2 new therapies show promise for cance...( San Diego and PhoenixApril 15 2008Cl...)

San Diego and PhoenixApril 15, 2008Clinical researchers at Scottsdale Healthcare and TGen today announced the results of two clinical trials that show promise for patients battling cancer.

The Phase I clinical trial findings, presented at the this weeks Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research by Daniel Von Hoff, MD, FACG, focused on basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and pancreatic cancer. The Arizona trials were conducted at TGen's Clinical Research Service (TCRS) at Scottsdale Healthcare, a strategic alliance between TGen and Scottsdale Healthcares Clinical Research Institute.

In the first trial, a novel molecule, GDC-0449, shrinks tumors in basal cell carcinoma (BCC) while having limited side effects, including a loss of sense of taste, and a small amount of hair loss and weight loss, suggesting a viable new treatment option. GDC-0449 works by blocking a pathway a series of chemical reactions within a cell known as Hedgehog, containing two genes (PTCH and SMO) that lead to a known tumor-promoting gene called GLI1. Alterations in any of these genes have been shown to lead to basal cell carcinoma and other diseases. GDC-0449 is a chemical synthetic designed to replicate the properties of cyclopamine, a chemical found in nature.

Basal cell carcinoma affects about one million people a year and a proportion of these patients have disease that is not curable with surgery. We currently do not have any treatments that can effectively slow tumor growth in these advanced patients. This finding has potential importance in this population, said Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., Physician in Chief at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Chief Medical Officer for the Scottsdale Clinical Research Institute at Scottsdale Healthcare.

Typically diagnosed with a simple biopsy, the risk of BCC increases for those individuals with a family history, or prolonged exposure to ultr
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