CNNhealth.com - Lung cancer vaccine 'extends terminal patients lives'

By Shasta Darlington

HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- Terminal lung cancer patients are living longer thanks to the world's first registered lung cancer vaccine, a leading Cuban scientist says.

Dr. Gisela Gonzalez has spent years researching the vaccine which the Cuban government approved for the use of the general public last year.

Gonzalez and her team have worked on developing the CimaVax EGF vaccine at the Cuban Center of Molecular Immunology since the early 1990s.

She says all those years of hard work have finally paid off as trials show that Cubans with lung cancer are living a little longer after having the vaccine.

"One of my early patients was a 32-year-old man when he started taking the vaccine. I had a son that age," the scientist told CNN.

"Now he's 35. He's living and working. He visited us the other day and said he's thinking about having kids."

Gonzalez says that more than 700 patients have received the vaccine over the years, many of them in seven clinical trials in Cuba, Canada and the UK.

More than 400 advanced lung cancer patients received the Vaccine CimaVax EGF in the trials, according to the Latin American News Agency.

The trials showed that the drug extended the life of terminal patients by an average of four months, and in some cases several years, compared with those patients who only received traditional therapies. Younger patients tended to fare better.

"It has the potential to be very important," according to Dr. Howard Burris, director of drug development at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee.

He said the results were comparable to those being produced by two other lung cancer vaccines, GVAX and BLP 25, being developed in the United States.

"Larger trials will show there are subsets that it's very good for and for others it's not relevant," he said.

CimaVax EGF does not prevent or cure lung cancer. It is a therapeutic vaccine which stimulates the patient's body to make an antibody against the epidermal growth factor (EGF), which is a key driver causing lung cancer cells to grow.

It is used in conjunction with chemotherapy and radiation therapy which reduce the size of the initial tumor.

To read more - http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/19/cuba.cancer.vaccine/index.html

SC House Speaker Bobby Harrell Proposes 50-cent Per Pack Cigarette Tax Hike

The State - SC Politics Today - http://www.thestate.com

Harrell proposes 50-cent hike in cigarette tax

House speaker Bobby Harrell has introduced a bill to raise the state's cigarette tax by 50 cents, with the proceeds going to help small businesses and low-income workers to buy health insurance.

Harrell allowed a similar bill to die last year when he pushed the House to uphold a veto by Gov. Mark Sanford. The governor wants an increase in the cigarette tax to help pay for the elimination of corporate income taxes.

"This plan will directly reduce the number of uninsured workers in our state," Harrell said in a release. Providing obtainable access to private sector health care coverage will greatly increase the quality of life for those newly insured and create a better future for our state as a whole. Government can help provide solutions, but more government is not the answer to our problems."

LCA Mourns the Passing of Karen Parles, Beloved Friend and Pioneering Advocate Who Changed the Face of Lung Cancer

Tuesday, February 17, 2009--Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) President & CEO Laurie Fenton-Ambrose issued the following statement today in honor of Karen Parles of Setauket, New York, who died after an 11 year battle, of lung cancer on February 16, 2009:

The entire lung cancer community is deeply, deeply saddened by the loss of our beloved friend and passionate advocate who did more than any other to provide critical information and build public awareness for lung cancer.

Karen was a vivacious 38 year old wife and mother who had never smoked or was otherwise exposed to known carcinogens in her life and was stunned to learn she had lung cancer in 1998. Searching online for answers she recognized the need for far more information than was available at that time.

A Williams College graduate, she put her Master of Library Science degree in service to all those affected by lung cancer by starting the highly acclaimed “lungcanceronline.org” a carefully researched source of information which evaluated, annotated and indexed high-quality lung cancer resources and services. Her website was written up in several medical journals and magazines.

In addition to being the founder and editor of the online information service, for several years she expanded her foundation to award grants to promising research projects.

She also co-authored a highly respected guide entitled; 100 Questions & Answers About Lung Cancer which has been distributed to thousands affected by the disease.

In 2005, Karen received the Catherine Logan Award for outstanding service to survivors from the National Coalition of Cancer Survivors.

And in 2005, Karen agreed to be the “Face of Lung Cancer” in LCA’s first national awareness campaign by appearing in an ad that ran in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and other Washington based public policy journals.

This ad literally changed the face of lung cancer and exposed the stigma of smoking that has thwarted research funding and so unfairly caused lung cancer patients to be blamed for their disease whether they smoked or not.

During all this time, she continued her treatments which became increasingly difficult although she never complained about the physical toll. Her primary concern was always first and foremost for her family: her beloved husband James, a pediatrician, her children Casey and Christopher whom she was determined to see into college, and her parents, Shirley and Howard deLong.

Even as her cancer progressed, Karen continued her selfless contributions through enrollment in clinical trials. She was determined to turn her experience into a benefit for her fellow patients and those at risk for the disease.

We are deeply grateful for the years of support, sage advice and counsel that Karen provided us.

We will always admire her courage and grace.

On behalf of the entire LCA staff and stakeholders, I extend our deepest sympathy to Jamie, Casey and Christopher, and to her parents. We will honor Karen’s life by renewing our commitment to her goal of changing the course of lung cancer -- forever.

Thank you, Karen. We will miss you.

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