­­by Marvin Ramírez

A beautiful belly dancer kept an audience busy at Carnival.­ (photo by Marvin Ramírez)

For thousands of people who preferred to stay in their beloved San Francisco, the stay was worthwhile. Nowhere else could they have found the fun that SF Carnival offered for free. Dozens of floats and dancers made the day glorious on Memorial Day. It was the first time since its creation, that Carnival was organized and produced outside the Mission Neighborhood Centers, which was the organizer for almost 30 years. It was an event that attracted people of all the walks of life, ages and colors.

The two-day Carnival is one of the best attractions that brings well-needed tourism dollars to the city at a time when most city services are being cut amid a near collapse of the economy that threatens to become the next GreatDepression. This year, the brothers Ben and Peter Bratts – star  and director of La Mission film, were the Grand Marshall of the Carnival.

by the University  of Michigan

­Drugs should be developed to target gene fusions in prostate cancer, research shows

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Prostate cancer treatments that target the hormone androgen and its receptor may be going after the wrong source, according to a new study. Researchers have found that when two genes fuse together to cause prostate cancer, it blocks the receptor for the hormone androgen, preventing prostate cells from developing normally.

The study, from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, suggests that the gene fusion – not the androgen receptor – is a more specific “bad actor” in prostate cancer and is the real smoking gun that should be targeted by treatments.

“We need to begin to think about targeting prostate cancer by targeting the gene fusion, and not confining our approaches to androgen receptor. If we’re going to find a more durable therapy, we need to get at the gene fusion,” says study author Arul Chinnaiyan, M.D. Ph.D., director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology and S.P. Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology at the U-M Medical School. Chinnaiyan is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and an American Cancer Society research professor.

The study is featured on the cover of the May 18 issue of Cancer Cell.

Treatments for prostate cancer typically include drugs to moderate androgen, a male hormone that controls the normal growth of the prostate.

These drugs typically work at first, but over time the cancer cells become resistant to the therapy and the cancer returns. Because it’s no longer responsive to currently available hormone deprivation therapies, the recurrent cancer is usually more difficult to treat.

In 2005, Chinnaiyan and his team identified a prostate-specific gene called TMPRSS2 that fuses with a cancer-causing gene called ERG. The team’s earlier research has shown that this gene fusion acts as an “on switch” to trigger prostate cancer.

This new study used sophisticated sequencing technologies to map the genome-wide location of androgen receptor and the TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion in prostate cancer cells.  The researchers found that the gene fusion blocks the androgen receptor directly and also interferes with it at the genetic level to prevent normal androgen receptor signaling. With the androgen receptor blocked, prostate cells stop growing and developing normally, allowing cancer to develop.

“Our study shows the underlying problem in prostate cancer is the presence of a gene fusion, not the androgen receptor. In many contexts, androgen signaling is actually a good thing, but the presence of the gene fusion blocks androgen receptor signaling, which alters normal prostate cell development. While current treatments for advanced prostate cancer are focused on hormone deprivation and are quite effective, at least initially, future therapies need to be developed that target the prostate cancer gene fusion,” Chinnaiyan says.

by the El Reportero’s news services

Felipe Calderón

Less than a week after President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa addressed a joint session of the US congr­ess, the US administration leaked the information that it was about to send 1,200 troops to the Mexican border.

Almost certainly, the U.S. had tipped Mexico off about the deployment because the foreign ministry immediately issued a statement, on May 25, portraying the move ­as part of an effort by the US administration to bear down on the flow of guns from the US to gangs in Mexico. In the US, the deployment was spun, initially at least, as a move to improve border security and restrict the flow of people and drugs north.

Colombia prepares for presidential election

On Sunday May 30 Colombians will go to the polls to choose a successor to President Alvaro Uribe Vélez, who has been in office since 2002. While the final opinion polls all threw up slightly different results, all agreed on two main points.

First, Juan Manuel Santos of the ruling Partido de la U (PU) and Antanas Mockus of the Partido Verde (PV) are the main contenders; and second, neither candidate will obtain the 50% plus one margin required to win on Sunday. A second round runoff (June 20) will therefore be necessary to determine who will lead the nation after August 7.

Obama Administration Has Not Changed US Latin American Policy

A joint report released by three organizations has issued a report condemning the US policy towards Latin America under President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, claiming Washington has failed to deliver any substantial change. Does this indicate that the occupant of the White House has little or no control over the way US policy is delivered?

