Page 10 - 82013-HL-1-7.indd
Basic HTML Version
10 HEALTHY LIFE
CANCER
August 28-29, 2013
425292.082913 HL
Lake Oswego Dermatology Group, PC
We are pleased to announce
Helen Liu, M.D. has joined
Lake Oswego Dermatology Group. Dr. Liu completed her residency
in dermatology at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.
• Andrew E. Pitt, M.D.
• Monica L. McCrary, M.D.
• Barry M. Austin, M.D.
• Helen Liu, M.D.
Physicians and Surgeons
Diseases and Surgery of the Skin
17704 Jean Way, Suite 102
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
503-635-9221
YOU DON’T HAVE
TO BE JEWISH
TO LOVE
ROSE SCHNITZER
MANOR.
Oregon’s happiest retirement community
enjoys good food, good friends and a
good life.
At Rose Schnitzer Manor, we value each
person we serve as an individual. We provide
a safe, supportive and loving environment,
based on Jewish family values — even if
you’re not Jewish.
'HOLFLRXV GLQLQJ
%HDXWLIXO JDUGHQV
/LIHORQJ OHDUQLQJ
7HQXUHG FDUHJLYHUV
$VVLVWHG OLYLQJ
,QGHSHQGHQW OLYLQJ
ENJOY A FREE NOSH
Schedule a visit to see Rose Schnitzer Manor for yourself and
receive a $10 New Seasons Market gift card, plus a box full of
delicious goodies — fresh from our on-site bakery.
Call (503) 535-4004 or visit
to learn more.
420250.082913 HL
A miracle drug
“Blocking specific pathways can produce amazing clinical
results. However, a disadvantage of these precision drug
treatments is that one drug might only work for a few types
of cancers.”
Heinrich pointed to the success of Gleevec, which has
been called a miracle drug and was initially approved for
use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2001 for the
treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia. Dr. Brian Druker, di-
rector of the Knight Cancer Institute and one of Heinrich’s
colleagues there, helped develop Gleevec. Since its initial ap-
proval, Gleevec has also been approved for use in patients
with several different types of cancer, according to Heinrich.
One of the big advances in the past decade has been an
explosion in knowledge about the type of DNA mutations
that give rise to cancer. Heinrich used the analogy that if
DNA is the library, the chromosomes are the books, and
medical researchers measure words and letters in the
books to look for misspelled words (mutations). Finding
certain mutations can help doctors identify the best treat-
ments for their patients.
Clinical trials of new drugs help expand the range of
treatments available. Heinrich noted that 70 percent of kids
with cancer are involved in clinical trials while only 5 per-
cent of adults participate.
“Clinical trials are usually done in three stages, and the
third stage may involve hundreds or thousands of patients,”
Heinrich said. “With Gleevec, we found the right dose in
phase one, and subsequent studies led to FDA approval
within four years.”
Another common type of leukemia is chronic lymphocyt-
ic leukemia (CLL), and in mid-August the New England
Journal of Medicine reported on a new successful drug
used to treat it, ibrutinib. “CLL cells are addicted to a cer-
tain type of immune system signaling, and that is what ibru-
tinib targets,” Heinrich said.
About his work, Heinrich said, “It’s exciting to get up every
day and go to work. We are seeing the results of our work
transform routine cancer care. For example, there are 5,000
cases of CML diagnosed in the U.S. annually, and people used
to only live for an average of four years. With new treat-
ments, life expectancy is increasing by decades, so many
more people are living with it and adding years to their lives.
Why do cells die?
“In addition, the success of Gleevec has lead to the ap-
proval of four other drugs to treat CML. These drugs are
helpful in cases where patients have rare but serious
Gleevec side effects or when Gleevec does not produce the
desired results.”
In his lab, which Heinrich calls a “generic cancer research
lab,” different types of cancer cells are grown and tested.
“We test theories to see what the cell is addicted to,” he
said. “Why do cells die? Why don’t cells die? What makes
them resistant to drugs? We try to stay one step ahead of
the disease. The next discovery leads to the next treatment.
Currently the main limitation to curing cancer is not
enough knowledge.
“We are getting better at translating lab discoveries into
new treatments. These days if we find something in the lab,
we can sometimes create a new treatment within a year
and get it approved by the FDA within two years. This pro-
cess used to take decades.”
Heinrich is outspoken about the lack of funding for medi-
cal research in the U.S.
“In the long run, the U.S. will be hurt by the lack of fund-
ing,” he said. “The best and brightest are not getting grants
at the start of their careers, and if they leave research for
other careers, they never go back. We are losing a whole
generation of researchers because of lack of funding.
“China has taken the lead in the last 10 years in funding
research. We need more knowledge to develop better
treatments, but without grants, we’re not getting that
knowledge. It’s difficult to raise money these days. People
are still getting cancer, and they need to know that these
cutbacks are happening. These cutbacks are definitely af-
fecting the ability of researchers to find the next treat-
ment.”
Heinrich said that if 100 people apply for research grant,
maybe 10 will actually get them. “What if the 11th person
has a brilliant idea, but it will never be tested because of a
lack of funding?” he asked. “It is not always easy to figure
out the best approach to make the next big discovery. Al-
though Gleevec has revolutionized the treatment of certain
leukemias, it almost never made it to human studies be-
cause reviewers had doubts that this type of approach
would work.”
In fact, Heinrich is so serious about keeping the revenue
for research flowing that he sacrificed some of his vacation
time recently to write grant applications.
Gleevec has been called a miracle drug and was first approved for
use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2001.
■
From page 8
