Researchers: Gene Test Could Help Breast Cancer Treatment

VOA News 01/03/2010

A new technique that links genes to a patient's response to chemotherapy for breast cancer could help doctors find more effective cancer treatments in the future. Our correspondent spoke to the British doctor who is leading the research.

The research is collaboration between scientists in Belgium, Denmark, the United States and Great Britain. They have identified six genes that impact whether a common form of chemotherapy, called paclitaxel is effective against breast cancer. Doctor Charles Swanton of the London Research Institute led the study.

"Potentially we have the opportunity now to I hope in the future to develop new ways of predicting which patients will specifically benefit from defined drugs, to better target the right drugs to the patients most likely to benefit," said Dr. Swanton. "But also, in the future we hope to identify new drugs that patients who have cancers that are resistant to conventional therapy, to try to identify new drugs that these specific patients may benefit from using tool like this."

Dr. Swanton says the research is in its early stages and that it will be years before it could be used in a normal medical setting. Still, he says, it has a lot of potential.

"It's a first small step in a much bigger scientific endeavor," he said.

By eliminating treatments that won't work for a patient, it could make it easier to determine which medicines will work. Swanton says this technique may also be effective or other types of cancers where the same genes have been spotted.

"That's the way we hope medicine is heading where each patient is treated differently, based on the expression of genes within the tumor or indeed the expression or sequence of specific genes within the patient," said Charles Swanton.

He says while this is a breakthrough, there is no guarantee of success. Years of research and clinical trials are needed.

WHO Warns Climate Change Bad For Health

VOA News 02/01/2010

World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan says she is disappointed a deal on climate change was not struck in Copenhagen. But she says important steps were taken that, she believes, will ultimately result in an agreement to stop or retard climate change.

She says the relationship between climate change and health is obvious. For example, she says millions of people will suffer from either too much water or too little water under climate change.

Chan says extensive flooding may lead to loss of life from drowning and disease. She says contaminated floodwaters can cause fatal illnesses, such as diarrhea and cholera.

On the other hand, she says some areas will have too little water and prolonged drought will affect the kind of crops people normally grow.

"The prediction is that in the next 20 years to 30 years, if the situation continues to get worse, the productivity from the agricultural sector and from subsistence farming in Africa, the production would reduce by as much as 50 percent," she said. "If there is any truth to that, can you imagine the impact on hunger, on acute and chronic malnutrition?"

Scientists say the warming of the planet will be gradual, but that extreme weather events will increase in frequency and intensity.

They say the effects of more storms, floods, droughts and heat waves will be abrupt and profound.

WHO: Premature to Call Swine Flu Pandemic Over

VOA News

A senior WHO official says the virus is expected to continue circulating for some time to come and countries should continue to take steps to protect their populations.

The World Health Organization says it is too soon to call the H1N1, Swine Flu pandemic over. A senior WHO official says the virus is expected to continue circulating for some time to come and countries should continue to take steps to protect their populations.

The H1N1 influenza pandemic has been around for about eight months, but in some places the spread of the virus is not as widespread as some had feared. The World Health Organization says this is not long enough to be able to consider the pandemic over.

WHO notes the pandemic is a global event, not a regional one. Since the virus is spreading around the world, it says it is normal for the illness to be more severe in some places than in others.

For example, WHO finds infections are continuing at quite high levels in some parts of Europe, such as France and Switzerland, in parts of Central Asia and in some large countries, such as Russia.

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Global Measles Deaths Drop Dramatically

A new study by the Measles Initiative, a coalition of U.N. and international organizations finds measles deaths worldwide fell by 78 percent between 2000 and 2008.

V.O.A News

A new study by the Measles Initiative, a coalition of U.N. and international organizations finds measles deaths worldwide fell by 78 percent between 2000 and 2008. But, the agencies warn of a resurgence in measles deaths if vaccination efforts are not sustained.

The study finds measles deaths dropped from an estimated 733,000 in 2000 to 164,000 in 2008. It says all regions, with the exception of South-East Asia, have achieved the United Nations goal of cutting measles deaths two years ahead of target.

One of the biggest success stories is found in Africa, where measles-related deaths have declined by 92 percent since 2000.

Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele is Director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals at the World Health Organization. He says the measles vaccine has saved about 4.3 million children's lives in less than a decade.

Despite this rapid progress, he warns the momentum in the worldwide vaccination drive appears to be stalling, putting children's lives at risks. He notes global measles deaths leveled off in 2007.

"And, if this trend is not reversed, our projection shows that the combined effects of decreasing political and financial commitment from national governments and donors could result in an estimated 1.7 million measles-related deaths between 2010 and 2013, with more than half a million deaths in 2013 alone," he said.

Measles is among the world's most contagious diseases and one of the leading causes of death among children worldwide. The Measles Initiative notes even healthy and well-nourished children, if unvaccinated, are at risk of the disease and its severe health complications. These include pneumonia, diarrhea, and encephalitis.