Monday, December 31, 2012

OPEN ENDED MORATORIUM NOT GOOD FOR CPRIT AND RELATED BUSINESSES.

While it is imperative to stop the grant process in order to remove CPRIT leaders who have been embroiled in a succession of scandals from mismanagement, there is also the sense that a prolonged Moratorium may hurt this very important program.
The Moratorium is aimed at:
1. Stopping the cancer within CPRIT
2. Nominate new CPRIT leaders
3. To fully investigate what happened
4. To determine ways to improve on the experience at CPRIT
5. To formulate new legislation in order to boost policies and activities
6. To restart a new and improved CPRIT.

The cancer within CPRIT has been dealt a blow by the removal of CPRIT executives, and the rising sense at CPRIT that they cannot continue to do things the old ways.  More needs to be demonstrated and a full reevaluation of the CPRIT system is awaited by communities around Texas  (Particularly in El Paso which so far has received less than 0.5% of CPRIT grant allocations of the close to 1 billion dollars).

New interim leaders have been nominated. We applaud them for their courage to get involved.  We wish them well and only ask of them to broaden the foot print of CPRIT by reaching out to new cities, new companies, and new ventures to really make a difference in low income communities.  We wish to remind them that El Paso is under-served and here prevention and clinical research will have the highest reach and impact.  Inclusion of minority populations makes for a more meaningful research outcome.

Investigation into activities at CPRIT is two fold.  One involves the legislators who founded and framed CPRIT.  They have been outraged by questionable practices at CPRIT.  They are now investigating to see how new legislation brought to CPRIT may prevent the current undermining trends at CPRIT and how to build ways to protect against future abuses.   The second one is to review and ascertain the possibility that criminal conduct had occurred at CPRIT.  The District Attorney and relevant offices have opened necessary investigations.  These types of investigations could be exhaustive and lengthy!

With all this going on, a Moratorium on the grant allocation or distribution had to implemented while improving internal policies, implementing checks and balances, hiring needed people to replace the leaving, and putting in place mandates for the new legislation ( basically putting in place things the governor and the Lt Governor called for CPRIT to do prior to resumption of Grant allocation activities).

Despite this understanding, it is clear that if this moratorium is open ended and not further characterized, its toll may hurt CPRIT, businesses and communities waiting for CPRIT resurgence.   At CPRIT the morale may move from anxiety to numbness, the new leaders may lose their yearning to lead again, and new Business applicants already are in limbo!  Those who got funded continue their activities, but suffice is to say even they need a vibrant and alive CPRIT to monitor their progress.  The length of the moratorium cannot be linked to the criminal investigation which should not be rushed in order to be thorough.   Our legislators are busy.  It's good they complete this task before their attention is called elsewhere.   CPRIT has only 7 years to go.  Let's work in a timely fashion.  We believe in a time frame that may tell us how long we will wait.  CPRIT is too important in our lives in various ways.  Even if it is just the hope that it represents!
Medscape Medical News > Oncology

Major Cancer Agency Freezes New Grants

Nick Mulcahy
Dec 21, 2012
As of this week, one of the largest funders of cancer research in the United States has temporarily stopped awarding grants, according to news reports.
The move by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), which is a state-sponsored taxpayer-funded agency, was in reaction to pressure and requests from Texas officials, including Governor Rick Perry.
The grant freeze is the latest development in an ongoing battle about questionable funding operations at the agency.
CPRIT reportedly hands out more cancer-related research dollars than any organization in the United States other than the National Institutes of Health.
Since 2007, CPRIT has channeled $1 billion in appropriations from the Texas legislature to fund cancer-related academic research projects, public prevention initiatives, and biotech cancer start-ups. These latter "commercialization" projects are a major source of agency turmoil.
Much of the controversy revolves around 2 large commercialization grants, both of which reportedly did not undergo the agency's standard review process. The awards total about $30 million.
The first controversial grant, for $18 million, was awarded to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Rice University in Houston, Texas, for a research–business incubator project. It was the largest award ever granted by CPRIT, as reported by Medscape Medical News.
The M.D. Anderson–Rice proposal was handled in a suspicious manner; the higher-ups at CPRIT hastily processed the grant application, circumventing CPRIT scientific reviewers, according to a Houston Chronicle investigative report published earlier this year. The grant's principal investigator is Lynda Chin, MD, a physician at M.D. Anderson and the wife of Ronald DePinho, MD, who is president of the cancer center.
In the past couple of weeks, it was reported that a second major grant, of $11 million, to Peloton Therapeutics (Dallas, Texas) also skirted the agency's review process.
Two weeks ago, the embattled executive director of CPRIT, Bill Gimson, finally resigned as questions abounded about his leadership. In addition, a Texas state office that investigates public corruption and criminal activity opened an inquiry into the agency.
Accusations of insider deals and cronyism have dogged the agency in the past year, as CPIRT's top scientists resigned in protest and made accusations on their way out the door.
Nobel laureate Phillip Sharp, PhD, quit his job as chair of the CPRIT Scientific Review Council in October. In his resignation letter, Dr. Sharp, who is also on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, wrote that some of CPRIT's funding decisions have a "suspicion of favoritism." Another departing member of the scientific staff warned about "politically driven" funding and the subversion of scientific enterprise, according to press reports.
But the sharpest criticism came from the organization's former chief scientific officer, Alfred Gilman, MD, PhD.
Dr. Gilman, who is also a Nobel laureate, resigned from his CPRIT post in May to protest the aforementioned M.D. Anderson grant. He suggested that some grant recipients are "vultures."
"A friend of mine experienced in these matters told me this is the way it always works when you put a large amount of money on the table," Dr. Gilman said in an article published in the Houston Chronicle. "The vultures lie low for a couple years, figuring out how the system works. Then they come in for the feast. The M.D. Anderson grant was the first course of that feast."

