WK PARTICIPATES IN NATIONAL CANCER STUDY

This month Willis-Knighton Cancer Center joins leading cancer centers in the United States in a new research initiative evaluating two types of radiation therapy approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for the treatment of breast cancer.

The study was initiated by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute based on requirements of the Affordable Care Act to compare photon therapy and proton therapy and determine which is best for treating breast cancer. The focus is to improve key health outcomes identified by PCORI.

Willis-Knighton Cancer Center joins M.D. Anderson, Mass General, Mayo, Emory, Johns Hopkins and other technologically-advanced cancer centers with proton therapy to offer this clinical research program to local patients.

Photon radiation therapy is the most common type of radiation used for cancer treatment and features the same type of radiation used in diagnostic X-rays. It is performed using a linear accelerator which sends the photon beam along a path through the body to target the cancerous tissue and then exit.

Proton radiation uses protons (parts of the atom), to target the cancer; however, with proton therapy the protons travel to the tumor, releasing energy only when they reach the cancer.

Because small amounts of radiation may reach the heart during the traditional photon therapy, patients have increased risk of heart problems in the future. Proton therapy reduces but does not eliminate the heart’s exposure to radiation. Physicians are trying to determine whether one of these types of treatment is better, about the same or worse in terms of side effects, cure rates, length of life or quality of life following treatment.

“National cardiac associations and numerous national investigators believe proton therapy could reduce the overall dose to the heart significantly,” Rosen said. “Willis-Knighton has been one of the early proponents of utilizing the established benefits of proton therapy for women with breast cancer.”

During this study, patients will be randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups, photon and proton. Each will receive therapy once a day, five days a week for five to seven weeks.

Women who have breast cancer in at least one lymph node may be eligible to participate. Eligibility information is available by calling 212- 4639.

The research is currently funded for five years with an expectation that it will expand to follow patients as long as 15 years.

LSU HEALTH RESEARCHERS PULL IN $3.62 MILLION

Human cytomegalovirus, often called “HCMV” or “CMV” for short, is a virus that some may be unknowingly carrying right now.

About 50-80 percent of adults in the United States will be infected with CMV at some point, but most will not have any symptoms because their immune systems are doing their jobs.

It’s when the immune system is not functioning at full capacity that the virus can take a deadly turn.

“Tragically, the virus is both a leading cause of birth defects and a serious threat to patients who are on immunosuppressive drugs to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs,” said Assistant Professor Dr. Jeremy Kamil.

Professor Dr. Andrew Yurochko points out the virus is not well-understood, but its devastating effects warrant more attention to drive the development of a vaccine or efficacious new antiviral compounds.

Both researchers are in the LSU Health Shreveport Department of Microbiology & Immunology and will continue their research with the help of National Institutes of Health grants in the amounts of $1,812,500 for Yurochko and $1,807,756 for Kamil.

Yurochko has been funded by the NIH for nine years. News of the five-year funding addition now makes him the holder of one of the longest running individual NIH R01 grants on campus.