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Biotech / Medical : Stressgen (VSE: SSB) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Heat Shock who wrote (121)	5/30/2000 7:51:00 PM
From: Heat Shock	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 236

To all: Stressgen's HPV vaccine may have yet another use: HPV in Melanoma Tumors Associated With Poor Outcome WESTPORT, May 25 (Reuters Health) - Human papilloma virus (HPV) appears to be present in a significant number of melanoma biopsy specimens and may be associated with rapid disease progression, say researchers at the Carolinas Medical Center, in Charlotte, North Carolina. As reported in the May issue of the Annals of Surgery, surgeons removed tumors from 12 patients with AJCC stage III and IV melanoma. After the tumors were removed, clinical examination and staging radiology showed all the patients to be disease free. Using immunohistochemical staining, Dr. Didier Dreau and colleagues detected HPV in 7 of the 12 specimens. Cultures of mechanically disrupted melanoma cells resulted in good growth of five of the HPV-positive tumor cells, but no growth in any of the HPV-negative tumor cells. In addition, all seven patients with HPV-positive tumor cells died of melanoma progression compared with only one of the five HPV-negative patients. The remaining four HPV-negative patients "remained alive and without melanoma recurrence." Dr. Dreau's group concludes that "the presence of HPV was associated with sustained growth of melanoma cells in vitro...a poorer prognosis." "The results were striking in that this was a preliminary study," Dr. Dreau told Reuters Health. He noted however that "a considerable amount of research needs to be done" before making recommendations regarding routine testing for or treatment of HPV in melanoma. "We don't yet know if HPV is just a bystander or if it plays a role in the disease." Ann Surg 2000;231:664-671. Heat