Carla Goyanes elogia el cava como adelgazante...

Carla Goyanes, de 27 años, aseguró ayer que el cava «va bien para perder kilos» durante el acto en el que fue coronada Reina del Cava 2010 ayer en Sant Sadurní d'Anoia (foto). La modelo, hija de Cary Lapique y Carlos Goyanes, lució un vestido blanco de Rosa Clará con escote palabra de honor y el cuerpo drapeado con un gran lazo al lado. La corona, el brazalete y los pendientes eran de Swarovski. La joven, que se casará con su novio, Jorge Benguria, en junio del año que viene, se declaró «sorprendida» por el cariño y la simpatía con la que la recibieron en la localidad del Alt Penedès. Carla fue coronada en la sede del ayuntamiento, adonde llegó en un descapotable antiguo. El trío de Clownik, compañía de Tricicle, pronunció el pregón inaugural, mientras Paco Mir, Joan Gràcia y Carles Sans saludaron al público a través de una pantalla gigante.
La Setmana del Cava tendrá como colofón la investidura, el próximo viernes, de los nuevos cofrades, entre ellos, el de honor, que este año ha recaído en Salvador Alemany, presidente de Abertis y del Cercle d'Economia. El sábado se investirá como jóvenes cofrades de mérito al chef Jordi Roca y al sumiller Carles Aymerich, entre otros.

**Publicado en "El Periódico"

Erbitux en primera línea de cáncer colorrectal metastático y KRAS nativo ofrece la mayor supervivencia global en pacientes que responden pronto

Merck Serono, la división biotecnológica de la compañía químico farmacéutica alemana Merck, ha anunciado que nuevos datos presentados hoy en el 35º Congreso de la Sociedad Europea de Oncología Médica (ESMO) han revelado que los pacientes con cáncer colorrectal metastático (CCRm) y KRAS nativo que experimentaron una reducción del tumor de más del 20% en etapas tempranas (primeras 8 semanas de tratamiento) durante la terapia en primera línea basada en Erbitux® (cetuximab) junto a quimioterapia estándar vivieron una mediana de 28.3 meses1. Dicha correlación entre reducción temprana del tumor y supervivencia a largo plazo no se observó en el brazo de quimioterapia sóla, en el que la supervivencia no superó los 21 meses.
"Estos nuevos datos indican que la respuesta precoz del tumor con terapia personalizada con Erbitux se corresponde con una mejora de la supervivencia", explica el profesor Eric Van Cutsem, autor del estudio y profesor de Medicina y Oncología Digestiva de la Universidad Hospital Gasthuisberg, de Lovaina (Bélgica). "La reducción tumoral es importante en el alivio de los síntomas y vital para incrementar las posibilidades de una cirugía curativa. Estos nuevos hallazgos van más allá, ya que sugieren que la reducción temprana del tumor puede también ser indicativa de una mayor supervivencia en pacientes tratados con una terapia basada en Erbitux."

El estudio en Fase III CRYSTAL ya había demostrado previamente que los pacientes con cáncer colorrectal metastático con tumores KRAS nativo tratados con Erbitux junto a quimioterapia estándar conseguían una mediana de supervivencia de 23.5 meses2. Los nuevos hallazgos, derivados de análisis adicionales de los datos del estudio, han revelado que pacientes que experimentaron una respuesta temprana del tumor con una terapia basada en Erbitux vivían una mediana de 28.3 meses1. La respuesta tumoral temprana se define como una reducción del tumor de al menos el 20% en un plazo de 8 semanas.
"Los tratamientos basados en Erbitux han conseguido reducciones tumorales significativas de forma consistente. En este ensayo, la correlación entre reducción del tumor temprano y la supervivencia a largo plazo parece ser específica de Erbitux, ya que no se documentó en el brazo de tratamiento con quimioterapia sóla", explica el Dr. Wolfgang Wein, Vicepresidente Ejecutivo de Oncología de Merck Serono. "Estos datos tienen el potencial de establecer a Erbitux como terapia de elección en primera línea para todos los pacientes con cáncer colorrectal metastático y tumores con KRAS nativo".

Identifying subsets of patients who will respond to subsequent lines of chemotherapy

In a study presented at the 35th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), Dr Giovanni Bernardo from Fondazione Maugeri in Pavia, Italy, presented results that suggested it may be possible to identify subsets of metastatic breast cancer patients who are likely to respond to subsequent lines of chemotherapy.
Dr Bernardo's group analysed data from 980 women treated with chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer in their centre between 1992 and 2006.
They found that the median overall survival grew progressively smaller for each successive chemotherapy regimen the patients were given. The time to treatment failure also shortened as each new regimen was tried, from a median of 9.2 months for first-line therapy, to 7.8 and 6.4 months for the second and third-line drugs. Beyond the third line, there was no significant decrease in the medial time to treatment failure for each successive therapy.
The researchers found that only one factor they analysed affected a patient's overall survival time. That factor was the time to treatment failure for each line of chemotherapy. In other words, the more benefit one type of therapy offered, the more benefit the subsequent therapy was likely to offer.
"The implications of our analysis for clinical practice concern the possibility of deciding which patients should be offered a third- or successive chemotherapy line, considering that there are multiple treatment options available today for metastatic disease, and increasing numbers of patients ask for more options when a particular treatment fails," said Dr Bernardo.