Latest in Hematology-Oncology
MEDSCAPE JOINS THE CPRIT CHORUS!

Sunday, December 30, 2012

(updated) FROM SYNAPSE: EL PASO IS FOURTH CITY IN TEXAS.

"El Paso is the fourth most populous city in the state of Texas with a population of more than 700,000. With such an immense population, this region has been federally designated as a medically underserved area.
“A health sciences university in El Paso will provide an outstanding education for the culturally diverse communities in this area, promote crucial research related to Latino and other underserved populations, and serve as a nationally recognized primary and specialty referral center for quality patient care,” said Jose Manuel de la Rosa, founding dean of the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine."
 
FROM CPRIT, WE RECEIVED a MERE 0.7% OF ONE BILLION DOLLARS GIVEN IN CANCER PREVENTION AND  RESEARCH FUNDING TO DATE! AND THAT IS ALL FAIR, BELIEVE ME!

The truth is that some of Organizations who benefited from CPRIT fundings for El Paso, are actually not based in El Paso.  Texas Tech and UTEP are reportedly not EL Paso based.   It is CRBCM's understanding from SYNAPSE sources that our Congress Representative is planning legislation to sever EL PASO dependency from Lubbock,Texas!

What is Lubbock? A small town which has succeeded to highjack a larger town. CRBCM will stay away from this controversy!  Suffice is to say, money destined to El Paso is actually managed by Lubbock.  THE TRUE PART OF CPRIT MONEY FOR EL PASO IS MOST LIKELY 0.1-0.2% SO FAR AFTER A THIRD OF CPRIT MONEY HAS BEEN SPENT!

Lubbock (pron.: /ˈlʌbək/)[4] is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States.[5] The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and is home to three universities: Lubbock Christian University, Texas Tech University, and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. According to a 2011 Census estimate, Lubbock had a population of 233,740,[1] making it the 83rd most populous city in the United States of America and the 11th most populous city in the state of Texas.[6] The city is the economic center of the Lubbock metropolitan area, which had an estimated 2011 population of 290,002.[7]
Lubbock's nickname is the "Hub City", which derives from it being the economic, education, and health care hub of a multicounty region commonly called the South Plains.[8] The area is the largest contiguous cotton-growing region in the world[9][10] and is heavily dependent on irrigation water drawn from the Ogallala Aquifer. Lubbock was selected as the 12th best place to start a small business by CNNMoney.com.[11] They mentioned the community's traditional business atmosphere, less expensive rent for commercial space, and its central location and cooperative form of city government. Lubbock High School has been recognized for three consecutive years by Newsweek as one of the top high schools in the United States. Lubbock High School is home to the only international baccalaureate (IB) program in the region. The IB program is one of the criteria examined by Newsweek in formulating their list of top high schools.[12] (Wikipedia)"

THE FUTURE AT CRBCM IS SPOKEN IN THE SIGNS!

2013: Sagittarius Career

Sagittarius
2013 promises to bring you a slew of helpful alliances to further your career aims. This is the year when social networking pays off in spades. The more you put yourself out there and socialize, the more contacts you'll make. Never underestimate the power of who you know because you're about to find out just how powerful it is to be connected. You're also learning about the power of delegating responsibilities. You of all people have a tendency to load your plate so full that you cannot possibly keep up with your own exciting life. Getting the right people to support you is essential to keep your career flourishing. Without the proper team behind you, how can you safely continue to grow? Saturn in Scorpio is reminding you that you must have a rock-solid foundation and infrastructure to prevent your bigger-than-life plans from toppling over at a moment's notice.
Uranus continues to give you the rebellious spirit you need to maximize your creative potential for ultimate gain. The fearlessness and initiative sparked by this radical influence propels you forward with an immediacy that is palpable. You know more than ever that the time is right now. No longer will you bide your time or put important plans on the back burner. It's now or never in 2013, and you'll show others the way to jumping into the unknown with total abandon. Others look to you for wisdom, inspiration and guidance more than ever now, so be ready to heed the call.
Saturn is camping out in your sector of retreat, dreams and imagination. You're being asked to make time to give structure to your fantasy life. No longer shall reality and fantasy be compartmentalized. If you can dream it, you can manifest it in the real word. All that is required is that you write everything down and make a solid plan around the images and dreams that come to you. Don't let them pass like clouds because they may just be your meal ticket, darling. It's all about implementing and making them concrete. Taking time off proves to be highly lucrative, as you will use this time for research, inspiration and reflection. Solitude and reflection become a necessity rather than a luxury in 2013.
======================================================================
FROM YAHOO

IF YOU FEEL GOOD BECAUSE YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY HINDERED PROGRESS AGAINST CANCER, GOOD FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT BE MENTIONED ANYWHERE IN HISTORY.   IF YOU FEEL YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED TO STOP CRBCM MARCH TO BECOME WHAT IT SHOULD BE FOR JOBS IN EL PASO, FOR HELPING IN LOW INCOME AREAS, FOR THE FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER.  A BIGGER HAT FOR YOU.  YOUR EFFORTS WILL NEVER BE KNOWN BUT TO YOU AND CLOSE ACCOMPLICES.
EVEN THE DEVIL WINS SOMETIMES!  BUT HIS WINS ARE MET WITH DISDAIN FROM THE COMMON FELLOW!

