Inside this issue...
New Research
Women and Lung Cancer
Treatment of Anorexia
Probing Phantom Pain
Breaking News
$8M for Research
New Chair Appointed
New Funds for Development of IP
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UHN's Research Internet Site
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Study Finds Women Respond Better to Lung Cancer Treatment
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New research by Dr. Frances Shepherd and resident Dr. Simron Singh
(OCI/PMH) reveals that although women experience more frequent and more severe toxicity when undergoing chemotherapy for small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), they actually
respond better to treatment and enjoy a longer survival time than men.
Dr. Shepherd came to these conclusions by examining the data of more than 1000 people who had undergone chemotherapy for SCLC while participating in NCIC Clinical
Trials Group studies between 1987 and 1999. She found that although women experienced more nausea, anemia, low blood counts and other toxicity-related symptoms,
they responded better to treatment and their survival time was 31% longer than it was in men. Says Dr. Shepherd, “Further research will be necessary to identify the mechanisms that lead to these sex-specific effects, but the results do suggest that it may be worthwhile to adjust the chemotherapy dosing regimes for women so that their treatment-related toxicity is minimized.”
J Clin Oncol. 2005 Feb 1;23(4):850-6. [PubMed abstract]
Institute: OCI/PMH
Division: Clinical Studies Resource Centre
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Binge/Purge Behaviours Reduce Treatment Success
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Treatment of anorexia nervosa is challenging because people with this eating disorder often terminate their treatment too early.
To better understand the reasons for this, Drs. Blake Woodside and
Jacqueline Carter (TGRI/TGH) assessed 166 people with anorexia at the
Inpatient Eating Disorders Clinic at TGH. It seems that while a number of factors play a role in determining the length of time a patient will remain in treatment, the
presence of binge eating and purging is the best predictor of who will end their treatment prematurely. “Patients who have the restricting form of the illness, and who do not binge and purge, are less likely to terminate their treatment early than are patients who practice binge eating and/or purging behaviours,” explains Dr. Woodside. “We now need to focus on this latter group of patients to develop more effective interventions to enhance overall treatment success.”
Am J. Psychiatry. 2004 Dec;161(12):2277-81. [PubMed abstract]
Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Institute: TGRI/TGH
Division: Behavioural Sciences & Health
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Research Probes How Phantom Sensations Occur
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Following amputation, many people retain an awareness of, and may still feel pain in their missing limb. Referred to as “phantom limb awareness”, new
research by Drs. Karen Davis (TWRI/TWH) and
Joel Katz (TGRI/TGH) and PhD student Judith Hunter provides new
information about this unusual phenomenon.
In a recent study, the research team assessed sensory perception in 11 people who recently had a limb amputated by comparing sensory processing in the intact limb to sensory processing in the amputated limb. They found that despite having similar injuries and phantom awareness, sensory abnormalities varied from person to person.
“We’ve shown that there is no simple relationship between how patients perceive stimuli applied to their residual and intact limbs, and their spontaneous phantom sensations,” says Dr. Davis. “This tells us that classifying how people perceive stimulation of their limbs is a misleading step in determining the mechanisms underlying post-amputation sensory phenomena.”
Brain. 2005 Feb;128(Pt 2):308-20. [PubMed abstract]
Funded by the Canada Research Chairs program and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Institute: TWRI/TWH
Divisions: Applied & Interventional Research
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UHN Researchers Sign $8M Contract
Congratulations to Drs. Emil Pai and
Al Edwards (OCI/PMH) who recently signed a contract with the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund (ORDCF) for $8M. The funds will be used for research in structural biology using X-ray crystallography.
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New Chair Appointed
UHN Research is pleased to announce that TGRI/TGH’s Dr. Gary Rodin
has been appointed the Harold & Shirley Lederman Chair in Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care. Dr. Rodin is internationally recognized for his research on the psychosocial and psychiatric aspects of cancer and other medical conditions, and will take up this position on March 1, 2005.
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UHN Researchers Awarded Funds For IP Development
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UHN Research extends its congratulations to Drs. Jan Jongstra
(TWRI/TWH) and Brian Wilson (OCI/PMH) who were successful in securing
funding from CIHR’s Proof of Principle (POP) commercialization program. The funding will help move Drs. Jongstra’s and Wilson’s research discoveries
from the lab to the marketplace.