By Daily Press staff
Men with high-risk prostate cancer who are candidates for surgery are being sought to test a molecularly targeted experimental drug that may interrupt the signal that is driving their cancer and keep the disease from recurring, officials said.
The early-phase clinical trial is based on basic research discoveries made in Jonsson Cancer Center laboratories UCLA researchers have successfully tested the drug in the laboratory and on animals. They hope to translate that benefit into patients in the clinic, said Dr. Charles Sawyers, an investigator for the study and the Jonsson Cancer Center scientist whose basic research resulted in the clinical trial.
Sawyers proposed the prostate cancer study to Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, and the clinical trial was designed. UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center is the only West Coast site offering the study. Other sites participating include MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas and Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Sawyers said.
UCLA researchers are seeking study volunteers with newly diagnosed prostate cancer who are at high risk for recurrence, meaning they have Gleason scores of 8, 9 or 10 and a PSA level of 20 or greater. Because their cancers are aggressive, the patients generally have a 50 percent to 70 percent chance of recurrence after surgery, Sawyers said.
In the study, a cancer fighting treatment will be administered to volunteers for eight weeks prior to surgery. The prostate will then be removed and researchers will study the tumor sample to determine if the drug hit its target.
Researchers will follow patients, measuring PSA levels and monitoring for recurrences. If the study is successful, researchers may be able to decrease the number of recurrences expected in the patient population, officials said.
Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer found in American men, other than skin cancer, and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths. About 220,900 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2003, according to the American Cancer Society. About 28,900 men will die of the disease.
For more information, call (310) 825-4415. UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center is comprised of more than 240 cancer researchers and clinicians engaged in cancer research, prevention, detection, control and education. The center, one of the nation’s largest comprehensive cancer centers, is dedicated to promoting cancer research and applying the results to clinical situations. In 2003, the Jonsson Cancer Center was named the best cancer center in the western United States by U.S. News & World Report, a ranking it has held for four consecutive years.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 9, 2003. Read the original PDF.