BSD Medical Participates on Invitation at International Conference on Hyperthermic Oncology and Medicine in India

BSD Medical Corporation (AMEX:BSM) today announced that Richard A. White, Vice President of International Sales, along with some of the leading researchers in hyperthermia therapy, spoke and participated in a panel discussion as invited guests at the International Conference on Hyperthermic Oncology and Medicine held at the Mahavir Cancer Center in Patna, India February 16-17.

The two-day meeting was devoted entirely to the use of hyperthermia therapy in treating cancer. The panel upon which Mr. White and international scientists from the field participated was centered upon strategies to bring hyperthermia therapy to developing countries. At the meeting the invited scientists spoke on the clinical support for the use of hyperthermia therapy in treating cancer, as largely performed on BSD Medical's hyperthermia systems.

The conference received strong attention from the Indian Government, as Her Excellency, the President of India, Shrimati Pratibha Devisingh Patil opened the conference. The President said, "Cancer can be controlled if diagnosed well in time, however, in India, about two-thirds of cancer patients are diagnosed at the advanced stage when it becomes more difficult to treat."

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Dr. Nagraj Huigol, the National Secretary of the Association of Hyperthermic Oncology and Medicine (in India), stated that "Hyperthermia could be beneficial even for those suffering from resistant cancers. In fact a combination of the conventional mode of treatment and hyperthermia could create wonders if handled aptly." Dr. Nagraj appealed to the central and state governments to set up prominent medical centers for the benefit of those cancer patients who have lost all hope.

More than 800,000 people in India are diagnosed with cancer every year, and more than 400,000 die from the disease annually. Of these, lung cancer (250,000 cases), cervical cancer (126,000 cases) and breast cancer (80,000 cases) are the most prevalent. About 70% of the cases are diagnosed when the cancer is in an advanced T3 or T4 stage, where the use of hyperthermia therapy may be particularly implied for some cancers.

About BSD Medical Corporation
BSD Medical Corp. is the leading developer of systems used to deliver hyperthermia therapy for the treatment of cancer. Hyperthermia therapy is used to kill cancer directly and increase the effectiveness of companion radiation treatments. Research has also shown promising results from the use of hyperthermia therapy in combination with chemotherapy, and for tumor reduction prior to surgery. For further information visit BSD Medical's website at http://www.bsdmedical.com/ or BSD's patient website at http://www.treatwithheat.com/.

Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Source: Business Wire

Precancerous Lesions Raise Cervical Cancer Risk

(HealthDay News) -- Women who have had advanced precancerous lesions of the cervix are still at risk for invasive cancers up to 25 years later, Swedish researchers report.

Currently, the American Cancer Society recommends that women who have had precancerous lesions called severe dysplasia/carcinoma in situ (CIS) continue getting Pap tests for 10 years after treatment. But, based on this study, these guidelines may need to be changed, said Debbie Saslow, the society's director of breast and gynecologic cancer, who was not involved with the research.

Saslow added, however, that even though these women continue to be at risk for developing cervical or vaginal cancer, the risk is low. "Women who have been treated for advanced precancer do need to remain vigilant," she said.

"This paper is going in my file for when we update our guidelines in the next two years," Saslow added. "We will see if we want to stick with 10 years or go to a much wider interval."

The study was led by Dr. Bjorn Strander, a senior consultant with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Sahlgren's Academy at the University of Gothenburg. The researchers collected data on 132,493 women who had a diagnosis of severe dysplasia/CIS between 1958 and 2002. The statistics came from the National Swedish Cancer Register.

The researchers found 881 women had developed cervical cancer, and 111 had developed vaginal cancer more than one year after the initial diagnosis. This was almost seven times higher than expected, the researchers said.

Women with a diagnosis of severe dysplasia/CIS were more than twice as likely to develop cancer compared with the general female population. The women were also twice as likely to develop invasive cervical cancer after diagnosis of CIS if that diagnosis was made between 1991 and 2000, compared with the same diagnosis made from 1958 to 1970. This increased risk might be due to changes in treatment over that period, particularly because fewer hysterectomies are being done as part of treatment for CIS, the study authors said.

Strander's team also found a particularly high risk for women over age 50, and this risk continued to increase with age. "The risk after treatment hardly decreases at all after treatment and is still sustained after more than 25 years," he said.

"While well-screened women after 50 to 60 years of age are very well protected from cervical cancer and have little, if any, further use of screening, this does not apply to women who have been treated for grade 3 CIS," Strander said. "They need, and should have, long-term follow-up, perhaps lifelong," he said.

