Category: Patient Advocacy

Dr. John Leonard Comments on Fox 5 News Regarding the Importance of Clinical Trials

Via the Meyer Cancer Center.

Recently Fox 5 News interviewed Lymphoma Program director, Dr. John Leonard about patient participation in clinical trials. As the director of the Joint Clinical Trials Office at Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Leonard is an expert in all questions relating to clinical trials. In the video Dr. Leonard cautioned that,

“…finding patients for clinical trials is often about numbers not money. Dr. Leonard says his office is trying to get the word out and let more patients know that clinical studies are out there that than can potentially help them.

Dr. Leonard’s office focuses on finding more effective treatments for serious illnesses like cancer and neurological disorders. He says it is a great opportunity for patients to gain access to the newest treatments before they’re available to anyone else.

Dr. Leonard has personally treated patients on clinical trials who have been among the first people to ever get a drug, and also among the first people to be effectively treated, cured, or had a better outcome because they participated in a clinical trial.

Remember, there is a big difference between answering an online ad for a medical study and going to a reputable institution like Weill Cornell Medical College or New York Presbyterian Hospital.

You can see plenty of cautionary tales online from people who signed up for studies online and gave their personal information only to find out that study was a scam designed to get and sell that personal information to marketers.

If you think a clinical trial might work for you, Dr. Leonard suggests contacting your physician.”

If you are interested in participating in a clinical trial for patients with lymphoma at Weill Cornell Medical College please click on the link.

Dr. John Leonard can be followed on Twitter @JohnPLeonardMD.

The Lymphoma Program can be followed on Twitter @lymphomaprogram.

A Road Map for Discovery and Translation in Lymphoma

In August 2014 the American Society of Hematology (ASH) organized the inaugural Meeting on Lymphoma Biology. The meeting’s Steering Committee was tasked with recommending a road map for future priorities in lymphoma discovery and translation. After identifying roadblocks that limit research they made recommendations on how to supersede them in the future. According to their recommendations:

The road map is based on the fundamental goal of extending effective treatment to all patients with lymphoma. Achieving that goal with maximum efficiency and expedience will require a broad and collaborative effort between researchers, patients, funding agencies, pharma, and advocacy groups.

Among the members of the distinguished committee, Weill Cornell Medical College was represented by Lymphoma Program Director, Dr. John P. Leonard and Dr. Ari Melnick, Chair of the Hematologic Malignancies Program at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center.

World Health Organization Says Herbicide May Cause Non-Hodgkin Lmyphoma

Glysophosate is a herbicide with the highest production volume of all herbicides. In the United States it is currently marketed under the trade name Roundup, and use has increased with the introduction of genetically modified crops resistant to glysophosate. Recently experts from the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization met and assessed the carcinogenicity of different herbicides. In glysophosate they found an increased risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma:

Case-control studies of occupational exposure in the USA,14 Canada,6 and Sweden7 reported increased risks for non-Hodgkin lymphoma that persisted after adjustment for other pesticides. The AHS cohort did not show a significantly increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In male CD-1 mice, glyphosate induced a positive trend in the incidence of a rare tumour, renal tubule carcinoma. A second study reported a positive trend for haemangiosarcoma in male mice.15 Glyphosate increased pancreatic islet-cell adenoma in male rats in two studies. A glyphosate formulation promoted skin tumours in an initiation-promotion study in mice.

Glyphosate has been detected in the blood and urine of agricultural workers, indicating absorption…Glyphosate and glyphosate formulations induced DNA and chromosomal damage in mammals, and in human and animal cells in vitro. One study reported increases in blood markers of chromosomal damage (micronuclei) in residents of several communities after spraying of glyphosate formulations.16 Bacterial mutagenesis tests were negative. Glyphosate, glyphosate formulations, and AMPA induced oxidative stress in rodents and in vitro. The Working Group classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans”.

We will continue to follow this story as more information becomes available and update guidelines accordingly.