Research Briefs

Cancer Center Helps Update National Guidelines
The UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center has played a key role in formulating new national guidelines for the treatment of kidney cancer. Published by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), these guidelines are considered the gold standard for oncology and chemotherapeutic care.

Christopher Amling, M.D., director of the Division of Urology and Cancer Center senior scientist, was heavily involved in the updates. One key addition is the drug temsirolimus (Torisel®) as an option for first-line therapy in patients with relapsed or inoperable stage IV renal cancer.

The kidney guidelines are part of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology, developed and updated through scientific reviews by experts from the nation’s top cancer centers.

New Report Emphasizes Cancer-Fat Links
According to a landmark report published by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund, there is more evidence than ever that excess body fat increases the risk of colon, kidney, pancreas, esophagus, uterus and postmenopausal breast cancers.

The study states that processed meat can be especially harmful when consumed in large quantities. For every 1.7 ounces of processed meat eaten a day, the risk of colorectal cancer rises by 21 percent. The report also suggests limiting red meat to 18 ounces of cooked meat per week and reducing alcohol consumption.

Cancer Deaths Drop
According to a multi-institutional report from the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and other leading agencies, deaths from cancer continue to drop—and that decline seems to be increasing.

From 2002 to 2004, the most recent year for which detailed data is available, cancer deaths declined an average of 2.1 percent each year—nearly twice the annual decrease from 1993 to 2002. The decline is more pronounced in men, at 2.6 percent a year, compared to women, at 1.8 percent.
The report credits much of the drop in deaths to improved treatment methods and increased emphasis on early detection and healthy lifestyles.

Drug Boosts Ovarian Cancer Survival
New data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting showed that the experimental drug pertuzumab extended survival time for women with recurrent ovarian cancer.

A multi-institutional phase II trial demonstrated that pertuzumab added weeks to the lives of stage III ovarian cancer patients whose disease had returned after treatment with existing chemotherapy regimens. The drug was given in combination with chemotherapy and was tolerated well, with minimal side effects.

Cancer Center associate scientist Sharmila Makhija, M.D., was the UAB investigator for the study. She and other researchers are currently planning a larger phase III study that will include hundreds of women across the United States.

Red Wine Compound Could Aid Prevention
UAB researchers, led by Cancer Center senior scientist Coral Lamartiniere, Ph.D., have found that the red wine compound resveratrol may help reduce the risk of developing prostate and breast cancers.

In one study, male mice fed resveratrol showed an 87 percent reduction in their risk of developing prostate tumors after only seven months of consuming the compound. Another study demonstrated that resveratrol-fed female mice had a considerable reduction in their risk for breast cancer.

These studies add to growing evidence that consuming resveratrol through red wine provides significant chemoprevention properties. Resveratrol also is found in grapes, raspberries, peanuts and blueberries.

UAB Selected for Childhood Cancer Consortium
UAB is the only Alabama hospital—and one of only two in the Southeast—chosen for membership in the Children’s Oncology Group Phase I Consortium. This select group consists of 21 institutions working to advance cancer treatment for children.

Anticancer agents are usually tested and approved in adults long before they are available to children, says Todd Cooper, D.O., UAB principal investigator and Cancer Center associate scientist. Though the overall cure rate for childhood cancer is around 80 percent, children who do not respond to existing therapy have few options.

A dozen new studies have already opened at UAB and Children’s Hospital through the consortium, making UAB one of the top enrolling institutions.

“The most significant advantage to this is being able to offer the sickest childhood cancer patients more cutting-edge experimental drugs and therapies,” says Dr. Cooper.