeks, and roughly 7,500 were screened over seven weeks in 2007. Combined, the 2007 and 2008 efforts identified about 50 people with the virus, according to the Chronicle (George, Houston Chronicle, 6/21).
Cardiovascular

Celera Presents Data Replicating Its Immunodiagnostic Assay To Detect Lung Cancer From Blood Serum

Celera Corporation (NASDAQ:CRA) announced yesterday the presentation of data replicating its novel mass spectrometry-based approach to identify and validate circulating protein biomarkers that detect non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in an independent cohort of individuals with lung cancer. This study was performed in collaboration with scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center, NY. A key outcome of the study was the validation of a 9 biomarker immunoassay on a cohort of samples that is enriched for stage I disease, important for screening of early stage disease. The assay detected lung cancer with 92% sensitivity at 93% specificity. The panel also accurately distinguished malignant cases from benign lung disease. The data is being presented at the 13th World Conference on Lung Cancer as part of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) in San Francisco, CA. This study confirms the performance of a 9 member biomarker panel previously presented at the 100th Annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference in April 2009. In addition, the authors report the high performance of a 6 marker panel derived from the 9 marker panel which distinguishes malignant cases with 92% sensitivity at 88% specificity. Celera expects to continue the evaluation of the clinical utility of both the 6 and 9 marker panels in an effort to determine which panel would offer optimal performance in a broad clinical setting. "This is one of the most promising assays I"ve seen as a predictor of non-small cell lung cancer," said Harvey I. Pass, M.D., Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Director of Thoracic Surgery and Oncology at the New York University Langone Medical Center and its NYU Cancer Institute. "Such a test with this accuracy, if validated prospectively in other larger cohorts, may impact the management of individuals with presumed or diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer in the future." "The Early Disease Research Network initiative of National Cancer Institute is committed to identifying a biomarker test for early detection of lung cancer that demonstrates robust performance," said William N. Rom M.D., M.P.H., the Sol and Judith Bergstein Professor of Medicine and Environmental Medicine at the New York University Langone Medical Center. "The work from this collaboration has resulted in a very promising set of biomarkers that warrant continued study. Such a test could potentially provide clinically useful information for physicians and their patients." "We"re pleased to see the performance confirmed in an independent cohort since we believe this assay presents a robust test to detect lung cancer using a simple blood test," said Steve Ruben, Ph.D., Vice President of Proteomics at Celera. "We believe the ability to identify a collection of biomarkers, which we have subsequently shown to be elevated in the blood of non-small cell lung cancer patients relative to appropriate controls, presents an opportunity to detect the disease earlier, enabling more effective intervention and monitoring. This test in combination with helical CT imaging may increase the predictive value of these tests over CT alone. We"re exploring the commercial opportunities for this program as we continue our efforts to validate these findings in a clinical setting." A panel of 9 candidate biomarkers capable of distinguishing lung cancer serum samples from normal samples was previously identified. In the current study, these biomarkers were measured in an independent collection of samples that included: 39 subjects with NSCLC; 33 of which are stage I or II; 38 non-cancer smoking controls; 20 COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, emphysema and/or chronic bronchitis) subjects, which is one group of several benign lung diseases often seen in smokers; and 20 subjects with Ground Glass Opacity who continue to be followed to determine which of these patients may progress to malignant disease. The 9 marker panel demonstrated a significantly high level of performance in distinguishing malignant lesions from a control population that included smokers and patients with COPD, showing 92% sensitivity at 93% specificity. Study details The study included 13 candidate biomarkers from a larger set of markers that had been selected from approximately 500 proteins previously identified by a proteomic discovery effort. These biomarkers were used to test serum specimens using ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay) methods in a preliminary validation set of sera comprising 103 patients with NSCLC and 104 healthy smoker controls who were matched for age, gender and smoking history. This set of markers includes examples novel to the mass spectrometry discovery effort that have not previously been reported to be elevated in the blood of lung cancer patients. Markers that showed elevated disease expression were then validated in sera from 39 individuals with NSCLC, 38 non-smoking controls and 20 subjects COPD. The test panels that were configured detected lung cancer with favorable sensitivity and specificity to those previously reported (J Clin Onc. 2007, 25: 5578-5582; J Thorac Oncol. 2006, 1: 513-519; Clin Cancer Res. 2008, 14: 1355-1362). This panel and others described in the study are expected to provide the flexibility to design tests with performance specifications suitable for a variety of diagnostic applications, such as screening individuals at risk for lung cancer and for monitoring of disease following diagnosis and treatment. Biomarkers and Lung Cancer Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in the U.S. accounting for about 29% of all cancer deaths that occurred in 2008 (Cancer J Clin, 2008; 58:71-96). Currently, there are no guidelines for screening of individuals at risk for lung cancer, and current biomarkers are used only for monitoring of disease following diagnosis and treatment. Novel biomarker panels with improved performance, such as the one described in the current study, may have value at various stages in the detection and diagnosis of lung cancer, which includes independent screening for high risk individuals, and/or for subsequent CT analysis used in combination with imaging technologies to improve resolution of malignant nodules. Such a panel could also be used to improve the monitoring of lung cancer progression by enhancing the management of pulmonary nodules that are identified through CT scanning. Celera


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