UPSTATE CANCER CENTER
NEWS SPRING
2012
Most pediatric and some adult cancer patients enroll in clinical trials Some feel as if they have nothing to lose. Some are determined to contribute to scientific knowledge. Some want access to promising, although unproven, new therapies. For a variety of reasons, almost all of Upstate’s pediatric cancer patients and roughly 10 percent of its new adult cancer patients enroll in clinical trials.
have today were really the clinical trials of five years ago.” Upstate has about 50 cancer-related trials under way, mostly funded by the National Cancer Institute or drug companies.
“I virtually always recommend participation if they are eligible, because I think clinical trials provide state-of-the-art treatment, and may be the next best thing,” says oncologist Stephen Graziano MD.
Because most of the hospitals that treat children are part of academic medical centers, most pediatric patients are enrolled in a clinical trial as they undergo treatment.
“Most new treatments are not proven to be better than standard therapies. But that is precisely why they are so important. There needs to be strong evidence for a new therapy to replace an established one.”
Among adults with cancer, Graziano estimates just 2 to 3 percent participate in a clinical trial. That rises to about 10 percent at academic institutions, such as Upstate, where research is part of the mission.
He admits that “a lot of studies don’t pan out. But the treatments that we
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Austin, 7, is participating in a clinical trial on leukemia medication. Above left: Austin having his blood drawn by John Breault RN, as part of the study.
Model of ingenuity helps students, cancer patients Students in Upstate’s Radiation Therapy program know how unsettling it can be for cancer patients to be fitted for the mesh facemasks used during treatments. As part of their training, to help them empathize with patients receiving radiation, students are fitted with their own masks, which can be uncomfortable, even claustrophobic.
Radiation Therapy students Nichole McIntosh and Danielle DeBona show a patient, Allyson, the model linear accelerator.
Now — thanks to Upstate carpenter Sean Behm — they have an additional teaching tool to help them ease the anxiety in pediatric patients.
Behm made two model wooden linear accelerators, small enough to use a doll as a “patient.” Linear accelerators produce and deliver radiation that specifically targets tumors while preserving nearby healthy tissue. One wooden model is used to teach Upstate radiation therapy students, while the other is used with young cancer patients in Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, who are permitted to play with the model to help gain control over their hospital experiences. ■
Syracuse New York