The joint publication Waiting for Change: Trends in US Security Assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean, was released today and was drawn up by The Center for International Policy, the Latin America Working Group Education Fund and the Washington Office on Latin America. Its claims reveal information which would point toward the President of the United States of America being little more than a puppet, unless substantial change is delivered, where actions speak louder than words.

The report indicates that the Obama Administration’s policies in Latin America continue to rely heavily on military operations and do not pay sufficient attention to human rights issues. It goes on to claim that during 2009, many countries in Latin America accused Washington of arrogance, inattention to human rights and failure to deliver on democracy, especially after its secret agreement to set up military bases in Columbia.

Chavez: New opportunity for ties with Colombia

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez suggested that with the Sunday elections in Colombia, new doors could be opened for the resumption of relations with that country.

During the inauguration last night of the socialist campaign command Bolivar 200, Chavez said he hopes the new Colombian president is a person open to dialogue and reach minimum agreements of mutual respect.

I am looking forward to Sunday, and if there is a first-round win, I would be the first to make a phone call and greet the new Colombian president,” he said.

by Luis Carlos López

The bill to overhaul financial reform passed the Senate May 20, after losing a cloture vote the day before.

­The overarching regulation was approved 59-39 with Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) joining three other Republicans to push it through.

Along with keeping big corporations from engaging in risky financial dealings, it helps protect consumers from being victimized by predatory lending and further financial hardship.

The National Council of La Raza outlined some of the provisions in the current bill that are of special benefit to the Hispanic community.

1. Establishes a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to enforce consumer protection laws.

2. Includes new disclosure requirements that establish a more transparent process of wiring money abroad.

3. Provides expanded access to independent financial advice and guidance.

4. Promotes access to safe and affordable bank accounts and credit for low-income communities, and     under-banked families.

NCLR called the bill a “strong step forward in the fight to improve the accountability of Wall Street and eliminate deceptive lending practices.”

Last month Hispanic Link News Service commissioned the non-profit, non-partisan research policy group Center for Responsible Lending to do a five-part bilingual series Our Money Our Future (available at hispaniclink.org) identifying bad financial practices and products and alerting readers to the pitfalls that disproportionately affect Latino consumers.

In February, NCLR along with the Center for Community Capital at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reported that Hispanics and people of color were more than twice as likely to fall prey to sub-prime lending schemes and default on their mortgages.

This, coupled with unemployment figures for blacks and Hispanics well above the national average, has left thousands of families with major credit and financial difficulties.

In the Hispanic Link series, CRL’s César Castro spoke of then-pending legislation that would work to eliminate some financial traps that were destabilizing Latino communities nationwide and causing thousands of families to lose their savings and homes.

The reform bill addresses many of most onerous practices, emerged a month later, It is now headed to the House-Senate conference committee, where lawmakers and legislators are working to resolve final differences.

“It’s a really great bill,” CRL Communications Director Kathleen Day tells Hispanic Link. “The bottom line is that this new agency will actually protect consumers. It will watch out for consumers and stamp out bad products as they crop up — not wait until they torpedo the whole economy.”

Despite the bill’s effort to protect consumers by creating a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Castro and Day share some concerns. Under this new legislation, two industries lobbying for exception from federal regulation are auto dealers and the payday loan industry. Both have a direct effect on Hispanic market.

“We are still concerned regarding proposals which give some industries a loophole that allows them not to adhere to the rules of the intended law,” Castro says. “Car dealers that lend you money to finance your vehicle are seeking exemptions.” Without government regulation, car dealers can spike interest rates with something he referred to as the “yoyo scam” — a procedure whereby they can adjust car loans.

Payday lenders are exempt from regulations, leaving Latinos and people of color vulnerable, Castro explained, saying exemptions would allow businesses to decide interest rates—oftentimes as high as 400 percent rate.

Deputy Director of Wealth-Building Policy at NCLR, Janis Bowdler told Hispanic Link that NCLR has been working closely with legislators to make sure Hispanics are better protected.

NCLR has been working closely with the community to provide financial counseling. They’ve worked with Sen. Robert Menéndez (D-N.J.), and House members Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) and José Serrano (D-N.Y.) to create a financial education and counseling program with the Treasure Department.

“We have been working on the banking reform bill to ensure Latino priorities are addressed,” Bowdler says. “Part of that includes educating the community about what’s at stake and getting them to weigh in with their Congress members.”  Hispanic Link.