Volume 2   Spring/Summer 1997

Greetings from the PROGRESS study!
We hope this letter finds you well and enjoying a healthy Spring.

We want to thank each of you for helping make this such a successful family study. The study population has grown over the past year. To date, we have invited 431 families from throughout the United States and Canada to participate in the study. We have received over 1,500 blood samples from participants. From the map below, you can see that there is a PROGRESS participant in almost every state in the U.S. and in several Canadian provinces.

Prostate Cancer News
Last November (11/21/96), the journal Science published a paper about a prostate cancer family study from Johns Hopkins University and the National Institutes of Health. The study reported the finding of a suspicious area on Chromosome 1 which could be responsible for some familial prostate cancer cases. When this result was published, we, along with several other prostate cancer family studies around the country, began to analyze our data to see whether or not we find the same suspicious area on Chromosome 1. Once our analyses are completed and published, they will be made available to you.

Finding suspicious chromosomal regions that appear to be associated with prostate cancer is the first step toward finding genes that may cause prostate cancer in some families. We believe there are numerous genes to be found. One gene may cause prostate cancer to develop in one group of families, and another gene may cause it to develop in a different group of families. Once genes are actually discovered, the next step is to figure out how these genes work and how we can use this knowledge to develop better ways to diagnose, treat, prevent and even cure prostate cancer.

PROGRESS News
Last October, one of the lead PROGRESS scientists, Dr. Janet Stanford, accepted a new position at the University of Utah (in Salt Lake City) as the Director of the Utah Cancer Registry, Professor of Oncological Sciences and a member of the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI). The HCI has a major program in prostate cancer research. Since she moved to Utah, Dr. Stanford has continued to work closely with PROGRESS, making trips to Seattle and spending many hours on the phone with Study Manager, Susan Brandzel.

In September 1997, the entire PROGRESS coordinating center will be moving to the HCI in Salt Lake City, including Susan, the Study Manager. This move will enable the project to continue at its current pace. Both the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) and the University of Utah have approved and supported this location change. When the project is moved, we will insure continued excellence in maintaining security and confidentiality of all study materials.

PROGRESS will remain a part of the Prostate Cancer Consortium and Drs. Lee Hood and Elaine Ostrander (of the University of Washington and FHCRC respectively), will continue as the lead geneticists working to identify the genes that cause prostate cancer to run in families.

Our toll-free phone number, 1-800-777-3035, will be moved to Utah so you can continue to reach us. We will make Susan’s new phone number available to you in the Fall newsletter. Until that time, we will continue regular operations in Seattle. 



 Family News and Family Trees

Believe it or not, the PROGRESS study has now been underway for two years! We have continued to keep in touch with the families who have participated since the beginning of the study. Many of you have called to tell us about recoveries, new diagnoses, new grandchildren in the family and about losing loved ones. All of you and your family members are very important to us. If you have any news to report about the family, please contact us and let us know.

Also, if any of you would like to share your family tree with us, please send us a copy. When we work with a PROGRESS family, we develop a family tree or “pedigree” based on the information that each participating individual provides. Though we try to be thorough, your family tree might help to fill in some of our blanks.

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