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- Posted Friday March 4, 2011
Patients are willing to undergo multiple tests for new cancer treatments
Scottsdale Healthcare-TGen study bodes well for the future of
personalized medicine
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - March 4, 2011 - Cancer patients are willing to
undergo many tests to receive advanced experimental treatment in
clinical trials, according to a study by Scottsdale Healthcare and
the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).
Researchers said patients' willingness to undergo tests bodes well
for the future of personalized medicine, in which specific
treatments are prescribed depending on the DNA genetic makeup of
patients' tumors.
"This is the first study of its kind where patients themselves were
asked what tests and medical imaging studies they would be willing
to undergo while participating in clinical studies for their
cancer. Patients also were asked how invasive they perceived such
tests and studies," said Raoul Tibes, M.D. Ph.D., lead author of
the study recently published online by the prestigious scientific
journal Cancer, who is now a physician-scientist for the Mayo
Clinic in Arizona.
The study, Patient willingness to undergo pharmacodynamic and
pharmacokinetic tests in early phase oncology trials, is scheduled
for print publication in the July 15, 2011, edition of Cancer,
published by the American Cancer Society.
To learn and understand more about the molecular aspects of cancer,
researchers need tumor samples and images from tests like computed
tomography (CAT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs), positron
emission tomography (PET) scans and other tests. Early-phase
clinical trials involve analyses of pharmacodynamics (what the drug
does to the body) and pharmacokinetics (what the body does to a
drug). The authors conducted a prospective study, examining
patients' willingness to undergo such tests and the number of tests
the patients would tolerate.
"What we learned is that patients are, in general, very willing to
undergo additional, extra tests to participate in clinical
studies," said Dr. Tibes, a former research doctor for TGen
Clinical Research Service, a clinical-trials partnership of TGen
and Scottsdale Healthcare at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center in
Scottsdale. "This study will provide valuable information,
collected from actual patients, thereby informing clinical
investigations in an era where we have more and more
molecular-targeted therapies available, and our studies are more
and more complex," Dr. Tibes said.
"This study will provide valuable information, collected from
actual patients, thereby informing clinical investigations in an
era where we have more and more molecular-targeted therapies
available, and our studies are more and more complex," Dr. Tibes
said.
Scottsdale Healthcare accrued the patients and funded the study,
which included 61 patients - 22 women and 39 men - with advanced
malignancies.
The overall willingness to undergo study-required tests was very
high, the study found. Patients were most willing to undergo urine,
blood, ultrasound, x-rays, echocardiogram, PET and CAT scan
studies. They were least willing to undergo tumor and skin biopsies
and MRIs. However, most patients were at least willing to give one
tumor biopsy sample per study, and often two.
"This is important information, because it tells us that we can
design clinical studies that ask patients to give extra tumor
biopsies. But we need to carefully judge of how many biopsies we
request and what molecular tests we do with the tumor sample," said
Mitesh J. Borad, M.D., Associate Director of Phase I Drug
Development at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona and the study's senior
author.
Inconvenience and prior negative experiences for more invasive
tests, such as skin biopsies, modestly affected patients'
willingness to undergo these tests again, the study found. Those
patients with college educations and insurance coverage were more
willing to undergo tests.
Dr. Tibes, said the study could serve as the basis of further
exploration toward the design of patient-friendly, biomarker-driven
clinical studies involving cancer.
"We're taking those results forward," said Dr. Tibes, emphasizing
the need for similar patient-oriented research, and to clearly
communicate and educate patients about their treatment, including
the goals of clinical research. "I think we need to hear it from
the patients: 'This is what I'm willing to tolerate.' I think we
need to ask patients more. It is crucially important."
# # #
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit
group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty
work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a
philosophy of "the needs of the patient come first." More than
3,700 physicians, scientists and researchers, and 50,100 allied
health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has campuses in Rochester,
Minn.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz.; and
community-based providers in more than 70 locations in southern
Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northeast Iowa. These locations
treat more than half a million people each year. Mayo Clinic Cancer
Center is one of 40 U.S. medical centers that have been named as a
National Cancer Institute (NCI) Comprehensive Cancer Center and the
only national, multi-site center with the designation. To obtain
the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to
www.mayoclinic.org/news. For information about research and
education, visit www.mayo.edu. MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com)
is available as a resource for your health stories.
Press Contact:
Jim McVeigh
Mayo Clinic Public Affairs
480-301-4368
[email protected]
*
About the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale
Healthcare
The Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare offers
diagnosis, treatment, research, prevention and support in its
facilities at the Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center,
attracting patients from across Arizona and the U.S. Groundbreaking
cancer research is conducted through its Scottsdale Healthcare
Research Institute in collaboration with TGen and leading
universities. Scottsdale Healthcare is the not-for-profit parent
organization of the Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center,
Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center and Scottsdale
Healthcare Thompson Peak Hospital, Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center,
Scottsdale Healthcare Research Institute and Scottsdale Healthcare
Foundation. For additional information, please visit
www.shc.org.
Press Contact:
Keith Jones, Director of Public Relations
Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare
480-882-4412
[email protected]
*
About TGen
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix,
Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting
groundbreaking research with life changing results. Research at
TGen is focused on helping patients with diseases such as cancer,
neurological disorders and diabetes. TGen is on the cutting edge of
translational research where investigators are able to unravel the
genetic components of common and complex diseases. Working with
collaborators in the scientific and medical communities, TGen
believes it can make a substantial contribution to the efficiency
and effectiveness of the translational process. TGen is affiliated
with the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
For more information, visit: www.tgen.org.
Press Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
[email protected]