BE A POSITIVE FORCE, SUPPORT CRBCM'S MISSION!
CALL 915-307-3354 AND OFFER YOUR HELP!

Let's make 2013 more wholesome AND delicious















Dear Peggy,

Some of the best things in life start small.

Like the garlic cloves I plant. Buried about three inches into the fragrant earth, warmed by the late-Autumn sun, and protected from smothering weeds with the strength of my own hands.

Unfortunately, not all food we eat is treated with such care. Food that is convenient and cheap has overshadowed food that is healthy and fresh for far too long, and in every corner of the globe.

These foods aren't just fast. They favor efficiency over safety. Profit over health. Cheap labor over workers' rights. Mass production over the environment.

In running our own farm, my wife and I have chosen to support a different kind of food and farming. So have you – simply by receiving this email from Slow Food!

You can play an integral role in effecting the change we need to build this system. Making a tax-deductible $8 donation now means you'll be a part of a movement that demands more from our food producers.

With time, the garlic I planted last month will grow into fragrant bulbs, ripe with promise for a satisfying and flavorful meal. Supporting Slow Food offers a similar promise to farmers like me, who have boycotted unethical food production practices in order to make foods that are better for everyone.

And Slow Food supporters are not just advocating for small farms. We're also demanding better working conditions and quality products from large-scale food producers.

We're building community gardens that provide educational opportunities and a good source of food for community members.

We're ensuring that the plants we value so highly, from Harrison Cider apples to Burbank tomatoes, do not face extinction when confronted with waning biodiversity.

You've helped make this progress possible, and we need your help to continue these programs, and to establish new ones. Additional funding is critical – Slow Food must raise $80,000 in these last two days before the New Year to ensure we have the resources we need to do our work, and we're still $25,000 away from our goal.

Your tax-deductible $8 donation today will do so much to guarantee that Slow Food programs can stay strong in 2013 and beyond.

From cooking, to serving as a Slow Food governor, to growing food for my family and my community, I have spent my life working toward a more sustainable method of producing food.

And I've seen firsthand the impact advocates like you can have. You're the ones demanding more of your grocers, of your growers and of your government. You're the ones coming home every night to enjoy a meal with the people you care about. You're the ones making our food practices better for your families and for generations to come.

Let's help everyone enjoy that same right. Whether we're serving up a slow-roasted garlic soup or a handful of just-cracked pecans, we know a small thing can make a big impact.
Sincerely,
Greg Boulos
Mid-Atlantic Regional Governor, Slow Food USA
P.S. I just want to take a moment to thank the current and past staff of Slow Food USA. Leadership in a movement like ours takes tireless dedication and a personal commitment that extends far deeper than any paycheck can inspire. Their passion is deep and it is in this spirit that we prepare the next generation of Slow Food leaders.
© 2012 Slow Food USA
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68 Summit Street, 2B, Brooklyn, NY 11231
718.260.8000 | membership@slowfoodusa.org







