Cancer Diagnostic Test by Rehovot's Rosetta's MicroRNA Technology Approved in US

Rosetta Genomics Ltd, Israel and Jersey City, NJ, reports its molecular test based on proprietary microRNA technology, developed and validated by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), has been approved for clinical use by the New York State Department of Health Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program.

CUMC is finalizing the commercial aspects of the test and will announce its clinical availability to patients nationwide after details are finalized later this year.

"This is a landmark event for us, marking the first step in the transformation of Rosetta Genomics into a commercial diagnostics company," said Amir Avniel, the company’s president and CEO. "Our proprietary microRNA platform technologies, which this test is based on, have enabled Columbia University Medical Center's high complexity molecular pathology laboratory to develop a highly sensitive and specific test, which is a key for optimal administration of targeted therapies for this devastating cancer.”

The test, performed on a sample of a patient's tumor, classifies squamous-cell carcinoma of the lung with sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 90%. The test uses microRNAs' sensitivity and specificity as biomarkers, which may offer a standardized and objective method for lung cancer classification.

"We value our partnership with Columbia University Medical Center and we look forward to continuing this collaboration," noted Ronen Tamir, the company’s chief commercial officer. "At the same time, once we complete the previously announced acquisition of Parkway Clinical Laboratories Inc in Pennsylvania, we plan to complement CUMC's commercial efforts by submitting the same type of test, developed and validated by Rosetta, for regulatory approval in the fourth quarter of 2008."

The advent of targeted, lung-cancer therapies directed at specific cellular alterations demands the most accurate classification possible for non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC). A recently approved angiogenesis inhibitor (bevacizumab(1)) for NSCLC has been shown to be less effective against squamous-cell lung cancer. The targeted therapy includes a black-box warning about substantially higher rates of severe or fatal hemorrhage among patients with squamous NSCLC histology compared with non-squamous NSCLC, which has led squamous-cell histology to be regarded by many as an exclusion criterion for the drug. Several other targeted drugs for NSCLC currently under development may require this type of sensitive differentiation.

Some 185,000 people annually are diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer nationwide, and an estimated 60,000 patients annually are potential candidates for targeted therapy with bevacizumab in the United States.

Data presented in peer-reviewed publications has shown that two blinded-expert observers, when asked to give an independent histological classification of NSCLC, agreed only 74.7% of the time.

The company expects two additional tests based on its microRNA technology to be validated and submitted for regulatory approval during the second half of 2008 by labs in the United States. One test is designed to differentiate mesothelioma, an asbestos-associated cancer that develops in the pleura, from adenocarcinomas that either arise in the lung or spread to the lung and pleura from other sites. Another test is designed to identify the origin of a metastasis in patients presenting with cancer of unknown primary.

MicroRNAs are recently discovered, naturally occurring, small RNAs that act as master regulators and have the potential to form the basis for a new class of diagnostics and therapeutics. Since many diseases are caused by the abnormal activity of proteins, the ability to selectively regulate protein activity through microRNAs could provide a way to treat a wide range of human diseases. MicroRNAs have been shown to have different expression in various pathological conditions, and these differences may provide for a novel diagnostic strategy for many diseases.

The company's integrative research platform combining bioinformatics and lab processes has led to the discovery of hundreds of biologically validated, novel human microRNAs. Building on its IP position and proprietary platform technologies, Rosetta is working on applying these technologies in the development of a range of microRNA-based diagnostic and therapeutic tools, focusing primarily on cancer and women's health indications.

The first test based on the company's technology, differentiating squamous from non squamous non-small cell lung cancer, is approved through CUMC's high complexity molecular pathology lab, and the company expects two additional microRNA diagnostic tests with its technology will be validated and submitted for regulatory approval by licensed clinical labs in the United States in 2008.

