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Contact: Kim Irwin
kirwin@mednet.ucla.edu
310-206-2805
University of California - Los Angeles
UCLA launches unique bladder cancer prevention study
Green tea extract, targeted therapy to be tested as cancer
prevention agents in UCLA study, patients sought to participate
UCLA cancer researchers are seeking hundreds of former smokers
who have had bladder cancer to test a green tea extract
and a molecularly targeted therapy to determine if the agents
will prevent recurrence of the disease.
The study, by scientists and physicians at UCLA's Jonsson
Comprehensive Cancer Center, the School of Public Health
and the departments of Urology, Medicine, Pathology, is
part of a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive program to prevent
the recurrence and progression of smoking-related bladder
cancer, which accounts for about half of all bladder cancers.
In additional to the clinical trial, conducted at UCLA and
two other sites nationwide, researchers also will develop
biomarker tests to help predict who will get bladder cancer,
discover the molecular profile of the disease to identify
those most at risk and create a tumor bank to aid in scientific
research.
Funded by a $7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute
(NCI) with supplemental funds from the NCI Office of Complementary
and Alternative Medicine, the five-year program is headed
by Dr. Arie Belldegrun, a cancer researcher, chief of the
division of urologic oncology and a professor of urology.
It is the largest prevention study in the United States
sponsored by the NCI to focus on bladder cancer in former
smokers, Belldegrun said, and the first study approved by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use a new class
of experimental drug in the prevention of any type of cancer.
The clinical trial will test the experimental
drugs Polyphenon E, a green tea extract (Tokyo Food Techno),
and the drug Tarceva (Genentech/OSI Pharmaceuticals), which
has been shown to reduce the growth of advanced cancers
in patients with lung and other epithelial cell tumors.
Led Belldegrun, Dr. Robert Figlin, a professor of hematology/oncology
and urology, and Dr. Allan Pantuck, an assistant professor
of urology, the study will divide participants into three
treatment arms. One group will receive the green tea extract,
which has been shown in UCLA and other laboratories to reduce
the growth of bladder cancer tumors both in animal models
and in humans. The second group will receive Tarceva, while
the third group will receive a placebo.
"We will study innovative approaches to reduce the
risk of bladder cancer," Belldegrun said. "And
while we'll study how to prevent cancer recurrence and progression
in former smokers who have already had bladder cancer, our
goal is to develop effective prevention strategies for people
who may be at risk but who do not yet have bladder cancer."
Bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the United
States, with more than 56,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
As many as half of all bladder cancers are believed to be
related to cigarette smoking. Without a reliable, non-invasive
way to diagnose the disease, bladder cancer can be difficult
to detect in the early, most treatable stages. When not
found early, these tumors typically are very aggressive,
with more than half of advanced bladder cancer patients
experiencing recurrences.
No one yet knows all of the causes of bladder cancer. Risk
factors besides tobacco smoking include age, being a man
- men are two to three times more likely to get bladder
cancer than women - family history and race - Caucasians
are two to three times more likely to get bladder cancer
than African Americans, Latinos or Asians. Smoking-related
bladder cancer has a 20-year latency period, UCLA researchers
said, meaning that it takes about 20 years for the cancer
to develop in smokers and former smokers.
Not all smokers and former smokers develop bladder cancer
and UCLA researchers want to find out why.
"We're looking for specific biologic signals that tell
us why some people get this disease and others don't,"
Figlin said. "We want to decrease bladder cancer occurrence
and develop molecular profiles that tell us who is most
at risk."
Symptoms of bladder cancer include blood in the urine, pain
during urination and frequent urination or the need to urinate
without results.
For more information about the bladder cancer prevention
study, call 310-825-4415.
UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center is composed 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 2004, 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 five consecutive years.
For more information on the Jonsson Cancer Center, visit
our web site at www.cancer.mednet.ucla.edu.
http://www.eurekalert.org/
pub_releases/2004-07/
uoc--ulu070704.php
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