News and Progress
from March/April/May, 1999

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May 12, 1999

Research News:

The Pancreatic Tumor Study Group will be presenting new data at the 35th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Atlanta GA, May 15-18, 1999. Click the PTSG ASCO Page to read the abstracts being presented and for a schedule of sessions of interest to pancreatic cancer patients and researchers.

For more information about ASCO and this meeting, go to www.asco.org.

April 19 , 1999

Basic Science/Research News:

PTSG Member Robert Radinsky, PhD, presented an abstract at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) regarding the study of monoclonal antibody C225 with Gemcitabine in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer. The news was released by the study sponsor, ImClone Systems, Inc. Dr. Radinsky has recently received a $100,000 grant from the Marc Lustgarten Foundation to continue this study.

TO CLARIFY THIS NEWS:

This study is a pre-clinical study that has only been done in mice. There is no protocol currently available to test this potential new treatment in human patients. Dr. Radinsky is an Associate Professor of Cell Biology working in a research lab; he is not a medical doctor and does not treat patients at M D Anderson. If it becomes possible to test this new combination in humans, an announcement will be made here.

April 18 , 1999

Basic Science/Research News:

The Pancreatic Tumor Study Group was recently awarded a $250,000 Institutional Multidisciplinary Research Grant to study the role of the gene NF-kB in pancreatic cancer. The new work is to be performed in the labs of Paul Chiao, Keping Xie, and David McConkey.

April 13 , 1999

Meeting News:

Pam Stanford, a PTSG Advanced Practice Nurse, will be making a presentation at the Oncology Nursing Society Congress in Atlanta on 4/28/99. The study is: "Analysis of Data from a Collaborative Care Pathway: Impacting Quality Management of Patients Who Undergo Pancreaticoduodenectomy."

The PTSG will be making presentations at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in May. Watch this page for details as soon as they are all available.

March 15, 1999

Medical Oncology:

Dr. James Abbruzzese, chairman of GI Medical Oncology, and member of the Pancreatic Tumor Study Group is one of nineteen M D Anderson faculty to be named to Good Housekeeping's list of top cancer specialists for women. The article was focusing on doctors who treat breast, lung, and colon cancers; however Dr. Abbruzzese is one of our top pancreatic specialists as well. The article can be viewed online at http://homearts.com/gh/health/39docs16.htm

PTSG Page:

Watch for updates on our Pancreas Cancer Survivors page coming shortly. The page will have more photographs on biographies of pancreatic cancer survivors from M. D. Anderson with easy identification of those affiliated with the Anderson Network support group.