The results are published in the Oct. 26 edition of the British Medical Journal.

More information
For more on cervical cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

Cancer Vaccines Are Proving Their Mettle

(HealthDay News) -- Vaccines against deadly pancreatic and head and neck cancers are showing real promise and may one day become an important part of treatment, researchers report.
Researchers are also confirming that cervical cancer vaccines are both highly effective and long-lasting, according to two other studies.

All of the new findings were presented Tuesday at the American Association of Cancer Research's annual meeting in Los Angeles.

In one report, a team led by Andrew Lepisto, a postdoctoral researcher in the department of immunology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, presented the results of a phase I trial of a vaccine for pancreatic cancer.

In that trial, Lepisto's team gave an immune cell-based vaccine to 12 cancer patients who underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest malignancies, because it is often caught too late

"Patients who are eligible for surgery represent about 20 percent of all pancreatic cancer patients," Lepisto said during a teleconference. The five-year survival rate after surgery is only about 20 percent, he added.

"The goal of the vaccine was to raise a strong immune response to prevent the cancer from coming back," Lepisto explained.

"We found that if we did the surgery and followed up with the vaccine, we extended patient's lives from a 20 percent five-year survival rate to over 42 percent," he said. "There are five patients who are long-term survivors."

Lepisto is planning to use the five surviving patients to understand how the immune vaccine extended their lives.

Another study was led by Sanjay K. Srivastava, an assistant professor in the department of pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. His team found that an extract of triphala -- the dried and powdered fruits of three plants -- caused pancreatic cancer cells to die in mice.

"Our results demonstrate that triphala has strong anticancer properties given its ability to induce apoptosis [natural, programmed cell death] in pancreatic cancer cells without damaging normal pancreatic cells," Srivastava said in a prepared statement. "With follow-up studies, we hope to demonstrate its potential use as a novel agent for the prevention and treatment of pancreatic cancer," he added.

In a third presentation, a team at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine say they've developed a vaccine that uses parts of the immune system to target p53, which is a protein that suppresses tumor growth. The scientists used the vaccine to treat head and neck cancer cells.
"In cancer, p53 is either mutated or altered," Theresa Whiteside, a professor of pathology, immunology and otolaryngology, said during the teleconference. By targeting the unchanged parts of altered p53 cells with a vaccine that activates the immune process, her team was able to produce killer cells that destroyed tumor cells. The vaccine also boosted the supply of immune "helper cells," which help the killer cells do their job.

"We can generate killer cells and helper cells in patients with head and neck cancer," Whiteside said. "On the basis of this study, we have initiated a phase I clinical trial in patients with head and neck cancer," she said.

In two other presentations, researchers presented data on the benefit of widely publicized vaccines that prevent most cervical cancer. The vaccines do so by preventing infection with the major strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), thought to be the cause of most cervical malignancies.

In the first report, Dr. Stanley Gall, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Louisville, and colleagues reported that a new HPV vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline was safe and effective.

"The vaccine was 100 percent effective in preventing precancerous lesions from HPV types 16 and 18 for up to five to six years," Gall said during the teleconference. These types of HPV account for about 72 percent of all cervical cancers, he said.

Overall, the vaccine showed 68 percent efficacy regardless of the type of cancer-causing HPV virus, Gall said. "The protection goes beyond what is expected from a vaccine that is targeted to type 16 and 18 alone," he said. "It protected against type 45 and 31 and also extended protection up to five years," he said.

In the other report, Dr. Darron R. Brown, a professor of medicine and infectious disease, at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and colleagues showed that the currently available vaccine, Gardasil, made by drug giant Merck, is 99 percent to 100 percent effective in preventing cervical cancer from HPV types 16 and 18. The study involved more than 12,000 women.

"In addition, 241 women who received Gardasil five years ago are still 100 percent protected from HPV 16 and 18 and have high sustained antibody levels," Brown said during the teleconference. "This is very encouraging," he said.

More information
http://dreddyclinic.com/integrated_med/cancer.htm

Home Visits Boost Mammography Rates for Rural Poor

(HealthDay News) -- Trained lay health advisers can dramatically boost the number of rural, low-income American women who get mammography screening for breast cancer, a new study concludes.

Rural, poor and minority women are less likely than other women to have mammograms, the researchers noted.

The four-year study began in 1998 and included 851 low-income white, black and Native American women in rural North Carolina who had not had a mammogram in the previous year.
Each women filled out a survey about her knowledge of breast and cervical cancer screening and were randomly assigned to a group that received home visits from a lay health adviser or to a comparison group.