Rehovot History: Feinberg family, Back to first days of Zionism

The life's dream of the Feinberg, Belkind and Hankin families more than 100 years ago was to fulfill the Zionist idea in the Land of Israel. Their story is the story of the renewed Land of Israel

Nadav Man. Feinberg family: Back to first days of Zionism. Ynet (7.22.08) [FullText and Photos]

Last week and two weeks ago, we began presenting the story of three related families who longed to fulfill the Zionist idea in the Land of Israel: The Feinbergs, the Belkinds and the Hankins.

This new series of articles will feature photos of these families, whose story is the story of the renewed Land of Israel more than 100 years ago. The photos were taken from the album of Tamar Eshel, the daughter of Tzila Feinberg.

1. Yehuda Leib Hankin (born 1842) and his wife Sarah, Jews from Kremenchug, Russia. Yehuda would lease agricultural farms and manage them economically. They were an enthusiastic Zionist family. Their children were: Yaakov, Yehoshua, Mendel, Tanhum, Rivka, Haya, Hanna, Table and Rosa. In 1882, anti-Semitic pogroms ("Suffot BaNegev") broke out in Russia, and Yehuda and his entire family decided to immigrate to Israel. They were among the first to purchase the lands of Ayun Kara (Rishon Lezion). In the photo taken in 1904, from the right: Haya, Rivka, Yehoshua, Rosa, Tanhum and Rosa.

2. Yehoshua Hankin, 1904. Yehoshua was one of the greatest liberators of the Land of Israel for the establishment of the renewed Jewish settlement. His knowledge in this field was received from his father Yehuda Leib, who engaged in similar activities while in Russia. In 1890, Yehoshua worked to purchase 2,500 acres of the lands of Duran, where the city of Rehovot is now located. In total, more than 148,262 acres purchased by Yehoshua were used for the establishment of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel.

3. Olga (Belkind) and Yehoshua Hankin in Geneva, 1901. Olga and Yehoshua married in 1887. Olga was 14 years older than Yehoshua and usually used to hide her age. She convinced Yehoshua to grow a beard and long hair in order to look older. Olga was the driving force behind Yehoshua in his dedication to the redemption of the land. The couple had no children.

4. Yehoshua's brother, Tanhum Hankin.

5. Emmanuel King, the son of Yehoshua's sister Rosa, in Berlin, August 1916. Tzila Feinberg was at the time a student in Berlin and used to visit her aunt Rosa. When Emmanuel grew up he immigrated to Israel, lived in Jerusalem and was killed in the bombardments on the city in 1948.

6. Mendel Hankin in his 30s. His wife was Sonia Belkind. Mendel was a citrus grower and one of the founders of the credit bank. They lived comfortably and would pamper all the family's young members. Sonia would say, "The children should be spoilt because they are facing difficult times and will always be able to return to the beautiful memories and draw strength from them."

7. Sonia in Israel before leaving for her medical studies in Switzerland, 1895. Sonia was the first woman to travel from Israel to study medicine. Upon her return, she was one of the two female doctors in the country. In Geneva she formed relationships with Prof. Chaim Weizmann and psychologist Carl Jung. During World War I, Sonia and Mendel were expelled to Damascus following the Nili affair. Sonia was never called Hankin and kept her maiden name. She also had disregard for the formal matrimony ceremony and lived without holy matrimony for many years. She agreed to officially marry only many years later due to considerations of wills and property.

8. The house on 8 Allenby St. It was built by Sonia and Mendel, who lived on the top floor. Yehoshua and Olga lived on the bottom floor, and in a smaller apartment nearby lived Duba Belkind and her daughter Ahsa. The house had a particularly large garden, where the first grass in Israel was grown, and a hammock was hanged under the trees. They used to sit under the garden trees and drink afternoon tea, or crack sunflower seeds.

9. Sonia (R) while studying medicine in Geneva with her student friends in 1903.

10. Yehoshua and Olga used to rest at the garden of the house on 105 Allenby St., as long as they could. Photo taken in 1930.

11. Yehoshua at his home, December 1943. Olga passed away at the beginning of the year. Photo: Soskin.

12. Yehoshua died in 1946. Photo shows the funeral at the tomb Yehoshua built for his wife and himself on Mount Gilboa, near a house where he had planned to live. The place has been renewed and now serves as a memorial for Yehoshua and Olga's work.

