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A two-drug combination that kills precancerous colon polyps without harming normal tissue offers a potential new way to prevent colon cancer, researchers say.
The combination of vitamin A acetate (RAc) and tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) was effective in mice and in human colon cancer tissue in the lab, according to the results of a study published online March 28 in the journal Nature.
The treatment appears to solve a problem with current chemopreventive drugs, which is that they must be taken continuously and long term to be effective, thus exposing patients to possible side effects, said study senior author Xiangwei Wu, an associate professor in the head and neck surgery department at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
“This combination can be given short term and periodically to provide a long-term effect, which would be a new approach to chemoprevention,” Wu said in a university news release.
However, further research is needed before this combination treatment can be considered for human clinical trials, Wu said.
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Medicare Part D Plan coverage gap prices for widely used brand name drugs rose in 2010, and price increases since 2006 have far exceeded the rate of inflation, a new study finds.
Kaiser Family Foundation researchers checked the Medicare Web site for prices of commonly used brand-name drugs without a generic substitute for enrollees in stand-alone prescription drug plans. The prices are how much enrollees would pay for a 30-day supply of a drug after they reach the coverage gap (which begins after total drug spending reaches $3,610) and before they qualify for catastrophic coverage.
Among the findings:
People enrolled in Part D plans who reach the coverage gap have significant out-of-pocket expenses before they qualify for catastrophic coverage, the researchers said in a Kaiser news release. For example, an elderly women taking Actonel, Aricept and Plavix would spend $448 per month in 2010 after she reached the coverage gap, which would take about six months. She would remain in the coverage gap for the rest of the year.
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People with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) aren’t at increased risk for polyps, colon cancer or inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and, in most cases, don’t require a colonoscopy, U.S. researchers say.
Symptoms of IBS, which affects 10 percent to 20 percent of Americans, include recurrent abdominal pain or cramping in connection with altered bowel habits. The condition is more common among women than men.
“Patients and doctors get nervous about the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. They think the symptoms represent something more sinister,” lead author Dr. William D. Chey, professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, said in a news release from the school. “This study should reassure doctors and patients that typical IBS symptoms are not indicators of a more serious disease.”
He and his colleagues conducted the largest evaluation of the results of colonoscopies in IBS patients, they said. About one-quarter of all colonoscopies performed in the United States are for IBS-related symptoms.
Chey and his team concluded that colonoscopies aren’t necessary for typical cases of IBS, unless there is a family history of colorectal cancer or the patient has alarming symptoms such as unexplained weight loss or anemia, or bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract.
“Lay people and doctors overuse colonoscopies, which are very expensive procedures, in patients with typical IBS symptoms and no alarm features. Of course, patients over the age of 50 years or who have alarm features should undergo colonoscopy to screen for polyps and colon cancer,” Chey said.
The researchers did find that 2.5 percent of IBS patients older than 35 had a disease called microscopic colitis, which can be mistaken for IBS in patients with diarrhea. It’s important to diagnose this condition because it requires different treatment than IBS, Chey said.
The study was released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
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A natural chemical in bananas may help protect women against sexual transmission of HIV, U.S. researchers report.
In laboratory tests, they found that a lectin called BanLec was as potent as two current HIV drugs. Lectins — sugar-binding proteins found in plants — can identify and attach to foreign invaders. By binding to the sugar-rich HIV-1 envelope protein gp120, BanLec blocks HIV’s entry into the body.
The finding, published in the March 19 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, suggests that BanLec could become a less expensive and highly effective new component of vaginal microbicides, according to the University of Michigan Medical School researchers.
“The problem with some HIV drugs is that the virus can mutate and become resistant, but that’s much harder to do in the presence of lectins,” study author Michael D. Swanson, a doctoral student in the graduate program in immunology, said in a news release from the school. “Lectins can bind to the sugars found on different spots of the HIV-1 envelope, and presumably it will take multiple mutations for the virus to get around them.”
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