Howard Waage ---- Editor
Where: Our meeting will be in the Bennett & Suzy Katz Cancer Resource Center on the 1st Floor of the two-story redwood Education Building behind Santa Cruz Dominican Hospital.
When: Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.. For more information, please cal The Bennett and Suzy Katz Cancer Resource Center at Dominican Hospital (831) 462-7770
If you are a person who has been diagnosed and treated for cancer, is between 1 month and approximately 1 year post primary medical treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation), has 3 to 5 people close to you during your cancer treatment whom you believe would be willing to form a focus group with you, or is close to someone treated for cancer with whom you believe you could form a group, please join my study!
My name is Maureen Harrahy. I am a PhD candidate at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. I am studying the interpersonal impact of cancer diagnosis and treatment. My study explores the notion that events in life do not only happen to individuals but also have group impact. In studying the impact of cancer as a group event, I hope to contribute to an understanding of human interconnection and the importance of relationship particularly in times of stress and trauma. I also hope to contribute to an understanding of the significance of relationship in cancer recovery. It is my wish and intention that benefits in participation to you include opportunities for reflection and insight that enhance your feelings of support and ability to cope during your continuing recovery from cancer. Please contact Maureen Harrahy, MA (415) 359-4578 maureen.harrahy@myitp.itp.edu
The National Cancer Institute Admits its Previous Prostate Cancer Study was 'Contaminated' Following the Release of New Data that Shows PSA Test Saves Lives!
WASHINGTON, July 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The nation's leading authority on cancer has thrown out its own study on prostate cancer screening, now saying that PSA testing reduces the prostate cancer death rate by nearly 50 percent.
In its July 13th bulletin, the National Cancer Institute says findings from the Goteborg Randomized Population-Based Prostate Cancer Screening Trial - a study NCI partially funded in Sweden - shows "PSA screening substantially improves cancer-specific survival without the extent of over-diagnosis and overtreatment." The Swedish study showed testing reduces the prostate cancer mortality rate by 44 percent. That prompted NCI to admit there was a "significant amount of contamination" in its earlier Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian study (PLCO), which suggested there was no mortality benefit with the PSA test.
"Careless mistakes like this may be costing men their lives. You can't publish that there is no value in getting tested if you don't have the right data to back that claim up," said Skip Lockwood, ZERO's CEO. "Admitting you were wrong is the first step - the American Cancer Society has yet to swallow its pride and come clean - so now NCI needs to take action to make things right," said Lockwood.
In the bulletin, NCI says the PLCO data was contaminated because of "men in the trial who had already undergone screening with a PSA test, which a number of researchers have said may preclude the trial from ever demonstrating a cancer-specific survival improvement." Regarding its new data from the Swedish study, NCI goes on to quote Dr. Eric Klein of the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute who says the "data suggesting that a baseline PSA in men in their 40s and subsequent PSA velocity (the rate of increase in PSA levels) can predict both lifetime risk of developing cancer and potentially lethal cancers."
"ZERO acknowledges the PSA test is not perfect - it cannot distinguish slow-growing tumors from rapidly growing ones - but until new methods of testing are developed, it's still the best tool available for early detection and prompt treatment of prostate cancer," said Lockwood. "We hope NCI will now join ZERO and the more than 17,000 urologists across the U.S. and recommend PSA testing to men since this new data clearly shows it saves lives." SOURCE ZERO - The Project to End Prostate Cancer http://www.redorbit.com/news/display/?id=1892399
Question to Dr. Myers: What do you know about the efficacy of Combidex? I understand that it has now become unacceptable in Europe as well as the US by the respective FDAs. Is this a viable cancer detection instrument for the lymph nodes as some suggest or is the FDA correct that it is not at this time?
You misunderstand both the status of the Combidex scan and the nature of the drug approval process. Many people share your misunderstanding.
First, what is the Combidex scan? Combidex scanning involves an intravenous injection of iron nanoparticles. These particles are taken up by the lymph nodes throughout the body. Iron has a strong impact on a magnetic resonance image (MRI), so the lymph nodes then become very visible on the MRI. Cancer cells in the lymph node do not take up iron and so the presence of a cancer mass can be detected. With the best MRI machinery, it is possible to see a cancer mass down to 2 mm. This is much more sensitive than any other approach. For now, there is no competing technology.
