Pitt Researchers Present Findings at Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology

CHICAGO, June 1, 2007 – Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine will present findings from more than 40 studies at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, June 1 to 5, at McCormick Place in Chicago.

Highlights of the findings include:

SATURDAY, JUNE 2

PROTEIN MAY BE LINKED TO MELANOMA RECURRENCE

Higher levels of a protein called S-100 in patients with melanoma may correlate with a higher risk of having the disease return, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. The study evaluated and tested serum samples from 103 patients who were treated with high-dose interferon, a standard immunotherapy treatment for melanoma, an average of eight years prior. The disease recurred in 64 of the patients within an average of 30 months. When the researchers examined levels of S-100 in the serum samples, they found that the higher the level of the protein, the greater likelihood the patient's disease had returned. Abstract number 8506.

SUNDAY, JUNE 3

HERCEPTIN DOES NOT INCREASE HEART FAILURE IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS LONG-TERM

Risk of congestive heart failure in women treated with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and combination chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer did not increase over time, according to a five-year follow-up of National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) trial B-31. Based on the findings, the research team developed a prediction model to help oncologists assess the risk of heart failure in individual breast cancer patients prior to treatment with Herceptin and chemotherapy. Abstract number LBA513.

ADDING RADIOIMMUNOTHERAPY TO CHEMOTHERAPY MAY HELP PATIENTS WITH LYMPHOMA

Patients treated for follicular lymphoma, a slow-growing type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, may benefit from chemotherapy followed by radioimmunotherapy, according to a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center study. Over 90 percent of patients responded completely to the treatment and since only a short-course of chemotherapy was used, side effects were limited and well-tolerated. The researchers also found that PET scanning was a useful tool in determining those patients who were at highest risk for their diseases to relapse. Abstract number 8005.

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