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Farnesyl Transferase Inhibitor and Patients at High-Risk for AML

An oral targeted therapy gentle enough to be used by patients in their 70s or 80s is showing benefit in treating high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a pre-leukemic disorder that can progress to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

The drug R115777 (Zarnestra) (tipifarnib) produced responses that ranged from complete responses to improvement in blood counts in about one-third of 82 patients treated at seven different hospitals in the United States, Canada, and Europe, says the study's lead investigator, Razelle Kurzrock, M.D., a professor in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

That level of response, as well as side effects that are well tolerated, can be a boon to the mostly elderly patients who develop the syndrome, Kurzrock says. "It is one more drug that can be tried to help improve blood counts and prevent leukemia development in these patients," she says.

At the time the study began, there was no approved therapy to treat MDS, but recently, the FDA approved use of azacytidine (Vidaza), which is a chemotherapy drug administered subcutaneously. Zarnestra helps about as many patients as Vidaza, "but for diseases like this, you need more than one drug because the syndrome is made up of numerous subtypes," Kurzrock says. "If one drug doesn't help, then the other might; or they could potentially be used together."

Zarnestra belongs to a group of drugs known as farnesyl transferase inhibitors, which block enzymes needed for the activation of cancer-promoting proteins. While the drug was initially believed to act primarily on the ras gene, which is mutated in about 25 percent of MDS patients, recent studies including this one demonstrate that patients whose ras gene is normal can benefit, Kurzrock says. "It has become apparent that Zarnestra regulates other important cancer genes, although we don't know which ones they are."

University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
1515 Holcombe Blvd., Box 229
Houston, TX 77030
United States
Phone 713-792-0655
Fax 713-794-4418
http://www.mdanderson.org

O'Connor wristbands hot sellers

By Rob Amen
TRIBUNE-REVIEW

August 25, 2006 - Supporters of Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor continue to buy wristbands designed to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by the handful.

The society's local chapter is selling 5,000 black-and-gold rubber wristbands that read "Everybody's mayor ... Bob O'Connor" at various locations throughout the city today.

Cost is $2, and proceeds benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

O'Connor, 61, was diagnosed with primary central nervous system lymphoma last month.

He has stipulated that no proceeds benefit his treatment, but that other blood-cancer patients receive the money.

O'Connor's family also helped pay for the production of the wristbands, said Maureen Durkin, spokeswoman for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

"The O'Connor family has been very supportive," said Durkin, who is selling the wristbands at the City-County Building until 2 p.m. today. "I can't thank them enough."

Durkin had sold almost half of the 2,300 wristbands she had by 10:30 a.m. today. Coffee Tree Roasters in Squirrel Hill sold out of its allotment of 500 wristbands by 9 a.m., three hours after opening, she said.

"One man bought 60," Durkin said. "He's distributing them at senior citizens centers. The senior citizens can't get out, and they love the mayor."

The local chapter sold out of 5,000 wristbands in about 24 hours last week.

"There are people in line all the time," Durkin said. "Pittsburghers are really supporting the mayor. They all have a story of how they know the mayor."

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is selling the wristbands in conjunction with Pittsburgh paramedics at the following locations:

- City County Building, Downtown, until 2 p.m.

- Coffee Tree Roasters, 5840 Forbes Ave., Squirrel Hill, until 2 p.m.

- Merante Gifts, 4723 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield, until 5 p.m.

- A Pleasant Present, 2301 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill, until 6 p.m.

- UPMC Shadyside gift shop, Centre Avenue, until 6:30 p.m.

- UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Gift Shop, Ground Floor, Centre Avenue, Shadyside, until 3:30 p.m.

- Vento's Pizza, 420 N. Highland St., East Liberty, until 11 p.m.

Rob Amen can be reached at ramen@tribweb.com or (412)-320-7982.

Girl Beating the Odds with Help from St. Jude

Aug 16, 2006 - At St. Jude Children's Hospital, hope is offered to children and families who otherwise would have very little. Lisa Welker's daughter Stephanie is four years old, and even in that small span, Stephanie's young life is marked by sickness and difficulty.

Lisa Welker, Stephanie's mom: "She has been sick half her life."

Stephanie is diagnosed with AML leukemia, a disease with a slim survival rate. Just recently, mom and daughter moved from San Francisco to Memphis because St. Jude offered the best chance of recovery.

Lisa Welker: "If we were to stay home and have another transplant, our odds would have been about 25%, so 55% was a chance I was willing to take."

Leaving family, including two young children, back in San Francisco was hard, but the hospital made Lisa and her daughter feel right at home.

Lisa Welker: "I was scared. I walked into St. Jude and all me fears, it's hard to explain it, all my fears left."

While at the hospital, doctors tried an experimental cell transplant on Stephanie not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Because St. Jude is a research hospital, doctors there try procedures other hospitals won't.

Lisa Welker: "What they did is they went ahead and took my stem cells out, because I was a half match for her."

The surgery was a success, and though Stephanie has a long way to go toward recovery, Lisa gave her daughter another shot at life.

Lisa Welker: "I think we all come here for a miracle, and I came to get ours."

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