Thursday, November 3, 2011 | Newsmaxhealth.com
 

Adding radiotherapy to hormone drugs for prostate cancer patients significantly improves survival compared with hormone treatment alone, and the combination could save many lives if it were made standard practice, scientists said Thursday.

In a study of men with prostate cancer, researchers found that 74 percent of those given radiotherapy plus hormone treatment were still alive after seven years.

This compared with 66 percent who got hormone drugs but did not receive radiotherapy, the researchers said.

"The results of this trial are extremely encouraging," said Matthew Sydes, senior scientist at Britain's Medical Research Council's Clinical Trials Unit, which helped conduct the study.

He said the additional side effects of radiotherapy are "minimal," suggesting doctors could be confident in recommending the combination treatment for their patients.

After lung cancer, prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide and kills an estimated 255,000 men a year.

This study, conducted between 1995 and 2005, involved more than 1,200, men mostly from Britain and Canada, who had been diagnosed with locally advanced prostate cancer which had grown outside the surface of the prostate but had not spread further.

Half the men were treated with hormone drugs called androgen deprivation therapy, a standard form of treatment in this type of cancer, and the rest were treated with the same hormone therapy plus a course of radiotherapy.

The results were published in the Lancet medical journal.

"The trial has shown that radiotherapy is extremely worthwhile for patients with prostate cancer that is locally advanced," said Malcolm Mason from Cardiff University, who worked on the study with the trial's lead researcher, Padraig Warde of Toronto's University Health Network.

"The next stage will be to ensure that the results ... are implemented into treatment recommendations as quickly as possible."

 /filestore/Newsmaxhealth_Radiotherapy Boosts Prostate Cancer Survival.pdf

KENNEWICK, Wash., October 27, 2011 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX)—

Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation (“AMIC”) (OTCBB: ADMD), a company engaged in the production and distribution of medical isotopes, has engaged Global TechInnovations (“GTI”) for assistance in acquiring a Russian company that specializes in the production and sales of stable isotopes and critically needed industrial as well as radioactive isotopes used for medical diagnostic and therapeutic uses. With a broad base of clients worldwide, including key alliances and production capabilities, AMIC anticipates executing definitive documents prior to year-end.

GTI will also assist in identifying and executing on further acquisition opportunities within Russia and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) states. GTI will act as strategic consultants and advisors to AMIC, providing services including participating in meetings and negotiations between AMIC and other target companies, as well as assisting in the post-acquisition support so vital to success.

The initial target company’s assets include separation process technologies, analytical work product from multiple production and scientific partners, proprietary contracts, and an existing global sales presence. The company’s combination with AMIC is expected to create seamless integration and delivery standards, resulting in increased revenue for AMIC.

James C. Katzaroff, CEO and Chairman of AMIC commented, “When AMIC began searching for assistance in its acquisition process, we turned to the United States Industry Coalition (“USIC”) due to its commitment to its members and its global influence. Anticipating the positive conclusion of our targeted acquisition, AMIC will expand its technological capabilities and its global reach. Further, it will change the strategic landscape and assist AMIC in enhancing our competitive position and expand our organizational capabilities.”

Artour Baganov, Managing Director of GTI, stated, “We are extremely pleased to be working with AMIC and to assist them in their acquisition efforts. We at GTI look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with AMIC. We believe AMIC will be a substancial force in the medical industry known for its innovation and their commitment to excellence.”

The introduction of AMIC and GTI was brokered by a partnership between the United States Industry Coalition – a trade association whose members -including AMIC- are actively engaged in technology commercialization in the service of global security, peace and prosperity; and CRDF Global, a non-profit organization that facilitates international science collaboration.

Baganov further states, “I am not surprised that AMIC is the first deal to come from the partnership between CRDF Global, USIC and GTI as AMIC’s CEO James Katzaroff is himself an innovator who is adept at identifying as well as leveraging advantageous international nuclear medical technology opportunities.”

About Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation

Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation (OTCBB: ADMD) is a company engaged in the production and distribution of medical isotopes for advanced diagnostic and non-surgical therapeutic application. AMIC’s goal is to empower physicians, medical researchers, and ultimately patients by providing them with essential medical isotopes that, until recently, have not been feasible or economical, in an effort to detect and cure human disease.  For more information, please visit our website, www.isotopeworld.com

About Global TechInnovations

Global TechInnovations is a for-profit global investment and professional services company, in which CDRF Global is the principal investor.  GTI offers international expertise in assisting  Russian and foreign experts in the field of innovative entrepreneurship.  GTI provides a wide array of professional services in support of U.S. companies engaging in global expansion who seek access to advanced innovations, technology start-ups seeking access to global markets, and research organizations interested in doing R&D on a contractual basis. GTI was recently engaged by the Plug and Play Tech Center, one of the most well-known and successful Silicon Valley business incubators, to facilitate their efforts in Russia.

About United States Industry Coalition

The U.S. Industry Coalition (USIC) is a non-profit corporate membership association of high tech businesses, associations, and research institutions who are actively engaged in technology commercialization in the service of global security, peace and prosperity.

For more information, please visit www.usic.net

About CDRF Global

CRDF Global is an independent non-profit organization that promotes international scientific and technical collaboration through grants, technical resources, training, and services. Under the umbrella of CRDF Solutions, they offer a suite of resources that simplifies the complex process of conducting international scientific research and expanding clients’ commercial opportunities globally. CRDF Global is is based in Arlington, Virginia, with offices in Moscow, Russia; Kyiv, Ukraine; Almaty, Kazakhstan; and Amman, Jordan. For more information, please visit www.crdf.org

SafeHarborStatement

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the use of the words “may,” “will,” “should,” “plans,” “expects”, “anticipates,” “continue,” “estimates,” “projects,”“intends,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing various engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technical advances and delivering technological innovations, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, regulatory requirements and the ability to meet them, government agency rules and changes, and various other factors beyond the Company’s control.

CONTACT: Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation

James C. Katzaroff

(509) 736-4000

6208 W. Okanogan Ave.

Kennewick, Wa. 99336             

July 20, 2011 | MaiEdge.com/blog - Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) is the most used radioactive tracer with over 30 million tests per year done all over the world. When tagged to a pharmaceutical or biological marker, it helps evaluate, diagnose or manage cancer spread, blood flow and cardiac function; brain activity and thyroid disease; and detect osseous metastasis, fractures and infections (bone scan). Radiology professionals inject this radioisotope to gauge blood flow to the organs and detect cancer spread much earlier and with greater precision than many other methods, including PET or CT scan. Tc-99m, with a half-life of just 6 hours, is the most preferred radioactive tracer—it emits high energy 142.7 keV gamma rays, allowing very high resolution imaging without posing any danger of long-term radiation damage to the internal organs. Lately, Tc-99m supply chain has come under stress. In the January 21, 2011 issue of Science, Robert F. Service wrote that due to the 2009 temporary closure of NRU and Petten reactors and resulting shortage of Tc-99m, “physicians were forced to use less Tc-99m for many procedures, ration what scant supplies remained, and find less desirable substitutes.”

Tc-99m is a metastable (“m” for metastable) isotope of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) which is a fission product of highly-enriched Uranium (U-235). Mo-99 has a half-life of 2.7 days; it is normally produced at Research Reactors around the world, and shipped encased in technetium generators to hospital radiopharmacies.

Mo-99 is currently made at five nuclear facilities around the world. Most of the Mo-99 used in the United States is imported from Chalk River, Ontario-based National Research Universal (NRU) reactor. NRU and High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten (in Netherlands) together supply nearly three-quarters of all worldwide demand for Mo-99, the rest coming from reactors in Belgium (BR2 reactor at Mol), France (Osiris reactor at Saclay), and South Africa (Safari reactor at Palindaba); Australian OPAL reactor in Sydney also makes some Mo-99. Both NRU and Petten reactors are half a century old (52- and 47-years old, respectively) and have had their share of shutdowns and repairs, disrupting supplies and creating real shortages. When NRU was closed for repairs between May 2009 and August 2011, the radiation departments all over the country found themselves looking for alternate sources, where there was none! The situation became worse when Petten reactor was also briefly closed in May 2009 to fix corroded pipes.

