Potential Test to Gauge Extent of Colorectal Cancer, Advances in Therapy, Imaging, Highlight Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center Symposium Feb. 29
If
clinical pharmacologist Scott Waldman, M.D., Ph.D., is right, a simple
test for a marker involved in traveler’s diarrhea will help provide
surgeons and oncologists with a more accurate picture of the extent of
colorectal cancer in patients.
Dr.
Waldman, professor and chair of Pharmacology and Experimental
Therapeutics at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson
University and Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center (KCC) in Philadelphia,
will discuss the test and a just-completed, five-year National
Institutes of Health-backed clinical trial this Friday, February 29, 2008 at a colorectal cancer symposium held at Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia.
The
Scientific and Clinical Update on Colorectal Cancer features some of
the latest reports on both research developments and clinical advances
in the field. Some of the topics to be covered include new developments
in radiation therapy, new techniques for imaging, including PET/CT,
studies on the latest drugs against metastatic colorectal cancer and
new screening guidelines. The conference will be held in room 101 in the Bluemle Life Sciences Building, 233 S. 9th Street, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
On Thursday, Jefferson specialists will discuss colon cancer prevention and new treatments at a Meet the Experts event at Loews Philadelphia Hotel, 1201 Market Street. Lectures begin at 5:30 p.m.
Approximately 140,000 Americans will develop colorectal cancer this year, and about 50,000 will die from the disease, making
it the second-leading cause of cancer death in the nation.
“At
Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center, we are focused on identifying new
therapies for patients with colorectal cancer,” explains Kimmel Cancer
Center director Richard Pestell, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President for
Oncology Services at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. “These
events provide opportunities to highlight both KCC experts and some of
the new advances in research and in the clinic.
“The
cancer center has truly evolved from the bench to the bedside in
gastrointestinal cancer,” Dr. Pestell says, citing Jefferson’s rich
tradition of achievement and innovation in colorectal cancer research,
treatment and prevention. He points to some examples, such as
discoveries made in the molecular genetics regulating genetic
instability, a better understanding of mechanisms of action of cancer
therapeutics using mouse models and the development of clinical
practice guidelines nationwide.
Dr.
Waldman, for example, hopes that the test he is evaluating will enable
doctors to determine if a cancer has spread from the colon to the lymph
nodes, and at the same time, result in better prognoses and treatment.
In the end, the findings could lead to a blood test that could tell
patients whether their colorectal cancer thought cured has returned.
In addition, Dr. Pestell notes, Dr. Waldman has also done “groundbreaking work demonstrating that colon cancer is an endocrine
disease, which is an important conceptual breakthrough.”
Other recent examples of Kimmel Cancer Center researchers’ innovative work include:
- Colon cancer gene modifiers. Arthur Buchberg, Ph.D., and Linda Siracusa, Ph.D., both associate professors of Microbiology and Immunology at Jefferson
Medical, have identified colon cancer gene “modifiers” that affect cancer susceptibility.
- Colon cancer prevention.
Ronald Myers, Ph.D., professor of Cancer Biology, recently received
$1.8 million from the American Cancer Society to continue his efforts
to find new and better ways to increase colon cancer screening among
African-Americans, a group disproportionately affected by the disease.
- Clinical trial participation.
Medical oncologist Edith Mitchell, M.D., clinical professor of Medical
Oncology and Medicine, continues to be a leader in multicenter clinical
trials looking at the latest therapies against metastatic colorectal
cancer.
- Colon cancer progression.
Basic research in Dr. Pestell’s laboratory has shown that the gene
cyclin D1 plays an important role in colon cancer progression
Media Only Contact:
Steve Benowitz
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Phone: (215) 955-6300
Published: 2/27/2008