Private gifts have been critical to the amazing advances in leukemia treatment
BY ANDREA DETTER
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THANKS TO DISCOVERIES made at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, treatment of leukemia is one of the greatest cancer success stories of the last three decades. Our pioneering work on bone-marrow and blood stem-cell transplantation has boosted survival rates from nearly zero to upwards of 85 percent. Our goal now is to develop treatment options that not only are curative, but also are safer and free of painful side effects.
Generous gifts from our financial supporters, including those of Norm Metcalfe, have been critical to the Hutchinson Center's progress in the fight against leukemia, both in laboratory-based research and clinical trials. "Mr. Metcalfe's gifts have been particularly helpful in studies of the genetic progression of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and the development of T-cell (a type of immune cell) therapy," said Dr. Fred Appelbaum, director of the Center's Clinical Research Division. Several significant Hutchinson Center accomplishments from the past five years could not have been made without Norm's contributions.
- Researchers achieved the best results ever recorded for bone-marrow transplants from related donors in patients with CML. Their efforts to develop more effective, less toxic strategies led to a regimen that boosted 3-year survival rates to 85 percent. Relapse rates fell below 10 percent.
- Dr. Jerry Radich led the development of a sensitive test to measure remission in cancer patients undergoing drug therapy and to predict their likelihood of relapse. The method, which can find one cancer cell among a million healthy cells, has the potential to speed the delivery of promising new therapies to patients by drastically reducing the duration and cost of clinical trials used to test and compare cancer treatments.
- Radich and colleagues also have used a powerful tool called DNA microarrays to determine the genetic changes that take place as CML progresses from its early stage to later, more aggressive stages. The work will improve patient outcomes by allowing doctors to tailor patients' treatments precisely to their disease stage, and it could lead to new drugs for patients whose disease is advanced and incurable with currently available therapies.
- Hutchinson Center scientists, including Dr. Phil Greenberg, were the first to show that rare leukemia-fighting T-cells can be extracted from patients, expanded to large quantities and infused back into patients to treat the disease. The highly promising strategy, called adoptive T-cell therapy, could boost the curative power of cancer treatment as well as minimize the occurrence and severity of side effects.
- Because of the risks associated with blood stem-cell transplants, some CML patients choose to first try a drug called imatinib (Gleevec) that can induce remission or postpone disease progression. Center researchers have published results from several groundbreaking studies that reveal how the drug influences outcomes for patients who later receive transplants and whether it may be a safe and effective way to prevent disease from returning. The researchers' findings shed light on the complex factors patients and doctors must consider when choosing treatment options.
- Norm's ongoing support recently allowed researchers to purchase equipment that can analyze thousands of different genes in one sample. Investigators are currently using this technology to study the genes involved in patients' response to imatinib, which could uncover ways to make the drug more effective.
Private donors like Norm are essential partners in the Center's efforts to remain at the forefront of biomedical research. Their support helps our investigators build on the lifesaving work that has already been done and make the discoveries needed to improve human health.
To read related story, see Partner Spotlight.
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