IT IS ALL POLITICS, AN INTERESTING READING BUT THE SUPREME COURT WON'T BUY

Conservatives Invoke NAACP Case In Fight For Secret Donors

Audio for this story from Weekend Edition Sunday will be available at approximately 12:00 p.m. ET.
Republican strategist Karl Rove, shown at the Republican National Convention in August, is arguing for continued secrecy for the new class of million-dollar political donors.
David Goldman/AP
Here's a question: What do Republican uber-strategist Karl Rove and civil rights icon Rosa Parks have in common?
The answer: A landmark Supreme Court ruling from 1958 protecting the First Amendment rights of dissident groups.
The case is rooted in the Montgomery bus boycott initiated by Parks in 1955. And it's likely to loom large in 2013 as Rove and other conservatives demand continued secrecy for the new class of million-dollar political donors.
A Wave Of Secret Money
This election year, secret money played a bigger role than in any other presidential campaign since Richard Nixon's. The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation says that secretly funded groups spent well over $200 million. And four-fifths of it helped Republicans.
So it's not surprising that conservatives want to keep donors' identities secret. They say it's essential to safeguard donors from harassment and intimidation.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell once favored sweeping transparency for political money. Not anymore.
In a major speech this year, he brought up the plight of a million-dollar donor to a superPAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
"People were digging through his divorce records, cable television hosts were going after him on the air, and bloggers were harassing his kids," McConnell said.
'Intimidation And Harassment'
Rove's group Crossroads GPS was a leader in the secret fundraising. He says that the disclosure advocates have a hidden agenda.
"They want to intimidate people into not giving to ... these conservative efforts," he said on Fox News.
And here is where Rove and Parks cross paths: In defending secret money, Rove invokes that Supreme Court case, NAACP v. Alabama. He lines up Crossroads GPS on the same side as Parks and the NAACP, and he says the transparency advocates make the same argument as the segregationists.
"I think it's shameful," Rove said. "I think it's a sign of their fear of democracy. And it's interesting that they have antecedents, and the antecedents are a bunch of segregationist attorney generals trying to shut down the NAACP."
To elaborate on this argument, aides to Rove recommended Heritage Foundation legal fellow Hans von Spakovsky.
"You look at the kind of intimidation and harassment that has occurred in the past year or two towards conservative political donors, and it makes you realize that the Supreme Court got it right," von Spakovsky says.
A 'False Symmetry'?
But the question is whether the two situations are similar.
A few months after the bus boycott began, Parks told Pacifica Radio how she had refused to give up her seat on the bus: "The time had just come when I had been pushed as far as I could stand to be pushed, I suppose," she said. "They placed me under arrest."
That was just the beginning. Montgomery law enforcement brought charges against Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders. Arsonists firebombed their homes and churches. Across the state, rioters blocked an NAACP bid to desegregate the University of Alabama. A mob chased the one African-American student, chanting "Let's kill her."
The university acted. It suspended the black student — and then expelled her.
Meanwhile, state Attorney General John Patterson subpoenaed the NAACP's membership records. "The NAACP is the biggest enemy that the people of this state have," he said.
When the case finally reached the Supreme Court, the justices ruled in favor of the NAACP. They said the group faced attacks — both from government officials and from law-breakers — and that revealing its members would endanger their First Amendment rights.
"One of the reasons why the NAACP required special protections at that time [is] they were a minority group that law enforcement couldn't or wouldn't protect," says Dale Ho, a lawyer at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
He says conservatives are creating a "false symmetry" between those civil rights activists and today's millionaire donors. "In none of these recent cases that I'm aware of in the past five years has anyone ever alleged that law enforcement couldn't protect them adequately," Ho says.
A Right To Secrecy?
At the University of Chicago Law School, constitutional scholar Geoffrey Stone scoffs at the conservative argument, calling its proponents "a bunch of overly sensitive, thin-skinned billionaires who want to be able to have profound influence on the political process without being in any way accountable."
In the years since the NAACP v. Alabama decision, courts have never extended it to cover donors in the usual conservative-liberal, Republican-Democratic debates.
A related case did go to the Supreme Court in 2010. Challenging a state disclosure law, it sought to withhold the names of people who had petitioned against gay marriage.
The court said they had no right to secrecy. Justice Antonin Scalia was scathing: "Running a democracy takes a certain amount of civic courage. And the First Amendment does not protect you from criticism, or even nasty phone calls."
But von Spakovsky says that politically generous billionaires today need protection, just like civil rights workers 60 years ago.
"I don't think that a constitutional right like freedom of association should depend on how much money you have," he says.
It's an argument that seems sure to stir passionate debate this coming year as the disclosure battles take shape in Congress and the courts.
 

Texas cancer-fighting agency has benefited Perry, Dewhurst donor

 52  7
 
comments (0)
Caliber Biotherapeutics received a $12.8 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. (Sue Goetinck Ambrose)
The state’s $3 billion program to fight cancer has come under increased scrutiny after its chief scientist and dozens of advisers stepped down this year, alleging that methods for awarding grants have been compromised.
In our new investigation of The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, we report that millions from the agency flowed to two firms founded by political contributor and Dallas businessman David Shanahan.
A month after Texas voters in 2007 approved the state’s 10-year, $3 billion program Shanahan and several of his associates began to pour tens of thousands of dollars into the campaign funds of Gov. Rick Perry and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst.
The $13 million in awards came on top of more than $8 million Shanahan’s firms previously had received from funds controlled by Perry’s office. Those funds: the Texas Enterprise Fund, a little-known fund to assist communities with military bases, and the state’s Emerging Technology Fund. (Read The News’ previous coverage on the tech fund’s awards to political contributors here.)
CPRIT said the largest of its awards to Shanahan’s companies, $12.8 million to Caliber Biotherapeutics, was given based on recommendations from experts who reviewed the grants. The News’ Austin bureau reporter James Drew and I reported yesterday that reviewers gave Caliber the lowest science score of all companies receiving such awards.
CPRIT told us political connections had nothing to do with the awards to David Shanahan’s companies.  Aides to Perry and Dewhurst, who along with the House Speaker make appointments to CPRIT’s Oversight Committee, said the elected officials are not involved in the agency’s operations, including which applicants get funded.
Our full coverage includes a 2-minute video on Shanahan’s connections.
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CRBCM, A SURVIVAL STRATEGY.

The holidays have brought new wind at CRBCM/Greaster East Cancer Center.  As some physicians took off for the holidays.  We, at CRBCM, fill the gap increasing our share of patients.  Already it seems that our efforts provide an opportunity to live another day for sure.  We are not going to be distracted. The cause is just and lingering, the call is alive and keeps inviting to action.  Women keep facing the devastation of Breast cancer.  My own dear mother died of complications and progression of Breast cancer.  We will not surrender.  People are dying every day while our leaders are distracted by political fights.  Some of our leaders actually believe more in politics than in the work at end.  All day they stay on the phone building political alliances for their own survival.  It is good to survive so you can speak another day.  But surviving because of the alliances you have built is not enough.  Survive to make a difference, survive to advance the human condition, survive to leave a legacy, survive to show you are the best of us by representing some idea or philosophy that should drive communities to rise to better conditions or understanding of us, the people of the world.  To do this you have to fight.
Part of the fight is to raise your voice. And words can hurt when the confront awkward politicians who forget they acts are being watched!  when you speak the truth, cheaters are genuinely hurt.  And to show their power, they lash at you with their venom.  They work hard at isolating you even though the realize your cause is just.  That you come from a forgotten city.  That you come from forgotten minorities.  politicians and large Institutions use minorities to show they are kind, compassionate and thoughtful.  They don't think of us as equal people in need of intervention.  Only a fringe of the majority is genuinely interested.  politicians and large institutions will dismiss you as soon as they know they can get away with it.  Blood is thicker than water, the say goes.
For low income population, only those leaders who have risen from them can really fight for them.  if you have faced the desperation of an empty refrigerator with kids looking at you for answers to their needs, you will find it in you to give 5 dollars to a begger instead of a dime.  The feeling of desperation will return to your stomach.  You will understand how this lonely begger should be feeling when he is now alone! Are we suckers? May be!  But you do a good deed because you believe in what it is for the world we live in!  There is no better judge of when something is right but your own conscience!

