If Hillary Rodham Clinton runs for president in 2016, will she have fellow former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in her corner? OK, Henry K is a Republican and she?s not. But at an Atlantic Council event on Wednesday night, Mr. Kissinger paid Mrs. Clinton lots of compliments and noted that in US history, ?at least four? secretaries of State have risen to the presidency.
?I want to tell Hillary that when she misses the office, when she looks at the histories of secretaries of State, there might be hope for a fulfilling life afterwards,? Kissinger said.
Actually, Mr. Kissinger, the correct number here is six instead of four. But first, we?ll take a timeout to note that the Atlantic Council dinner was a serious event. Clinton got an international leadership award. She gave a heartfelt speech about the importance of NATO and the growing gap between the United States and its allies in regard to bearing the burden of the common defense.
RECOMMENDED: Hillary Clinton for president? Eight Democrats who might run next time.
This gap risks creating a ?two-tiered alliance,? she noted.
OK, back to the banter: Kissinger, secretary of State under Presidents Nixon and Ford, seemed to be having a good time in this return to the spotlight. He acknowledged that he?d thought about the Oval Office during his time in government but was stymied by the pesky constitutional requirement that presidents be natural-born US citizens.
?I thought up all kinds of schemes to get around that,? he said, to general amusement.
(Kissinger was born in Germany, in case you did not know or have never heard his accent. His folks fled to the United States prior to World War II.)
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As to secretaries of State who have become president, most date to that era when the Founding Fathers moved up through the steps of government as if on an escalator ? kind of like in civic organizations today where you start as treasurer, segue into VP, and end up in the top job, with minimal opposition.
Thus Thomas Jefferson served as the nation?s first secretary of State before becoming its third president. Jefferson?s secretary of State was James Madison, who was the fourth US president. Madison?s secretary of State was James Monroe, who became the fifth president. Monroe?s you-know-what was John Quincy Adams, who became the sixth president.
Then upstart Andrew Jackson got himself elected president in 1828. His secretary of State was Martin Van Buren, who ascended to the top job as the eighth president. Then the chain pretty much ended. The only subsequent sec/State to become POTUS was James Buchanan, who is routinely rated worst US chief executive of all time.
So Clinton could reestablish an old pattern, if she wins. Right now she remains the dominant figure in the Democratic field, at least. A new Quinnipiac poll puts her as the choice of 65 percent of Democrats or Democratic-leaning voters.
RECOMMENDED: Hillary Clinton for president? Eight Democrats who might run next time.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he would put any peace deal with the Palestinians to a referendum, raising expectations that direct negotiations might soon resume following a two-year stalemate.
It was the second time in just three days that Netanyahu has publicly mentioned the possibility of holding a nationwide vote on an eventual accord and came as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Israeli politicians in Washington to discuss talks.
"If we get to a peace agreement with the Palestinians, I'd like to bring it to a referendum, and I'd like to talk to you about your experiences with that," Netanyahu said as he met Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter.
Switzerland regularly holds referendum on a broad range of issues. Israel, by contrast, has never held a referendum in its 65-year history, and previous peace treaties with Arab neighbors Egypt and Jordan were approved by parliament.
Netanyahu leads a center-right coalition that includes supporters of the settlement movement, many of whom are fiercely opposed to the idea of allowing the Palestinians an independent state on land seized by Israel in the 1967 war.
By pledging to put any deal to a referendum, Netanyahu could be hoping to avert any immediate far-right backlash to a decision to talk land-for-peace with the Palestinians, promising that the Israeli people would have the final word.
"There is a very serious effort under way to get talks to resume," said a senior Israeli official who declined to be named. "People are devoting a lot of time and effort to this. It is possible and it is doable."
OBSTACLES
U.S. President Barack Obama came to Jerusalem in March and his secretary of state has visited the region three times in little over six weeks. Kerry was due to see Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni later on Thursday in Washington.
Livni has been designated by Netanyahu to be his chief peace negotiator. She was traveling with one of the prime minister's top officials and confidants, Yitzhak Molcho.
Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2010 over the issue of continued Jewish settlement building on 1967 land. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will not return to the table until there is a construction freeze. Israel says there should be no pre-conditions.
Unexpectedly highlighting the issue of referendum has fueled hopes that the impasse might soon be overcome. However, there was little sign that the core questions dividing the two sides, including the status of Jerusalem, were any nearer resolution.
"No one thinks we are near a historic agreement. But any historic agreement will need national legitimacy," the Israeli official said.