A group of other physicians and I have had a chance to see Combidex results in our patients. The images are quite stunning in the clarity with which the cancer in the lymph nodes can be seen. I have sent these patients for radiation therapy, largely to Dr. Dattoli in Sarasota, Florida. Dr. Roach at UCSF in California has also had extensive experience using this approach, but most of my patients are on the East Coast. I have a group of men with cancer recurrent after surgery or radiation to the prostate gland that are now disease-free because of Combidex-guided radiation therapy. Both Drs. Marc Scholz and Stephen Strum have had similar positive experiences.
Why is Combidex not available in the US? Keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion. I think that the company who had the US rights to the drug was completely incompetent in their approach to the FDA. The data they presented to the FDA was, again, in my opinion, far removed from what would be required to satisfy FDA approval. As a government organization, the FDA cannot approve an imaging technique just because they believe in it. The company representing the imaging agent must provide proof of the value of the agent. This wasn't done; so the FDA was entirely appropriate to reject the initial application. Again, the company did not, in my opinion, seek competent guidance and attempt to correct their errors, but instead abandoned the Combidex scan. This is a tragedy, but certainly not the fault of the FDA.
The agent continued to be available in Nijmegen, Netherlands for a period of time. However, the company manufacturing the imaging agent used by the Nijmegen group stopped manufacturing as they had other business priorities. Thus, the Combidex is not available in the Netherlands because the imaging agent is simply not available, not because it is unacceptable. The bottom line is that the Combidex scan story illustrates a weakness of our current system. For a drug to become available, it must have an industrial sponsor competent to conduct studies required by law before it can be marketed. A perfectly fine drug or imaging agent can fail to reach the market even if it represents a breakthrough in cancer care or diagnosis.
Efforts are now ongoing to see if the Nijmegen group can find an alternate source of the imaging agent. There is also a business opportunity for a company that can come up with an alternative. Hopefully, the company that does so has a clue about how to get FDA approval. After all, the FDA's rules are very clear and completely reasonable in my view. The Prostate Forum Newsletter can be ordered at: http://www.prostateforum.com
Newswise 6/16/2010- Looking to harness the body's own immune system to target prostate cancer that has spread to the bones (metastatic) and is unresponsive to standard treatment, investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) have just launched a clinical trial focusing on a combination of vaccine and radiation drug therapy. The goal is to see if disease progression will be further delayed by adding two different experimental injections to the standard treatment. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
A standard treatment for prostate cancer that has spread to the bones is with a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration known as samarium153. It contains material that gives off a tiny amount of energy (radiation) that damages cancer cells. And because radiation drugs such as samarium153 also can increase the immune system's ability to find and kill cancer cells, CINJ researchers want to combine this treatment with a series of vaccination injections aimed at helping the body's natural defenses work better.
At focus are two different experimental vaccines. PROSTVAC-V/TRICOM has a special virus added to it that produces a prostate specific antigen (PSA) protein which helps focus the body's immune response to the PSA in the prostate tumor. Other human genetic material added to this vaccine produces three other proteins that help increase an immune cell's ability to destroy its target. The second vaccine, PROSTVAC-F, contains the same genetic material as PROSTAC-V, but will be given more frequently to boost the body's immune system. Previous studies led by CINJ Director Robert S. DiPaola, MD, professor of medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, have shown that giving the PROSTVAC-V vaccine followed a short time later by booster injections with PROSTVAC-F is more effective in increasing immune response than receiving one vaccine alone.
Mark Stein, MD, medical oncologist at CINJ and assistant professor of medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, is the lead researcher on the new study. “Naturally, the body's immune system is designed to fight off foreign material, but falls short when it comes to recognizing cancer cells. Through this combination of radiation therapy and vaccine injections, we're trying to create a better 'bull's-eye' for the body to target by utilizing more of the body's own natural materials,” he said.
Adults with metastatic prostate cancer resulting in bone lesions that are not responding to standard treatment are eligible to take part in the trial, although other criteria must be met. Prior to being accepted into the study, participants would undergo a number of tests including blood work, a bone scan and a physical.
If accepted for participation in the trial, individuals will be divided at random into two groups for treatment. Those receiving samarium153 by itself will receive the drug by vein. Those selected for the combination therapy will receive samarium153 as well as one injection of PROSTAC-V/TRICOM in the thigh and then monthly injections of PROSTAC-F/TRICOM under the skin during the course of the study. After four months on study, participants will be evaluated for how the cancer is responding to treatment and continue to be treated with the assigned treatment regimen if the disease is responding favorably and they are not having severe side effects.