The inherent component to being a coalition is to take on a fight.  And in any fight you can win or lose.  But no matter the outcome, you will learn to fight better another day.  In some fight, losing the first round is part of the process.  Hold your ground until the opponent understand you are a parallel "friend" in the fight for a better country! WE,AT CRBCM, HAVE RAISED OUR VOICE AGAINST ELEMENTS IN CPRIT. WE ARE BRACING OURSELVES FOR THE REVENGEFUL DISMISSAL OF 3 OF OUR SUBMISSIONS.  But every day we wake up people are dying of cancer.  We will be coming back to the doors of CPRIT because we must!  

Saturday, December 29, 2012

CRBCM- Reflections 
Just as you feel everything is collapsing on you,  new wind boost you back -up.
Mostly because you are prepared and therefore a new opportunity comes from the horizon.  You got to take it! and to do so you got to qualify to do so.  Nothing comes to you when you are unprepared and unqualified.  So prepare yourself while you wait for friendly waters!

We live in a community of people, someone knows someone with a new need. and here we go,  you take on the new opportunity!  life has this way of throwing you a bone, you got to be hungry and ready to do a good job for things to stick.  We are ready to unveil some details of our many projects.  The survivorship program appears to be the most detailed so far.  We wait for funding in Dayton,Ohio and (on Chester Blvd) Richmond Indiana to be secured.

Even your enemies are under pressure to perform and meet objectives as they are judged by tertiary independent forces.  They may offer you a bone to keep themselves afloat.  You just take the opportunity because you too have to stay afloat. The world goes on this way!  At CRBCM we take care of business with attention because one good performance lead to another.  Our cause is here and just, someone somewhere will here our call and answer soon.  We will keep the fight because the cause is a good one!  New good signs have emerged today, let's keep on working hard!
News at CRBCM/ ANNUAL GOALS/

-Final touch on New year's Party;  The CRBCM owns a studio
and some of our spare time is spent composing Music.  Some of the music is posted on UBETO under CLEMENT ALBERT!
The plan is, once the health prevention program is developed, to use this vehicle for people motivation messages.  In this Hispanic culture of El Paso, Texas, Music is in the heart of the people.  The success of Zumba lays in the Music driving the dance-exercise!  CRBCM has invested in this.   The party is a free run of the original Music.
-Final touch on Annual Goals and objectives given unfriendly waters.
New privileges in local hospital being renewed,  expanding coverage of hospitals, writing new proposals
-Final shipment on contractual obligation/ work completed in Houston and Greenville ( IN): finding new contract with Insurers for independent work
-final decisions strategy on Asset management. where to cut our losses.
actively sell assets in NY, MD, IN and VA.
-decisions on CRBCM Marketing and push for further exposure as positive signs point to survival of CRBCM.
-Knowing our weaknesses and actively work on ways to manage them.  this is called RISK MANAGEMENT for better positioning.
-Increasing presence in local Hospitals
-Identifying new local opportunities for ventures
-Increasing political alliances.
- work expansion in swing states where economic opportunity is greatest. (IN and OH)
-Sale Assets in various states/restructuring
-Fitness 

THE CRBCM GOT TO STAY ON THE MOVE, dying appears to not be an option anymore! things are shaping up for an exciting 2013.
  
AS WE SEARCH FOR THE CURE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT:
Molecular Biology offers tremendous opportunities to fight cancer.  In fact, it is surprising that we seem so early (or late, depending on how you understand this) in the game.  The cell can be affected in so many ways that we are late reacting. Using integrated methods and our computer abilities, we should by now be involved in developing patterns of attacks by cancer cell type.
We should define clearly the major drivers by type of cancer, and pick the counter attacks specifically per type of cancer.  We should be at the stage where each patient who presents to us has his genotype defined, changes in his membrane receptors described, driver mutations enunciated,  status of P53,  level of major Cyclins and various cell protections (P-gp, Bcl-2), status and quantitative expression of transcription factors, expression of Metastatic potential (E-Cadherin, Metallo-protease, TGF), histone conformation, level of Endonuclases, status of mitotic speed, types of protein Anchor at cell membranes, and Kinesins (Kif2a,b,c) and so on so forth, all spelled out on his file!

IT IS ONLY WITH THIS LEVEL OF DEFINITION, THAT WE CAN PICK AND CHOOSE AN APPROPRIATE TREATMENT, OR UNDERSTAND THE SHORTCOMINGS OF OUR CURRENT STANDARD TREATMENTS.  Computers should also be used to tell us if combination treatments should be used sequentially or concurrently, and at which sequences, order and time our therapeutics should be given.

Molecular Biology, so many "distractions" and stuff that some scientists are spending days on, and may lead to something some day, but as we work in a race against death situation, and people are dying every day, it is time to pause and regroup, look at how to create this panel per patient, and develop computer supported patterns of therapy.  And every 2-5 years make a stop, update our computer and reload for the Cure!

