Outreach Online -Fall 2009

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Reaching Higher

Cancer research doctors

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
Ochsner and LSUHSC join forces

The new Ochsner Health System and Louisiana State University (LSU) partnership for cancer research brings together a talented team of doctors and researchers to create a local powerhouse for the study and treatment of malignancies. According to Dr. Augusto Ochoa, Director of the Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center at the LSU Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC), it will move research from the laboratory into the clinic and will create opportunities to study and develop new techniques and treatments, helping them reach cancer patients in Louisiana faster.

“Patients always want to hear about the latest technology, the cutting edge,” says Dr. Ochoa. “Cancer treatment is a rapidly evolving field, and it is extremely difficult for any one person to be an expert in all the new developments. Therefore, there needs to be a very close association between clinicians treating patients and investigators doing cutting-edge research. It is very rare in today’s world that any one individual can be both. Instead, we have developed teams that combine their expertise to create excellence in different types of cancers.”

CRITICAL MASS OF EXPERTISE
This new partnership will advance treatment options and provide better access to care, as well as build teams of excellence to study certain types of tumors. Patients will benefit immediately from having a larger and more complete system of clinicians and researchers working on their immediate problems, and they will have expanded access to clinical trials through the institutions’ community clinical oncology programs (CCOP), including the Minority-Based CCOP at LSUHSC.

“It is a unique partnership in terms of bringing a university and non-university program together,” says Dr. John Cole, head of Hematology and Oncology at Ochsner. “We each bring our own unique and complementary strengths to the partnership. Our goal is to create a critical mass of expertise in cancer research and treatment that will accelerate scientific discovery and improve patient care.”

Over the long term, the pooling of data, testing and research between the two institutions will move clinical care forward. Teams are already collaborating and researching melanoma, leukemia, breast cancer and lung cancer, among many others, bridging the divide between the hospital and the lab and facilitating quicker, more valuable interaction.

TOMORROW'S TREATMENTS TODAY
“We hope this partnership will be able to develop and offer new diagnostics or new treatments for patients in Louisiana,” says Dr. Ochoa. “I think testing new treatments like cancer vaccines and genetic diagnostics are probably not very far away with these teams of investigators.”

In addition to the research partnership, Ochsner and LSUHSC will start a bone marrow transplant program later this year. Patients will be able to receive top-quality care without traveling. Drs. Cole and Ochoa both hope that, as this program grows, it will begin to attract more talent, a chain reaction that can lead to even more advanced research in New Orleans.

“The more talented and smart people we have in the community, the better it is for the community,” says Dr. Cole.

COMPLEMENTARY STRENGTHS
Dr. Ochoa (left) and Dr. Cole (right), shown with LSUHSC researcher Paulo Rodriguez, Ph.D. (center), are leading the joint cancer research and treatment partnership.

LEARN more about the Department of Clinical Research Support.

FIND a clinical trial in which you could participate.

GET answers to FAQs about clinical trials.

Participation in a clinical trial can provide physicians and scientists with important information. Although there may be some added treatment benefit for patients, the most important gain from clinical trials is the knowledge acquired that will help prevent or better treat disease in the future.

Only 3 to 5 percent of the roughly 1.3 million people diagnosed with cancer this year will participate in a clinical trial. Dr. Jyotsna Fuloria, Director of Clinical Oncology Research at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans on Jefferson Highway, debunks a few myths that may keep people from participating in clinical trials.

MYTH ONE: CLINICAL TRIALS ARE A LAST RESORT TREATMENT
Clinical trials cover the entire spectrum of disease, from cancer prevention to treatment for very advanced forms of the disease. Some cancer trials are provided only after other treatments are offered. Your doctor will decide if a clinical trial may be right for you based on the stage of your disease and other treatments available.

MYTH TWO: YOU MIGHT GET A PLACEBO
Some clinical trials do involve the use of a placebo (e.g., a sugar pill); however, the placebo is usually in combination with the current standard of care you would receive if you were not in the trial. Rarely is a placebo given alone in a clinical trial that is for the treatment of disease.

MYTH THREE: IF YOU REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE, YOU WON’T BE TREATED
Before you can be enrolled in a clinical trial, you’ll be told exactly what will be involved and what will be required of you. This decision is up to you. If you decide not to participate, you will receive the current standard of treatment. If you agree to participate in a clinical trial you may withdraw at any point.

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