Home and Away star Tessa James diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma
Published: 21 September 2014
Former Home and Away star Tessa James has been diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma and is undergoing chemotherapy. Tessa has returned home to Gold Coast to be with her husband, Gold Coast Titans Co-captain, Nate Myles.
Tessa played Nicole Franklin in a soap opera and was pursuing her acting career in Los Angeles but she went home to Gold Coast to start her treatment. She will be undergoing chemotherapy over the next few months and they would like to thank all for their well wishes and would like to ask for privacy during this difficult time.
Her Home and Away family said Tessa has always been health conscious and is full of spirit. She will tackle the next six months with great determination and they wish her all the best for a speedy recovery and send all their love.
Delta Goodrem was also diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma 11 years ago. Hodgkin Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system. It can occur at any age but it is most common in adolescents and young adults. Around 25 young people aged 0–14 are diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in Australia each year. Hodgkin lymphoma occurs more frequently in males than in females.
News sourced from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2763963/Heartbreak-Home-Away-star-Tessa-James-actress-announces-undergoing-chemotherapy.html
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man & Woman of the Year Record –breaking year campaign
Published: 17 July 2014
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® (LLS) is the world’s largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, end myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Lifesaving blood cancer research around the world are funded by LLS, it also provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care.
900 “Champions of Hope” candidates vie for the coveted title of Man or Woman of the Year. The campaign has raised total of $30.5 million it is nearly $8 million more than was raised last year. “LLS are greatly moved by the generosity, passion and hard work of the candidates and campaign teams helping to raise funds for LLS’s mission during the 2014 Man & Woman of the Year campaign. These unique advocates and community leaders help distinguish LLS from other cancer charities.”
The Winners
Man of the Year – Dr. Christos Giannoulias of G&T Sports Medicine in Chicago raised $386,284 in honor of three people very special to him: his mother-in-law, Kathleen Zins, who lost her battle with lymphoma 15 years ago; his mother, Panagiota Giannoulias, who is a chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) survivor; and his father, Spiros Giannoulias, who lost his battle with cancer this past spring.
Woman of the Year – Samara Wolpe, a student at Milken Community High School in Los Angeles raised $343,962. For most of Samara’s childhood her parents had cancer: her mother was diagnosed with reproductive cancer when Samara was a baby; her father had a benign brain tumor caused by a seizure when Samara was six. Three years later her father was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Visit the Man & Woman of the Year website (www.mwoy.org) and learn how you can become engaged with LLS.
News sourced from: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/record-breaking-leukemia-lymphoma-societys-134300568.html
TG Therapeutics’ TG-1101 (Ublituximab) in Combination With Ibrutinib Demonstrates Compelling Clinical Activity and Safety Profile in Patients With Previously Treated Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL)
Published: 13 June 2014
Data from the Phase 2 study is being presented during the 19th Annual European Hematology Association (EHA) meeting being held in Milan, Italy. Today, TG Therapeutics, Inc. an innovative, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company announced preliminary clinical results from its ongoing Phase 2 study of TG-1101 (ublituximab), the Company’s novel glycoengineered anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, in combination with ibrutinib (IMBRUVICA™) the oral BTK inhibitor from Pharmacyclics/Janssen.
The presentation includes data from 28 patients with relapsed and/or refractory CLL or MCL treated with TG-1101 at doses of 600 mg or 900 mg, in combination with ibrutinib at an oral daily dose of 420 mg for patients with CLL and 560 mg for patients with MCL. The addition of TG-1101 appears to abrogate ibrutinib related lymphocytosis in patients with CLL, with patients experiencing a median ~80% reduction in their absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) by month 4 following initiation of combination therapy. Patients on study now for upwards of 5 months, 28 of the patients enrolled on study, including patients with high risk CLL, no patients have progressed while on the combination.
Mr. Weiss , the Company’s Executive Chairman and Interim CEO said “We are also excited to note the evolving responses seen in our Phase 1 single-agent study of TGR-1202, with an additional CLL patient achieving a nodal PR, bringing our nodal response rate in CLL patients treated at 800mg or higher to nearly 90%. These encouraging results, coupled with the ibrutinib combination data, drive our confidence in our proprietary combination of TG-1101 and TGR-1202, which we will report data for at the Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference in July 2014.”
Cancer News Sourced from: http://www.stockwatch.com/News/Item.aspx?bid=U-z10085629-U:TGTX-20140613&symbol=TGTX®ion=U
The Prognostic Value of PET/CT Following Induction Therapy in Follicular Lymphoma
Published: 11 June 2014
Positron emission tomography–computed tomography performed at the end of induction therapy is strongly predictive of both progression-free and overall survival reported by Dr. Judith Trotman, reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting. The study results also showed that conventional CT assessment provides only limited additional value, and that “PET-CT applying the 5-point scale should be the new gold standard for therapeutic response assessment in this lymphoma.”
They found that patients with 18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake of 4 or greater on the 5-point Deauville scale for postinduction response assessment, had a four times higher risk for disease progression, compared with patients who became PET negative after induction, from data analyzed on 246 PET-CT scans performed following chemoimmunotherapy in three clinical trials.
“We argue that for the patients who remain PET positive, follicular lymphoma is no longer an indolent histology.” added Dr. Trotman.
Cancer News Sourced from:
http://www.lymphomainfo.net/news/non-hodgkins/the-prognostic-value-of-petct-following-induction-therapy-in-follicular-lymphoma
Ibrutinib Improves Survival in CLL and SLL Patients: Results From the RESONATE Study
Published: 13 June 2014
On Behalf of the RESONATE Investigators, Dr. Peter Hillmen will present the results from the Phase III trial in CLL and SLL patients on Saturday, June 14, 2014. He is affiliated with The Leeds Teaching Hospitals, St. James’s Institute of Oncology, Leeds, United Kingdom
Patients with chronic lymphoid leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) who experience short response duration or adverse cytogenetics have poor outcomes. They evaluated the efficacy of ibrutinib, the first-in covalent inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase, in these difficult-to-treat patients. This multicenter, international, phase 3 study (RESONATE’) assessed daily ibrutinib monotherapy versus the anti-CD20 antibody ofatumumab.
Relapsed or refractory CLL/SLL patients (N=391) were randomized to receive ibrutinib or ofatumumab. At a median follow-up of 9.4 months, ibrutinib significantly improved progression free survival (PFS); median PFS was not reached with ibrutinib and was 8.1 months with ofatumumab (hazard ratio [HR], 0.22; P<0.001). Ibrutinib also significantly improved overall survival (HR, 0.43; P=0.005). This effect was observed despite cross over from ofatumumab to ibrutinib at progression as recommended by the data monitoring committee.
Similar effects were observed regardless of del17p or purine analog-refractory disease. The Response rate by IRC was 63% for ibrutinib including 20% responses with lymphocytosis vs. 4% with ofatumumab. Toxicities were manageable and did not frequently result in dose reduction or treatment discontinuation with 86.4% continuing ibrutinib at time of analysis. In summary, ibrutinib significantly improved PFS, overall survival, and response rate compared to ofatumumab in previously treated CLL/SLL. This study validates ibrutinib as an effective new single agent therapy for CLL/SLL patients.
Cancer News Sourced from:
http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2014-06/30559495-ibrutinib-improves-survival-in-cll-and-sll-patients-results-from-the-resonate-study-008.htm