| Study Suggests Adjusting PSA Scores for Obese Men or Cancers May be ...
DURHAM, N.C. -- Doctors may be missing cancers in obese men because the telltale blood marker used to detect the disease can be falsely interpreted as low in this population, according to a new study led by Duke Prostate Center researchers. "Obese men have more blood circulating throughout their bodies than normal weight men, and as a result, the concentration of prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, in the blood -- the gold standard for detecting prostate cancer -- can become diluted" said Stephen Freedland, M.D., a Duke urologist and senior researcher on a study appearing in the November 21, 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Weve known for a while that obese men tend to have lower PSA scores than normal weight men, but our study really proposes a reason why this happens, and points to the need for an adjustment in the way we interpret PSA scores that will take body weight into account.
Earnings Preview: ImClone Systems
OVERVIEW: In December, ImClone completed a $65 million patent settlement deal with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Repligen Corp. over cancer drug Erbitux. The settlement lifted a heavy weight off of the company, as Wall Street considered the patent dispute a key risk to ImClone's only product. The key risk now is ongoing competition with Amgen Inc.'s Vectibix and Genentech Inc.'s Avastin. Erbitux is co-marketed in the U.S. with Bristol-Myers Squibb and internationally with Germany's Merck KgaA. ImClone receives royalties on sales of the drug, which is approved as a treatment for colon cancer. ImClone is seeking expanded Erbitux approval for early-stage colon, lung, and head and neck cancers. The company is also entering its first full year with John H. Johnson as chief executive.
Today on the Presidential Campaign Trail
Sen. Kennedy endorses Barack Obama for president, plans to campaign for Democrat ... Romney criticizes McCain's legislative history ... Clinton, shifting focus from Obama, says Bush has lost touch with an anxious public ... Giuliani seeks one more 'I told you so' in high-stakes Florida primary ... A frosty moment between Clinton, Obama. ___ Sen. Kennedy backs Obama for president WASHINGTON (AP) _ Two generations of Kennedys _ the Democratic Party's best known political family _ endorsed Barack Obama for president on Monday. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy called his fellow Democrat a "man with extraordinary gifts of leadership and character," a worthy heir to his assassinated brother. "I feel change in the air," Kennedy said in remarks salted with scarcely veiled criticism of Obama's chief rival for the nomination, Sen.
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