=======================
                         JeffNEWS, July 12, 1994
                         =======================


Jefferson Researchers Patent Test to Detect Prostate Cancer in the Blood
------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Jefferson researchers have confirmed a new way to detect the extent of
prostate cancer that may ultimately eliminate the need for radical surgery
when cancer cells have spread beyond the prostate.

   "Traditionally, the belief among scientists has been that prostate
cancer metastasized from the lymph nodes to the bone," said Jose G. Moreno,
MD, a chief resident in urology at Jefferson, who works in conjunction with
Leonard Gomella, MD, a urologic oncologist, Carlo Croce, MD, PhD, chairman
of the department of microbiology and immunology, and other Jefferson
researchers. "Because there are documented cases, however, of men with
cancer in their bone but not in their lymph nodes, we felt that the cancer,
in some cases, was going directly to the blood."

   The test, which has been used effectively in nearly 50 men who were
diagnosed with prostate cancer, detects circulating prostatic cells in the
blood using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on blood studies done with the
prostate specific antigen (PSA) test. PSA has recently gained acceptance as
an effective screening test for men with prostate cancer. Up until now, PSA
results are apparent at more advanced stages of disease, but when used in
conjunction with PCR, cancer may be detected at an earlier stage.
Jefferson's patented approach to evaluating the blood for prostate cancer
cells has been bought by Cyto-Diagnostics in Oklahoma, which expects to
produce a kit by early 1995.

   Because there is no cure for prostate cancer when it has spread beyond
the prostate, this test may save many men the trauma of radical surgery to
remove the prostate. If the blood test shows the cancer to have spread, the
patient is given the option of hormone or radiation therapy as opposed to
removing the prostate. As a result, the quality and length of their lives
could be improved. 

   "Men with prostate cancer die because it spreads to their bones,"
explained Dr. Moreno. "Simply removing the prostate in those patients often
is an ineffective way to treat the disease. The test not only identifies
men for whom surgery is redundant, it may also spare them the diagnostic
procedure of biopsying the prostate, which can be a very painful procedure.
With refinement of this test, we may eventually need only to depend upon
drawn blood to evaluate the extent of disease."

   Researchers at Jefferson began work on the blood assay more than two
years ago and published their preliminary findings in the November 1992
issue of the journal Cancer Research. Dr. Moreno notes that the work also
contributes to the next frontier of cancer treatment, which is gene
therapy. "This assay would be the best way to select patients who are ideal
for gene therapy; patients who have systemic spread," said Dr. Moreno.

   Jefferson is currently involved in three clinical trials to expand on
the possible improvements in and applications of the blood test. One trial
involves the administration of taxol, currently used to treat breast
cancer, as a therapy for men with metastasized prostate cancer.

   Dr. Moreno explained that a prostate cancer is a good testing ground for
isolating cancer cells because it is a self-contained, solid tumor, as are
breast and colon cancers. By identifying tumors as early as possible, the
physician can properly determine the extent of the cancer (called
"staging") and develop appropriate treatment. In this way, surgical
treatment and adjuvant therapy would depend upon metastasis. The hope is
that, eventually, the treatment of these three types of tumors may benefit
from this research.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information provided by:  Editor, JeffNEWS
                          (215) 955-6204
------------------------------------------------------------------------------