Health Highlights: Dec. 28, 2006

The family had raised ducks at home, and the brother and sister had slaughtered the flock after ducks fell sick and died. The flu outbreak did extensive damage to the Egyptian poultry industry this year but preventive measures appear to have contained the disease.

Bird flu has killed at least 156 people worldwide since 2003, according to WHO. People can contract the virus by coming into contact with infected poultry but experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that passes from human to human, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.

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Cancer Drug Telcyta Fails Late-Stage Trials

A new cancer drug, Telcyta, did not prolong survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and has failed three late-stage trials, Palo Alto, California-based Telik Inc. said in a statement Tuesday. The trials were conducted in the third of three testing stages needed for U.S. regulatory approval.

Telik's studies for lung cancer and advanced ovarian cancer, called ASSIST I and ASSIST II, did not achieve a "statistically significant improvement'" in overall survival, the company said. The third study, ASSIST III, failed to demonstrate its effectiveness in tumor response for ovarian cancer,Bloomberg Newsreported.

While all three trials showed some tumor response, two of the trials, ASSIST II and ASSIST III, contained "inconsistencies" that need to be investigated, the company added.