Meet the newly approved RET/MET/VEGFR inhibitorFromExelixis  


If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view.
HAVE WE MET? -- NEW COMETRIQ ™ (cabozantinib)
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COMETRIQ is indicated for the treatment of patients with progressive,
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COMETRIQ inhibits the activity of tyrosine kinases including RET, MET, and VEGFRs. These receptor tyrosine kinases are involved in both normal cellular function and in pathologic processes such as oncogenesis, metastasis, tumor angiogenesis, and maintenance of the tumor microenvironment.
COMETRIQ demonstrated significant efficacy in a phase 3 trial (N=330) in metastatic MTC patients with radiographically confirmed disease progression.*
Significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) vs placebo (HR=0.28; 95% CI: 0.19, 0.40; P<0.0001)
— Median PFS was 11.2 months with COMETRIQ vs 4.0 months with placebo
Objective response rate (ORR) was 27% with COMETRIQ vs 0% with placebo (P<0.0001)
— Median duration of tumor response was 14.7 months (95% CI: 11.1, 19.3)
Adverse reactions occurring in ≥25% of patients treated with COMETRIQ and more frequently than with placebo (≥5% between-arm difference) in order of decreasing frequency were: diarrhea, stomatitis, palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome, decreased weight, decreased appetite, nausea, fatigue, oral pain, hair color changes, dysgeusia, hypertension, abdominal pain, and constipation; the most common laboratory abnormalities (>25%) were increased AST, increased ALT, lymphopenia, increased alkaline phosphatase, hypocalcemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, hypophosphatemia, and hyperbilirubinemia.
* Results of the international, multicenter, randomized, double-blind EXAM study in patients (N=330) with progressive, metastatic MTC. Primary endpoint: PFS; secondary endpoints: ORR and overall survival (OS). OS data are not yet mature.

Friday, December 28, 2012

» About CPRIT » Purpose, Powers, and Duties

Purpose, Powers, and Duties

Purpose

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) is the state agency mandated to:
  • Create and expedite innovation in the area of cancer research and in enhancing the potential for a medical or scientific breakthrough in the prevention of cancer and cures for cancer;
  • Attract, create, or expand research capabilities of public or private institutions of higher education and other public or private entities that will promote a substantial increase in cancer research and in the creation of high-quality new jobs in this state; and
Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 102.002

Powers and Duties

In furtherance of its statutory mandate, CPRIT is authorized to:
  • Make grants to provide funds to public or private persons to implement the Texas Cancer Plan, and may make grants to institutions of learning and to advanced medical research facilities and collaborations in this state for:
    • Research into the causes of and cures for all types of cancer in humans;
    • Facilities for use in research into the causes of and cures for cancer;
    • Research, including translational research, to develop therapies, protocols, medical pharmaceuticals, or procedures for the cure or substantial mitigation of all types of cancer in humans; and
    • Cancer prevention and control programs in this state to mitigate the incidence of all types of cancer in humans;
  • Support institutions of learning and advanced medical research facilities and collaborations in this state in all stages in the process of finding the causes of all types of cancer in humans and developing cures, from laboratory research to clinical trials and including programs to address the problem of access to advanced cancer treatment;
     
  • Establish the appropriate standards and oversight bodies to ensure the proper use of funds authorized under this chapter for cancer research and facilities development;
     
  • Employ an executive director as determined by the oversight committee;
     
  • Employ necessary staff to provide administrative support;
     
  • Monitor contracts and agreements; and
     
  • Work to implement the Texas Cancer Plan and continually monitor and revise the Texas Cancer Plan as necessary.
Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 102.051
OTHER SPECTRUM OF THE ISSUE, DON'T GO TO DEFICIENCIES

Nail changes can be a clue in diagnosing some vitamin deficiencies, as in this patient's nail beading. Beads that seem to drip down the nail like wax are associated with vitamin B deficiencies and some endocrine conditions (eg. diabetes mellitus, thyroid disorders and Addison disease). Brown-gray nails may be associated with vitamin B12 deficiency. A central nail ridge may be caused by iron deficiency, folic acid deficiency, or protein deficiency. Koilonychia (spoon nail) is associated with iron deficiency and protein deficiency (especially sulfur-containing amino acids, such as cysteine or methionine).[4]

FROM MEDSCAPE 
Mutombo --

Because of you, I'll be taking the oath of office again on January 21st.

You were part of the inauguration four years ago, and I hope you'll get involved in inaugural activities over the next few weeks -- whether that's in Washington, D.C., or wherever you call home.

As we make plans, we want to make sure the people who made this inauguration possible are the first to know what's happening -- but to do that I'll need your help.

Take a minute now to make sure your family and friends join you in being a part of this inauguration.

I'm honored each and every day to be your president, and I will never forget how I got here.

I'm so grateful for everything you've done.

Let's also remember why we're here: we've got more work to do. And we're going to begin this next chapter in the American story together.

