RE: Re: Emailing: USATODAY.com - New drug may give O'Neal's story a happy ending.htm

[Guest guest]

Hi Tracey,

I knew it was old. I just wanted to see if anyone knew anymore about him.

Glad to hear he is doing well on Gleevec.

Sharon

_____

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Tracey

Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 11:16 AM

Subject: [ ] Re: Emailing: USATODAY.com - New drug may give O'Neal's

story a happy ending.htm

Just wanted to point out that this is a really old article, in fact,

it was written before Gleevec was approved.

The last I heard, O'Neal was on 800mg of Gleevec and doing well.

Tracey

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> 05/09/2001 - Updated 02:16 PM ET

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>

> New drug may give O'Neal's story a happy ending

>

> By Adele Slaughter, Spotlight Health

>

> With medical adviser A. Shoop, M.D.

>

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> AP file

> O'Neal.

> <http://images. <http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>

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>

> Actor O'Neal gained fame in the '70s in the movie Love Story,

in which

> he played the true love of a girl who develops acute leukemia. Now,

30 years

> later, his own life has taken a tragic twist: O'Neal has been

diagnosed with

> chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).

>

> But O'Neal's story may have a happy ending, says a leading leukemia

expert.

>

> Research indicates that a new drug called Gleevec inhibits the

growth of

> cancerous cells without attacking the body's healthy cells. The

Food and

> Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly close to approving Gleevec,

which

> has generated very promising preliminary results in trial studies.

>

> " There's a very good chance this drug could put Mr. O'Neal into

remission, "

> says Dr. Sawyers, professor and researcher at UCLA's

Jonsson Cancer

> Center. Sawyers emphasizes he is not treating the actor, who last

week

> revealed his illness.

>

> Leukemia is a cancer associated with the body's white blood cells.

It begins

> in either the bone marrow or the lymphatic system, eventually

spreading to

> other organs. Leukemia can be chronic (slow growing), or acute

(rapidly

> growing).

>

> Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), one of the four major types of

leukemia,

> is the most rare and generally only affects adults. CML begins as a

> slow-growing cancer and becomes acute in the later stages of the

disease.

>

> The American Cancer Society estimates that about 4,700 Americans

will be

> diagnosed with CML this year. Statistically, approximately half of

those

> cases result in death.

>

> But that may be about to change.

>

> Leukemia basics

>

> <http://images. <http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>

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> <http://images. <http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>

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Leukemia symptoms

> <http://images. <http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>

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> <http://images. <http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>

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> <http://images. <http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>

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>

> . Chronic fatigue

>

> . Fever of unknown origin

>

> . Frequent bacterial or viral infections

>

> . Weight loss not due to dieting or exercise

>

> . Headaches

>

> . Skin rash

>

> . Non-specific bone pain

>

> . Bruising easily

>

> . Bleeding from gums or nose

>

> . Blood in urine or stools

>

> . Enlarged lymph nodes and/or spleen

>

> . Abdominal fullness/bloat

>

> <http://images. <http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif>

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>

> About one out of every five people with chronic leukemia have no

symptoms in

> the early stages of the disease. Even more troublesome is the fact

that the

> manifesting symptoms of leukemia can be unclear, making early

diagnosis

> difficult. Patients may have some or all of a number of symptoms.

>

> Doctors commonly diagnose leukemia through history, physical

examination,

> and repeated blood cell counts. Normal white blood cells are used

to fight

> infections in the body. Without the proper white cell count - about

6,000 to

> 10,000 - or with abnormal white cells, the immune system defenses

are

> weakened against bacteria and viruses. For a leukemia patient, a

common cold

> can be extremely debilitating or even fatal.

>

> An individual with CML produces an abundance of " irregular " white

blood

> cells. Eventually, these proliferating white blood cells clog the

> bloodstream with immature cells, crowding out the healthy cells in

the bone

> marrow and the blood becomes " goopy. "

>

> Bone marrow tests, excisional lymph node biopsy, lumbar puncture as

well as

> X-rays, CT, MRI and ultrasound imaging tests may also help confirm a

> diagnosis and define the stage of the condition.