The Palestinians have also said that they would hold a referendum on an eventual accord, with no guarantees that their diverse electorate, including the far-flung refugee population, would accept the likely compromises needed to seal a deal.
Israel passed a law in 2010 for a referendum to approve any handover of East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights, territory captured in the 1967 war and which it has annexed.
Moves are under way in parliament to expand that law to include the West Bank, which has not been annexed and is under Israeli military occupation.
Springer launches new book series Trends in Augmentation of Human PerformancePublic release date: 2-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Joan Robinson joan.robinson@springer.com 49-622-148-78130 Springer
Volumes will examine technologies, medicine and therapy designed to replace or increase human performance capability
Springer, a leading global scientific publisher, is launching a new book series entitled Trends in Augmentation of Human Performance. The series will focus on the enhancement of human skills, attributes and competencies through the use of technology, medicine and therapy. Approximately three books per year are planned.
Three areas of human performance enhancement will be covered by the series: enhancement of human performance to restore normal human capability from the disabled or dysfunctional, enhancement of human performance to superhuman levels, and ethical consequences of the first two topics. The series editor is Vassilis Cutsuridis, Ph.D., of King's College London. All books in the series will be available in print and as eBooks via SpringerLink.
The series is made up of research monographs, introductory and advanced level textbooks, edited volumes and proceedings. Topics will include the restoration of sight, hearing, memory and mobility in the disabled, and enhanced memory and the augmentation of vision, hearing, and strength to superhuman levels. The first volume Cognitive Enhancement: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, edited by Elisabeth Hildt of the University of Mainz, Germany, and Andreas Franke of the University Medical Center Mainz, was published this week.
Martijn Roelandse, Publishing Editor, Neuroscience at Springer, said, "In the second decade of the 21st century, the convergence of the neurosciences including neuroimaging, genetics, cognitive science, neurotechnology and informatics is creating powerful tools that have the potential to significantly improve human performance. To meet this challenge, this new Springer book series will publish works of the highest quality that advance the understanding and practical application of human performance enhancement."
###
Springer Science+Business Media is a leading global scientific, technological and medical publisher, providing researchers in academia, scientific institutions and corporate R&D departments with quality content via innovative information products and services. Springer is also a trusted local-language publisher in Europe especially in Germany and the Netherlands primarily for physicians and professionals working in healthcare and road safety education. Springer published roughly 2,200 English-language journals and more than 8,000 new books in 2012, and the group is home to the world's largest STM eBook collection, as well as the most comprehensive portfolio of open access journals. In 2012, Springer Science+Business Media S.A. generated sales of approximately EUR 981 million. The group employs more than 7,000 individuals across the globe.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Springer launches new book series Trends in Augmentation of Human PerformancePublic release date: 2-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Joan Robinson joan.robinson@springer.com 49-622-148-78130 Springer
Volumes will examine technologies, medicine and therapy designed to replace or increase human performance capability
Springer, a leading global scientific publisher, is launching a new book series entitled Trends in Augmentation of Human Performance. The series will focus on the enhancement of human skills, attributes and competencies through the use of technology, medicine and therapy. Approximately three books per year are planned.
Three areas of human performance enhancement will be covered by the series: enhancement of human performance to restore normal human capability from the disabled or dysfunctional, enhancement of human performance to superhuman levels, and ethical consequences of the first two topics. The series editor is Vassilis Cutsuridis, Ph.D., of King's College London. All books in the series will be available in print and as eBooks via SpringerLink.
The series is made up of research monographs, introductory and advanced level textbooks, edited volumes and proceedings. Topics will include the restoration of sight, hearing, memory and mobility in the disabled, and enhanced memory and the augmentation of vision, hearing, and strength to superhuman levels. The first volume Cognitive Enhancement: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, edited by Elisabeth Hildt of the University of Mainz, Germany, and Andreas Franke of the University Medical Center Mainz, was published this week.
Martijn Roelandse, Publishing Editor, Neuroscience at Springer, said, "In the second decade of the 21st century, the convergence of the neurosciences including neuroimaging, genetics, cognitive science, neurotechnology and informatics is creating powerful tools that have the potential to significantly improve human performance. To meet this challenge, this new Springer book series will publish works of the highest quality that advance the understanding and practical application of human performance enhancement."