Invite others to join us here:

http://action.2013pic.org/The-Inauguration

Thanks,

Barack
ROLE OF METABOLISM IN WEIGHT CONTROL

The fact is that Metabolism of Proteins and fat are not the same as that of Carbohydrates.  And every step the body has to complete to lead to energy production is good for you.   Metabolism of Carbohydrates is a direct conversion of carbohydrate to energy.  It is like burning fuel to have heat from a fire.
2 things here, some Carbohydrates are not easy to burn directly.  So sugar you get from pure sugar is more readily burnable than sugar from a fruit.  Sucrose is more burnable than Fructose.  You burn Sucrose directly to energy.  To burn  Fructose you need to convert it.  That extra step the body should make uses energy, making the energy production less efficient.  Believe me, at a certain age, when you don't need to grow, a less efficient system of energy is what you need.  To make up the deficiency, the body works  by giving energy to produce energy.  And any body work is good for you. It decreases your chance to build up obesity!
Secondly, Protein and lipid need major work to be converted to sugar prior to being burned into energy. When we eat sugar, it has to be burned by our Metabolism.  If not burned, the body stores it into fat mostly, and proteins if there is a need to build and grow!  BURNING YOUR STORAGE DOES NOT OCCUR IF YOU PROVIDE YOUR BODY WITH SUGARS, BECAUSE THE BODY WILL USE SUGAR FIRST FOR ENERGY PRODUCTION AND ANY EXTRA SUGAR WILL BE STORED INTO FAT FIRST (OBESITY) AND PROTEIN SECOND! (depending on our needs).

The notion that 55% of your diet need to come from Carbohydrates
                        15% from proteins
                        30% from lipids
may be good when you are trying to maintain or grow.  This not true for everyone.
But it gives us a further opportunity to cut down carbohydrates from 55% to 20-30%.  Such a cut will force the body to change its reserve of fat into carbohydrate. Again to do that it must WORK.  Work of the body without sugar means weight stabilization or WEIGHT LOSS.   SO anyone who cuts Carbohydrate intake for 6 to 8 weeks, will lose weight or at least will not grow! REMEMBER: CUTTING 10% OF YOUR WEIGHT WILL HAVE MAJOR POSITIVE IMPLICATIONS FOR YOUR HEALTH. IT'S LIKE CUTTING 10% GIVES YOU 30-40% BENEFIT IN HEALTH. 10% WEIGHT LOSS IS THE REALISTIC WORKABLE GOAL IN WEIGHT WATCHING.
LOSING 1 POUND PER WEEK IS THE GOAL!

The story does not stop here unfortunately.
By now (after 2-3 months) craving carbohydrates in our weight watcher becomes more intense, some will start adding more and more Carbohydrates in their pantry again and the program fails. The other fact is that the body always reacts to what you do to it!   The body learns that "ahha! this weight watcher is not giving me the carbohydrates I need, I will need to create a more efficient way to burn the fat and therefore the weight loss is plateauing out.
And that's OK!  Keeping a 10% weight loss is beneficial to your health.   To further decrease the weight more after 2-3 months of low Carbohydrates, you got to increase the Metabolism.  This is the step where exercise comes in strong.  You will exercise easier with the 10 % initial loss of the weight anyway!

ANYONE CAN LOSE 10% WEIGHT AS LONG AS THEY CUT OUT ANYTHING THEY ADD TO VEGETABLES OR MEAT OR FISH!  AND I MEAN ANYTHING FOR 6-12 WEEKS!  NO CORN, NO MAIZE, NO CORNFLAKES/cereals, NO RICE, NO SUGARY INGREDIENTS TO LEAFAGE AND MEAT/FISH.  AND YOU CAN DO THIS FOR 6-12 WEEKS!  BEFORE SWITCHING TO INTENSIFIED REGULAR EXERCISE.  YOU WILL BE MENTALLY CHALLENGED.  YOU NEED A PARTNER WHO IS DOING THE SAME.  YOU NEED SOMEONE TO REPORT TO, WEEKLY.  CALL CRBCM AT 915-307-3354 IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A "BUDDY"!   YOU CAN DO THIS!

During my home visits, I find myself with obese patients with extensive arthritis or on Oxygen who are lonely and worsening by the day.  It is evident to me that they are forsaken.  Primary care Doctors seem to have failed to provide individualized medicine.  We are all guilty looking for money which is tied to the number of people we see (RVU) that we cannot take the time we need to confront obesity for unique patients!   With this simple regimen most if not all lose the initial 10% of weight. The problem is the maintenance when you need exercise and support.

It is in the maintenance setting that medications and other interventions have a role in morbid obesity candidates!We need a STAGED INTERVENTION TO WEIGHT LOSS!

THIS IS ADDED TO THE FINITE AMOUNT OF LIFETIME HEALTH CHART WHICH IS BASED ON THE NOTION THAT THERE IS A FINITE AMOUNT OF CARBOHYDRATES PER EACH LIFE. AND ONE WOULD SPREAD IT OUT EVENLY OR EAT THE MOST EARLY IN LIFE BEFORE STARTING TO DRASTICALLY REDUCE.  AND THE MORE YOU EAT OR HAVE EATEN EARLY, THE LESS YOU CAN EAT UNTIL AGE 90! THE CURVE GOES DOWN AS WE AGE!

