New medicines promising, but no ‘magic pill’ to conquer cancer

“Magical” cancer drug discoveries are promising, but medicine alone won’t beat today’s top killer, according to two Mills-Peninsula cancer specialists.

It’s true that dramatic new medicines are being developed, medical oncologist
Brian Henderson, M.D., said.

“I tell my patients we are beginning to get an idea of the underlying causes of cancer. We’re learning how cells become malignant and what stimulates them to grow.

“The Human Genome Project has identified something like 40,000 genes. Now we have to learn the products of each gene and what they do under normal and disease processes. These discoveries one day will lead to therapies that will turn abnormal cells back into normal ones.”

The most exciting developments are in targeted therapies, according to Rex Greene, M.D., medical director of Mills-Peninsula’s Dorothy E. Schneider Cancer Center.

“We traditionally have had surgery, radiation and chemotherapy to treat cancer,” he said. “Chemotherapy attacks all the cells in your body. With targeted therapies, normal cells are mostly not affected. We’ve finally opened that door we’ve been searching for.”

“Gleevec, the new treatment for a form of leukemia, is
a good example,”
Dr. Henderson said.
“It turns off the ‘on’ switch
of the cancer cell without spillover into other organs.”

But while new medications are exciting, low-tech weapons can’t be neglected,
Dr. Greene said.

“A comprehensive anti-cancer strategy should invest not only in new medicines, but also in promotion of healthy lifestyles and improved early detection using tools like mammograms, pap smears and colonoscopies,” he said.

“If we aggressively used the best knowledge in all these areas, we would see a 50-percent drop in cancer deaths.”

Mills-Peninsula’s Dorothy E. Schneider Cancer Center was developed to bring that global view to the Peninsula,
Dr. Greene said.

“It began with a focus in the early 1990’s on early detection and treatment of breast cancer. Mills-Peninsula acquired the best technology and expertise for screening, and started working with local physicians to promote early detection.

“Today, the Mills-Peninsula Medical Group has a successful program to ensure that women patients get mammograms. They’re doing a superb job. Thanks to their efforts and our technology and expertise, Mills-Peninsula’s early detection rate is 9 percent higher than national benchmarks.

“But the most important breakthrough is for doctors from each discipline to sit down and talk about patients at the very beginning. Today Mills-Peninsula
internists, gynecologists, oncologists, surgeons, pathologists and others come together weekly to develop the most comprehensive diagnosis and treatment for each woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer.

“It works. Mills-Peninsula’s five-year survival rates exceed national benchmarks,” the oncologist said. “We’re developing more programs using that interdisciplinary model.

“People talking to each other. Imagine. Now, that’s a breakthrough.”


Should you learn more about your family tree?
Mills-Peninsula’s Dorothy E. Schneider Cancer Center offers counseling to help people determine whether they have a genetic predisposition to certain cancers. Advanced practice nurses use a patient’s family history to establish a “pedigree,” which is similar to a family tree. It evaluates risk against established criteria. If a person is determined at high risk, recommendations might include a blood test for genetic mutation such as BRC 1 or 2 for breast cancer or HNPCC for colon cancer. For more information, call cancer nurse specialist Jennifer Vickerman, R.N., at (650) 696 4582.

Take a simple family history quiz here.