###
Springer Science+Business Media is a leading global scientific, technological and medical publisher, providing researchers in academia, scientific institutions and corporate R&D departments with quality content via innovative information products and services. Springer is also a trusted local-language publisher in Europe especially in Germany and the Netherlands primarily for physicians and professionals working in healthcare and road safety education. Springer published roughly 2,200 English-language journals and more than 8,000 new books in 2012, and the group is home to the world's largest STM eBook collection, as well as the most comprehensive portfolio of open access journals. In 2012, Springer Science+Business Media S.A. generated sales of approximately EUR 981 million. The group employs more than 7,000 individuals across the globe.
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The nation's largest health insurers are far from leaping at the chance to join new state health insurance exchanges under President Barack Obama's reform law, making it likely that some markets will have little or no competition next year.
These new insurance marketplaces are due to open their doors on October 1 to enroll millions of Americans who have not been able to buy coverage on their own.
A key principle of Obama's health reform is that individuals will have a robust offering of insurance plans to choose from, and that competition for new customers in each state will help keep prices down for consumers.
But health insurers, some of whom fought the law before it was passed and continue to lobby to reverse parts of it, are wary. In recent days, executives at the four largest U.S. health insurers say they are likely to sell insurance plans on less than a third of the exchanges, reluctant to venture out beyond the states where they already offer coverage.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not provide a comment.
There are a number of reasons for caution, company executives say. These include a lack of clarity about the kind of prices they can charge and the number of plans they can sell on each exchange, the expectation that the program is only expected to reach about 7 million people nationwide in its first year and uncertainty over whether all of the exchanges will be ready in time.
As a result, heavily populated states where many insurers already sell plans now, such as California and New York, will have competing products for the exchanges when health reform takes full effect on January 1. But states whose existing insurance markets have little or no competition, like Alabama and Alaska, may not see much of a difference, healthcare analysts say.
"We do think the uptake may be slower than maybe people thought six months ago or a year ago in terms of what is going on in the first year with the exchanges," Aetna Chief Financial Officer Shawn Guerin said in an interview.
Under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, health insurance marketplaces must be available in every state in 2014. These exchanges, which will enable all individuals and small businesses to buy health insurance, are expected to bring in up to 24 million people by 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
NO LAND GRAB ON EXCHANGES
UnitedHealth, the largest U.S. insurer, said it would end up in as few as 10 exchanges and only up to 25 maximum.
Aetna on Tuesday said that it was not planning a "land grab" when it comes to expanding through the exchanges and has submitted applications to offer plans in 14 states.
WellPoint, which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield licenses in 14 states, said it plans to enter exchanges in those states, but that there is uncertainty around timing of the overall rollout of exchanges. Humana Inc. said it is participating in 14 states. Cigna said it will participate in a "limited" number of markets that it has already zeroed in on for growth.
WellPoint Chief Financial Officer Wayne DeVeydt said in an interview that the company is still waiting to hear how the states will handle pricing and ratings of applicants, how many competitors will be allowed on the exchanges in some states that plan to limit numbers and how many plans they can offer in others that are more permissive.
States can choose whether to opt for a "clearinghouse" type exchange where all insurers are welcome to apply, while others have decided to take a more active role in choosing who can sell plans.
DeVeydt described a race against time for insurers to have all the information they need in the next two to three months to finalize products, have them approved by regulators and inform brokers of what they will be selling. "If you back it out from October, you almost have to have clarity in the next 60 or 90 days, or you can't have a (January 1) rollout."
DEADLINES DELAYED
The federal government has stuck by that January 1 deadline, even as it contends with the tight deadlines and technology requirements to get the exchanges going. It has plans to run 33 exchanges, while 17 states have said that they will run their own. On Tuesday, the government said it would give insurers three more days to file their applications for the federally run exchanges.
Last week, Gary Cohen, the senior official overseeing the federal insurance exchanges, said 140 health insurance carriers had started the process for an application, but did not provide details on how they were distributed by state.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said last month that she expected competition on the exchanges in part because they will have lower administrative costs for insurers and the marketing will be done by the exchanges.
"What I think we are going to see is a very different kind of competitive market and that competition in and of itself should help moderate prices," Sebelius said during an event moderated by Reuters at Harvard School of Public Health. "We have seen that happen in the market in the last three years and I think that is going to continue."
Large states with vibrant markets and who are ahead on setting up their exchanges, like California and Washington, have received applications from dozens of insurance companies.
Still, states dominated by only one health insurer - places like Alabama, Alaska and Delaware - could end up in the same situation they are in now, according to health economists and based on data from states whose application deadlines have passed.