13. On the first anniversary of Yehoshua Hankin's death near his grave on Mount Gilboa. From the right: Seadia Paz, Avraham Herzfeld, Nahum Vilbosh, an unidentified person, Tanhum Hankin, Eliyahu Krause, Shoshana Vilbosh, Lavi (Ein Harod), and another unidentified person.

Nahum Vilbosh (Vilboshevitz) was born in 1879 near Grodeno, where his family owned an estate. He studied mechanical engineering and immigrated to Israel in 1903. He was a member of a delegation which studies the possibility of Jews settling in Uganda, and his recommendations to the rejection of the idea. He was one of the first Hebrew industrialists in Israel. He spent a short while in jail on suspicion of being linked to the Nili espionage network (Avshalom Feinberg was his brother-in-law). Nahum was married to Shoshana Feinberg, and his sister was Mania Shochat.

14. Purim 1916. Grandmother Fanny, mother Shoshana and granddaughter Zohara, all wearing lace.

15. Nahum with his eldest brother Moshe, who invented the margarine production process and the production of whole-wheat bread from sprouts. Nahum passed away in 1971, at the age of 92, and was buried in Hadera.

Additional information can be found in the Genealogic Album and in the Khan Museum in Hadera

Source: Nadav Man. Feinberg family: Back to first days of Zionism (22 Jul 2008) [FullText and Photos]

Rehovot History: Back to first days of Zionism, Rehovot Land

The life's dream of the Feinberg, Belkind and Hankin families more than 100 years ago was to fulfill the Zionist idea in the Land of Israel. Their story is the story of the renewed Land of Israel.

Nadav Man. Rehovot History: Back to first days of Zionism (10 Jul 2008) [FullText and Photos]

Last week we began presenting the story of three related families who longed to fulfill the Zionist idea in the Land of Israel: The Feinbergs, the Belkinds and the Hankins.

This new series of articles will feature photos of these families, whose story is the story of the renewed Land of Israel more than 100 years ago. The photos were taken from the album of Tamar Eshel, the daughter of Tzila Feinberg.

1. 1912 – Ahead of the graduation of the Herzliya Hebrew High School's first class. From the right: Rivkah Reznik, Tzila (who loved to wear manly clothes), Rivkah Shertok (Hoz).

2. In 1913, Tzila's first class of the Herzliya Hebrew High School graduated. After completing her studies, Tzila sought to go on to university studies, but as there was no university in the Land of Israel, she applied to a Berlin university to study agriculture and botany. In this photo she is seen with her family before the trip to Germany, with mother Fanny, brother Avshalom and niece Zohara, who joined the journey. Zohara's parents, Shoshana and Nahum, worked at a factory in St. Petersburg at the time. Tzila brought Zohara over to them and continued to Berlin.

3. November 1913. Before Tzila traveled to Germany, the family arrived at the office of photographer Avraham Soskin for a family photo: 1 – Aunt Olga Hankin, 2 – Tzila, 3- Mother Fanny, 4 – Zohara (the granddaughter), 5 – Ahsa (Israel and Duba Belkind's daughter), 6 – Uncle Israel Belkind and his wife Duba (7), 8 – Aunt Sonia (Belkind) Hankin, 9 – Avshalom.

4. 1914, Tzila meets her future husband Zeev, St. Petersburg. On the right: Zeev Finkelstein (who just graduated from law school). On the left: M. Blitzerkovsky (a chemistry student). When this picture was taken she had yet to decide which one of the two to choose. The dedication on the photo reads: "The lovable and beloved".

5. Tzila resided in Germany during the years of World War I. Her friends from the Herzliya Hebrew High School's first class, Moshe Shertok (Sharett) and Moshe Gvirtzman, served in the Turkish army and sent her this postcard on which they wrote, "To our dear friend Tzila, from the Diaspora to the Diaspora in memory of our days of suffering… Moshe and Moshe."

