Mayo Researchers: Dramatic Outcomes in Prostate Cancer Study
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009
Mayo Researchers: Dramatic Outcomes in Prostate Cancer Study
Full details in Discovery’s Edge, Mayo Clinic research publication
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Two Mayo Clinic patients whose prostate cancer had been considered inoperable are now cancer free thanks in part to an experimental drug therapy that was used in combination with standardized hormone treatment and radiation therapy. The men were participating in a clinical trial of an immunotherapeutic agent called MDX-010 or ipilimumab. In these two cases, physicians say the approach initiated the death of a majority of cancer cells and caused the tumors to shrink dramatically, allowing surgery. In both cases, the aggressive tumors had grown well beyond the prostate into the abdominal areas.
“The goal of the study was to see if we could modestly improve upon current treatments for advanced prostate cancer,” says Eugene Kwon, M.D., Mayo Clinic urologist and leader of the clinical trial. “The candidates for this study were people who didn’t have a lot of other options. However, we were startled to see responses that far exceeded any of our expectations.”
The patients first received a type of hormone therapy called androgen ablation, which removes testosterone and usually causes some initial reduction in tumor size. Researchers then introduced a single dose of ipilimumab, an antibody, which builds on the anti-tumor action of the hormone and causes a much larger immune response, resulting in massive death of the tumor cells. Both men experienced consistent drops in their prostate specific antigen (PSA) counts over the following weeks until both were deemed eligible for surgery. Then, during surgery, came a greater surprise.
“The tumors had shrunk dramatically,” says Michael Blute, M.D., Mayo urologist, co-investigator and surgeon, who operated on both men. “I had never seen anything like this before. I had a hard time finding the cancer. At one point the pathologist (who was working during surgery) asked if we were sending him samples from the same patient.”
One patient underwent radiation therapy after surgery; both have resumed their regular lives. Further research is being planned to understand more about the mechanisms of the antibody and how best to use the approach in practice. The researchers, however, note the significance of their findings.
“This is one of the holy grails of prostate cancer research,” says Dr. Kwon. “We’ve been looking for this for years.”
The research was supported by the Department of Defense, The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and the Mayo Clinic Center for Translational Science Activities. Medarex, Inc. provided the study drug free of charge and supported safety monitoring during the protocol.
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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 3,300 physicians, scientists and researchers and 46,000 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has sites in Rochester, Minn.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. Collectively, the three locations treat more than half a million people each year. 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.
Best Buy founder gives U $40 million
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
Best Buy founder Richard Schulze and his family foundation will give $40 million to University of Minnesota researchers who are intent on finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes, the university announced Thursday.
The money, the second largest gift in university history, will be paid over five years and provide about half the $20 million the university will spend annually on diabetes research. Officials said they hope it will provide the financial boost needed to defeat the disease.
“We must not settle for anything less than a cure,” said Dr. Bernhard Hering, who will head the project. “We only need to declare it possible.”
Schulze and his daughter, Debra Schulze, 40, who has had Type 1 diabetes for 28 years, said they chose the university’s program over a number of other research organizations, both public and private, after studying programs around the world. They chose the university because it seemed to be closest to finding a cure and was less focused on finding new treatments for symptoms, she said.
As many as 3 million people in the United States live with Type 1 diabetes, in which the immune system attacks islet cells in the pancreas, destroying the body’s ability to produce insulin and regulate blood sugar.
Click here for the full Star Tribune article »
U of M receives $40 million for type 1 diabetes research
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation has pledged $40 million for diabetes research to the University of Minnesota. The gift, to be paid over five years, will capitalize on the University’s strength in diabetes research and aims to shorten the timeline for translating it into a cure for people with type 1 diabetes.
The gift is the second largest in the University’s history and the second largest by an individual or family foundation to diabetes research in the United States. In recognition of the gift and the future of diabetes research, the University will rename its Diabetes Institute for Immunology and Transplantation (DIIT) the Schulze Diabetes Institute.
“We have the capacity to cure this devastating disease and help people enjoy a happy and productive life no longer constrained by diabetes and constant fears and worries,” says Bernhard Hering, M.D., an internationally recognized diabetes researcher and scientific director of the Schulze Diabetes Institute. “Curing type 1 diabetes is possible. We only need to declare it possible, engage the brightest minds, be contagiously committed, and break all barriers. This gift is breaking big barriers by boosting resources, raising awareness, and injecting a sense of urgency and responsibility.”
Click here for the full article on the Minnesota Medical Foundation website »