MsC1210

Thank you Connie!!!

Don Prayers and best wishes to you as you embrace this new chapter in your life. I wish you nothing but peace and happiness as you move forward. With love and gratitude for all you have done for me as well as so many others, Christine

Has anyone heard from Meredith? Have not seen her post in a while. Christine

Happy Birthday Katie!

((((Grace)))) Sending loads of postive thoughts and prayers your way. Christine

Missy I am so sorry to read this. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Christine

Hello WendyKay and welcome As you can see, this is a great site for information and support! Please let us know what we can do to help you and know that we will be here for you. Keep us posted on your Dad, Christine

Dear Lisa I am so very sorry for your pain. Please accept my sincere sympathies and condolences on your losses. Sending many prayers for peace and strength Christine

Hello and welcome I am so very sorry about your Mom and more sorry you are having to go through this nightmare again. Please let us know how we can help and know that we will do all that we can to be here for you. Sending many prayers for you, your Dad and your family, Christine

Mary My sincere condolences to you and your family. Christine

Andrea, Prayers and positive thoughts for you ALL. Christine

Kelly I am so very sorry. Please accept my most sincere sympathies and condolences. I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers. Christine

Dana, I am so sorry. My sincere condolences to you and your family. Christine

I am so sorry to read this. My deepest condolences to you and your family. Christine

Hello Jessica and welcome I am sorry you had reason to find a site such as this, but glad you have posted. Please keep us posted on your tests and let us know what the diagnosis is. Once you have that, there are many wonderful people here that will be able to offer you advice and support. Keeping you and your daughter in my thoughts and prayers, Christine

Congratulations~ What a beautiful little girl! Wishing you all the best, Christine

Treatment Strategy For Patients With Resistant Lung Tumors 02 May 2007 An international research team, led by investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), has found a new way that some lung tumors become resistant to treatment with targeted therapy drugs like Iressa and Tarceva. Their report, which will appear in the journal Science and is receiving early online release, describes a totally new resistance mechanism that may apply to many types of cancer. It also suggests a treatment strategy for patients with these resistant tumors. "We found that, for about 20 percent of patients with tumors that become resistant to Tarceva or Iressa, resistance is caused by the genetic activation of an oncogene that is not the normal target of the drug, which is something that has never been seen before," says Jeffrey Engelman, MD, PhD, scientific director of the MGH Center for Thoracic Cancers, the paper's lead author. "Importantly, we also identified a potential new way to treat these resistant tumors with combination therapy directed against both protein targets," adds Pasi A. Jänne, MD, PhD, of the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology at DFCI, the study's senior author. Drugs like Iressa (gefitinib) and Tarceva (erlotinib) are used to treat advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. They act by blocking the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a molecule on the surface of cancer cells. In 2004 research teams from MGH and DFCI found that only tumors in which the EGFR gene has been mutated in a way that magnifies the cells' response to the growth factor, a process that fuels tumor growth, were sensitive to treatment with these drugs. Although tumors that respond to EGFR inhibitors do so rapidly and dramatically, eventually the tumors become resistant and resume growing. About half the time, a secondary mutation that interferes with the drugs' binding to the receptor develops within the EGFR gene. A new group of so-called irreversible EGFR inhibitors that permanently bind to the protein are currently being tested in clinical trials. But what leads to other cases of resistance has been unknown, and the current study was designed to discover additional mechanisms. To do so, the investigators modeled in a laboratory setting what happens in lung cancer patients; they used a line of NSCLC cells with the sensitizing EGFR mutation and created a cell line resistant to treatment with Iressa. In a number of experiments comparing the resistant line with still-sensitive cells, they focused on the cell signalling pathway controlled by EGFR. In earlier research, Engelman and colleagues had found that the growth signal that starts with EGFR works through a related protein called ERBB3. The current study showed that, in some of the resistant cells, ERBB3 is activated by amplification of a different oncogene called MET, in essence bypassing the blockage of EGFR. Analysis of samples from patients whose tumors became resistant after initially responding to Iressa revealed that MET was amplified in resistant samples from 4 of 18 patients. Although treating resistant cell lines with either Iressa or a MET inhibitor did not stop tumor growth, treatment with both agents did induce cell death. "This method of reactivating the EGFR signalling pathway with MET may be a common resistance mechanism in other therapies that target receptors of the ERBB family, which are used against breast cancer, colon cancer, head and neck cancer, and the brain tumor glioblastoma multiforme," says Jänne, who is an assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Engelman is an HMS instructor of Medicine. "Our results suggest that, when patients' tumors become resistant, repeat biopsies to identify which resistance mechanism is involved will be critical and could help us develop effective therapies for those resistant tumors," adds co-author Lewis Cantley, PhD, of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. To that end, the investigators are working on a research protocol for combined treatment with FDA-approved EGFR inhibitors and with MET inhibitors, which are in preapproval trials against other types of cancer. They also plan to analyze a larger number of resistant samples to get a clearer idea of the frequency of this resistance mechanism. ### Additional co-authors of the Science report are Kreshnik Zejnullahu, Joon Oh Park, MD, PhD, Xiaojun Zhao, PhD, Alison Holmes, Andrew Rogers and Bruce Johnson, MD, of Dana-Farber; Tetsuya Mitsudomi, MD, and Takayuki Kosaka, MD, Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Nagoya, Japan; Youngchul Song and Christopher-Michael Gale; Courtney Hyland, Neal Lindeman, MD, and Charles Lee, PhD, Brigham and Women's Hospital; James Christensen, PhD, Pfizer Global Research and Development; Federico Cappuzzo, MD, Instituto Clinico Humanitas, Rozzano, Italy; and Tony Mok, MD, Chinese University of Hong Kong. The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, including the National Cancer Institute; the American Cancer Society, the American Association for Cancer Research; the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer; and the Italian Association for Cancer Research. Massachusetts General Hospital (http://www.massgeneral.org/), established in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget of nearly $500 million and major research centers in AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, transplantation biology and photomedicine. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (http://www.dana-farber.org/) is a principal teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School and is among the leading cancer research and care centers in the United States. It is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), a designated comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. Contact: Sue McGreevey Massachusetts General Hospital Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=69177