Following completion of treatment, participants will be monitored for 15 years. They will be required to undergo an annual exam for five years and answer questions about their health. For the remaining ten years, participants will be asked to answer health questions once a year by phone.
For more information on how to take part, individuals should call CINJ's Office of Human Research Services at 732-235-8675 or e-mail cinjclinicaltrials@umdnj.edu. The trial is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute through the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program.
Clinical trials, often called cancer research studies, test new treatments and new ways of using existing treatments for cancer. At CINJ, researchers use these studies to answer questions about how a treatment affects the human body and to make sure it is safe and effective. There are several types of clinical trials that are currently underway at CINJ, including those that diagnose, treat, prevent, and manage symptoms of cancer. Many treatments used today, whether it is drugs or vaccines; ways to do surgery or give radiation therapy; or combinations of treatments, are the results of past clinical trials. Source: Cancer Institute of New Jersey http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/565699?print-article
March 8, 2010 - Prostate-specific dietary supplements should not be taken during radiation therapy treatments because they have been shown to increase the radiosensitivity of normal prostate cell lines, leading to normal tissue complications, according to a study in the March issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
Many prostate cancer patients choose to take nutritional supplements to improve or increase sexual potency and alleviate symptoms associated with poor prostate health. Some studies show that about half of prostate cancer patients use an herbal or dietary supplement and most do so without discussing it with their doctor.
Researchers at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., sought to determine if three widely used commercial prostate-specific dietary supplements changed the radiosensitivity of normal prostate and/or androgen-positive and -negative prostate tumor cell lines. There have been published reports of negative clinical effects for some tumor sites from the use of certain dietary supplements after chemotherapy, but the effect of dietary supplements on radiation therapy treatments is not well-known.
The study authors found that the cell growth and radiosensitivity of the malignant tumor cells were not affected by any of the supplements, but two of the supplements inhibited the growth rate of the normal prostate cell lines while a third supplement also increased the cellular radiosensitivity of some normal cell lines by inhibiting DNA repair.
"Cancer patients turn to supplements to aid in their treatments for a variety of reasons, but this study proves that what some patients believe is helping them may actually be harming them," Brian Marples, Ph.D., senior author of the study and a radiobiologist at William Beaumont Hospital and clinical research professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, said. "It is very important for all patients to discuss any type of supplement they may be taking with their physician and especially important for prostate cancer patients receiving radiation therapy as this study shows that it may be negatively affecting the effectiveness of their treatments."
Provided by American Society for Radiation Oncology Source: http://www.physorg.com/news187278855.html
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Below are online resources for learning about your prostate cancer. "Prostate Cancer Websites" includes some of the more popular locations for newly diagnosed patients to do research, with links to more specialized sites where patients may go to get answers and do their “homework”. NOTE: The resources listed here are not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult qualified medical resources before making any treatment decision.
The Santa Cruz County Prostate Cancer Support Group maintains quite a few up to date books and videos about prostate cancer, prevention, diagnosis and treatment options for anyone interested in doing research or needs information about this disease. The library is located at the Katz Cancer Resource Center Dominican Hospital Education Building 1555 Soquel Drive, Santa Cruz, CA Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday or by Appointment (831) 462 7770.
Our support group has ongoing operating expenses beyond what our sponsors can provide. We do not have dues, but hope members will consider making any size donation to help us. Donations are welcome to assist us in maintaining and expanding our programs within the local community including the costs to run our website. The funds also help in keeping our library up to date with up to date books and literature regarding the treatment of prostate cancer, managing side affects, active surveillance, as well as information on nutrition, diet and lifestyle. Please make checks payable to "Santa Cruz County Prostate Cancer Support Group" and mail to:
Santa Cruz County Prostate Cancer Support Group
C/O Howard Waage
63 Asta Drive
La Selva Beach, CA 95076
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The Santa Cruz County Prostate Cancer Support Group does not endorse any provider, organization, product or individual. All medical decisions should be made with the advice and consultation of medical professionals.
Many THANKS to the American Cancer Society for assisting with the printing and mailing of this newsletter and the Katz Cancer Resource Center for allowing us to use their facility.