LONG BEACH, Calif., Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- In an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Sept. 14, a task force of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) suggested that chemo sensitivity and resistance assays (CSRAs) lack sufficient evidence to justify their use in patients. This has outraged oncologists and patients who have had success with the CSRAs and feel that these tests should be more broadly used because they provide useful information to guide therapy selection for patients.
Robert Nagourney, M.D., Medical Director of the Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and one of the pioneers in CSRA use for patient treatment, states that CSRAs could revolutionize cancer treatment and should be made available on a broader scale. His statistical data confirm that the CSRA tests perform well and consistently meet the criteria applied to assess the utility of medical tests. “The members of the ASCO task force invented a new criterion for utility when they conducted their analyses. Were these standards to be applied to other medical technologies, like CAT scans in the detection of cancer, they would also fail to be accepted. We need to have a level playing field in the treatment of cancer. The CSRA tests have proven reliable and accurate. They give physicians direction in developing treatment strategies for individual patients and should be widely available,” said Nagourney.
According to Dr. Nagourney, the ASCO position serves to stifle the application of these useful technologies precisely when they could prove most valuable. “As the number of active agents increases, the capacity to select amongst comparable choices becomes ever more crucial,” he added.
The Memorial Medical Center of Long Beach has undertaken a formal analysis of assay-directed therapies in advanced lung and gastrointestinal cancers. “Through this Internal Review Board, approved protocol, we hope to better define the role of these assays in the management of advanced cancers,” said Harris Stutman, M.D., Executive Director of Research Administration at Memorial Medical Center whose department oversees this study. “This important study is supported with philanthropic funds from the Memorial Medical Center Foundation, and its results should be extremely useful in defining future approaches to chemotherapy for those cancers, which, to date, have been most difficult to treat.”
Many patients who have benefited from the tests agree. David Hanbidge and Sam Crisa are two of the many who attribute being alive today to the individualized cancer treatments developed from assays conducted on their cancers. Five years ago, David Hanbidge, now 59, was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer, a highly lethal form of the disease. “I was 54 and wanted to beat this thing,” he says. His surgeon sent tumor tissue to Dr. Nagourney for chemosensitivity testing. The results showed that Hanbidge’s cancer was sensitive to several novel chemotherapy combinations. Hanbidge underwent assay-directed therapy five years ago and remains free of disease today. “I believe I am cured,” he says. Hanbidge is surprised to find that most people believe that this is already standard practice. “Not the case,” he tells them. Patients need to know that these assays exist and to insist they be used. “I would do the tests again. Why would you not want to improve your odds?” he asks.
Sam Crisa, a retired LA Fire Chief, was diagnosed in 1996 with Waldenstrom’s disease, a rare form of lymphoma. “Despite standard chemotherapy, my condition was rapidly worsening and I required blood transfusions every three weeks,” he said. Crisa was concerned about his very survival. “My daughter learned of the chemosensitivity assays that Dr. Nagourney performs from one of her associates who had one done himself,” he says. In the assay, Dr. Nagourney identified several drugs likely to help control Crisa’s disease. Fortunately, a simple combination of two-drugs looked the best. “Thanks to the assay, I was able to take a mild combination of chemotherapies and never felt sick. After just three treatments in 1996, my cancer went into remission and I have never required additional therapy. November will mark eight years since diagnosis,” Crisa added.
Dr. Nagourney, David Hanbidge and Sam Crisa, are available to discuss the importance of chemosensitivity assays in the treatment of cancer and why ASCO should be challenged for its position on these technologies.
Long Beach Memorial Medical Center
CONTACT: Terri Starkman of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center,+1-562-933-2804, or cell, +1-562-335-5773