STDs Found In 25% of Teenage Girls: Expert Available To Discuss CDC Findings, Cervical Cancer Treatment

On Tuesday, March 11, 2008, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a landmark national study concerning the spread of four common sexually transmitted diseases among teenage girls ages fourteen to nineteen. As reported by The New York Times, the study, part the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, found that one in four are infected with at least one of four diseases - Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), chlamydia, genital herpes, and the common parasite trichomoniasis.

Extrapolating from the findings, Dr. Sara Forhan, a CDC researcher and the lead author of the study, suggested that 3.2 million teenage women were infected with at least one of the four diseases. The most common sexually transmitted disease among tested participants, HPV, can lead to cancer and genital warts. In the report, the CDC recommends that young women ages eleven to twenty-six be fully vaccinated against HPV.

For those covering health and medical news, Advaxis, Inc. makes available VP of Clinical Development, Dr. John Rothman.

A New Jersey-based biotechnology company, Advaxis is working on a less invasive approach for treatment of the precancerous abnormality Cervical dysplasia, also known as Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN), a condition caused by HPV.

The Advaxis research team has developed a vaccine drug candidate, Lovaxin C, which may kill these precancerous cells. The vaccine is based on the live bacteria Listeria, a bacterium found in dairy products. The immune response that Listeria generates is known as “cellular” immunity, the type needed to attack cancer. Listeria stimulates many simultaneous anti-tumor immune mechanisms, and is one of the strongest stimulators of cellular immunity. By safely redirecting the bacteria against specific tumor types, Advaxis has created a new, and potentially very effective, class of cancer therapy.

Recently, the company reported that their vaccine was found to be safe in women with advanced metastatic cervical cancer. Although efficacy was not a primary focus of the trial, efficacy findings were obtained. Of seven stable patients, three showed reductions in their tumor mass following treatment, and another patient had a significantly greater reduction in her tumor which, with further treatment, was completely eliminated. While most lesions increased in size, tumor reduction was seen in a number of lesions and two tumors disappeared completely.

Biography of Expert
Dr. John Rothman, VP of clinical development of Advaxis, Inc.

Dr. Rothman studied at the Department of Pharmacology at the Tulane University School of Medicine in the laboratory of Dr. Louis Ignarro (Nobel Prize; Medicine, 1998) and did his dissertation work at the New Orleans V.A. Hospital laboratory of Dr. Andrew Schally (Nobel Prize; Medicine, 1977). Dr. Rothman was a junior member of the first clinical group to develop genetically recombinant pharmaceutical agents and test them in human disease that was conducted by Schering Pharmaceuticals using Biogen’s a-interferon. In this capacity he was responsible for the very first clinical trial in the disease which would become called AIDS when he formed and oversaw a research network in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York investigating the use of interferon in this disease. Dr. Rothman then became a senior scientist at Hoffmann-LaRoche working with recombinant agents provided by Genentech. In this capacity Dr. Rothman’s supervised the clinical submission of the first FDA approval for interferon in the treatment of Kaposi’s sarcoma, work he conducted in AIDS for Roche. He has developed many different pharmaceutical agents in many disciplines including infectious disease, gastroenterology, neurology, oncology and virology. After eventually holding positions of Director of Infectious Disease, Director of Clinical Drug Development, and Sr. Director of all of Roche’s data collection, analysis, and report writing he spent some time as a VP of a medical marketing firm, then spent many years in building and selling small companies in a variety of industries. Dr. Rothman has also served as a Township Committeeman, Police Commissioner, and Mayor of Tewksbury Township, New Jersey.

Dr. Rothman serves as an expert resource on the following:
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases
• Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
• Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN)
• Cervical Cancer
• Cancer Vaccines

Dr. Rothman can address the following FAQs:
• What are some of the implications of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey findings?
• How might education help curtail the spread of HPV among teens and young women?
• How might vaccine candidates kill precancerous cells that lead to cervical cancer?
• How might the live bacteria Listeria, found in common dairy products, hold the key to such a vaccine?

About Advaxis, Inc.
Based in North Brunswick, New Jersey, Advaxis is developing proprietary Listeria cancer vaccines based on technology developed by Dr. Yvonne Paterson, professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania, and chairperson of Advaxis’ Scientific Advisory Board. Advaxis is developing therapeutic cancer vaccines that enhance the immune system’s cancer-fighting abilities through its proprietary Listeria monocytogenes based system, which utilizes multiple simultaneous immunological mechanisms to develop safer and more effective Listeria based cancer vaccines. Advaxis is the exclusive licensee of a patented broadly enabling Listeria platform technology that can elicit effective anti-tumor responses. Advaxis’ lead Listeria vaccine candidate, Lovaxin C, targets cervical and head and neck cancers. Further Listeria vaccines in development target breast, ovarian and lung cancers. Advaxis has entered a Phase I/II clinical trial. The Listeria platform will also have applications in the fields of infectious disease and autoimmune disorders.

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Source: Advaxis