6. The Nili espionage network was founded in the Land of Israel with the goal of assisting the British in their war against the Ottomans who controlled the land and establishing a Jewish entity in the Land of Israel. The network's founders were Avshalom Feinberg (who came up with the idea) who tried to convince agronomist Aharon Aharonson of Zichron Yaacov to join the network. The two worked together on a farm for agricultural experiments established in Atlit in 1910.

In the photo: Sarah Aharonson, a member of the Nili espionage network. Sarah was married to a Bulgarian Jew and lived with him in Constantinople between 1914 and 1915. Her marriage failed, and on her way back to Zichron Yaacov she encountered the murder of the Armenia people by the Turks, which led her to become an active member of the network. When her brother Aharon was in Egypt as part of his work, she replaced him in the intelligence work in Israel. When the Turks began pursuing the Nili network activists, Aharon asked Sarah to escape to Egypt, but she decided to proceed with her mission. She was captured and tortured by the Turks, and committed suicide so as not to turn in her fellow network members.

7. In 1916, the network members failed to contact the British. On January 20, 1917, Avshalom decided to take the Sinai route with his friend Yosef Lishansky in order to resume the ties with the British in Sinai. They were discovered by Bedouins who alerted a Turkish guard, and the two were injured in a shooting battle. Lishansky managed to escape, Avshalom resisted and was shot to death. The place where he died was not located for many years. Only after 50 years, during the Six Day War, the mystery was finally solved by researcher Shlomo Ben-Elkana when Israel occupied the territory. In the photo: Avshalom's bones uncovered. Details conveyed by Tzila, Avshalom's sister, helped identify him. Avshalom was laid to rest in a state ceremony on November 29, 1967, on Mount Herzl.

8. Tzila with Emmanuel Kenig, the son of Rosa Hankin-Kenig, Berlin 1918, during her studies there. Rosa was the sister of Yehoshua Hankin. Emmanuel was killed during the siege on Jerusalem during the 1948 War of Independence.

9. Tzila with her daughter Tamar, 1922. Tzila was born in Jaffa in 1894, died in 1988 and was buried in Haifa. She was a graduate of the Herzliya Hebrew School's first class. She studied botany and agriculture in a university in Berlin. She spent the entire World War I in Germany, earning a living in censorship. She was active in Zionist groups. After graduating in 1919, she joined Zeev Finkelstein (Shoham), a member of the Zionist administration in London, whom she met in St. Petersburg, and married him. During the years she spent in London, she joined the group of women who founded the WIZO organization in 1920. In 1923 she returned to Israel and lived in Haifa. She was an active WIZO volunteer her entire life, established the department for women's status and run the department for agricultural schools for many years. She also managed the family orchard in Hadera. She headed the citrus fruit council's control committee till the age of 90.

10. Family photo of the Belkind family in Mogilev, 1882, before immigrating to the Land of Israel. In the photo:

1 – Meir Belkind (Minsk, 1836 – Rishon Lezion, 1896) was an outstanding yeshiva student. He was expelled from the yeshiva because he read in Hebrew and his ordination as a rabbi was cancelled. He introduced a new teaching method which included Hebrew, grammar, Bible studies and love of the land. Despite the haredi boycott, the town's dignitaries sent their sons to study at his school. His girls were taught according to the same program. After his marriage he moved to Logoysk and then to Borisov and Mogilev in order to provide his children with high school education. He did not immigrate with the Bilu pioneers to that his young daughter Sonia could complete her high school studies. In 1888, Meir, his wife Shifra and their daughter Sonia immigrated to Israel. Meir opened the first Hebrew school in Jaffa, which taught all professions, including science – in Hebrew.

