From the Director
Author: Gary Meadows
The Cancer Prevention & Research Center enters its 11th year of existence, we would like to thank every one of our members for their outstanding efforts in both research and clinical practice. Ours is a unique Center, where our strengths come not from any one person or project, but through the collective efforts of all our members and their projects. Cancer is a process that can not be stopped alone. As we continue to help in “Bridging the Gap” between basic research and clinical we hope that you will take some time to visit us online at www.cancer.wsu.edu. There, you can find more information about all our members, and about some of their exciting, cutting edge research. You will also notice many changes to our resources pages, where we are continuing to add informative links to sites that provide a varying array of useful information about cancer in all its many forms. As you can see in our “In The Community” section, donations to the Center can and do have a positive impact. I encourage you to consider making a gift to the Cancer Prevention & Research Center to support efforts like those described. As always, your donation is tax deductible, and 100% of your gift goes to support research, nothing ever goes towards administration. Our address is: Cancer Prevention & Research Center, SIRTI 4th Floor, 665 N Riverpoint Boulevard, Spokane WA 99202-1665, or P O Box 646510, Pullman, WA 99164-6511. If you prefer, you can donate online at www.cancer.wsu.edu/donate. Thank you for your support and also for taking a moment or two out of your busy day to let us share with you, the activities of your Cancer Prevention & Research Center Gary Meadows, Director
Gary Meadows, Director
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In the Community
Gwynne Thompson , supporter of cancer research
For her Senior Project at Pullman High School, Gwynne Thompson, with the help of
her mentor, La Dawn Baker, designed and hand made a beautiful, one of a kind breast
cancer quilt. After 56 hours of hard work finishing the quilt, Gwynne decided that
a few more hours wouldn’t hurt; as a matter of fact, it may benefit some
organization.
She decided to raffle off the quilt and donate the proceeds to the Cancer Prevention
& Research Center for clinical breast cancer research. During May and June 2003,
over 600 tickets, at $2.00 each, were sold nationwide. Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
also made a generous contribution on Gwynne’s behalf. The winning raffle drawn on
July 1, 2003, gave the quilt to Ms Helen Jessup of Springfield, Illinois.
Gwynne’s donations of over $1,400.00 were awarded to Dr. Sally Blank, who is a member
of the Center and Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Clinical and Experimental
Exercise Science Graduate Program at Washington State University Spokane. Dr. Blank
is an investigator and member of an interdisciplinary research team, which is comprised
of Washington State University researchers and Spokane-based clinicians. Their research
is on bio-behavioral interventions for women with breast cancer by introducing yoga
as part of their treatment and recovery. As it is with all donations to the Cancer
Prevention & Research Center, one hundred per cent will be used to support research
efforts.
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Members
Dr Holbrook Makes a Big Difference
Author: Megan Cooley
When a patient of Dr. Ryan Holbrook, a surgical oncologist with Cancer Care Northwest,
of Spokane, came to him two months ago, her condition was grim. The 74-year-old
woman had kicked colon cancer years earlier, but the disease was back. This time
it had spread to other parts of her body. Holbrook performed surgery, removing her
ovaries, uterus, two sections of her colon, and part of her abdominal wall, liver,
and gallbladder. After removing as many of the cancerous tumors as possible, he
treated her with what’s called intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy, which involves
injecting drugs directly into the abdominal cavity and onto the patient’s organs
and then immersing them in the chemotherapy solution for an extended period. Two
weeks ago, Holbrook saw that patient again in his office at the Deaconess Health
and Education Building. She’s in remission and feels great, Holbrook says. "She
would have been dead by now" if the cancerous areas hadn’tbeen removed and she hadn’t
been treated with IP chemo-therapy, he says. Doctors developed IP chemotherapy about
10 years ago to treat pseudomyxoma peritonei, a form of cancer commonly called “jelly
belly,” Holbrook says. The disease has that nickname because its tumor cells secrete
a jelly-like mucus in the abdominal cavity, he says. As those cells and their mucus
accumulate, the abdominal area becomes filled with the mucus, and digestion is hindered.
“Sometimes you get in there, and it’s like someone poured goo all over the organs,”
Holbrook explains. Surgical oncologists trained to use IP chemotherapy first remove,
or “debulk,” as Holbrook calls it, the tumors and the mucus. They then circulate
through the abdominal area a chemotherapy solution that has been warmed to about
103 degrees Fahrenheit. For 90 minutes, the oncologist “swooshes,” or stirs, the
solution over the organs with his hands while the patient’s abdomen remains open,
he says. Because it’s warmed, the tissue the solution contacts “softens up and opens
up” and the medicine is absorbed three to four millimeters into the tumors, Holbrook
says. After the patient is closed up, more chemotherapy solution is circulated through
the body via drains inserted into the abdominal cavity. Each day for five days,
the medicine is pumped in through three tubes that protrude out through the skin.
The tubes are closed off and the chemotherapy solution flows throughout the abdominal
cavity for 23 hours. For an hour each day, the used solution is drained out and
it’s replaced with new medicine. “Now we’re starting to use IP chemotherapy for
other carcinomatosis situations,” he says. “We’re starting to open this up for more
patients.” In carcinomatosis, malignant tumors spread to other parts of the body.
Traditionally, if you have carcinomatosis from colon cancer, you might have three
to nine months to live,” Holbrook says. Doctors from the Netherlands and South Carolina
reported at the Society of Surgical Oncology’s annual meeting in March, though,
that once patients have been treated with IP chemotherapy, their three-year survival
rate was more than 50 percent, he says. Holbrook learned the technique about four
years ago by compiling information he had gleaned from other physicians at cancer
conferences. At first, he only used IP chemotherapy two or three times a year, and
just on patients with pseudomyxoma peritonei. So far this year, he has performed
about nine such treatments, some of which were on patients with other types of carcinomatosis.
