Recruiting more Hispanics to cancer clinical trials crucial to reducing health disparities

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SAN ANTONIO (May 19, 2014) — Hispanics are the fastest-growing demographic group in the United States, and they suffer from major health disparities, including higher rates of cancers of the cervix, stomach and liver. However, their enrollment levels in cancer clinical trials seeking to cure these problems is abysmally low: 3.9 percent.

In a paper published today in the “Comments and Controversies” section of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, three physicians from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio are issuing a call to arms to other cancer researchers to improve their recruitment of Hispanic patients into clinical trials.

“Fundamentally, in the most recent published cancer clinical trials, either the number and proportion of Hispanics are not reported or are far below their actual representation in the national population,” said Ian M. Thompson Jr., M.D., director of the Health Science Center’s Cancer Therapy & Research Center.

“We have a major responsibility to ensure adequate representation,” Dr. Thompson said. “How else will we know how best to treat our patients, and how else are we going to reduce the health disparities in this population?”
Dr. Thompson, Anand Karnad, M.D., CTRC chief of the division of hematology/oncology at the CTRC, and Alberto Parra, M.D., internal medicine resident at the UT Health Science Center, examined clinical trial participation.

Fifty-eight percent of San Antonio residents are Hispanic, with 68 percent in the South Texas region as a whole. As the National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center serving South Texas, the CTRC has a strategic focus on improving health care in the region by working to increase Hispanic participation in cancer clinical trials. In 2012, 45 percent of the 822 patients enrolled onto the clinical trials offered at CTRC were Hispanic. The CTRC achieved this by studying ways to reduce barriers that might be unique to Hispanic patients, developing a minority recruitment toolbox with bilingual forms, and creating a coordinator of minority programs who is bilingual.

“For institutions like ours that serve a ‘minority-majority’ population, it’s a major responsibility for us to ensure adequate representation so that we can tell our patients how they can best be treated and how we can reduce the disparities of this rapidly-growing population,” Dr. Thompson said.

 

The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the elite academic cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Cancer Center, and is one of only four in Texas. A leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer, the CTRC Institute for Drug Development (IDD) conducts one of the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug programs in the world, and participates in development of cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. For more information, visit www.ctrc.net.

$600,000 from Alliance for Lupus Research furthers investigations

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Drugs called epigenetic modulators hold promise in treating lupus

SAN ANTONIO (May 19, 2014) — Mechanisms of action in lupus by drugs called epigenetic modulators are the focus of a new three-year, $600,000 grant by the Alliance for Lupus Research to Paolo Casali, M.D., of the School of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Only six of these grants are awarded each year.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that debilitates half a million to 1.5 million people in the United States, mostly women in their fertile years. Epigenetic modulators, often used in the treatment of lymphomas, may turn out to be useful therapies for lupus, as well.

The body’s immune system usually mounts a defense against viruses, bacteria, parasites and other entities, including tumors. In SLE patients, however, it turns against the body’s own tissues, including the kidneys, lungs, heart, skin, brain and central nervous system. “It’s a generalized attack that systematically destroys the inner core of most cells of the body, including the DNA itself and other constituents of the cellular nuclei,” Dr. Casali said.

Dr. Casali has contributed to fundamental understandings about the immune system abnormalities that occur in SLE. These findings provide a scientific rationale for why epigenetic modulators might be effective in humans. In addition, the Alliance for Lupus Research grant will identify novel targets for new lupus therapeutics. “Our team of investigators has conducted basic science research that has found an immediate translational relevance to a disease, lupus,” Dr. Casali said. “For the first time, mechanisms important to the generation of autoantibodies (the antibodies that attack components of the body) have been identified. We outlined the mechanisms and then looked for drugs that may alter them.”

In a healthy person, infection-fighting cells called B lymphocytes or B cells react to foreign substances (antigens on viruses, bacteria, etc.) by producing antibodies. Such antibodies home in on and neutralize the threats. During an effective immune response, B cells initiate two changes:

• class-switch DNA recombination, which modifies the tail of an antibody to alter its biological effect for a targeted use, and,

• somatic hypermutation, which involves the fast-paced introduction of genetic mutations, enabling the antibody to speedily recognize antigens that it has not previously encountered. “Good vaccines induce both changes,” Dr. Casali said.

The self-aggressive, autoimmune response utilizes the same process, but far beyond healthy parameters. “When you analyze a blood sample from a woman with SLE, you find all kinds of antibodies and, more importantly, autoantibodies,” Dr. Casali said. “The antibody response is dysregulated and widespread.”

Dr. Casali’s studies focus on two enzymes. The first is called activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), which is critical for class-switch recombination and somatic hypermutation. The second is B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein-1 (Blimp-1), which is required for B lymphocytes to differentiate into antibody-secreting cells. AID and Blimp-1 are elevated in systemic lupus. Reducing AID and Blimp-1 expression in a mouse model of lupus decreases autoimmunity and improves health, Dr. Casali said. The hormone estrogen and epigenetic factors called microRNAs also play roles in AID and Blimp-1 expression.

“In the Alliance for Lupus Research grant, we will systematically test the ability of different epigenetic modulators to blunt the lupus autoantibody response and ‘prevent/cure’ the disease,” Dr. Casali said. This grant complements and expands the scope of two additional and larger National Institutes of Health research grants that Dr. Casali holds to address the basic molecular and cellular mechanisms of the antibody response in health and disease.

Dr. Casali’s laboratory is part of an integrated immunology research operation that also includes the laboratories of Hong Zan, Ph.D., and Zhenming Xu, Ph.D. Dr. Casali moved to San Antonio from the School of Medicine of the University of California, Irvine in January 2014 as the Zachry Foundation Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the UT Health Science Center.