One possible outcome for the states dominated by few insurers is that companies which administer the government's Medicaid plans for the poor will apply to provide insurance on the exchanges, said Linda Blumberg, health economist at the Urban Institute.
Consumers who apply on the exchanges for healthcare will be able to find out online if they are eligible based on their income for Medicaid or for a subsidy to buy private insurance.
Caroline Pearson, vice president for health reform at consulting firm Avalere Health, said the barriers for insurers are high to break into a new insurance market.
"To come in as a new carrier, do marketing to build your brand name, and build a provider network from scratch is very, very hard," she said.
(Additional reporting by David Morgan in Washington, D.C. and Sharon Begley in New York; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Leslie Gevirtz)
May 1 (Reuters) - Post position for Saturday's 139th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs after Wednesday's draw (listed as barrier, HORSE, jockey, trainer) 1. BLACK ONYX, Joe Bravo, Kelly Breen 2. OXBOW, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne Lukas 3. REVOLUTIONARY, Calvin Borel, Todd Pletcher 4. GOLDEN SOUL, Robby Albarado, Dallas Stewart 5. NORMANDY INVASION, Javier Castellano, Chad Brown 6. MYLUTE, Rosie Napravnik, Tom Amoss 7. GIANT FINISH, Jose Espinoza, Tony Dutrow 8. GOLDENCENTS, Kevin Krigger, Doug O'Neill 9. OVERANALYZE, Rafael Bejarano, Todd Pletcher 10. PALACE MALICE, Mike Smith, Todd Pletcher 11. ...
But this year's May Day demonstrations come on the heels of the tragic Bangladesh factory collapse, a potent symbol for many of the importance of workers' rights.
By Ryan Lenora Brown,?Correspondent / May 1, 2013
Workers and protesters hold a huge banner march to the government office during a May Day rally in Hong Kong, Wednesday. Hundreds of workers, local labor right groups, and striking dockworkers join the annual rally to demand better wages and working conditions.
Vincent Yu/AP
Enlarge
In Dhaka, Bangladesh, a raucous crowd descended on the city center with signs and drums, chanting and waving banners demanding the death penalty for the owner of a factory where more than 400 people died in a building collapse last week.
Skip to next paragraph Ryan Lenora Brown
Correspondent
Ryan Brown edits the Africa Monitor blog and contributes to the national and international news desks of the Monitor. She is a former Fulbright fellow to South Africa and holds a degree in history from Duke University.?
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In Jakarta, Indonesia, some of the tens of thousands of demonstrators marching through the city came dressed as ants ? complete with bright red outfits and antennae ? to depict the exploitation of workers.?
And in Greece, trains, buses, and ferries sat vacant and hospitals nearly empty as thousands of public sector employees walked off the job in a one-day strike.
Each year, May 1, better known as May Day, is marked with labor rallies and strikes around the world. And this year's holiday came at a particularly prescient moment in many parts of the world.?
From Europe, where the bite of austerity has left many facing down unemployment and reduced benefits, to South and Southeast Asia, a region cluttered with precariously-built factories similar to the one that collapsed last week in Bangladesh, demonstrators gathered to vent outrage and demand reform.
?My brother has died. My sister has died. Their blood will not be valueless,? yelled one Bangladeshi protestor through a crackling loudspeaker, according to the Associated Press.
As the march wove through downtown Dhaka, rescue workers in the industrial suburb of Savar continued their search for bodies and survivors in the rubble of Rana Plaza, which collapsed suddenly on April 24 with thousands of garment workers inside.
The disaster at the factory, which manufactured clothing for several low-end Western retailers, touched off global outrage about the working conditions of garment workers across the developing world. In Phnom Pehn, Cambodia, workers rallied for higher wages and safer working conditions. In Manila, Philipines, where labor unions are banned, workers marched to demand the right to organize. And in Hong Kong, thousands turned out in support of striking dock workers, calling for wages that would help close the income gap between the country?s rich and its poor.
And that was all before Europe woke up.
There has "never been a May 1 with more reason to take to the streets,? one Spanish union leader told Reuters during a march in Madrid this morning, where protestors carried signs reading "austerity ruins and kills" and "reforms are robbery.? (Read the Monitor's feature about how Spaniards are increasingly flocking to the countryside to cut costs and find new jobs.)
In Greece, where the government recently announced that it would lay off 180,000 civil servants over the next two years ? the first such cuts in 100 years ? a strike shut down public transit across Athens. ?