Erlotinib improves progression-free survival as first-line therapy in advanced lung cancer

For patients with advanced lung cancer whose tumors carry EGFR activating mutations, first-line treatment with erlotinib nearly tripled progression-free survival compared to a standard chemotherapy combination, show results from the first prospective Phase-III study to report findings in this setting.
The new results from the OPTIMAL trial were reported at the 35th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Milan, Italy.
"Erlotinib is very effective and well tolerated in advanced NSCLC patients who harbor EGFR activating mutations. It is 2 to 3 times more effective than doublet chemotherapy," said study leader Professor Caicun Zhou of Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, China.
The OPTIMAL study included 165 patients whose lung cancer carried mutations activating the Epithelial Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR). Participants had not received systemic treatment for their cancer.
Of these patients, 83 were randomly assigned to receive erlotinib 150 mg/day, and 82 patients were assigned to receive a 'doublet' combination chemotherapy of gemcitabine and carboplatin. The primary endpoint of the study was progression-free survival.
In his presentation at the ESMO Congress, Prof Zhou reported that the median progression-free survival in the erlotinib arm was 13.1 months, compared to 4.6 months for the chemotherapy arm of the study. The objective response rate with erlotinib was 83%, compared to 36% for gemcitabine plus carboplatin. 31 patients in the erlotinib arm are still under study and progression free compared to only 1 in the chemotherapy arm.
"OPTIMAL is the first reported prospective Phase-III study to confirm the role of erlotinib in advanced NSCLC patients with EGFR activating mutations," Prof Zhou said. "It does much better than the standard doublet chemotherapy and so we should start erlotinib treatment as soon as possible after the diagnosis of advanced NSCLC with EGFR activating mutations," he added.
Safety analyses showed lower rates of adverse events with erlotinib than with chemotherapy, the researchers report.
Also at the ESMO Congress, Professor Yi-long Wu from Guangdong General Hospital (GGH) & Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences in China reported the first biomarker results from the study. This analysis aimed to evaluate the impact on various biomarkers with survival among the patient population.
"Detailed biomarker analysis did not identify additional markers that could be used to further optimize treatment decisions. It was found that patients who had exon 19 deletions in EGFR had longer progression-free survival with erlotinib than those with L858R mutations and only one patient had an EGFR T790M mutation, and remained progression-free for only 0.62 months," Prof Wu said.
The results of the OPTIMAL trial have implications for clinical practice, commented Dr Federico Cappuzzo, Director of Medical Oncology at Ospedale Civile in Livorno, Italy.
"These data, combined with data coming from another four large Phase-III studies comparing chemotherapy versus gefitinib, another orally available EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI), confirmed that erlotinib or gefitinib represent the best therapeutical option we can offer today as front-line therapy in metastatic NSCLC with activating EGFR mutations."
Dr Cappuzzo noted that all studies so far in this setting have been conducted in Asian populations. A confirmatory study in Caucasian patients is currently ongoing.

**In ESMO 2010 Congress

Surgical technique relieves painful spine fractures in patients with metastatic cancer

