New cancer program unveiled

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WAILUKU - A new program offering Maui cancer patients greater access to clinical trials was unveiled Wednesday at Maui Memorial Medical Center.

The Cancer Research Center of Hawaii announced its new project and intentions to hire a clinical research associate to connect oncologists and Maui patients to approximately 200 experimental treatments for cancer.

Clinical trials cost virtually nothing to the patients, yet give them an "optimum approach" to fighting cancer, according to Dr. Ian Okazaki, a medical oncologist based at Straub Clinic and Hospital on Oahu. Okazaki travels to Maui two times a week to treat patients.

One of Okazaki's Maui patients, Robyn Crozier, agreed four years ago to use an experimental drug for six months as a follow-up to surgery and chemotherapy for colon cancer.

Crozier, 44, said she's cancer free and was grateful to have participated in the clinical trial. "I wish more people would do it," she said.

Crozier is one of just a few Maui patients involved in clinical trials coordinated by the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii. A year and a half ago, there were virtually no Neighbor Island patients participating in clinical trials.

Statewide, approximately 120 adult patients a year or 2.5 percent of adults with cancer here participate in the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii's experimental treatments, which have been offered for decades, according to its director, Dr. Carl-Wilhelm Vogel. The number of pediatric patients participating in experimental treatment is much higher, in part, because many of the treatment options for youth are experimental, Okazaki said.

According to Vogel, approximately 5,000 to 6,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed each year in Hawaii. Dr. Bobby Baker of the Pacific Cancer Institute on Maui says he sees about 250 new patients annually on the Valley Isle.

The reasons more patients don't participate in clinical trials vary, including that "the sometimes perceived risks are more than they can stomach," Okazaki said. Other times it's been because of limited access to the clinical trials or their doctor lacks time to screen patients for possible experimental drugs and therapies.

Okazaki said cancer patients who participate in clinical trials tend to do so because of their desire to take an active role in treatment and altruistic stance to help future cancer patients and research for the cure. As a mother to three teenagers, Crozier said she refused to let cancer take over her life.

"I thought I've got to fight with everything I got. You just have to face it head on," she said.

Vogel said the clinical research associate's job will be crucial because he or she will evaluate patients for eligibility to participate in clinical trials. The associate will also facilitate patient enrollment in the trials, support the doctors in the conduct of the trials, and collect and monitor patient data for quality purposes.

He said he hopes to fill the position of clinical research associate shortly.

The clinical trial for the experimental drug Crozier used is closed, but the treatment's effectiveness is still being analyzed. Crozier said she has nothing to complain about.

"It's good so far," she said.

Maui will be the first Neighbor Island in which patients are offered more access to clinical trials by the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii. The trials became more accessible with funding that became available following the 2006 legislative session.

Maui state Sen. Roz Baker introduced a cigarette tax bill that charged a penny to every cigarette sold over six years designating the revenues to health care services and research.

In just two years, approximately $20 million was raised and is designated to the Cancer Research Center, including the program of clinical trials on Maui. Three other projects that will be funded through the cigarette tax involve statewide emergency medical services, an integrated trauma care system and medical access for the uninsured at community health centers.

As a 32-year cancer survivor, Baker said she knows how important treatment at home is for patients. But in the past, Neighbor Island patients have had to travel to Oahu or the Mainland to be a part of any experimental treatments.

"I am delighted that part of the monies for the Cancer Research Center is going to help the Neighbor Islands," Baker said. "It has always been the intent that the Cancer Center would be the hub that will serve all other parts of the state."

"I'm happy and thrilled," said radiation oncologist Dr. Bobby Baker, founder of the Pacific Cancer Institute on Maui.

Dr. Baker was off island Wednesday but said in a telephone interview that he welcomed having more and new clinical trials. He said it would be a "huge improvement" for Maui doctors and patients.

Last year, Dr. Baker announced plans to open a new Maui Cancer Center on Hookele Street in Kahului, which would include space for a Cancer Research Center satellite facility.

In addition, Dr. Baker and the Pacific Cancer Foundation announced this past spring approval of of a program to provide clinical trials tied with a separate national research group.

Dr. Baker said it was "high time" that the Cancer Research Center invested on the Neighbor Islands and offer clinical trials to patients here.

"I think we'll all be celebrating when it happens," he said.

The Cancer Research Center of Hawaii is one of only 63 National Cancer Institute-designated research centers in the United States, set up to conduct research and offer educational programs and services designed for the unique ethic, cultural and environmental characteristics of Hawaii and the Pacific.

As a unit of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the Cancer Research Center manages the Hawaii Tumor Registry, a Clinical Trials Unit, and the Cancer Information Service of Hawaii.

"Clinical trials are a necessary part of cancer care and the way to advance the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cancer," Okazaki said. "Many new drugs are being developed fairly quickly and clinical trials are a way to make these new agents available especially to patients with difficult-to-treat cancers."

Trials follow a carefully controlled study plan, which details what researchers will be doing in the study.

As a clinical trial progresses, researchers report the results at scientific meetings and to regulatory agencies. Final results will be published in medical journals. Participants' names will not be disclosed.

For a list of clinical trials conducted by the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, go to www.crch.org/clinicaltrials/trialslist.htm. For general information on the center, visit its Web site at www.crch.org.

* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine @mauinews.com.