DRIVING FOR DONORS
While most 11-year-olds are out riding bikes or playing video games, Pat Pedraja is changing the world. Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) last March, Pat never asked, ‘‘Why me?’’ Instead, he went to work dreaming up a plan to help people who may need a marrow or cord blood transplant.
The idea for ‘‘Driving for Donors’’ came to Pat when he learned of the difficulty many patients with similar life-threatening diseases face while searching for a matching bone marrow donor. Wanting to help, he launched ‘‘One Child’s Dream — Driving for Donors.’’ This summer, Pat and his family will caravan across the nation to hold donor recruitment drives in 28 cities, including two Los Angeles-based events. On July 13, Driving for Donors will host a bone marrow registration and blood donation drive in City of Hope’s Cooper Auditorium from noon to 6 p.m.
Joining the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry is easy. Any person of any race, ethnicity or gender who is 18 to 60 years old and meets donation health guidelines can become a potential volunteer donor. More information about ‘‘One Child’s Dream’’ can be found online at www.drivingfordonors.com.
‘‘I know how important it is to increase the diversity of the National Marrow Donor Program Registry because I’m part Hispanic,’’ Pat said. ‘‘There are other kids out there who do need a (bone marrow) transplant and I want people to know that they could be the one to save a life.’’
Marrow and blood cell transplants require matching certain tissue traits of the donor and patient. Since tissue types are inherited, a patient's best chance of finding a matched donor is from his or her own racial or ethnic group. Although more minority patients now are finding donors, they still remain less likely than Caucasians to be matched with a donor. ‘‘All that matters to me is if we give one person a second chance at life," Pat said. "Then ‘One Child’s Dream’ and my dream would be a success.’’
Currently, Pat does not need a transplant — but a marrow or blood cell transplant could provide a cure for thousands of other patients searching for a matching donor. Such a transplant is possible only when the patient and donor have matching tissue types. About 70 percent of patients do not have a matching donor in their family.
If you are interested in meeting Pat and his family invite you to talk with them at a special event from 11 a.m. to noon, July 13, in City of Hope’s Cooper Auditorium. If you would like to participate, please contact Kim Ramos at 626-256-4673 ext. 63262 or email mramos@coh.org.
Pat Pedraja and a cuddly friend
About the National Marrow Donor Program
The NMDP facilitates unrelated marrow and blood cell transplants as a single point of access for a long-standing network of leading national and international medical facilities in marrow and cord blood transplantation. The NMDP connects patients, doctors, donors and researchers to the resources they need to help more people live longer and healthier lives. City of Hope partners with the NMDP network. For more information, call 626-301-8483 or visit www.marrow.org.
WHY WE ASK ABOUT YOUR MEDICATIONS
As patients enter City of Hope, we ask questions and request that they complete forms that enable us to provide the highest quality of care. One of the questions we always ask is about the medications and herbal products they have been taking at home.
Over the years, data show knowing about patients’ home medications can help health-care providers improve the quality of care. This can be as simple as assuring that we do not overlook continuing a medication that patients had been taking at home.
The medication list also guides us to avoid potential problems. For instance, it’s very helpful for our staff to know if you have recently taken aspirin or ibuprofen, because these drugs can affect blood clotting. It’s also important to make sure that food will not cause any reactions to medications.
This process of asking you for your medication list and using the list to optimize your care is known as medication reconciliation. Although it may feel inconvenient to answer our questions, please know that we’re looking out for your safety.
CMV VACCINE RESEARCH STUDY
City of Hope is looking for healthy adult volunteers, ages 18 to 55, to participate in an experimental CMV vaccine trial.
What is CMV?
CMV is a virus in a family called herpes virus. Like other herpes viruses, such as chickenpox, mono-virus, and herpes, this is a common infection. The difference between CMV and other herpes viruses is that CMV usually causes no disease in healthy people — only in people who have poor immunity, such as unborn babies or transplant recipients. For more information, see the website www.cdc.gov/cmv.
Who are we looking for?
• Volunteers ages 18 to 55
• Must not be taking any medications for chronic illness or infections
• Have not undergone any major surgical procedures in the past six months
What does the trial involve?
• Screening for study eligibility. If eligible, then you will have:
• Four vaccine shots over the course of nine weeks
• A series of small blood samples over the course of one year (13 visits) are collected. Blood will be taken to monitor and evaluate the response to the vaccine.
