Advanced therapy offers cure for relapsed cancer patient
INDIANAPOLIS -- Testicular cancer patients who do not respond to
traditional therapy can be cured with high-dose chemotherapy and a
stem cell transplant, according to an Indiana University School of
Medicine report in the July 26 issue of the New England Journal of
Medicine.
About 90 percent of testicular cancer patients respond to traditional
therapy, which involves multiple courses of cisplatin, first used
successfully in the treatment of this disease by Lawrence Einhorn,
M.D., at Indiana University Cancer Center in the early 1980s. That
course of therapy turned a disease from a mostly fatal cancer into
one of the more curable forms of cancer for men, who typically are in
their 20s when diagnosed with testicular cancer.
It is rare for the NEJM to carry a retrospective study from a single
institution that is not a randomized study. This review looks at the
outcome of 184 patients with metastatic testicular cancer. Dr.
Einhorn and colleagues demonstrated that the disease is potentially
curable with a high dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant using
cells harvested from the patient before the initial chemotherapy
infusion.
The patients received carboplatin chemotherapy at five times the
dosage administered to men receiving initial therapy. A side effect
of the high dosage is a reduction of blood cells so a stem cell
transplant is given to replenish the body's immune system through a
process similar to a blood transfusion. Three to four weeks later the
entire process is repeated.
"The message for patients is that through research, diligence and new
technologies there is hope," said Dr. Einhorn, professor of medicine
at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center and the
lead author of the study. "The bar is steadily being raised and more
patients are being saved."
"This review confirms that high-dose chemotherapy combined with a
stem cell transplant can provide a cure for a group of patients with
relapsed testicular cancer," said Rafat Abonour, M.D., associate
professor of medicine in the division of hematology/oncology and
associate dean for clinical research at the IU School of Medicine.
Although the number of relapsed testicular cancer patients is small,
the IU Simon Cancer Center treats a majority of them. As a leader in
this treatment, the researchers were able to collect the necessary
data for the NEJM retrospective.
For the patients each year who are treated with this therapy, there
is renewed hope. "This is new medicine and it tells patients that
cures are on the horizon," said Stephen D. Williams, M.D., director
of the IU Simon Cancer Center and a co-author of the paper.
###
Other IU co-authors include Amy Chamness, B.A.; Mary J. Brames, R.N.;
and Susan M. Perkins, Ph.D.
Public release date: 25-Jul-2007
Contact: Eric Schoch
eschoch@iupui.
317-274-7722
Indiana University
http://www.eurekale
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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