Research Leads to Improved Diabetes Treatment, Cancer Detection
Imagine having diabetes and never using a needle to give yourself insulin or pricking your finger to measure blood sugar. Think how many lives could be saved if there was a test that could detect lung cancer in its early stages when the disease is easier to treat. Such discoveries aren't science fiction.
They're happening right here in our own backyard with the help of Mills-Peninsula doctors and clinicians.
Three years ago, Mills-Peninsula received a generous grant from local philanthropists Dorothy and James Frank to establish the Dorothy L. and James E. Frank Diabetes Research Institute. Since then, the Institute has participated in numerous research studies and clinical trials to develop new technology and treatments to help people with diabetes.
"We are one of only a handful of health care organizations in the United States equipped to perform a broad range of diabetes studies, and we have been approached by many pharmaceutical and technology companies to help design and test new drugs and high-tech devices," said David Klonoff, M.D., medical director of the Diabetes Research Institute.
The Institute currently is participating in six different studies of products including trials of minimally invasive or noninvasive glucose monitoring devices and a new medication that may offer an alternative to insulin for people with type 2 diabetes while also providing the added benefit of weight loss.
Early lung cancer detection is the subject of a research study currently under way at the Dorothy E. Schneider Cancer Center. The disease kills more people than the next three deadliest cancers combined, according to cardiothoracic surgeon Barry Sheppard, M.D.
"Unlike breast or colon cancer, there is no lung cancer screening test, so most people with lung cancer die because the disease is discovered too late," he said.
Recent advances may change that. "Spiral CT scans in combination with a calculation methodology developed by the Early Lung Cancer Action Project (ELCAP) can safely detect lung cancer at its earliest stage," says Dr. Sheppard.
"We are pooling our data as part of the International ELCAP group of hospitals. Results so far show a lot of promise."
"Unlike advertised full-body scans, our doctors are focusing on research to determine the effectiveness of this technology in identifying early lung cancer detection," said H. Rex Greene, M.D., Cancer Center medical director.
"We are screening only a targeted, high-risk population versus advertised body scans that are directed toward everyone."
Funded by a $500,000 grant from the Mills-Peninsula Hospital Foundation, the research team will screen 400 volunteers for lung cancer using a high-tech spiral CT scan. The machine provides high-resolution images using very low levels of radiation taken during a single breath hold. Suspicious spots on the lungs are monitored closely for cancerous growth. The ELCAP calculation methodology detects most cancers as curable tumors less than three-quarters of an inch in size.
Volunteers with diabetes are needed for various research projects. Call Irina Nayberg, R.N., at 650-696-4260 for details.
Volunteers also are needed for the lung cancer study. You must be at least age 60 and have smoked at least 30 pack years.
Interested smokers and ex-smokers who meet the criteria can call 650-696-4405.