Dear Randy I am so sorry. Prayers being said for you, Daisy and Deb. (((Randy))) Chris

(((Grace))) I wish I had words to make it better. Just remember we are here, we will continue to be here, never forget that. Lean on us and let us help as much as we can. Chris

Dear Jennifer, My sincere sympathies and condolences at this sad time. Please know you and your family are in my prayers. Christine

Thanks so much to all of you who kept me in your thoughts and prayers this past week. It was rough at times as I knew it would be but the happy memories and the happy moments of the present did much to ease the pain. It means so much to know that there are people who "get it" and understand. My continued prayers for all of us here, Chris

Today marks 16 months since Brad left this life. His loss is still felt by so many people whose lives he touched. This particular anniversary is just a bit different as today is also my daughters 17th birthday, it would also have been my grandmothers birthday. Brad would have been celebrating his own birthday on April 12th. A tough week on many levels... I just needed to acknowledge this, thanks for listening. You are all in my thoughts and prayers, as always, Christine

Melinda I am so very sorry. You and your family have been and will remain in my thoughts and prayers. May God grant you peace. Christine

Moffitt Looking For Participants In New Lung Cancer Prevention Trial 30 Mar 2007 Heavy smokers and those who quit may have a chance to lower their risk of getting lung cancer. Researchers at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute are testing a new drug that could reverse some of the smoking-related damage to their lungs. Moffitt investigators will determine whether Sulindac may reverse some of the lung abnormalities associated with smoking. "Individuals who have smoked develop genetic changes in the cells that line their lungs over the years," said Dr. Melvyn Tockman, a member of Moffitt's thoracic oncology program and principal investigator on the study. "As many as half the new cases of lung cancer come from former smokers." Sulindac has been beneficial in preventing the development of pre-cancerous polyps in the colon. Doctors will test to see if it works similarly on cells in the lung. Moffitt researchers opened a clinical trial to test the drug on people between 45 and 79 years old who have smoked at least one pack of cigarettes a day for 30 years. Researchers are looking for current and former smokers who have changes in their sputum, or cells coughed from the lungs, that demonstrate changes caused by years of smoking. "The most important thing is for people to stop smoking. It's never too late," said Tockman. "Even a 65 year old who quits has a lower lung caner rate by age 75 than someone of the same age who continues smoking." Smokers, former smokers who have no history of lung cancer or those with stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer that was removed at least one year prior to the screening exam are eligible for the study. For more information on participating in the clinical trial, call (813) 745-3685. About H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute Located in Tampa, Florida on the University of South Florida campus, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute (www.moffitt.org) is the only Florida-based cancer center with the NCI designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center for its excellence in research and contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Moffitt currently has 15 affiliates in Florida, one in Georgia and two in Puerto Rico. Additionally, Moffitt is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a prestigious alliance of the country's leading cancer centers, and is listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of America's Best Hospitals for cancer. Moffitt's sole mission is to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer. H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute 12902 Magnolia Drive Tampa, Florida 33612 USA http://www.moffitt.org

That does sound like great news! Chris