 

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving National Institutes of Health funding. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced more than 29,000 graduates. The $765 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.

High school students get rare chance to quiz Nobel Laureate

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WHAT:

See the wonder of science on high school students’ faces as they meet a living legend, a Nobel Prize winner whose contributions have changed studies of disease!

WHEN:

A dedicated time for media to cover the student-scientist interaction is 1 to 1:30 p.m. Friday, May 16 (tomorrow). Later in the afternoon, at 3:30, Dr. Chalfie will discuss his science and career in a lecture open to students, parents, teachers and other members of the public.

WHERE:

The Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, a research institute of the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. The Barshop Institute is located at 15355 Lambda Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78245-3207, in the Texas Research Park.

WHO:

Several high school students who participate in the Voelcker Biomedical Research Academy at the UT Health Science Center will have face time with Nobel Laureate Martin Chalfie, Ph.D., of Columbia University.

BACKGROUND:

Dr. Chalfie shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, which was first observed in a type of jellyfish. Biologists now routinely use green fluorescent proteins to track the growth and fate of specific cells, such as nerve cells damaged by Alzheimer’s disease.

Voelcker Scholars are outstanding area students who participate in three summers of programming at the Health Science Center. The Voelcker Biomedical Research Academy, made possible by the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund, places these young scholars in mentors’ laboratories, where they learn how to conduct research and present their own novel findings. It will be a thrill for these students to meet Dr. Chalfie, who is generously giving of his time to perpetuate the science education pipeline.

 

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the country’s leading health sciences universities. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced more than 31,000 graduates. The $801.8 million operating budget supports six campuses in San Antonio and Laredo. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.

Eating well to live better – the best Mother’s Day gift

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SAN ANTONIO (May 8, 2014) — Bioprospector Michael Wargovich travels the world to find cancer-fighting ingredients in traditional foods, but you can do the same thing with fresh, local ingredients — and Dr. Wargovich and Chef Iverson Brownell can show you how on May 11 at the Quarry Farmers and Ranchers Market.

The scientist and the chef, presenting on behalf of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center, will give lectures and cooking demonstrations at 9:30, 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. at the farmer’s market, 225 E. Basse Rd., San Antonio.

It will be Mother’s Day, so bring Mom, pick up a recipe, and buy the ingredients from vendors right there at the market.

Dr. Wargovich, Ph.D., holds the Cancer Center Council Distinguished Chair in Oncology at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center, which sponsors a series of free public lectures on cancer prevention and treatment. This lecture combines Dr. Wargovich’s knowledge with the culinary talents of Chef Brownell, who will be using ingredients fresh from the farmers market vendors to create delicious and healthy examples
For more information call (210) 450-1152 or visit http://www.ctrc.net/ctrc2.cfm?mid=2029&pid=1003

 

The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the elite academic cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Cancer Center, and is one of only four in Texas. A leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer, the CTRC Institute for Drug Development (IDD) conducts one of the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug programs in the world, and participates in development of cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. For more information, visit www.ctrc.net.

Mother’s Day cooking demo at Quarry Farmers Market

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WHAT:

A free cooking demonstration, lecture and Q&A on the science behind anti-inflammatory foods, sponsored by the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center

WHEN:

9:30, 10:30 & 11:30 a.m. Sunday, May 11, 2014

WHERE:

Quarry Farmers and Ranchers Market, 255 E. Basse Rd., San Antonio

WHO:

Michael Wargovich, Ph.D., CTRC researcher of anti-inflammatory ingredients in foods and natural substances that help the body prevent cancer
Iverson Brownell, The Freestyle Chef

NOTES:

Free copies of Chef Brownell’s anti-inflammatory recipes will be available at the demonstration

 

The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the elite academic cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Cancer Center, and is one of only four in Texas. A leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer, the CTRC Institute for Drug Development (IDD) conducts one of the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug programs in the world, and participates in development of cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. For more information, visit www.ctrc.net.

Pamela Otto, M.D., named chair of Department of Radiology

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SAN ANTONIO (May 8, 2014) – Pamela Otto, M.D., FACR, has been named chair of the Department of Radiology by Francisco González-Scarano, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

“Dr. Otto has been the interim chair of the department for the past two years, and she has steered the department superbly in this role,” Dr. Gonzalez-Scarano said. “She is consistently listed among America’s Top Doctors (by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.) and is one of the outstanding breast radiologists in the country.”

Dr. Otto obtained her medical degree from the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia in 1988. She completed residency in diagnostic radiology at the University of Florida in Gainesville and at the UT Health Science Center. Dr. Otto completed fellowships in chest and breast imaging at the Health Science Center.

Following her training, she joined the faculty in the Department of Radiology as director of breast imaging and intervention. Dr. Otto has served on several university and School of Medicine committees including Faculty Senate, Promotion and Tenure Committee, and the School of Medicine’s Executive Committee. She is a professor of radiology at the Health Science Center.

She has held multiple roles such as director of radiology for University Health System (UHS), chief of staff for UHS, and chair of quality risk management for UHS. Dr. Otto is a councilor for the Texas Radiological Society and program director for the 2015 Texas Radiological Society annual scientific meeting.

Dr. Otto’s research is on breast health and breast imaging and intervention, and she has been the principal investigator on multiple grants in this area. She also is active in undergraduate and graduate medical education, as well as in continuing medical education and in community education, having given numerous educational and scientific presentations locally, nationally and internationally.

She has been the recipient of numerous awards honoring her passion for patient care and advocacy, including the Susan G. Komen Award from the San Antonio Affiliate and UHS Physician of the Year.

 

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the country’s leading health sciences universities. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced more than 31,000 graduates. The $801.8 million operating budget supports six campuses in San Antonio and Laredo. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.