The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib (Velcade) kills malignant glioma cells and can enhance the ability of tamoxifen to do the same, NCI researchers reported last week at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in Washington, D.C. The findings, the researchers said, lend further support to the rationale behind a phase II clinical trial launched nearly 1 year ago that is testing bortezomib and tamoxifen in patients with recurrent, high-grade malignant gliomas.

There has been little progress in the treatment of gliomas, the most common type of brain cancer, over the past two decades; the median survival for those with the most aggressive and most common glioma, glioblastoma, is a little more than a year. Tamoxifen, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, or SERM, is primarily used to treat or prevent breast cancer in women at high risk for the disease. During the last 10 to 15 years, however, tamoxifen also has been a last option after standard treatments have failed in some glioma patients, said Dr. Howard Fine, of NCI's Center for Cancer Research, and has demonstrated a clinical benefit in some patients.  Read more  



Guest Update by Dr. John E. Niederhuber

Cancer Control Month: A Message of Hope

President George W. Bush proclaimed April as National Cancer Control Month to "encourage citizens, government agencies, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other interested groups to join in activities that will increase awareness of how to prevent and control cancer." The President's official proclamation gave recognition to the goal of increasing public awareness and encouraging people to help themselves prevent certain types of cancer. He urged individuals to take a number of proven steps to reduce their risk, such as avoiding tobacco, eating well, and exercising regularly. In addition, he encourages "all Americans to get regular preventive screenings and speak with a health care provider about additional ways to reduce the risk of developing cancer."  Read more  

The NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI, which was established in 1937, leads the national effort to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer. Through basic, clinical, and population-based biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can identify the environmental and genetic causes of cancer, prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases. For more information on cancer, call 1-800-4-CANCER or visit http://www.cancer.gov. NCI Cancer Bulletin staff can be reached at ncicancerbulletin@mail.nih.gov.