Kick-Off is scheduled for Tuesday, February 5th at 6:30 PM at the West Bridgewater Office of the American Cancer Society. We hope to see you there!
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A newly approved cancer drug has cast light on a 30-year history of scientific breakthroughs allowing non-operable cancers to be treated by manipulating and mutating a certain human gene.
Thirty years ago, scientists began a quest to determine how a bunch of cells could transform into a fully-formed body. The scientists eventually identified 50+ genes that control the formation of an embryo, including one named hedgehog that has become the basis of many drug development studies since.
The hedgehog gene (so named because, when mutated, it caused fruit flies to develop a coat of spines on their undersides) was connected to certain cancers, as discovered by Dr. Matthew Scott and a team led by Dr. Ervin Epstein Jr. at UC-San Francisco in 1996. Specifically, the connection was present in basal cell carcinoma (the most common human cancer) and medulloblastoma (a pediatric brain cancer).
Specifically, this discovery eventually led to the development of Erivedge, a new drug approved by the FDA in January of 2012. This drug treats inoperable basal cell by inhibiting the hedgehog molecular signaling pathway. The development of this drug will hopefully lead to more types of these cancer drugs in a shorter timeline, such as ones to treat pancreatic, esophageal, and ovarian cancers.
Studies like these lead to many cancer breakthroughs. We have the opportunity to be involved in a more broad-based study through the Cancer Prevention Study-3 with the American Cancer Society. ACS is looking for another 115,000 participants by the end of December. If you are interested, between the ages of 30 and 65, and you haven't been diagnosed with cancer (other than basal cell carcinoma), please look into the study. You will complete a questionnaire, have your waist measured, and have some blood drawn. The blood is not connected to your name, and all testing is done anonymously. They are looking for markers to match up with lifestyle and environmental factors to see what has an effect on cancer development. If you have any questions, please let us know. You can review the list of enrollment sites and more information here - Cancer Prevention Study-3.
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