>

> Doctors recognize three stages of CML: the " chronic, "

the " accelerated, " and

> the end stage, referred to as " blast crisis. " During the chronic

stage,

> white blood cell counts peak, but generally patients have very few

symptoms.

> The chronic stage of CML can last up to five years. During the

accelerated

> stage of CML, blood cell counts skyrocket and symptoms abound. At

the blast

> crisis stage the patient's prognosis is grim. Generally, they live

only

> several months.

>

> Experts agree that the abnormal gene that causes CML is acquired,

not

> inherited. However, it is not clear why the gene begins to mutate.

The

> American Cancer Society confirms that some risk factors for

contracting

> leukemia are smoking and increasing age.

>

> Environmental factors can also play a role. For example, the

survivors of

> the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear blasts have a high incidence of

CML.

> There is also concern that very high-voltage power lines might cause

> leukemia.

>

> But most people who develop leukemia do not have any of the known

risk

> factors.

>

> Miracle treatment

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> . American Cancer <http://www.cancer. <http://www.cancer.org> org> Society

>

> . UCLA <http://cancer. <http://cancer.mednet.ucla.edu/> mednet.ucla.edu/>

Jonsson Cancer Center

>

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>

> " Biologically, CML is caused by a mutant protein that we have been

studying

> for a long time, " says Sawyers, who has studied CML for more than a

decade.

> " It involves an enzyme called tyrosine kinase, a class of enzyme

which

> cancers frequently create in the body. We thought that if we could

find a

> way to inhibit the growth of these enzymes we could fight this

particular

> mutant protein. "

>

> The two standard treatment options for CML have been either a bone

marrow

> transplant, which has extreme limitations, or a daily injection of

the drug

> interferon. Both treatments are extremely taxing for patients.

>

> " Interferon causes fevers and makes patients feel as if they have

the flu.

> It can also cause depression, " reports Sawyers. " While it can help,

it

> severely diminishes the patient's quality of life. "

>

> But now there is an alternative with minimal side effects.

Originally known

> by its chemical compound number - STI-571, Gleevec is creating new

options

> and hope for those with CML.

>

> " I worked with Gleevec from the very beginning and it's amazing how

well it

> works, " says Sawyers, who ran trial studies at UCLA's Jonsson

Cancer Center.

> " It appears that this new drug actually does inhibit the activity

of the

> enzyme or mutant protein, tyrosine kinase, which in many patients

kills the

> leukemia. "

>

> In clinical trials that began in June 1998, STI-571 was tested with

patients

> in the chronic stage of the disease. " In the past four years at our

clinic

> at UCLA we have had a 98% response rate, " says Sawyers. " In the

first trials

> we tested 80 or so people and in the second trials there were 1,000

patients

> using STI-571. "

>

> In another trial, patients with end stage leukemia were tested.

Eleven

> percent of those being treated with Gleevec had their blood count

return to

> normal.

>

> " Of course, the biggest unknown is what are the long-terms results

of taking

> Gleevec, " says Sawyers.

>

> Bob Ferber, prosecutor for L.A.'s City Attorney's office, is one of

Sawyer's

> patients who is in full remission.

>

> " I was critical. When I learned that I was in remission, I cried, "

Ferber

> says. " I found myself wishing that my friends in the support group

could

> have this too, " says Ferber. " Even if all I got was these past 15

months, it

> was worth it for the improved quality of life. "

>

> Gleevec also has shown signs of successfully treating a rare

stomach tumor,

> and likely can be used in combination with other drugs for other

> life-threatening diseases such as Hepatitis C.

>

> " The success of this drug will inspire efforts to design other

inhibitors

> for other kinds of cancer, " predicts Sawyers. " This is the

highlight of my

> career. I have been waiting to see patients get better - not just

survive. "

>

> Now CML patients are hoping the FDA agrees with Sawyers and

approves the

> drug soon. For O'Neal, approval could mean a starring role in a

real 'love

> story.'

>

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