There is an urgency to the long-term Mo-99 supply situation, since the NRU reactor is slated to permanently close in 2015. The alternatives to using Tc-99m imaging are inadequate—doctors could order CT or PET scans, but these methods expose patients to a much higher radiation dose; cost more; or provide relatively poor quality images. Several commercial and federal initiatives are attempting to address the looming Mo-99 shortage. In a recent article in The Scientist, Robert Schenter, CSO of Kennewick, Wash.-based Advanced Medical Isotope Corp., described two technological initiatives under development that may address Mo-99 shortage in the United States: Robert Schenter’s company is developing a proprietary method of producing Mo-99 by passing a beam of electrons through a tube containing deuterium oxide (heavy water) and U-235. Splitting of deuterium nuclei by photons (a result of electron beam) and the release of neutrons initiates U-235 fission and Mo-99 production; another company, Babcock & Wilcox Company, Lynchburg, Virginia, is developing a patented aqueous homogeneous reactor (AHR) technology that uses low-enriched uranium. In addition, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy in Wilmington, North Carolina, is developing a neutron capture method that may eliminate the use of high-enriched U-235. Scientists at the National Measurement Standards in Ottawa, Canada, have recently developed a method to knock neutrons out of Mo-100 atoms using an electron linear accelerator to produce Mo-99; thus, eliminating the need to use highly-enriched Uranium. In the United States, two federal facilities can be tapped to meet emergency demand: the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center (MURR) and Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR) at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico. In September 2010, IAEA held a conference where various stake holder countries re-affirmed the goal of completely phasing out highly-enriched uranium (which can be diverted towards producing nuclear weapons) and developing alternate strategies to meet Mo-99 demand—U.S. is a signatory to this agreement. Time is running out, but hopefully some of the initiatives above will mature before NRU and Petten are consigned to Smithsonian history along with Shuttles Challenger and Columbia.

By: Ajay K Malik, PhD

Mai Services, Inc

go to blog post

PNNL's Technology Assistance Program (TAP) doesn't always just offer one-time help. Several times, a TAP project has led to follow-on work and technical collaborations.

That's exactly what happened in this case. Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation (AMIC) and PNNL have built a strong relationship based on years of previous, successful TAP projects. Recently, the two organizations teamed with U.S. Department of Energy on a two-year project to develop and bring to market an innovative compact-systems technology for producing critically needed medical isotopes used in the treatment of cancer.

With the help of PNNL researchers and experts in the medical isotope field-Darrell Fisher and David Eakin, both of Energy & Environment Directorate-the team is currently working to develop these systems, reduce the overall cost, and increase the flexibility needed to produce smaller amounts of commercial isotopes.

Robert Schenter, AMIC Chief Science Officer said, "This project will be a major contribution to alleviating the shortage of medical isotopes in the U.S. These isotopes will play a major role in the 21st century in lessening major diseases like cancer and heart disease."

Through the TAP, researchers have the potential to be a business' shining star while advancing their work or building new capability. The TAP helps companies improve their competitiveness by providing staff at PNNL with up to about a staff-week per year, per business, to help businesses with specific technology questions or needs.

If you know a business in need of this technology-based support, or are interested in becoming part of the program, visit the Technology Assistance Program  <https://tdo.pnl.gov/programs/tap.stm> website or contact Gary Spanner <mailto:Gary.Spanner@pnnl.gov>  (372-4296), Economic Development Office.

James Katzaroff, CEO of Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation (“AMIC”) (OTCBB: ADMD), a company engaged in the production and distribution of medical isotopes, called into SmallCapVoice to discuss the press release dated August 23, 2011.

Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation has entered into a strategic relationship with Spivak Management Inc. (“SMI”) and Mann Healthcare Partners Inc. (“Mann Healthcare”) to form a joint venture to develop and execute AMIC’s business strategy.

Through a memorandum of agreement for the strategic relationship between AMIC and SMI and related agreements, SMI and Mann Healthcare will consult to AMIC for five and three years, respectively, and assist AMIC with strategic advice, deal-specific advice and assistance, and board representation. Mann Healthcare also will facilitate introductions to potential investors.

Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation ("AMIC") (OTCBB:ADMD), a company engaged in the production and distribution of medical isotopes, has entered into a strategic relationship with Spivak Management Inc. ("SMI") and Mann Healthcare Partners Inc. ("Mann Healthcare") to form a joint venture to develop and execute AMIC's business strategy.