February 2009
Odds and Ends
An ESUN Resource
A Caregiver Deals with Recurrence
Jane has cared for her husband for eleven years as he has dealt with chondrosarcoma diagnosis and recurrences. She shared her journey in the hope of helping others deal with long-term caregiving. Read more....
Moments
Lori's son was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma when he was 18. In this piece, she shares powerful moments of her experience with his diagnosis and treatment. Read more...
The Team Sarcoma Initiative
The Team Sarcoma InitiativeThe Team Sarcoma Initiative is an internationally coordinated set of events to raise awareness of sarcoma and raise funds to support sarcoma research, clinical trials, and patient and family services. The annual effort consists of a "core" Team Sarcoma Bike Tour and local Team Sarcoma events that are held worldwide during the same week. We have designed a Tri-Fold Brochure that explains the initiative.
We expect to have 10,000 participants in TSI this year, representing states and countries around the world. Please contact us to plan an event in your area. Whether you plan a small event with family and friends, or a city-wide event, we need your help to in increasing awareness, support and research funding for everyone touched by sarcoma. Learn more at the Team Sarcoma website.
The "core" Team Sarcoma Bike Tour
The 2009 Team Sarcoma Bike Tour will take place on the historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington, DC from July 18-25, 2009. These tours provide a special opportunity to interact with others who have been touched by sarcoma, to see beautiful places and to have fun together. We hope that you will consider joining us. To read more and sign up for the tour, view the announcement.
Moments in Sarcoma
If you have been touched by sarcoma, you have a moment to share with the world. If you were to share just one moment on your journey with sarcoma, what would it be? Imagine a collection of moments from people around the world who have dealt with all kinds of sarcomas. What insights would surface? What would we learn?
"Moments in Sarcoma" is a new project that will publish moments from the lives of patients and their families, doctors, researchers, and friends. Submissions are invited during the month of February. Then one submission will be published daily on the Team Sarcoma Website starting in May or June, continuing through the International Sarcoma Awareness Week in July, and ending when all chosen moments have been published.
As a part of this very special project, one patient or survivor who submits a moment by March 1 will be awarded a sponsorship of at least $2,000 (there may also be the possibility of some travel assistance) to participate in the 2009 Team Sarcoma "Core Team" Bike Tour.
Everyone who has been touched by sarcoma is invited. Learn more, and share a moment today.
Pediatric malignancies: update on sarcomas and leukemia development in children
The study of malignancies in children has provided important insights into normal cellular growth regulation and into cancer development. In this article, the authors present a few vignettes in pediatric leukemia and sarcoma that highlight a number of trends in basic, translational, and clinical research. These include the application of new methodologies for oncogene discovery, new approaches to study oncogenes, the use of genetically engineered models to identify tumor cell-of-origins, and the use of targeted therapeutics against pathways not thought to be mutant in tumor cells. Through the use of such methodologies, an improved understanding of pediatric malignancy is emerging, and is being applied to the care of children with cancer.
Phase II Randomized Control Trial now enrolling in Soft-Tissue Sarcoma
ZIOPHARM Oncology is now enrolling patients in a Phase II randomized controlled trial (RCT) of palifosfamide combined with doxorubicin for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma (STS): A Phase II multicenter, parallel group, randomized study of palIfosfamide tris plus doxorubiCin versus doxorubicin in subjects with unresectAble or metastatic Soft-tissue SarcOma (PICASSO). The primary objective of the study is to assess the difference in progression-free survival (PFS) between subjects treated with palifosfamide plus doxorubicin versus doxorubicin alone. A secondary objective is to assess the safety, tolerability and the response of the patients to both regimens treated in the study.
Eligible patients have been diagnosed with advanced, histologically confirmed STS excluding alveolar soft-part sarcoma, chondrosarcoma, dermatofibrosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, GIST, Kaposi sarcoma, mixed mesodermal tumor, osteosarcoma, radiation induced sarcoma and unresectable low-grade liposarcoma and have front line or second line metastatic disease or advanced local disease. Patients may have failed adjuvant therapy. Additional information regarding the PICASSO trial for both patients and providers can be found in our Sarcoma Clinical Trials Listings or at www.clinicaltrial.gov.
Recent advances in the molecular pathology of soft tissue sarcoma: Implications for diagnosis, patient prognosis, and molecular target therapy in the future
This paper discusses recent advances in the molecular pathology of soft tissue sarcomas and the implications for their prognostic value. The potential targets of molecular therapy are also discussed. The paper describes the differences between chromosome translocation-associated sarcomas and sarcomas without specific translocations. It points out that the fusion transcripts of chromosome translocation-associated sarcomas are promising candidates as molecular targets, while sarcomas without specific translocations will present additional challenges to find targets.
Soft Tissue Sarcomas of Childhood and Adolescence: The Prognostic Role of Tumor Size in Relation to Patient Body Size
Tumor size is a key prognostic variable for soft tissue sarcomas. A tumor diameter of 5 cm is generally used as a cutoff for risk grouping purposes. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic effect of tumor size on overall survival and whether such an effect was influenced by the patient's size, expressed as body-surface area (BSA). A series of 553 pediatric patients with localized STS were studied. The effect of tumor size was adjusted for patients age, tumor site, histologic subtype, and Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study grouping, and the interaction between size and BSA was included. The Results were as follows: Tumor size was confirmed as a significant prognostic factor. Interaction between size and BSA meant that, for a given tumor size, the mortality increased from the larger to the smaller BSA. Conversely, the mortality risk associated with a patient with a BSA of 1.75 m2 and a 5-cm tumor was the same as for a 0.6 m2 child with a 2.8-cm tumor. The authors thus Conclude: Tumor and body size are jointly informative on outcome. The risk associated with a given tumor size is not the same in patients of different body size, so it may be wrong to use the same 5-cm cutoff for tumor size in risk stratification.
Center for Connected Health
The Center for Connected Health is creating new solutions and innovative interventions to deliver quality patient care outside of the traditional medical setting. Their programs use a combination of remote-monitoring technology, sensors, and online communications and intelligence to improve patient adherence, engagement and clinical outcomes. Established in 1995, the Center for Connected Health is a division of Partners HealthCare in Boston, founded by Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospitals, and their programs are offered at practices and hospitals throughout New England. The Center also offers expert online second opinions, enhanced medical education and training, and engages in innovative research to discover new pathways to better care, including the use of virtual worlds and online coaching.
Cancer Atlas®: 3D Medical Animation
Cancer Atlas® is a unique cancer education tool comprised of 3-D medical animation clips accompanied by voice narration and illustrates a particular disease process in the body or a specific medical procedure/technology. They have animations for such diagnostic tests as bone scans, MRI, X-rays, CAT scans, and medical treatments such as chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation, and radiation therapy. They also have an animation explaining osteosarcoma.
V6N1 ESUN Copyright © 2009 Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative.