Prime Time Replay:
Dr. Richard N. Atkins
on Curing Prostate Cancer
MsgId: *breakthrough(2)
Date: Wed May 28 21:01:17 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
Welcome to Breakthrough Medicine. I'm your moderator, Madeleine Lebwohl, and tonight I'll be hosting an in-studio interview with Dr. Richard N. Atkins, executive director of Cap CURE, The Association for the Cure of Cancer of the Prostate. Nice to have you, Dr. Atkins.
MsgId: *breakthrough(4)
Date: Wed May 28 21:02:47 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
Hello, it's nice to join you this evening.
MsgId: *breakthrough(5)
Date: Wed May 28 21:04:14 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
Let's begin by discussing CaP CURE's mission.
MsgId: *breakthrough(6)
Date: Wed May 28 21:05:23 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
CaPCUREs mission in very simple. We fund cutting edge, venture research to find a cure for prostate cancer. Our goal is to get new treatments to the men who need them so that we can save lives.
MsgId: *breakthrough(7)
Date: Wed May 28 21:06:43 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
What are some of the projects your organization is working on?
MsgId: *breakthrough(8)
Date: Wed May 28 21:08:20 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
We have funded more than 225 projects in the last four years, totalling more than 35 million dollars. These projects have included research in anti-angiogenesis therapy, apoptosis, vaccines and gene therapy, experimental therapeutics, and new ways of understanding the functions of the androgen receptor.Last year, 17 of these projects were in clinical trials, and in 1997, 25 of these peer reviewed, competitive awards are in clinical trials. In addition to our competitive awards program, CaP CURE funds 3 large inter-institutional consortia, one to study the role of genes in prostate cancer, another to accelerate access to clinical trials, and a third to understand the role of nutrition and diet on prostate cancer.
MsgId: *breakthrough(10)
Date: Wed May 28 21:13:28 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
So its obvious that major research is funded by CaP CURE. How is this coordinated with NIH and other hospital research going on?
MsgId: *breakthrough(11)
Date: Wed May 28 21:15:14 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
Sad to say, the National Cancer Institute has never developed a national prostate cancer program plan. In fact, the National Cancer program plan is now 25 years old. So, coordination on research organizations doesn't follow a national strategy. Our goal is to fund all kinds of creative projects that show promise of achieving cure or control of the disease.The dollars allocated by the NCI for prostate cancer research, have historically been small, in fact, these represent less than 4 percent of the NCI research budget, even though prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in America. In October, 1996, the National Prostate Cancer Coalition organized a meeting at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. There, the need for at least $265 million was identified for prostate cancer research. The NCI this year will allocate less than $75 million for prostate cancer research. You can see there's quite a gap.
MsgId: *breakthrough(13)
Date: Wed May 28 21:20:25 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
When money is available, does the direction of research change? If researchers can pick what they do, do they pick more specific projects?
MsgId: *breakthrough(14)
Date: Wed May 28 21:22:51 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
Scientific research follows the funding stream, and talent follows the direction of scientific research. Look at the enormous successes achieved in AIDS research in the last few years. Today there is promise that people who are diagnosed with HIV infections may live their lives with a chronic illness, rather than a terminal disease. That's because AIDS research receives nearly $2 billion yearly in federal resources. By the way, AIDS claims approximately the same number of lives per year as prostate cancer or breast cancer.
MsgId: *breakthrough(15)
Date: Wed May 28 21:25:51 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
CaP CURE has created a profile that includes well-known people saying they have prostate cancer, and helping to work for a cure. Does positive publicity help attract funding? Or help raise awareness?
MsgId: *breakthrough(16)
Date: Wed May 28 21:30:15 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
Any positive publicity helps both to attract funding and raise awareness. Prostate cancer is today where breast cancer was 20 years ago. Breast cancer research benefitted by the presence of women like Happy Rockefeller and Betty Ford, whose public disclosure of their disease may have made it easier for other women to come together and become good advocates for breast cancer research. Today, the National Breast Cancer Coalition is one of the most powerful and enviable advocacy groups in this country. Then too, the power of the media has been helpful to prostate cancer research. When Micheal Milken and General Norman Schwartzkoff appeared on the Larry King show in November, '95, their presence to recruit hundreds of families into PROGRESS, the CaP CURE sponsored prostate cancer genetic research study.PROGRESS is the largest 'single disease' effort to discover the genes that affect it. And we still need more families to join the study. If a family has three or more close relatives with prostate cancer, two of whom are still living, they can call the study hotline at 1-800-777-3035, between 8am and 5pm, Pacific time. Just by answering a simple questionnaire and contributing a blood sample, family members can help unlock the genetic mysteries of prostate cancer.