A surgical technique appears to offer quick and effective relief for debilitating spinal fractures often suffered by patients with metastatic cancer, researchers reported at the 35th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Milan.
Many patients with multiple myeloma, or those whose cancer has spread beyond the initial tumor site, suffer compression fractures in their spine. This is partly because the spine is one of the most common sites for metastatic spread of the disease, making the vertebrae brittle and at risk for fractures. Widely-used cancer treatments such as corticoid treatment, hormone therapy, radiation therapy can also have a weakening effect on bone and increase the risk for fractures in these patients.
Professor Leonard Bastian from Klinikum Leverkusen in German led an international trial testing a new technique to treat these compression fractures, called balloon kyphoplasty.
"Balloon Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive surgical procedure to treat patients with painful vertebral compression fractures," Prof Bastian explained.
To perform the procedure, a surgeon inserts a small orthopedic balloon through a 1 cm incision into the fractured vertebra. Inflation of the balloon can restore the shape and height of the vertebrae. The balloon is then deflated and removed and a precise amount of quick-setting bone cement is injected in the vertebral body restoring the shape and strength of the vertebrae.
At the congress, Prof Bastian reported the results of a trial including 134 patients randomly assigned to either balloon kyphoplasty (70 patients) or non-surgical management (64).
Those who had the surgery showed improvements in a questionnaire designed to measure their level of disability at one month after surgery. They also experienced a significant improvement in back pain one week after surgery, while those who received non-surgical management saw no improvement.
After one month, patients in the non-surgical arm of the study were allowed to receive balloon kyphoplasty. Thirty-eight chose to do so. All patients who underwent balloon kyphoplasty reported sustained improvements in quality of life for a year after treatment.
"Balloon kyphoplasty offers quick pain relief; restores patient activity and mobility and it gives an important improvement of quality of life," Prof Bastian said. "It may be the right treatment option for vertebral compression fractures if conventional pain medication has not been effective or has too many side-effects."
"This study demonstrates balloon kyphoplasty should be considered when painful vertebral compression fractures occur in cancer patients. It is an additional therapy which can really add to the patient's quality of life."
"The role of balloon kyphoplasty for the control of pain and disability in cancer patients is a hot topic," commented Dr Fausto Roila from Ospedale Santa Maria, Terni, Italy. "Managing the side-effects of therapies and the symptoms of cancer is an important aspect of cancer care."
The study by Prof Bastian's group adds to a growing literature on the role of kyphoplasty, Dr Roila noted. "As research into this technique continues it will be important to conduct double-blind, placebo-controlled studies to identify the place of balloon kyphoplasty in cancer care."

**In ESMO 2010 Congress

New targeted therapy adds benefit to erlotinib in some patients with advanced lung cancer

A subset of lung cancer patients seem to live longer and experience delays in disease progression when a new drug that targets a cancer-associated molecule called MET is added to treatment with erlotinib, the results of a double-blind Phase-II trial show.
Dr David Spigel, Director of lung cancer research for the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee reported the trial findings at the 35th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Milan, Italy.
The study included 128 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who were randomly assigned to treatment with either erlotinib plus placebo, or erlotinib plus MetMAb, a monoclonal antibody that binds specifically to the MET receptor on cancer cells.
"MET is an important switch in cancer cells," Dr Spigel explained. "When turned on, it influences the growth of these cells. Importantly, MET activation has also been implicated in the resistance of lung cancers to EGFR inhibitors such as erlotinib. MetMAb helps target this switch and turn it off."
Dr Spigel and colleagues tested for mutations in the EGFR gene and for expression of MET in tumor samples from trial participants.
At the end of the trial, the researchers found that among the 51% of patients whose tumors expressed MET, those who received MetMAb plus erlotinib had better overall survival and longer progression-free survival than those who received erlotinib plus placebo.
In this subset of Met+ patients, adding MetMAb to erlotinib nearly halved the risk of disease progression or death during the study compared to those treated with erlotinib plus placebo.
"In those patients who were found to express the MET protein (the target of MetMAb), MetMAb appeared to improve the treatment benefit when added to erlotinib compared with erlotinib alone," Dr Spigel said.
Conversely, patients whose tumors did not express the MET protein appeared to do worse when treated with the MetMAb/erlotinib combination. "The reasons for this finding are unclear. It is possible that MetMAb may interfere with erlotinib's activity in these patients, but further study would be necessary to better understand this potential negative association," Dr Spigel said.
"The findings of this trial are important, and need to be validated in a larger randomized Phase-III trial in patients selected for MET expression," Dr Spigel said.
The results of this trial are important for three reasons, commented Professor Jean-Charles Soria from Institut Gustave Roussy, Paris, France.
"First, this is the second trial in lung cancer where targeting of MET in combination with erlotinib suggests a better outcome," Prof Soria said. "This confirms that MET is a relevant target in cancer."
"Also, the present Genentech-sponsored trial has identified a putative biomarker, namely MET immunohistochemical positivity, which appears to be easy to implement as immunohistochemistry testing is daily practice in pathology labs."
"Finally, in the present trial the biomarker-positive population not only derived a benefit in progression-free survival, but also an almost statistical overall survival benefit, which is remarkable taking into account the small number of patients. One note of caution, however, is that these Phase-II results should be validated in a larger Phase-III trial."

**Published in "EurekAlert"

El Iphone tiene aplicación para los primeros auxilios

El Iphone, el teléfono más carismático de Apple, también cuenta con una aplicación que puede salvar muchas vidas. A través de la AHA( Asociación Americana de Salud) se ha desarrollado un software llamado "Pocket First Aid" y que es una especie de botiquín electrónico, permitiendo al usuario poner en práctica los primeros auxilios en casos de una urgencia extrema.

A través de una serie de vídeos explicativos e ilustraciones concretas el usuario sabrá cómo actuar ante problemas de tipo respiratorio, oculares, gastrointestinales y de todo tipo con sólo seguir las indicaciones que van apareciendo en el menú. También puede almacenar información útil sobre seguros, emergencias o, incluso, el historial médico si es necesario.