The Ireland Cancer Center research involves new therapies for skin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and solid tumors in patients whose conditions are complicated by kidney and liver damage, according to Stanton Gerson, MD, division chief of hematology and oncology at UHC, and professor of hematology and oncology at CWRU.
"All of our trials involve drugs under development in cooperation with the National Cancer Institute," Dr. Gerson says. "Our investigators wrote all of the protocols for these clinical trials. Some of our findings were unusual for early phase studies, suggesting clinical efficacy as well as safety."
The findings presented at the ASCO meeting include:
When used alone, BCNU attaches to the DNA in the patient's cancer cells during the replication process, causing the cancer cells to die. Problems sometimes occur when an enzyme clips off the BCNU from the DNA, allowing the cancer cells to live and to replicate. BG (06-benzylguanine) inhibits the enzyme from clipping off the BCNU from the DNA, so the drug can complete its mission and kill the cancer cells. The study team was led by Kevin Cooper, MD, director of the department of dermatology at UHC and chairman and professor of dermatology at CWRU.
The Ireland Cancer Center has built an extensive network of community-based cancer centers designed to bring clinical trials and advanced treatments closer to patients' homes. Ireland Cancer Center services are provided in Canton, Mentor, Middleburg Heights, Orange Village, and Westlake. James K.V. Willson, MD, is director of the Ireland Cancer Center. He leads a staff of nearly 200 researchers, scientists and physicians who are involved in a variety of exciting new approaches to cancer treatment. As an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Ireland Cancer Center provides physicians, patients and the community with a valuable public service resource, the Ireland Cancer Center Information Service. The service logs nearly 4,000 calls each year, providing advice, referrals and information about ongoing clinical trials, current cancer research and treatment, and cancer prevention, screening and education programs. The phone number is 1-800-641-2422.