Drs. Purcell. Saveo.h & Zininv

"'Board Certified Family Nledi•ine Specialists

Gene Therapy

Henry Ford testing new combination
against prostate cancer.

Anthony J. Sayegh, D.O.
Family Medicine

Kelly Purcell, D.O.
Family Medicine

Matthew C. Zimny, D.O.
Family Medicine

*Specializing in All Aspects of Pediatric, Adult,
and Geriatric Medicine including...

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Annual Physicals
School/Sports Physicals
Gynecologic Care
Sick Visits

*Same Day Appointments Available*

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Dr. Benjamin Movsas of Southfield, Dr. Svend Freytag of West Bloomfield
and Dr. Hans Stricker of Grosse Pointe are involved with the prostate cancer
gene therapy study at Henry Ford Hospital.

D

etroit-based Henry Ford
Hospital is embarking on
an expanded major clinical
trial, involving the use of gene therapy
in combination with radiation therapy,
to determine if the combined treat-
ment is more effective than radiation
therapy alone for patients with inter-
mediate risk prostate cancer.
The clinical trial is part of a $9 mil-
lion grant from the National Cancer
Institute (NCI) awarded to Henry
Ford to study the effectiveness of gene
therapy to treat prostate cancer.
"As part of this research grant we
have had encouraging results involv-
ing two smaller clinical studies:' says
Svend Freytag, Ph.D., division head
of research, radiation oncology at
Henry Ford Hospital. He, along with
Benjamin Movsas, M.D., chair of
radiation oncology and Hans Stricker,
M.D., vice chair of urology at Henry
Ford, are the study's key researchers.
Because of the results from the
previous trials, NCI approved a phase
III trial involving 280 prostate cancer
patients over a three-year period.
Phase III is the final stage to deter-
mine if the treatment should become
standard. Currently, radiation therapy
(without the gene therapy) or surgical
removal of the prostate is the standard
treatment for patients with localized
prostate cancer, with similar cure
rates. Prostate cancer is the second
leading cause of cancer death for men
according to the American Cancer
Society.
"When you consider that most tri-
als involving gene therapy are in very

early stages of development involving
research in test tubes, the fact that
Henry Ford Hospital is now embark-
ing on a major phase III clinical trial
to test this as a new standard treat-
ment is a testament to the world-class
innovative research taking place right
here says Dr. Movsas, who is Jewish
and the lead researcher. "To my knowl-
edge, this is the only place in the world
where such a gene therapy study is
available for this group of patients."
Researchers found that all of the
patients with intermediate-risk pros-
tate cancer (the group eligible for this
study) had excellent responses follow-
ing the combined treatment, with no
evidence of cancer regrowth to date.
The main criteria for the phase III
study requires either a patient's pros-
tate specific antigen to be in the range
of 10-20 and/or a Gleason score of 7
(moderately differentiated tumor cells
on the prostate biopsy).
In this randomized study, half of
the patients will received the standard
treatment for intermediate prostate
cancer involving intensity modulated
radiation therapy (IMRT), a high-pre-
cision technique using computer-con-
trolled x-ray beams so that the radia-
tion delivery conforms to the shape of
the tumor. The other half will receive
the combination treatment involving
the gene therapy with IMRT to see
which treatment is most effective.

For information, call the Josephine Ford

Cancer Center at Henry Ford Hospital,

(313) 916-3938 or

www.hfhs-radonc-genetherapy.com .