And in France, which saw unemployment rose again last month, marchers carried banners reading, ?It?s too much! Alternatives exist? and ?Where are the real socialists in our government??
An exception to the doom and gloom of this year?s May Day was Russia, where a festive celebration of the holiday harks back to Soviet times. Indeed, many of those who gathered in the streets of Moscow were buoyant, Euronews reported.
?The atmosphere is excellent. It?s a holiday for us, the beginning of something new, bright, and joyful,? one demonstrator told reporters.
May 1 is a national holiday in some 80 countries around the world, and its ties to labor advocacy date back to 1886, when American police killed 10 protestors at a rally for an eight-hour workday in Chicago?s Haymarket Square. International socialist organization and labor unions declared it a day of commemoration and action soon after.
Ironically, however, May Day is not celebrated in the United States. In the early 1890s, fearing the ?socialist? overtones of the holiday, President Grover Cleveland quickly declared an alternate holiday, beginning the American tradition of celebrating Labor Day on the first Monday of September.?
Large genomic study identifies endometrial cancer subtypes, treatment opportunitiesPublic release date: 1-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Caitlin Hool hoolc@mskcc.org 212-639-3573 Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
NEW YORK, MAY 1, 2013 Endometrial tumors can be reclassified into distinct subtypes based partly on their genomic makeup and may respond to targeted drugs already being tested in clinical trials, according to a large-scale genomic analysis led by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and other centers within The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network.
Published in the May 2 issue of the journal Nature, the findings may help doctors more accurately diagnose endometrial cancer and choose treatments that will target genomic mutations in women with endometrioid and uterine serous adenocarcinomas, the two most common types of endometrial cancer. The findings could also guide clinical trials and the development of new drugs.
"These findings have an immediate therapeutic application, as patients with endometrial cancer can be tested routinely to see whether they qualify for a targeted therapy clinical trial," said Memorial Sloan-Kettering gynecologic oncologist Douglas A. Levine, MD, corresponding author on the study, principal investigator of Memorial Sloan-Kettering's TCGA Tissue Source Site, and Co-Chair of TCGA's Endometrial Working Group. "The current landscape of treatment for endometrial cancer is quite chaotic, and this research may provide order to that landscape, especially for more-aggressive endometrial cancers."
Endometrial cancer, which forms in the tissues lining the uterus, is the fourth leading type of cancer among women and the eighth leading cause of cancer death. Endometrioid tumors are usually less aggressive, while uterine serous tumors are more aggressive.
There has been little agreement among doctors over the best treatment approach following surgery for patients with a high risk of recurrence, with decisions relying largely on a tumor's pathology. However, it is difficult for pathologists to reliably differentiate high-grade endometrioid tumors from uterine serous tumors.
According to Dr. Levine, incorporating new genomic information into treatment planning could be a great leap forward, helping to make certain that additional therapies are used effectively and only when necessary.
The analysis of 373 endometrial tumors showed that approximately a quarter of high-grade endometrioid tumors have certain types of genomic alterations also found in uterine serous tumors. This suggests that a significant portion of endometrioid tumors should be treated more aggressively after surgery.
Many of the tumors analyzed had mutations in important cancer-related genes and pathways for which targeted therapies are already being tested in clinical trials for other cancers. For example, 84 percent of the tumors have some alteration in the PI3 kinase pathway, which is implicated in many cancers. Additionally, genomic alterations in uterine serous tumors share many features with ovarian serous and triple-negative breast cancers, suggesting opportunity for shared treatments.
Investigators at Memorial Sloan-Kettering are now translating these findings into clinically useful tests that may be applied to ongoing and planned clinical trials.
A project jointly funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute, TCGA is one of the most comprehensive national efforts to collect and analyze the largest set of tumor samples to date using state-of-the-art genomic and molecular techniques. Memorial Sloan-Kettering currently houses one of TCGA's Genome Data Analysis Centers, led by computational biologist Chris Sander, PhD, biocomputing manager Nikolaus Schultz, PhD, and molecular pathologist Marc Ladanyi, MD. For the endometrial cancer study, Memorial Sloan-Kettering contributed more than 10 percent of all tissue samples analyzed.