(CHALLENGES TO THIS LOW CARB DIET TO FOLLOW)

Thursday, December 27, 2012


E-cadherin related article

 To view the full text, please login as a subscribed user or purchase a subscription. Click here to
view the full text on ScienceDirect.
Molecular Cell, Volume 48, Issue 6, 914-925, 15 November 2012
Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
10.1016/j.molcel.2012.10.011

Authors

Yulia A. Komarovasend email, Fei Huang, Melissa Geyer, Nazila Daneshjou, Alexander Garcia,
 Luiza Idalino, Barry Kreutz, Dolly Mehta, Asrar B. MalikSee Affiliations



Molecular Cell, Volume 48, Issue 6, 914-925, 15 November 2012

Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10.1016/j.molcel.2012.10.011

Authors

Yulia A. Komarovasend email, Fei Huang, Melissa Geyer, Nazila Daneshjou, Alexander Garcia,
Luiza Idalino, Barry Kreutz, Dolly Mehta, Asrar B. MalikSee Affiliations

    Hint: Rollover Authors and Affiliations
    

Department of Pharmacology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612,
 USA The Center for Lung and Vascular Biology, University of Illinois College of Medicine,
Chicago, IL 60612, USA Corresponding author These authors contributed equally to this work

    Highlights
    VE-cadherin homophilic adhesion maintains Ca2+ homeostasis
    VE-cadherin-mediated adhesion suppresses MT growth
    VE-cadherin-mediated adhesion inhibits CaN-dependent dephosphorylation of EB3
    EB3 phosphorylation is required for suppression of MT growth and formation of AJs

Summary

Vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin homophilic adhesion controls endothelial barrier permeability
through assembly of adherens junctions (AJs). We observed that loss of VE-cadherin-mediated
 adhesion
 induced the activation of Src and phospholipase C (PLC)γ2, which mediated Ca2+ release from
endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stores, resulting in activation of calcineurin (CaN), a Ca2+-dependent
phosphatase.
 Downregulation of CaN activity induced phosphorylation of serine 162 in end binding (EB) protein 3.
 This phospho-switch was required to destabilize the EB3 dimer, suppress microtubule (MT) growth,
and assemble AJs. The phospho-defective S162A EB3 mutant, in contrast, induced MT growth in
 confluent endothelial monolayers and disassembled AJs. Thus, VE-cadherin outside-in
 signaling regulates
 cytosolic Ca2+ homeostasis and EB3 phosphorylation, which are required for assembly of AJs.
 These results identify a pivotal function of VE-cadherin homophilic interaction in modulating endothelial
 barrier through the tuning of MT dynamics.
  =====================================================================


CLINICAL HYPOTHESIS IN CANCER RESEARCH AND COMMERCIALIZATION:
PUBLISHED 10/14/12

Of 186,000 Prostate cancers diagnosed each year, only 29,000 patients will die of this disease.
In fact 70% of men over 80 years of age may be found with Prostate Cancer.  Most will not die of this
cancer. This fact has made almost futile the testing for prostate cancer in elderly patients.  How does
 one chose who should be followed closely or treated? In other words how do you know what prostate
cancer to observe versus which one to actually treat? In more scientific terms, which are the predictive
factors that would prompt us to act versus observe the cancer? To make the matter more confusing,
the success of PSA (prostate Specific Antigen) testing has complicated the issue.  It has led to
 over-diagnosis,
 and experts are now recommending to use PSA findings with caution.
One thing is for sure: the difference between a benign and malignant tumor is that the malignant ones spread
and invade our body. This  is called "ability to metastasize".  It is by invading other organs that cancer
causes these organs to fail and finally causing death of the patient.  Researchers have now started to
 look at cancer cells to try to predict which ones will spread and therefore kill the individual.

The Hypothesis:

For a cancer to spread, it has to detach itself from its surroundings and  create a way to where it wants to go.
 Scientists have suggested that wherever a cell is located, it is maintained in place by ADHESION
 MOLECULES which tie them to the location.  To make its move, the cancer cell has to lose
these molecules.
This is why E-Cadherin has to be reduced by the cell, so that it can free itself from this environment.
The question now is:  Is a REDUCTION OF E-CADHERIN A PREDICTOR OF BAD CANCER?
 IN OTHER WORDS, SHOULD WE BE TESTING FOR THE REDUCTION OF E-CADHERIN
 IN PROSTATE CANCER TO PREDICT WHICH ONES NEEDS INTERVENTION?
This is thought provoking.
P120 and beta- catenins are 2 molecules which could potentially be surrogates of cancer metastasis..
.who knows for sure!

After it has freed itself,  the cancer cell has to move through tissues, it uses enzymes to break through
 the fibers. Some of these enzymes are called METALLOPROTEINASE. The current question is:
SHOULD WE BE MEASURING LEVELS OF METALLOPROTEINASES TO DETECT CANCER
 CELLS ON THE MOVE?

Matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 increase 

permeability of sheep pleura in vitro

Eleni Apostolidou1*)

These questions have been raised, it is time to work.
We could actually improve current means of screening for cancer by checking for reduction of E-Cadherin 
and increase of metalloproteinase in the tumor or blood if this is possible.  Potential for commercialization is high
 if we can conquer this detection technology.  "lets go to work! 
 
12/3/2012

METASTATASIS AND SEEDING INTO NEW OR INVADED TISSUE

When the cancer cell reaches the new location, it uses the TGF beta to help its growth and to create exceptional
 advantage for its growth versus surrounding tissue.   This Lead scientists to conclude that TGF beta presence is 
a sign of resistant disease.   When in facts,  it is first a late sign of metastasis already COMPLETED, TGF beta seems
 to be a sign of SEEDING INTO A NEW LOCATION.  TGF BETA NOT ONLY STIMULATE GROWTH BUT COULD
 BE AN INHIBITORY PROTEIN FOR THE HOST DEFENSE AND REJECTION.

QUESTION:

SHOULD TGF BETA INCREASE BE THE THE SIGN OF SEEDING VS LATE STEP OF METASTASIS. WE BELIEVE
 THAT BY THE TIME TGF BETA IS BEING ELEVATED, SEEDING HAS ALREADY OCCURRED.