75% of kids with cancer survive
Isle experts speak with the public in an information day
About 75 percent of children with cancer survive after five years, a significant improvement over years past, Dr. Randal Wada says.
But that also means one-fourth of his young patients don't survive, Wada pointed out, noting that much more research is needed to save those children.
The molecular biologist and bone marrow transplant surgeon was among professors and researchers from the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii recently sharing their knowledge of cancer with the public.
Parents of children with cancer commonly ask if they need to go to the mainland to get the best care for their child, said Wada, who founded Hawaii's public cord-blood bank in 1998 with Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children.
He said, "I enjoy being able to reassure them" that isn't necessary because of the Cancer Research Center, University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine, Kapiolani Medical Center and the Children's Oncology Group.
Families have access here to the same clinical trials and state-of-the-art therapies for their children that they would have at Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University or other prominent medical institutions on the mainland, Wada said.
The National Cancer Institute reports that childhood cancer survival rates after five years have risen from about 60 percent in the mid-1970s to more than 75 percent, largely because of improved treatments at children's cancer centers.
New drugs are increasing survival of cancer-stricken children because of basic science, but it's not science being done here, Wada said.
"We do need to tap into our well of knowledge and make investments in basic knowledge here already and translate this to clinical care," he said.
In other talks, Dr. Marc Goodman, head of the Hawaii Tumor Registry at the Cancer Research Center, said data collected by the registry show how different cancers have increased or decreased in men and women.
An advantage of the Hawaii registry -- the No. 1 tumor registry in the nation -- is that it reflects ethnic diversity in cancer, Goodman said.
Native Hawaiians, for example, have the highest cancer mortality, probably because they are not diagnosed early and getting treatment, he said. "We need to do something about that."
Goodman attributed 30 percent of cancer cases to tobacco and 35 percent to diet.
Among those in the audience asking the experts questions, one man wanted to know if his risk for cancer would be less if he smoked but ate the right diet -- fruit and vegetables and low fat.
"I'd rather that people don't smoke," Goodman said. "Eating fruit and vegetables to some extent seems to modify the risk of cancer, but that is not a good public health message."
Cancer Research Center specialists described significant progress in cancer research, including new drugs with potential to block transformation of normal cells to tumor cells.
"There has been incredible development in molecular oncology," said researcher Alan Lau. Increased knowledge of genes and proteins has led to novel new drugs and may provide targets for cancer treatment, he said.
"Uncontrolled cell growth is the hallmark of cancer," Lau said, describing how oncogenes, which signal cancer cells to grow, act like a stuck gas pedal in a car and the cancer cell keeps reproducing itself.
Development of the human cancer cell relies on multiple mutations over a long period and many investigators are interested in the cellular mechanism, he said.
Expanded research opportunities are expected at a new Cancer Research Center planned on a 5.5-acre lot Ewa of the medical school in Kakaako, said Dr. Carl-Wilhelm Vogel, the center's director. Doctors will study cancer health disparities and drug efficacies in different ethnic groups, among other issues, he said.
The new facility is envisioned with an outpatient cancer clinic offering comprehensive cancer care, the latest diagnostic tests and treatments, and access to clinical trials.
Vogel said he's hopeful groundbreaking on the estimated $200 million center will occur this year as scheduled, but likely it won't be until next year.
About 60 to 70 people attended the first annual Cancer Research Information Day sponsored by the Cancer Research Center at the Queen's Conference Center.
Elaine Noa of Fremont, Calif., said her husband saw a newspaper story about the event and said, "I think we should go to this."
She said she is "having something done now" related to cancer and wanted more information about genetics studies and other aspects of the disease.