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UCI Researchers Examine Cancer “Sponging” Effect

UCI Researchers Examine Cancer ‘Sponging’ Effect

Memorial’s Collins Steps Back; Ista Reports on Eye Compound Trials

HEALTHCARE

by Vita Reed

University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine researchers have found that a cell receptor could reduce deaths from pancreatic or other cancers by sopping up excess chemicals produced by tumors.

UCI medical professor Dr. Murray Korc and his colleagues used human cancer cells in mice for the project. The researchers found that binding a growth factor found in cancer cells to “dummy” cell receptors, which don’t send signals to human cells, reduced tumor sizes and decreased the spread of malignant cells.

The dummy cell receptors acted like a sponge, the team found, “mopping up” excess levels of the growth factor TGF-beta found in the cancerous cells.

Korc said that TGF-beta, which normally inhibits cell growth, “is found at high levels in pancreatic, kidney, liver and breast cancer cells, where it increases blood supply to cancer cells and helps them spread.

“Binding TGF-beta to a receptor that doesn’t signal a cell to grow and spread can make that receptor literally sponge up the excess TGF-beta,” Korc said.

If the results prove effective in people, Korc contends, they could increase the chances of survival from pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer kills more than 29,000 people in the U.S. each year; about 30,000 new cases are diagnosed annually.

Figures from the American Cancer Society show that only 20% of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive beyond a year. As for current treatments, chemotherapy and radiation are considered somewhat effective. Surgery often is thwarted by the fact that 90% of pancreatic cancers spread.

Five other UCI researchers assisted Korc on the study, which appears in the January issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, a professional journal.

Korc’s research was funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute. Colleague Melissa Rowland-Goldsmith also received a post-doctoral fellowship from the George E. Hewitt Foundation for Medical Research, which was established by Hewitt, a Newport Beach philanthropist and engineer who’s been a longtime supporter of UCI.

Memorial Boss Stepping Down

Memorial Health Services, which counts three Orange County hospitals, will be getting another leader this year. Thomas Collins recently said he was going to retire from his position as president and chief executive. A successor is expected to be in place later this year.

Collins became Memorial’s president and chief executive in 1993. During his time, Memorial grew to a five-hospital system with 1,415 acute-care beds, more than 8,000 staff members and 3,000 affiliated physicians.

Among other things, Collins increased not-for-profit Memorial’s capacity in 1996 with the addition of Anaheim Memorial Medical Center and Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley. The system’s other OC hospital is Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills. Memorial’s two other hospitals are in Long Beach..

Collins isn’t totally stepping away from Memorial. The health system’s board asked him to serve as its chairman for two years after his successor is selected. He also will be a special adviser to the new president and chief executive and the board.

Ista Reports Clinical Trial Results

Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc., Irvine, re-ported clinical trial results for its Vitrase compound for diabetic retinopathy, one of the most common causes of adult blindness.

Among other things, the results showed that Vitrase was able to induce separation of the vitreous humor from the retina in 60% of eyes treated with a single dose. Such separation, according to retinal specialists, may be beneficial in the early treatment of diabetic retinopathy by delaying the disease’s progression.

Ista is also scheduled to report third-phase results from another Vitrase trial later this week. Ista is working toward a mid-2003 launch for Vitrase, which is intended to treat eye disorders, such as vitreous hemorrhage, or bleeding in the eye.

The company recently said that it plans to start acquiring and commercializing other ophthalmic pharmaceuticals while still working on its own potential products for eye disorders . As part of that shift, Ista brought in Vicente Anido Jr., a former Allergan Inc. executive and venture capitalist, as chief executive.

Bits and Pieces:

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Newport Beach, opened a six-level, 455-space parking structure on its campus. The structure is located near Hoag’s seven-story Women’s Pavilion, which is scheduled to open in 2005 and subsequently become the facility’s main entrance I-Flow Corp., Lake Forest, started direct distribution of its ON-Q pain management system and Soaker catheter products to the U.S. orthopedic market Robert Nerem, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is set to speak on the potential role of tissue engineering in alleviating organ transplant shortages Feb. 4 at the University of California, Irvine. Nerem’s talk is scheduled for 6 p.m. at UCI’s McDonnell Douglas Engineering Auditorium. Information: (949) 824-1540.

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