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Biotech / Medical : Genta, Inc. (GNTA) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bob zagorin who wrote (1200)	6/26/1999 10:13:00 AM
From: bob zagorin	Respond to of 1870

study indicating importance of bcl2 Apoptosis Markers Help Predict Response to Radiotherapy in Patients with Localized Prostate Cancer WESTPORT, Jun 21 (Reuters Health) - Measurement of bcl-2 and p53 expression in tumor biopsies may help identify prostate cancer patients who are most likely to benefit from external beam radiotherapy. Dr. Douglas S. Scherr, of New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center, in New York, and a multicenter team measured expression of the two "...key regulators of apoptosis..." in needle biopsy specimens from 54 patients undergoing radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer. The majority of the patients had stage T1c tumors, "...with a mean Gleason score of 6.9 and an average pretreatment PSA of 25.3 ng/mL," according to a report in the July issue of The Journal of Urology. Expression of either bcl-2 or p53 was associated with treatment failure. Specifically, 85% of patients expressing bcl-2 alone, 88% of those expressing p53 alone and 100% of patients expressing both markers ultimately failed radiotherapy. The odds ratios for treatment failure associated with bcl-2 and p53 were 7.3 and 10.8, respectively. By comparison, Gleason score, pretreatment PSA and clinical stage were not correlated with response to radiotherapy. "Several studies of patients treated with radiation therapy show that more than half do not respond completely to radiation treatment and they are left with residual prostatic disease," Dr. Scherr and colleagues write. Treatment remains "...hampered by the inability to distinguish patients...who will and will not respond to radiotherapy." The new findings indicate that immunohistochemical staining for bcl-2 and p53 in prostate biopsy specimens may prove useful in this respect in patients with localized, high-grade prostate carcinoma. The authors conclude that "...it is now time to perform randomized controlled clinical trials to confirm these findings prospectively." In an Editorial Comment, Dr. Ralph deVere White, of the University of California-Davis, in Sacramento, agrees that it is time "..to perform large, correlative studies with regard to markers and response to radiation therapy." However, Dr. deVere White, whose own studies on the prognostic value of bcl-2 and p53 were less promising, believes that the available data are not "convincing enough" to support the use of these markers "...to determine who will or will not receive radiation therapy." J Urol 1999;162:12-17.