How risky is this vaccine?
The most likely risks of the vaccination are some redness and swelling at the site of the vaccination. Other side effects that may occur will be discussed.
Compensation:
Participants will receive compensation of $50 per visit for time and inconvenience. Lunch-hour appointments are available and lunch vouchers will be provided. If you are interested in being a volunteer and are over age 18, please contact 626-256-HOPE (4673), ext. 62826. Research conducted by John Zaia, M.D., principal investigator.
THE GRAPE SEED EXTRACT CLINICAL TRIAL
The City of Hope Grape Seed Extract Clinical Trial investigates whether grape seed extract can lower estrogen levels in postmenopausal women between the ages of 40 and 75 who may be at risk for breast cancer. High estrogen levels have been linked to breast cancer. Grape seed extract is a widely available nutritional supplement marketed for its antioxidant properties. Preclinical studies have shown that grape seed extract decreases estrogen levels and shrinks breast tumors in animals, but this is the first trial in humans.
We need your participation to learn more about the effectiveness of grape seed extract in reducing breast cancer risk. If you believe you are eligible for this study and are interested in participating, please contact the Grape Seed Extract Study staff at gse@coh.org or 626-256-HOPE (4673), ext. 64826.
OVARIAN CANCER HAS EARLY WARNING SIGNS
Historically, ovarian cancer has been called the "silent killer" because symptoms often become apparent so late in the process that chances of a cure were poor.
According to a consensus statement released in June by the American Cancer Society, the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation and the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, recent medical studies show identifiable symptoms often do exist for ovarian cancer, even in the early stages. These are the most common symptoms:
• bloating
• pelvic or abdominal pain
• trouble eating or feeling full quickly
• urinary symptoms, such as urgent or frequent feelings of needing to go
These symptoms are, of course, relatively common and occur with any number of ailments. In fact, they are more likely to be due to causes other than ovarian cancer. But when their occurrence is unusual, when they happen almost daily, and when they last for more than a few weeks, they should prompt a woman to see a doctor, preferably a gynecologist.
Robert J. Morgan, M.D., associate director for education and staff physician in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research at City of Hope, says that data suggest that ‘‘patients who have new unexplained symptoms need to consult their physicians, and physicians need to be very aware that these types of symptoms should be evaluated to be certain that potentially curable illnesses are not missed in an early, more potentially curable stage.’’
Although ovarian cancer is not a highly likely cause of these symptoms, he says, ‘‘it is a possibility that needs to be considered in patients presenting with new unexplained physical complaints.’’
The American Cancer Society estimates that 22,430 women will be diagnosed with new cases of ovarian cancer this year in the United States. While 93 percent of women diagnosed with early stage ovarian cancer will survive 5 years or more, and most of them will be cured, only 19 percent of ovarian cancers are found at that early stage, before they have spread outside the ovary. As a result, ovarian cancer ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women and accounts for more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. About 15,280 women will die of the disease in the U.S. this year.
The new recommendations have been endorsed by more than a dozen other groups, including CancerCare, Gilda's Club and several medical societies.
Excerpted with permission from the American Cancer Society (article date: 6/14/2007)
WELCOME DR. JOSEPHSON
David Y. Josephson, M.D., will join City of Hope’s medical staff on Aug. 1. A specialist in minimally invasive urologic oncology, he has expertise in the surgical management of prostate, kidney, testis and bladder cancer, as well as urinary tract reconstruction.
He is one of very few urologic surgeons in the country with extensive training and experience in both open and robotic techniques for the management of complex urologic disorders.
His primary clinical and research interests include the use of innovative and advanced laparoscopic/robotic techniques for urologic cancer surgery. He has studied the role of extended lymph node dissections in patients with invasive bladder cancer as well as the usefulness of molecular markers to guide further therapy.
Dr. Josephson is a native of Southern California and earned his bachelor’s degree in anthropology from UCLA. He then attended medical school in New York at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and returned to California to receive general surgery and urology training at the University of Southern California (USC).
He went on to a clinical urologic oncology and reconstructive urology fellowship under the mentorship of Donald G. Skinner, M.D., at USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he was a clinical instructor of urology. He subsequently did a fellowship in minimally invasive and robotic urologic oncology at City of Hope under Timothy G. Wilson, M.D.
Dr. Josephson is a member of the Society of Urologic Oncology, American Urologic Association and American College of Surgeons.
