ARRESTING PROSTATE CANCER
By now you may have heard of the word angiogenesis, the new wave in treating cancer. The treatment stops the growth of new blood vessels that the tumor needs to survive and grow. Now, a new drug takes angiogenesis one step further and may be even more effective.
TRANSCRIPT
ONCOLOGISTS LIKE GEORGE WILDING ARE IN A RACE AGAINST TIME.
George Wilding, M.D.
Medical Oncologist
University of Wisconsin Medical Center
Madison, WI
"There are 31,000 men who died during the past year of hormone refractory prostate cancer."
THE GOAL IS TO FIND A WAY TO DESTROY CANCEROUS CELLS IN A WAY PATIENTS CAN LIVE WITH.
George Wilding, M.D.
"They're looking for a treatment that is easier to take. Looking at a new way of treating things instead of chemotherapy."
THE ANSWER MAY BE IN THE DRUG PANZEM.
George Wilding, M.D.
"It's not only inhibiting the angiogenesis, but you can inhibit the growth of the cancer cell directly with the drug.
BRUCE PRICE IS ONE OF THE FIRST TO BENEFIT FROM THE NEW DRUG.
BRUCE TRIED HORMONE TREATMENT AND RADIATION. TESTS SHOWED NEITHER HELPED.
Bruce Price
Prostate Patient
"They both indicated that my cancer had spread to my bones and to my abdomen."
TODAY IT'S A DIFFERENT STORY.
Bruce Price
"I wouldn't know I was sick if they hadn't told me. So, I feel that good.
DOCTOR WILDING SAYS NOT ONLY HAVE THE PSA LEVELS DROPPED IN SOME PATIENTS, BUT UNLIKE CHEMOTHERAPY, THE SIDE EFFECTS ARE ONLY MINOR.
George Wilding, M.D.
"So, it could be an alternative for patients that would be less toxic, more convenient and still control their cancer.
BRUCE KNOWS IT'S STILL EARLY IN THE STUDY AND THERE'S A CHANCE HE WILL GET WORSE, BUT FOR NOW, HE'S HAPPY WITH THE TIME HE HAS.
Bruce Price
"If life can continue like it is, that would be great."
AND AT EIGHTY YEARS OLD, THAT'S NOT TOO BAD.
THE DRUG IS ALSO CURRENTLY BEING STUDIED FOR THE TREATMENT OF BREAST CANCER AND MULTIPLE MYELOMA, CANCER THAT DEVELOPS IN THE BONE MARROW.
HEALTHY FOR LIFE EXTRA
BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer develops in 180,000 men a year, according to the Prostate Cancer Research Institute. While the cause is unknown, doctors think certain inherited genes may predispose men to developing the disease. Risk factors also contribute to the development of the disease. Along with African-Americans, men over the age of 65 are at highest risk. A man's chance of developing the disease also increases if a family member has prostate cancer, according to CaP CURE. In many men, prostate cancer spreads beyond the prostate into other organs. The most common treatment for the spreading disease, called metastatic, is hormone therapy. If hormone treatment fails, men can develop hormone refractory prostate cancer, which was the cause of death for 31,000 men in the past year. Once hormones fail to be effective, the disease becomes difficult to control and chemotherapy treatments essentially become pain relievers.
HOPE IN CHEMOTHERAPY ALTERNATIVE: To fight cancer doctors have most recently turned to drugs called anti-angiogenic such as endostatin. Because blood supply is essential for the growth of tumors, these medications work against cancer by cutting off supply in two ways: They can stop the tumor's signals for more blood vessels, or they can interrupt the formation process of new blood vessels. Also known as 2ME2, Panzem is an anti-angiogenesis that attacks both the tumor cells and their blood supply, which endostatin cannot do. Whereas endostatin is administered intravenously daily, Panzem can be taken as a pill.
George Wilding, M.D., medical oncologist at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, says, "Panzem is a pill. So, you can just go home with a bottle of pills and take the pills everyday. It could be an alternative for patients that would be less toxic, more convenient, and still control their cancer."
THE STUDY: The study is being conducted at Indiana University and the Universtiy of Wisconsin. Researchers want to test 32 prostate cancer patients and monitor their tumor scans and symptoms. Doctors hope to see either the elimination of the cancer or a decrease in its progression with few side effects.
FUTURE FOR PROSTATE CANCER: In separate studies, researchers are testing Panzem's effect on breast cancer and multiple myeloma, which causes tumors within bone marrow. Focusing on hormone refractory prostate cancer, other studies involve using new ways of administering treatment. Injected intravenously, CV 787 is an altered form of a cold virus that replicates in and kills prostate cancer cells 10,000 times more frequently than normal cells. CV 787 proves more effective than chemotherapy, which kills 2 to 6 cancer cells for every normal cell, and radiation therapy, which randomly kills dividing cells. Other than anti-angiogenesis, researchers are turning to treatments that target areas crucial in various types of cancer development. Currently, the medication Iressa is being tested for its ability to inhibit the growth of prostate cancer by focusing on keys areas of prostate cancer development.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information, please contact:
Michael Felber
University of Wisconsin Medical School
1300 University Ave.
Madison, WI 53706
608-265-7427
mj.felber@hosp.wisc.edu
www.medsch.wisc.edu
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