Ayurvedic Medicines

Over the past few years it has been interesting to watch AACR organise and group it’s sessions by pathways, so you end up with a higgledy piggledy collection of different inhibitors, therapeutics, chemotherapies etc as well as a mix of different tumour types.  This works well for the scientist, less so for the clinician who may specialise in only a few cancer types.   Meanwhile, at ASCO , everything is organised by cancer track, so if you want to search for data on say, MEK, AKT or c-MET inhibitors for example, then the data is now all over the place and trying to get round and find it all is much more difficult.

Hi Robert, Please feel free to cite my experience with the Smart Lounger . I’ve been using it twice a day with Suzanne’s general PD disk and once a day with her Arthritis disk, all since  Easter week end. When I go to sleep I plug in to my earbuds  the Peter Hubner music – this I’ve been doing since mid March

Researchers found pollen was the most commonly cited source of seasonal allergies (79%), followed by grasses (59%), ragweed (54%), and trees (52%). Only 40% of spring allergy sufferers said they were completely or very successful at managing their allergy symptoms in the previous allergy season. Itchy eyes were the most common symptom (87%), followed by sneezing (80%), runny nose (77%), and watery eyes (73%)

“Good Businesses” are not judged solely by better sales, profits, equity returns and sharholder value – these becoming old measures on their own.  Investors are increasingly asking  “So you made a profit – yawn – but did you also make an impact?”  This is what it takes to outperform today and tommorrow. What about Big Pharma

My buddy Bill Scully kindly sent me the link to a superb WSJ article on DNA Robots: Source: WSJ   “For the first time, microscopic robots made from DNA molecules can walk, follow instructions and work together to assemble simple products on an atomic-scale assembly line, mimicking the machinery of living cells, two independent research teams announced Wednesday.” Nanobots, FTW! For the technically minded, you can read more about one of the team’s research in their letter to  Nature  and some commentary on robots here .  Two other letters were also published from Gu et al. , and Lund et al.

One of the interesting things about scientific conferences such as AACR and ASCO is that everyone looks at the same data differently as if it were through a kaleidoscope. Brand marketers focus on their competition by tumour type or disease, scientists look at specific mechanisms or pathways, investors look at particular companies and so on.  Someone asked me the other day how I analyse the data.  I hadn’t really thought about it much until then, but on reflection what I’m interested in is trends and how research evolves from a big picture science view so that means I look at pathways like a true biochemist.  This also teaches us where the gaps are and what opportunities may arise in the future.  It’s not exactly rocket science, but it is a useful approach sometimes. Image via Wikipedia One of the clear trends emerging at AACR the other week is that dual inhibition of both the PI3K-mTOR and RAS-ERK pathways may be necessary in some cancers such as melanoma to reduce cross-talk, feedback and feedforward loops, drug resistance and loss of PTEN gain of function, just as one might also target IGF-1R and EGFR to reduce cross-talk and add in another inhibitor, eg MEK or AKT

The other day I clicked on a link someone shared on Twitter about new findings in breast cancer genes, which sounded really cool and interesting.  On clicking through it turned out to be a rather disappointing Reuters release on several fronts: Where’s the link to the original article (in these days of social sharing leaving it out is plain lazy)? What/where are the ” five common genetic factors” exactly?  No mention is made of them

An evidence-based systematic review of stevia by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration is featured in the latest issue of Cardiovascular & Hematological Agents in Medicinal Chemistry . The stevia plant is native to Brazil and Paraguay . For more than 20 years, stevia extracts have been sold as commercialized sweeteners in Japan and Brazil

Some patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may experience fast-acting symptom relief from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), with benefits lasting several weeks, researchers report in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology . IBS is considered a functional bowel disorder because the gastrointestinal tract is healthy but does not function normally

It’s only 3 weeks to go to the Annual ASCO meeting in Chicago so I thought it would be a good time to kick off the annual preview of key data.  One of the things that sets the tone of the meeting is which abstracts are in the plenary session.  Sometimes I don’t attend the session if it looks arcane, but this year looks really interesting and worthwhile attending. The selected abstracts comprise the following: #LBA1: Phase III trial of bevacizumab (BEV) in the primary treatment of advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), primary peritoneal cancer (PPC), or Fallopian tube cancer (FTC): A Gynecologic Oncology Group study.