2 – Meir's wife Shifra of the Glastock family (Logoysk, 1830 – Jaffa, 1910, buried in Rishon Lezion)

3 – Olga (Logoysk, 1852 – Passover, 1943, buried on Mount Gilboa). At 13 she was a telegrapher on the Siberian train line in order to save money for her tuition, and then left for St. Petersburg for midwife studies. In 1886, Olga was asked to travel to Israel to help her sister Fanny give birth to her daughter Shoshana. She was fluent in Hebrew and familiar with the Bible and its origins. She corresponded with the Hebrew writers of her generation. In Israel she married Yehoshua Hankin and was the force which motivated him to purchase lands for the Jewish National Fund. Her relations with Arab midwives assisted in the purchasing of lands for the Jewish settlement.

4 - Sonia (Alexandra), the Belkinds' youngest child (Borisov, 1870 – Rishon Lezion, 1943), immigrated to Israel with her parents in 1888. She worked as a teacher in the first Hebrew school in Jaffa, founded by her father and oldest brother Israel Belkind. In 1898, she traveled to Geneva to study medicine. After completing her studies, she returned to Israel as a doctor, but left for Paris in 1905 to specialize as a gynecologist. She was the first women's doctor in the Land of Israel. She also served as the doctor of the Herzliya Hebrew High School and worked in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. During World War I she wandered with those expelled from Tel Aviv and cared for them until she was arrested when the Nili network was uncovered. After the war, upon being released, she built her house in the sands of Tel Aviv. Sonia lived with Mendel Hankin, the brother of Yehoshua Hankin (who was married to her sister Olga). The two families lived in the home built by Sonia and Mendel in the sands of Tel Aviv (today 105 Allenby St.). Throughout her years in Israel she was active in the field of public medicine.

5 – Fanny Beldkind, later known as Fanny Feinberg (details in the Feinberg family history).

6 – Israel Belkind (1861-1929), founder of the Bilu pioneers idea, immigrated to Israel with the first Bilu group and arrived in Rishon Lezion. All his life he engaged in education and Hebrew teaching. In 1900 he established the Haviv school, the first Hebrew school in Rishon Lezion. After World War I, he traveled to Europe to gather Jewish orphans from the Chisinau pogroms and brought them to the youth villages in Shafia, Kfar Yeladim and Safed.

7 – Shimshon Belkind (1937-1864). In 1882, he immigrated with his brother Israel and the Bilu pioneers to the Land of Israel. He was expelled from Rishon Lezion due to his connection to the rebellion against the baron's functionaries. During World War I, his two sons Naaman and Eitan were arrested by the Turks for being members of the Nili network. They were both sentenced to death. In 1918, Naaman was executed in Damascus. Avraham Herzfeld, who was in Damascus at the time, managed to bribe a Turkish guard and helped Eitan escape from jail. After the war, Shimshon and his son Eitan brought the bones of Naaman and Yosef Lishansky for burial in Israel. Another of Shimshon's sons, Meir Belkind, was murdered in the 1936 events.

11. Sonia Belkind at 15, in Mohyliv, 1885.

12. Olga Belkind, while working as a midwife in St. Petersburg.

13. Five ladies drinking coffee, 1905. From the right: Olga Hankin, Manya (Vilboshevitz) Shohat (sister of Nahum Vilbosh), Sonia (Alexandra) Belkind, Duba Blekind, Shoshana (Feinberg) Vilboshevitz. Fanny would never forgive them for forgetting to include her in the photo.

14. Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu pioneers, 1904. Israel Belkind wrote many books on the Land of Israel, history, Judaism, etc. At the end of the century he wrote a basic book in Russian about the country which was used by the Lovers of Zion in Russia for many years. When he opened a Hebrew school in Jaffa with his father, it lacked textbooks in Hebrew.

15. 1912 – A group photo of the Belkind family members marking 30 years since their immigration to Israel. From the right: Shimshon, Olga, Sonia, Israel and Fanny (mourning her husband's death).

16. From the left: Israel Belkind's daughter Ahsa with her cousin Zohara Vilbosh (daughter of Shoshana and Nahum). Father Israel was often absent from home in order to raise funds for the school he built for orphans he gathered in Europe, the orphans of the pogroms in Chisinau and World War I.

Source: Nadav Man. Rehovot History: Back to first days of Zionism (10 Jul 2008) [FullText and Photos]