News and Progress November 1999
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Progress Page
Click here for photos of M. D. Anderson at PanCAN's "An Evening With The Stars", November 7, 1999
November 19, 1999
Education/Awareness:
Houston Public Television has granted us permission to host on our site the interview that Dr. Evans and Jan Castle gave live on Weeknight Edition this past Monday. The video will be available in Real format as soon as the technical logistics are worked out.
November 17, 1999
Education/Awareness: The Great American Smokeout!
M. D. Anderson is hosting a Great American Smokeout in an anti-smoking display in the Clark Clinic, November 18, 1999. What does this have to do with the Pancreatic group? FACT: Smokers have a 2 to 10 times greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer than non-smokers. The PTSG will be joining several other departments and sections, including the Cancer Prevention Department, to distribute information on smoking and cancer with options to help smokers quit. The Smokeout display will be in the Rose Zone, Clark Clinic Lobby from 10 AM to 2 PM.
For more information on smoking cessation and tobacco studies at M. D. Anderson, visit the Focus on Tobacco Cessation page. The PTSG is also doing laboratory research to pinpoint a direct cause-and-effect relationship between tobacco and pancreatic cancer: visit the From Bench to Bedside: Causation and Prevention page.
November 16, 1999
Clinical Research/Medical Oncology:
The PTSG has put the Dolastatin 10 trial on hold, pending review of the preliminary data. See the Clinical Trials: Category D page for more experimental options for metastatic pancreatic cancer.
November 12, 1999
Clinical Research/Medical Oncology:
The PTSG announces the opening of a new protocol for metastatic pancreatic cancer. The study involves the combination of gemcitabine, an established treatment, with Herceptin, a recombinant human antibody to the HER-2/neu gene. Details are available by following the link for Protocol ID99-095 on the Clinical Trials/Category D page.
Education/Awareness: Start your VCRs!
On Monday, November 15, PTSG chief Dr. Douglas Evans will appear on the PBS television program "Weeknight Edition" as part of their "Medical Mondays" segment. Dr. Evans will be discussing the current status of pancreatic cancer treatment and research at M. D. Anderson in recognition of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in Texas. Joining him in the interview will be one of his patients, Janice Castle. In a few months, Mrs. Castle will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of her Whipple surgery for adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. (Yes, tenth, that is not a typo.) The show is scheduled to air live on KUHT-TV, Channel 8 in Houston at 5 PM, CST.
November 11, 1999
Education/Awareness:
Brief articles about pancreatic cancer and Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month are being published in the M D Anderson patient newsletter, "FYI". Basic information about the Learning Center displays and early symptoms of pancreatic cancer are on the very front of the November 8 issue. An additional article is planned for the November 15 issue. Many thanks to editor Kathryn Willey!
Clinical Research/Medical Oncology:
The ONYX-015 gene therapy trial at M. D. Anderson has recently closed. The investigators will be meeting in the near future to discuss the results and determine if this new treatment needs to be studied or otherwise persued further.
November 10, 1999
Education/Awareness:
The Pancreatic Tumor Study Group at M. D. Anderson would like to express their gratitude to PanCAN for inviting our team to the Second Annual Evening With The Stars on November 7 in Beverly Hills, CA. We are proud to support their awareness efforts and share our commitment to finding a cure for pancreatic cancer.
Photos from the event will be made available in the near future.
For more information about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, visit www.pancan.org.
November 4, 1999
Public Education:
Several of the sections of this website have recently been updated, with more additions on the way: Diagnosis and Treatment has detailed descriptions of the technology used to detect and stage pancreatic cancer and M. D. Anderson's unique approach to treatment, combining surgery, medical oncology, and radiation as much as possible. The FAQ has recent updates regarding risk factors for pancreatic cancer and details about the different types. Keep watching this site for more additions regarding types of surgery and the latest in reliable nutrition information.
November 3, 1999
Clinical Research/Radiation Oncology:
The PTSG announces the opening of a new research protocol for locally advanced pancreatic cancer involving a new mode of delivering radiation therapy. See Clinical Trials/Category C for details. (Scroll to the bottom of the page to find Protocol ID99-289)
Education/Awareness:
Thanks to some help from the Internet Services Department (especially Tammy Hong and Ted Letts, the institutional webmasters) the Pancreatic site was overhauled today with a new color scheme for Awareness Month. The new format was designed to reflect the purple pancreatic awareness ribbons.
November 1 , 1999
Clinical Research/Surgical Oncology:
The PTSG recently released the following paper in the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery:
Bold RJ, Charnsangavej C, et al: Major Vascular Resection as Part of Pancreaticoduodenectomy for Cancer: Radiologic, Intraoperative, and Pathologic Analysis. J Gatstroint Surg 3:233-243, 1999.
The above paper represents the largest published experience with resecting adjacent large veins during Whipple surgery and describes how preop high-quality CT scanning can predict whether a tumor is operable before the patient is taken to the OR. This progress in surgical technique means that more patients can be operated on and have a better chance at cancer-free survival than ever before.
Basic Science Research/Surgical Oncology:
The PTSG recently released the following paper in the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery:
Bold, Hess, et al, Prognostic Factors in Resectable Pancreatic Cancer: p53 and Bcl-2. J Gastroint Surg, 3:263-277, 1999.
This research showed that patients with tumors that had p53 and Bcl-2 mutations had a longer survival time than those with tumors without these mutant gene proteins. This study is a result of our tumor banking research which directly analyzes the genetic profiles of tumors.
Welcome to Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month 1999!
To promote Pancreatic Cancer awareness in Houston, the PTSG has built a display in the window of the Learning Center on the 4th floor of the Rose Zone in the LeMaistre Clinic building of the main M. D. Anderson complex. There is information on symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis, plus our involvement with the Lustgarten Foundation and PanCAN to extend educational efforts world wide. Visit the PTSG Top Web Picks Page for links to other reliable information and advocacy sources.
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month has been officially proclaimed in Texas and 47 other states, the District of Columbia, and several Canadian provinces. This effort was spearheaded by the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Look for pancreatic cancer Public Service Announcements (PSAs) coming to a TV station near you this month. The Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research has developed a series of four commercial spots, encouraging support for pancreatic cancer research. The first one to air is narrated by Former President Jimmy Carter, who himself has lost several family members to pancreatic cancer. The spots can be viewed on the Internet at www.wecandoitagain.org/wecan_home_frameset.html You must have RealAudio's G2 player in order to see the videos. There is a link at the above website to download the player.