The Oncologist, Vol. 2, No. 6, 414–415,
December 1997
© 1997 AlphaMed Press
SPECIAL SECTION
PATIENT CARE |
Dispatches from: The Los Angeles Post, The Research Triangle Institute, The Bethesda Post
The Patient Care section of The Oncologist extends the opportunity for major cancer centers to enroll patients in high-priority clinical trials. If you wish to have your clinical trial(s) announced, send all pertinent details to the Executive Editor.
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DISPATCH FROM: THE LOS ANGELES POST
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West Los Angeles V.A. Medical Center Announces Trial to Investigate Potential Therapy for Bone-Related Cancer
West Los Angeles V.A. Medical Center is seeking patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma—a rare form of bone marrow cancer—to participate in a clinical trial that is investigating a potential treatment to reduce the number of tumor cells caused by this form of cancer. Relapsed multiple myeloma patients are those patients who have developed a recurrence of the disease after initial antimyeloma chemotherapy, and refractory multiple myeloma patients are those whose disease has not responded to treatment.
In this phase II trial, study participants must be at least 18 years of age with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. They will be treated for six months or until there is evidence of disease progression, at which time treatment will be discontinued.
The agent in this study, pamidronate disodium for injection (currently marketed as Aredia®), is indicated, in conjunction with standard antimyeloma chemotherapy, for the treatment of osteolytic bone lesions of multiple myeloma and osteolytic metastases of breast cancer. This agent is a member of the chemical class of compounds known as bisphosphonates, which inhibit the bone loss, or resorption, induced by specific bone cells known as osteoclasts. In this new study, pamidronate disodium will be given more frequently and at higher doses than in previous clinical trials.
For more information about the trial, please contact Dr. James Berenson, professor of medicine, University of California at Los Angeles and Chief of Medical Oncology at West Los Angeles V.A. Medical Center, at 310-268-3622.
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DISPATCH FROM: THE RESEARCH TRIANGLE INSTITUTE
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Technology used in NASA’s space telescope imaging spectrometer is now part of a digital spot mammography system that may replace surgical biopsy for examining suspicious lumps. Radiologists using this system predict it will reduce national health care costs by approximately one billion dollars annually. And for women, the new procedure will save time, reduce pain, and eliminate scarring.
It is success stories like this that prompted NASA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to sign an interagency agreement to apply space technology to women’s health issues.
The stereotactic fine-needle breast biopsy for use in digital spot mammography is one of the technologies to grow out of a collaboration among researchers at NASA and the DHHS. Since the early 1990s, their collaboration to develop new tools for fighting breast cancer has been facilitated by scientists at Research Triangle Institute (RTI) in Research Triangle Park, NC.
Digital mammography, which replaces x-ray film with digital detectors, is seen by many as a promising means of overcoming the limitations of conventional mammography. Meanwhile, advancements in space technology have made significant improvements in digital imaging, many of which can be applied to digital mammograms.
For more information, please contact Daniel L. Winfield at RTI at telephone: 919-541-6431; e-mail: winfield{at}rti.org
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DISPATCH FROM: THE BETHESDA POST
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"What Are Clinical Trials All About?" A Booklet for Patients with Cancer
The National Cancer Institute, Office of Cancer Communications, has produced an essential booklet which will help physicians answer patients’ questions regarding entry onto clinical trials. The booklet, "What Are Clinical Trials All About?" A Booklet for Patients with Cancer, is freely and widely distributed by the NCI. The foreword of the booklet states:
"As a cancer patient, you may take part in a clinical trial. This booklet is written for you, your family and friends, to explain what clinical trials are and to help you make a decision about entering a trial.
"The time when cancer is diagnosed or when treatment decisions are being made is very difficult. It is often hard to understand or remember complex medical explanations. The information in this booklet is meant to supplement what your doctors tell you. It provides answers to questions asked most often about clinical trials."
Sections of the booklet include:- Why Would a Patient be Interested in a Clinical Trial?
- Are There Risks or Side Effects in Clinical Trials?
- What Trials are Available for Your Type of Cancer?
- What is Informed Consent?
- What is it Like to Be a Patient in a Clinical Trial?
- What Protection do You have as a Patient in a Clinical Trial?
- How are Clinical Trials Conducted?
The Cancer Information Service, a program of the National Cancer Institute, is a nationwide telephone service for cancer patients and their families and friends, the public, and health care professionals. The staff can answer questions (in English or Spanish) and can send free NCI booklets about cancer. To request "What Are Clinical Trials All About?" A Booklet for Patients with Cancer (NIH publication No. 96-2706), please contact the Cancer Information Service at: 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).
In addition to its free publications, The National Cancer Institute has developed PDQ, a computerized database designed to give doctors quick and easy access to:- The latest treatment information for most types of cancer (also available by fax at: 301-402-5874),
- Descriptions of clinical trials that are open for enrollment (including the names and addresses of the physicians and facilities conducting the studies), and
- The names of organizations and physicians involved in cancer care.
To access PDQ, physicians may use an office computer with a telephone modem and a PDQ access code, or the services of a medical library with online searching capability. Cancer Information Service offices provide PDQ searches to callers and can tell physicians how to obtain regular access to the database. PDQ is updated monthly with the latest cancer information on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.
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