###
This research was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under awards 5U24CA143799-04, 5U24CA143835-04, 5U24CA143840-04, 5U24CA143843-04, 5U24CA143845-04, 5U24CA143848-04, 5U24CA143858-04, 5U24CA143866-04, 5U24CA143867-04, 5U24CA143882-04, 5U24CA143883-04, 5U24CA144025-04, U54HG003067-11, U54HG003079-10, and U54HG003273-10, and supplemented by the Recovery Act.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is the world's oldest and largest private institution devoted to prevention, patient care, research, and education in cancer. Our scientists and clinicians generate innovative approaches to better understand, diagnose, and treat cancer. Memorial Sloan-Kettering specialists are leaders in biomedical research and in translating the latest research to advance the standard of cancer care worldwide. For more information, go to http://www.mskcc.org.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Large genomic study identifies endometrial cancer subtypes, treatment opportunitiesPublic release date: 1-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Caitlin Hool hoolc@mskcc.org 212-639-3573 Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
NEW YORK, MAY 1, 2013 Endometrial tumors can be reclassified into distinct subtypes based partly on their genomic makeup and may respond to targeted drugs already being tested in clinical trials, according to a large-scale genomic analysis led by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and other centers within The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network.
Published in the May 2 issue of the journal Nature, the findings may help doctors more accurately diagnose endometrial cancer and choose treatments that will target genomic mutations in women with endometrioid and uterine serous adenocarcinomas, the two most common types of endometrial cancer. The findings could also guide clinical trials and the development of new drugs.
"These findings have an immediate therapeutic application, as patients with endometrial cancer can be tested routinely to see whether they qualify for a targeted therapy clinical trial," said Memorial Sloan-Kettering gynecologic oncologist Douglas A. Levine, MD, corresponding author on the study, principal investigator of Memorial Sloan-Kettering's TCGA Tissue Source Site, and Co-Chair of TCGA's Endometrial Working Group. "The current landscape of treatment for endometrial cancer is quite chaotic, and this research may provide order to that landscape, especially for more-aggressive endometrial cancers."
Endometrial cancer, which forms in the tissues lining the uterus, is the fourth leading type of cancer among women and the eighth leading cause of cancer death. Endometrioid tumors are usually less aggressive, while uterine serous tumors are more aggressive.
There has been little agreement among doctors over the best treatment approach following surgery for patients with a high risk of recurrence, with decisions relying largely on a tumor's pathology. However, it is difficult for pathologists to reliably differentiate high-grade endometrioid tumors from uterine serous tumors.
According to Dr. Levine, incorporating new genomic information into treatment planning could be a great leap forward, helping to make certain that additional therapies are used effectively and only when necessary.
The analysis of 373 endometrial tumors showed that approximately a quarter of high-grade endometrioid tumors have certain types of genomic alterations also found in uterine serous tumors. This suggests that a significant portion of endometrioid tumors should be treated more aggressively after surgery.
Many of the tumors analyzed had mutations in important cancer-related genes and pathways for which targeted therapies are already being tested in clinical trials for other cancers. For example, 84 percent of the tumors have some alteration in the PI3 kinase pathway, which is implicated in many cancers. Additionally, genomic alterations in uterine serous tumors share many features with ovarian serous and triple-negative breast cancers, suggesting opportunity for shared treatments.
Investigators at Memorial Sloan-Kettering are now translating these findings into clinically useful tests that may be applied to ongoing and planned clinical trials.
A project jointly funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute, TCGA is one of the most comprehensive national efforts to collect and analyze the largest set of tumor samples to date using state-of-the-art genomic and molecular techniques. Memorial Sloan-Kettering currently houses one of TCGA's Genome Data Analysis Centers, led by computational biologist Chris Sander, PhD, biocomputing manager Nikolaus Schultz, PhD, and molecular pathologist Marc Ladanyi, MD. For the endometrial cancer study, Memorial Sloan-Kettering contributed more than 10 percent of all tissue samples analyzed.
###
This research was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under awards 5U24CA143799-04, 5U24CA143835-04, 5U24CA143840-04, 5U24CA143843-04, 5U24CA143845-04, 5U24CA143848-04, 5U24CA143858-04, 5U24CA143866-04, 5U24CA143867-04, 5U24CA143882-04, 5U24CA143883-04, 5U24CA144025-04, U54HG003067-11, U54HG003079-10, and U54HG003273-10, and supplemented by the Recovery Act.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is the world's oldest and largest private institution devoted to prevention, patient care, research, and education in cancer. Our scientists and clinicians generate innovative approaches to better understand, diagnose, and treat cancer. Memorial Sloan-Kettering specialists are leaders in biomedical research and in translating the latest research to advance the standard of cancer care worldwide. For more information, go to http://www.mskcc.org.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 2-May-2013
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