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Ireland Cancer Center Researcher Finds Standard Treatment for Breast Cancer Not Followed; Study Published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology
Friday, December 21, 2007 (2634 reads)

CLEVELAND – Research out of the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center, in collaboration with six integrated health plans that are part of the Cancer Research Network, found that the majority of older women with early stage breast cancer fail to adhere to the standard of treatment – five years of daily oral use of the chemo-prevention drug Tamoxifen. To be published in the February issue of Journal of Clinical Oncology and released earlier this month, Cynthia Owusu, MD, of the Ireland Cancer Center (ICC) and colleagues determined that premature tamoxifen discontinuation is quite common and deserves closer attention.

“We in the medical community have long believed we were caring for these women appropriately and this study determines that these patients over age 65 are being woefully undertreated,” said Dr. Owusu, who runs the ICC’s geriatric oncology program and was lead author of the study. “Going forward we need to develop strategies to improve breast cancer outcomes for these women.”



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University Hospitals Chief Executive Officer Extends Contract; Thomas F. Zenty III to continue to lead UH’s Historic Vision 2010 Strategic Plan
Thursday, December 20, 2007 (1940 reads)

CLEVELAND – University Hospitals Board of Directors has announced that Thomas F. Zenty III, Chief Executive Officer, University Hospitals, has agreed to serve as the health system’s leader for an additional five years, through December 2012.

Monte Ahuja, Chairman of the UH Board of Directors, said, “I join my Board colleagues in underscoring our support for Tom and his community focused, dynamic and results-driven leadership of our health system. We look forward to working with him over the next five years to continue the momentum he has established for creating a healthier community in Northeast Ohio, an integral part of our vision for University Hospitals in 2010 and beyond.”

Since joining University Hospitals (UH) in 2003 as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the health system, Mr. Zenty has worked closely with the Board of Directors, system leadership team, employees and community leaders to build a strong foundation for University Hospitals that will ensure the delivery of the highest quality patient-centered healthcare in Northeast Ohio and the nation.



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Attention Holiday Shoppers: Cuyahoga County DUI Task Force Unveils Designated Driver Action Figures
Friday, December 14, 2007 (1391 reads)

CLEVELAND – Impaired drivers in Cuyahoga County will be seeing flashing red lights in their rear-view mirrors from Dec. 14 to Jan. 4—but it won’t be Santa or Rudolph: 45 law enforcement agencies will participate in a countywide effort coordinated by the Cuyahoga County DUI Task Force to take impaired drivers off our roads.

While police will be out in force to stop impaired drivers before they can hurt themselves or someone else, we all know that the best way to prevent impaired driving crashes is to keep people from getting behind the wheel after they have been drinking. To stress safe traveling alternatives for the holidays, the Cuyahoga County DUI Task Force and Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, in partnership with MADD, the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers’ Association and Liberty Mutual Insurance, are unveiling a new line of ‘designated driver action figures’ at a press event at the Grand Staircase stage at Tower City at 12 p.m. on Monday, December 17.



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Cooking with Kids: Safety Tips from Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital
Thursday, December 13, 2007 (1390 reads)

CLEVELAND – Holiday feasts and cookie making with the kids are part of many family traditions for celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwaanza. Parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles are keen to pass along their holiday traditions and children are eager to lend a hand with the holiday preparations, but University Hospitals’ Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital experts wants parents to remember it is important to practice some basic rules for keeping children safe in and around the kitchen.

Children in the kitchen need close adult supervision at all times, whether they are helping to cook or just watching. “Simply being in the same room as a child is not necessarily supervising,” notes Walter Chwals, MD, Director of Rainbow’s Level I Pediatric Trauma Center. “An actively supervised child is in sight and in reach at all times.”



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Ireland Cancer Center Researchers Advance Stem Cell Gene Therapy
Wednesday, December 12, 2007 (3465 reads)

CLEVELAND – Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center researchers have recently made great strides in stem cell gene therapy research by transferring a new gene to cancer patients, via their own stem cells, with the ultimate goal of being able to use stronger chemotherapy treatment with less severe side effects. Under this protocol, MGMT, a drug-resistance gene, is added into purified hematopoietic stem cells to protect these cells from the damage of chemotherapy regimens.

In one of 24 presentations by Ireland Cancer Center researchers at the annual American Society of Hematology meeting, Stanton Gerson, MD, and colleagues presented that eight patients were enrolled on the trial and six were infused with their own stem cells which were engineered to carry the MGMT gene. In three patients, stem cells carrying the gene were identified in their blood or bone marrow. In one patient, stem cells carrying the gene were detected up to 28 weeks after their administration. This significant finding has never been reported before with this gene and drug combination.



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Many Medicare Beneficiaries Not Receiving Colorectal Cancer Screening
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 (2025 reads)

CLEVELAND – A new study out of the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center finds significant underuse of colorectal cancer screening procedures among Medicare beneficiaries. The study, published in the January 15, 2008 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, show that only 25 percent of Medicare patients received recommended screening during the study period. .

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2007, more than 147,000 new cases will be diagnosed and more than 57,000 people will die from the disease. Population-based screening for colorectal cancer is currently recommended for adults aged 50 and older. Regular colorectal cancer screening can, in many cases, prevent colorectal cancer altogether.



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University Hospitals Researchers Initiate Gene Therapy Trial in Patients with Advanced Skin Cancer
Monday, December 10, 2007 (1842 reads)

CLEVELAND − Researchers at the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center are the first in the region to have joined a nationwide clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a gene therapy in patients with advanced melanoma which is aimed to help a patient’s own immune system fight their cancer. The gene therapy is termed Allovectin-7®, and is injected directly into the cancer while it is still in the body in order to make it appear foreign to the immune system. Previous studies using the gene therapy have shown that injection of a single site of cancer can train the immune system to fight other areas of the disease in the body which have not been injected with the gene.

“Cancer cells often hide from the body’s natural disease-fighting mechanisms because they arise from normal tissue and don’t appear as foreign to the immune system,” said Julian Kim, MD, Chief of Surgical Oncology and lead investigator of the study at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “The challenge in treating advanced melanoma is to find a way to train the patient’s immune system to recognize cancerous cells as foreign which will help to eliminate them. The concept of injecting a gene into a cancer to make it appear as a foreign tissue essentially creates a personalized vaccine for each individual patient’s cancer. The hope is that the newly formed cancer vaccine will trigger several of the body’s natural immune response mechanisms to recognize and attack the cancer, both within the injected cancer and throughout the body.”



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