News in brief - Aug. 2, 2004

Cancer therapy would include customized vaccinations - Children and television could equal health problems later in life - Niacin associated with reduced Alzheimer's risk - Programs targeting pediatric obesity come too late

Cancer therapy would include customized vaccinations

To help cancer patients tap what could be a strong natural ally in fighting tumor growth and metastasis, researchers affiliated with Harvard University Medical School have devised ways to bolster patients' immune response against kidney and breast cancer.

In a study which was published in the July 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, the researchers documented tumor regression in two breast cancer patients.

The study also reported stabilization and containment of tumor growth in late-stage breast and kidney patients through application of customized vaccinations made from the patients' own tumor and immune system cells.

By fusing patients' tumor cells with their immune system dendritic cells, the researchers created customized antigen-presenting immune cells that train T cells to hunt, recognize and destroy the patients' tumor cells.

"We aimed to develop a novel vaccine that took whole tumor cells with their complete array of tumor-specific antigens and combine them with the potent immune stimulating machinery of the dendritic cells," said David Avigan, MD, director of bone marrow transplantation at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and lead author of the article.

Children and television could equal health problems later in life

Children and adolescents who consistently watch television for two hours or more each day are at an increased risk of being overweight, to smoke and to have high cholesterol in early adulthood -- substantial risk factors for long-term health problems in later life -- concluded the authors of a long-term study published in the July 15 issue of The Lancet.

The study followed about 1,000 New Zealand children who were born in 1972 and 1973 until they reached age 26. A clear association was found between viewing television more than two hours each day and increased body mass index, increased cholesterol levels, more smoking and poor cardiovascular fitness at age 26.

The study also strengthens the case for a ban on food advertisements aimed at children, said David Ludwig, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in an accompanying editorial. "Measures to limit television viewing in childhood and to ban food advertisements aimed at children are warranted, before another generation is programmed to become obese," he wrote.

Niacin associated with reduced Alzheimer's risk

Elderly people who eat a diet low in niacin may be at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of cognitive decline, according to a study published in the August Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Researchers from Chicago's Rush Institute for Healthy Aging analyzed dietary questionnaires and cognitive tests for nearly 4,000 people 65 or older over a 10-year period. More than 21% of those who had the least intake of the vitamin from food went on to develop the disease but less than 6% who ingested the most did. The protective effect seemed greater if subjects did not also have other risk factors such as cardiovascular disease or less than 12 years of education.

The impact of niacin supplements could not be determined.

Researchers suggested that the vitamin could have an eventual role in preventing the disease population-wide.

"[This] could have substantial public health implications for disease prevention if confirmed by further research," wrote the authors.

The vitamin has long been considered a possible player in Alzheimer's development because dementia can be a symptom of niacin deficiency. Other studies have also found that those with the disease seem to have lower levels than those without.

Programs targeting pediatric obesity come too late

Anti-obesity programs for children tend not to include other family members and usually do not target those younger than school age, according to a presentation at the Institute of Food Technologists' annual meeting in Las Vegas last month.

Researchers at the Academic Network, a health care consulting agency in Portland, Ore., surveyed more than 1,000 organizations working on pediatric weight issues. They found that only 8% of programs included parents, siblings and other relatives. Also, 80% were aimed at children older than 6.

The researchers believe that this means that most programs do not affect family involvement, one of the factors believed to impact childhood obesity, and that the programs start long after many health habits are already established.

"Most of the programs are based on providing educational material rather than helping make active structural changes in the child's environment," said David McCarron, MD, lead author and president of the network.

The survey is the first part of the Shaping America's Youth initiative, an effort supported by the Surgeon General's office and several medical societies. The initiative is working to centralize and disseminate information about childhood obesity in order to turn the tide on the epidemic.