Thema: Presse: Researchers to look at genetic composition of Pratt tumors
Presse: Researchers to look at genetic composition of Pratt tumors
Kerstin[a]
03.08.2005 16:25:13
Researchers to look at genetic composition of Pratt tumors
An expanded study of brain cancer cases among workers at Pratt & Whitney will include a probe into the genetic composition of the brain tumors, the scientists told cancer victims´ families on Wednesday.
The scientists also said they will ask the jet engine maker, which is funding the study, for nearly 35 percent more money.
Nurtan Esmen, a professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said he is seeking $1.4 million in addition to $2.3 million he already has received. Gary Marsh, a biostatistician at the University of Pittsburgh, said he is seeking $2.9 million in addition to $3.5 million already awarded.
The study into rare brain cancer known as glioblastoma multiforme was prompted by the deaths of more than three dozen workers from the cancer since the 1960s. It is being overseen by the Connecticut Department of Public Health, which wants to know if a cancer cluster exists at the United Technologies subsidiary and if so, why.
The scientists want to take the molecular profiles of between 15 and 20 tissue specimens taken in biopsies or autopsies and compare them with tumors stored in a database at the University of Pittsburgh. That will allow them to see how, or if, tumors contracted by Pratt & Whitney workers are different, said researcher Frank Lieberman, a neuro-oncologist at the University of Pittsburgh.
Researchers will try to select cases that are unusual, such as younger brain cancer victims or those who had multiple tumors, he said. Genotyping, as it is called, has been done for about 10 years to study lung cancer and other mutations, but not brain cancer, researchers said.
The first research findings will be released in 2007 and other data are due the following year and in 2009, the researchers said.
The study has increased in three years from an examination of the records of 80,000 current and former Pratt & Whitney workers to nearly 250,000 employees who worked at Pratt between 1952 and 2001. Researchers are trying to identify all living and deceased brain cancer patients who worked at the company since 1976.
In addition, researchers will examine data for thousands of potential contaminants.
Dan Coulom, a spokesman for Pratt & Whitney, said the jet engine manufacturer is more interested in keeping to the study´s schedule than the cost.
"If we can find answers, we want to find them sooner rather than later," he said. "Funding or lack of funding has never stopped or impeded the study. We´re confident we´ll come to an agreement with the revisions the researchers have proposed and move on."
The large size of the study group drew interest in the gene study, Lieberman said.
Families of Pratt & Cancer workers who died of cancer discussed with researchers a way to come up with a procedure to take tissue samples, said Carol Shea of Meriden. Her husband, John, died in 2000 at age 56.
"I feel if it´s going to help what´s going on, I´m all for it," she said.
Copyright © 2005, The Associated Press
Published July 27 2005
An expanded study of brain cancer cases among workers at Pratt & Whitney will include a probe into the genetic composition of the brain tumors, the scientists told cancer victims´ families on Wednesday.
The scientists also said they will ask the jet engine maker, which is funding the study, for nearly 35 percent more money.
Nurtan Esmen, a professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said he is seeking $1.4 million in addition to $2.3 million he already has received. Gary Marsh, a biostatistician at the University of Pittsburgh, said he is seeking $2.9 million in addition to $3.5 million already awarded.
The study into rare brain cancer known as glioblastoma multiforme was prompted by the deaths of more than three dozen workers from the cancer since the 1960s. It is being overseen by the Connecticut Department of Public Health, which wants to know if a cancer cluster exists at the United Technologies subsidiary and if so, why.
The scientists want to take the molecular profiles of between 15 and 20 tissue specimens taken in biopsies or autopsies and compare them with tumors stored in a database at the University of Pittsburgh. That will allow them to see how, or if, tumors contracted by Pratt & Whitney workers are different, said researcher Frank Lieberman, a neuro-oncologist at the University of Pittsburgh.
Researchers will try to select cases that are unusual, such as younger brain cancer victims or those who had multiple tumors, he said. Genotyping, as it is called, has been done for about 10 years to study lung cancer and other mutations, but not brain cancer, researchers said.
The first research findings will be released in 2007 and other data are due the following year and in 2009, the researchers said.
The study has increased in three years from an examination of the records of 80,000 current and former Pratt & Whitney workers to nearly 250,000 employees who worked at Pratt between 1952 and 2001. Researchers are trying to identify all living and deceased brain cancer patients who worked at the company since 1976.
In addition, researchers will examine data for thousands of potential contaminants.
Dan Coulom, a spokesman for Pratt & Whitney, said the jet engine manufacturer is more interested in keeping to the study´s schedule than the cost.
"If we can find answers, we want to find them sooner rather than later," he said. "Funding or lack of funding has never stopped or impeded the study. We´re confident we´ll come to an agreement with the revisions the researchers have proposed and move on."
The large size of the study group drew interest in the gene study, Lieberman said.
Families of Pratt & Cancer workers who died of cancer discussed with researchers a way to come up with a procedure to take tissue samples, said Carol Shea of Meriden. Her husband, John, died in 2000 at age 56.
"I feel if it´s going to help what´s going on, I´m all for it," she said.
Copyright © 2005, The Associated Press
Published July 27 2005
Kerstin[a]
