SEATTLE, May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center have a lead role in a new public/private partnership to
create the first systematic surveillance program of men with prostate
cancer to look for biological clues to help determine when to wait and when
to treat the disease. The project was announced by the Canary Foundation
and the National Cancer Institute.
Peter Nelson, M.D., of the Hutchinson Center's Clinical Research and
Human Biology divisions, will lead the Canary Prostate Consortium. This
group of six institutions nationwide will enroll men in a
cancer-surveillance study to look for biomarkers -- proteins in the blood
that could predict prostate-tumor aggressiveness.
The new study is meant to help answer a key question that has vexed
physicians and researchers: When is it best to treat prostate cancer versus
observation or "watchful waiting." For most men with prostate cancer, the
disease never progresses to become a serious health problem, yet most
receive some sort of treatment, such as radiation or surgery. Such
treatments can have side effects, such as impotence and incontinence, which
can be worse than the low-grade cancer. Currently it is challenging to
accurately predict when inactive or slow-growing prostate tumors will
become aggressive.
"There's an emerging consensus that we dramatically over treat prostate
cancer in general," said Nelson. "The overall prevalence of the disease in
the population far exceeds the number of men whose disease progresses to
cause serious problems. Yet, there are clearly many prostate cancers that
behave aggressively and patients benefit from treatment. It is a
challenging problem."
In the study, men diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer will not
be treated right away but will be closely followed in an active
surveillance program involving regular collection of blood and urine
samples as well as prostate biopsies. A new repository for blood and DNA
samples will be located at the Hutchinson Center. The repository will be
funded by the Canary Foundation. NCI's Early Detection Research Network
(EDRN), the federal agency that is partnering with the Canary Foundation,
will establish disease-specific Common Data Elements, a biospecimen
management system and a protocol oversight program. The EDRN data
management and coordinating center is based at the Hutchinson Center under
the direction of Zideng Feng, Ph.D., a member of the Hutchinson Center's
Public Health Sciences Division.
The samples will be tested for candidate biomarkers -- proteins in the
blood -- that can signal when indolent disease has progressed to more
aggressive illness. Such biomarkers could help physicians better determine
when to initiate treatment versus watchful waiting.
Each of the study institutions also has a "retrospective" tissue
collection of samples taken from unrelated studies. These will also be
examined to ascertain the accuracy of predictive biomarkers.
"We are proud to launch this new study with EDRN and with the
participation of leading research institutes," said Nelson, who is also a
professor of oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
"Through collaboration we can make bigger strides in providing better, more
individualized treatment for prostate-cancer patients."
The Canary Foundation is providing initial funding for the Prostate
Active Surveillance Study. The five institutions that will enroll patients
are University of Washington, Stanford University, University of California
at San Francisco, University of British Columbia and University of Texas
Health Science Center in San Antonio.
About Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, interdisciplinary teams of
world-renowned scientists and humanitarians work together to prevent,
diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Our researchers,
including three Nobel laureates, bring a relentless pursuit and passion for
health, knowledge and hope to their work and to the world. For more
information, please visit fhcrc.org.
About Canary Foundation
Named after the "early detection" role canaries once played by alerting
coal miners of hazardous fumes, Canary Foundation is the nation's only
nonprofit organization devoted exclusively to the early detection of
cancer. While almost $10 billion is spent annually on cancer research in
the United States, the vast majority is allocated to developing new cancer
treatments and caring for patients. Surprisingly, little funding is
available to researchers investigating new ways to detect cancer at its
earliest, curable stages. Specifically, Canary Foundation is supporting
researchers working towards identifying cancer early through a simple blood
test and then isolating it with imaging. All administrative and overhead
costs are underwritten by operating grants, allowing 100 percent of
contributions to go to early detection research activities. For more
information about the Canary Foundation and its programs, please visit
http://www.canaryfoundation.org.
About the NCI Early Detection Research Network
The Early Detection Research Network (EDRN), an initiative of the
National Cancer Institute (NCI), brings together dozens of institutions to
help accelerate the translation of biomarker information into clinical
applications and to evaluate new ways of testing cancer in its earliest
stages and for cancer risk.
CONTACT
Dean Forbes
(206) 667-2896
dforbes@fhcrc.org
SOURCE Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
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Related links:
http://www.fhcrc.org
CONTACT:
Dean Forbes of Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center, +1-206-667-2896, dforbes@fhcrc.org
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