The women in the comparison group received a letter and a brochure about the need for regular cancer screening. The women in the intervention group received three in-person home visits from a lay health adviser over nine to 12 months.

During the visits, the advisers talked to the women about breast cancer, mammography, breast self-exam, and scheduling a mammogram. They also provided educations materials about cancer risk. Follow-up phone calls were made to the women to help them make mammography appointments and to encourage the women to discuss their mammogram experiences.

By the end of the study, 42 percent of the women in the intervention group had received a mammogram, compared to 27 percent of the women in the comparison group. This effect was noted in all three racial groups in the study.

"Our results show that lay health advisers can improve the rates of mammography screening among low-income, rural white, African-American and Native American women," principal investigator Electra D. Paskett, professor, College of Medicine and School of Public Health, Ohio State University, said in a prepared statement.

"The intervention improved knowledge and beliefs about mammography screening. We also empowered these women to realize that they can schedule a mammogram on their own, with or without encouragement from their doctors," Paskett said.

The findings are published in the Sept. 6 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about breast cancer screening.

U.S. Panel Endorses Cervical Cancer Vaccine for Girls

THURSDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- A U.S. advisory panel recommended Thursday that 11- and 12-year-old girls be routinely vaccinated against the virus that causes cervical cancer.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices also recommended that the vaccine, called Gardasil, be administered to girls as young as 9, at the provider's discretion, and for women up to age 26 who have not previously been vaccinated against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV).

"The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices made a historic vote today to recommend routine use of HPV vaccine for girls aged 11 to 12," Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a Thursday news conference. "It's a very important day -- a breakthrough for women's health."

Some religious conservatives and other critics have expressed concern that giving the vaccine to children could encourage underage sex. But, according to Schuchat, no controversy arose at the panel's recent public meetings.

The panel's recommendation was hailed by health experts.

"It's a wonderful thing. It's good news all around," said Dr. Connie L. Trimble, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics and pathology at Johns Hopkins' Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Baltimore. Trimble is working on a therapeutic vaccine for people already infected with the virus.

The advisory committee also recommended that the vaccine be included in the Vaccines for Children Program, which provides free vaccines for children up to age 18 who are eligible for Medicaid, are uninsured or are Native American or Alaskan Native.

The recommendations will be passed along to the head of the CDC and to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for review, and are expected to be accepted.

Gardasil, manufactured by Merck & Co., is the first vaccine to protect against HPV, known to cause most cervical cancers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Gardasil earlier this month for girls and women aged 9 to 26. An FDA advisory panel had signed off on the vaccine in May.

Cervical cancer is the second most common malignant disease in women globally, causing an estimated 290,000 deaths worldwide each year. In the United States, some 10,400 new cases will be diagnosed this year, and 3,700 women will die from the disease.

The main cause of cervical cancer is continuous infection with HPV, especially HPV 16 and 18, which are spread by sexual contact. The virus also causes precancerous and benign cervical lesions and genital warts, and may be implicated in some anal and oral cancers. An estimated 20 million men and women in the United States are infected with HPV but, for most, the virus shows no symptoms and goes away on its own.

In a two-year study involving more than 12,000 women, Gardasil was found to be 100 percent effective against four types of human papillomavirus: 16 and 18, which are responsible for about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases, and 6 and 11, which cause 90 percent of genital wart cases.
Merck has said the vaccine has the potential to reduce the annual number of new cervical cancer cases around the world from 500,000 to about 150,000, and cut deaths by more than two-thirds, to about 90,000.

At the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology earlier this month in Atlanta, scientists reported that the Gardasil vaccine was also 100 percent effective against vulvar and vaginal precancerous lesions caused by HPV types 16 and 18.

Like many other vaccinations, Gardasil will require three shots over six months. Even with the vaccine, women would still need to be screened for cervical cancer caused by other types of HPV, experts noted. This is most often accomplished by having a Pap test, which is still a very accurate indicator of a woman's cervical condition.

In fact, Schuchat stressed, the vaccine "will not replace other prevention strategies, such as cervical cancer screening for women or protective sexual behaviors. Women should continue to get Pap tests as a safeguard against cervical cancer."

It's unclear whether insurance providers will pay for the cost of the vaccine -- estimated to be $120 -- for children not covered under the Vaccines for Children Program.

"We are hopeful that managed care will pick this up," Schuchat said. "Working on ensuring access is very important."

More information
Visit the National Immunization Program for more on childhood immunizations.