MsgId: *breakthrough(18)
Date: Wed May 28 21:36:22 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
If we look back several years ago, and compare the occurance and the prognosis of men who had prostate cancer, what is different from today?
MsgId: *breakthrough(19)
Date: Wed May 28 21:38:21 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
Occurances of prostate cancer have gone up consistently since WWII, but have really accelerated in the last decade. There is clearly an urgency for more research dollars, so that the prognosis for men with advanced disease will no longer be dire.
MsgId: *breakthrough(20)
Date: Wed May 28 21:38:45 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
Why has the incidence gone up?
MsgId: *breakthrough(21)
Date: Wed May 28 21:40:53 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
The discovery of prostatic specific antigen, or PSA, gave medical practitioners one marker for the disease. As PSA has become more widely used, and more men over the age of 50 are asking their doctors about the PSA test, more prostate cancer has been discovered. Sadly, more younger men seem to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.
MsgId: *breakthrough(22)
Date: Wed May 28 21:41:29 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
Why are younger men's incidence going up?
MsgId: *breakthrough(23)
Date: Wed May 28 21:43:40 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
The reasons aren't entirely clear. We know that about 10 percent of prostate cancers occur on the basis of heredity. If a man has a close family member with prostate cancer, his risk is doubled. With two close relatives the risk increases five-fold, and with three close relatives, the risk goes up to 11 times greater than expected. In families hard-hit by prostate cancer, subsequent generations may get the disease at younger ages.
MsgId: *breakthrough(24)
Date: Wed May 28 21:44:10 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
Is there any research on why its happening to younger people?
MsgId: *breakthrough(25)
Date: Wed May 28 21:44:54 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
Yes. The CaP CURE gene and family studies consortium is studying how prostate cancer is transmitted across generations.
MsgId: *breakthrough(26)
Date: Wed May 28 21:46:17 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
Are there any other groups particularly at risk for prostate cancer?
MsgId: *breakthrough(27)
Date: Wed May 28 21:50:21 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
African Americans have the highest incidence of prostate cancer in the world, so black men are particularly hard hit. Interestingly though, this may not have as much to do with access to medical care as it does with certain genetic and environmental predispositions. Diet may play a significant role in the prevention of prostate cancer. We know for example that in cultures where diet is based more on plant rather than animal products, or cultures which consume relatively low amounts of animal fat, the incidence of prostate cancer tends to be lower. While its hard to characterize any particular cultural or ethnic group diet, the amount of animal fat consumption in many African-American families is frequently high. It also appears that testoterone metabolism in African-American men may contribute to the higher incidence of prostate cancer.
MsgId: *breakthrough(28)
Date: Wed May 28 21:54:08 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
Is the nutritional project finding new ways of restructuring the American diet?
MsgId: *breakthrough(29)
Date: Wed May 28 21:57:00 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
CaP CURE is sponsoring a three-center nutritional project to better understand the role of diet on prostate cancer. Prelimary evidence suggests that a diet low in animal fat and high in soy protein may be particularly protective against the progression or recurrence of prostate cancer. Also, it appears that selenium may help in this regard. But the data are still preliminary.
MsgId: *breakthrough(30)
Date: Wed May 28 21:58:23 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
How is CaP CURE working with the other advocacy groups? Do you formulate policy together for issues that touch all disease research?
MsgId: *breakthrough(31)
Date: Wed May 28 22:09:30 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
CaP CURE would prefer to join other colleagues and organizations to support global increases for cancer research or disease research in general. But we would want to be assured along with the millions of men who are prostate cancer survivors, that prostate cancer research would receive its fair share of federal research dollars. Until then, CaP CURE participates as part of the National Prostate Cancer Coalition, or NPCC, to assure more federal support for prostate cancer research. Readers should visit the NPCC website (www.4NPCC.org) to sign a petition to senators and members of congress voicing their support for more funding.Readers who want to help CaP CURE generate more funding for prostate cancer research can participate in our 1997 Homerun Challenge. We have recieved sponsor pledges totalling more than $25,000 for each home run hit during 56 major ballgames during June 13-June 18, Father's Day week. Readers who want to help increase that amount should call our homerun challenge hotline: 1-800-547-CURE, or after June 1, the CaP CURE website: (www.capcure.org).
MsgId: *breakthrough(34)
Date: Wed May 28 22:15:14 EDT 1997
From: moderator At: 206.80.165.31
Dr. Atkins, thank you for joining me on Breakthrough Medicine. Good luck with your Homerun Challenge and I hope you reach you research goals soon.
MsgId: *breakthrough(35)
Date: Wed May 28 22:16:02 EDT 1997
From: Dr_Richard_Atkins At: 206.80.165.31
Thank you, too, and especially on behalf of all the men and their families whose lives have been touched by prostate cancer.
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