The drug is already FDA-approved for one kind of cancer.

You can teach an old drug new chemotherapy tricks.

Researchers in Austria say they found wide variations in how people absorb arsenic into their bodies. Study leader Kevin Francesconi of the University of Graz in Austria finds the ability to eliminate arsenic from the body ranging from study participants who eliminated 95 percent of the ingested arsenic to others who eliminated as little as 4 percent. The study, published in Chemical Research in Toxicology, points out standards in many parts of the world -- including areas of the United States -- are already above World Health Organization maximum acceptable levels.

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZIOP) announced today the publication of results from a pre-clinical study of darinaparsin (ZIO-101) in the July 17, 2008 on line advance publication issue of Leukemia, a Nature publication.

INNOVIVE Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCBB:IVPH) today announced that the first patient has been treated in a pivotal Phase II clinical trial evaluating oral Tamibarotene for the treatment of refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). APL is a type of acute myeloid leukemia.