“By and large, people are doing pretty well with it,” Holbrook says. He adds that
some of his patients have died since undergoing IP chemotherapy, “but instead of
dying in a few months, for most of them it was a year or two later, and their quality
of life was pretty good.” Because IP chemotherapy works only after a surgeon removes
as many tumors as possible, the treatment has forced surgical oncologists to work
more closely with medical oncologists, who use conventional chemotherapy to treat
cancer. Radiation treatment is never paired with IP chemotherapy, he says. Still,
tapping into medical oncology has brought Holbrook, a surgical oncologist, closer
to his partners at Cancer Care Northwest. “I spend a lot of time
understanding the
behavior of tumors and working with other specialists,” Holbrook says. IP chemotherapy
“has fueled the coming together of our group. … It’s all about trying to understand
how it works, together.” IP chemotherapy’s use is limited to cancers in the pelvic
and abdominal region, he says. Neither the technique nor the drugs are so advanced
that they can cure cancer. In fact, cancer likely will strike Holbrook’s 74-year-old
patient again, he says. “But if it’s two or three more years she lives, she’s thankful
to have that time with her grandkids,” Holbrook says.
Recently Joining Us:
Dennis
Dyck, Ph.D. Professor and Associate Dean for Research Washington State University
Spokane P O Box 1495 Spokane WA 99220-1495 509-358-7618 dyck@wsu.edu
Dr. Dyck is a person with many hats and he wears each of them well. He is the Associate
Dean of Research, the Director of Health Research and Education Center, and the
Coordinator of the Spokane Alliance for Medical Research at Washington State University
Spokane. Dennis also serves on the Cancer Prevention & Research Center Program
Advisory Committee.
Deana Molinari,
RN, Ph.D. Intercollegiate College of Nursing Washington State University College
of Nursing 2917 W Fort George Wright Drive Spokane WA 99224-5291 509-324-5291 dmolinari@wsu.edu
Dr. Molinari received her Baccalaureate and Master degrees in Nursing and her Ph.D.
in Instructional Psychology and Technology. She has worked on various aspects of nursing in community health. Her current research interest is in assessment and
evaluation of community health education
programs and distant learning.
John Wyrick,
Ph.D. Assistant Professor School of Molecular Biosciences Washington State University
P O Box 644660 Pullman WA 99164-4660 509-335-8785 jwyrick@wsu.edu
Dr. Wyrick received his Baccalaureate in Biochemistry from Washington State University
and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Biology. He joined
the Washington State University faculty in 2002. His research is funded by the American
Cancer Society (2003-07) to work on the Genome-wide
Analysis of the Histone Acetylation
Code
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Outreach
WSU Football and Skin Cancer Outreach
The Cancer Prevention & Research Center participated in the Washington State
University (WSU) Homecoming football game in Pullman, October 4, 2003, where the
WSU Cougars pounced the Arizona Wildcats. A sunny fall afternoon was perfect football
weather - also perfect for exposure to UV radiation and sun burns for the unprepared
football fans. With the assistance from PPSO (Professional Pharmacy Student Organization)
students, the Cancer Prevention & Research Center conducted its “2003 Skin Cancer
Awareness” campaign. Over four thousand sample packets of sunscreen attached to
informational cards were distributed
prior to the game. During the game, the voice
of the cougars’ Dr. Glenn Johnson, shared with the crowd of 34,923 informational
messages provided courtesy of the Cancer Prevention & Research Center. These
special messages reminded spectators about the 4 easy steps to help prevent skin
cancer: SLIP, SLOP, SLAP and WRAP. It helps remind people to “SLIP” on a shirt,
preferably long sleeved; “SLOP” on some SPF 15 or greater sunscreen; “SLAP” on a
hat, wide brimmed preferred; and “WRAP” on a pair of sunglasses. The other message
that was provided was the web address: www.cancer.wsu.edu/skincancer. There, one
can get more information about skin and other cancers. Developed in conjunction
with information supplied by The National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer
Society, that specific page helps visitors to better understand what skin cancer
is and how it can be detected early. The Cancer Prevention & Research Center
conducts various outreach efforts throughout the year as a part of its “Prevention
through Intervention” mission. If you or your group would like to help sponsor an
outreach event, or would like more information about specific Center events, please contact Yvonne Rivers at
509-358-7811 or email us as CPRC@wsu.edu.
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Publications
Select Member Publications
Daoud S S, Munson P J, Reinhold W, Young
L, Prabhu VV, Yu Q, Larose J, Kohn K W, Weinstein J N, & Pommier Y. Impact of
p53 knockout and topotecan treatment on gene expression profiles in human colon
carcinoma cells: a pharmacogenomic study. Cancer Res. 2003 Jun 1;63(11):2782-93.
Haberman, M. Cancer Survivorship and Quality of Life. In,
Pathways to Healing: Women and Cancer 2003.Spokesman Review Annual
Cancer Supplement, September 22, 2003, p. 3.
Hu M, Chen J & Lin H. Metabolism of flavonoids via enteric recycling:
mechanistic studies of disposition of apigenin in the Caco-2 cell culture model.
J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2003 Oct;307(1):314-21. Park H-J, Wu S, Dunker A K &
Kang C. Polymerization of calsequestrin: Implications
for Ca2+ regulation. J Biol Chem. 2003 May 2;278(18):16176-82.
Molinari D L. Pain over and over again. Editorial. Journal of Home Health
Care Management and Practice. 2003 Kwon Y,
Smerdon M J. Binding of zinc finger protein TFIIIA to its cognate DNA
sequence with single UV photoproducts at specific sites and its effect on DNA repair.
J Biol Chem. 2003 Sep 8.
