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LONG BRANCH, NJ, (January 6, 2005) – Monmouth
Medical Center has joined a select group of major academic institutions
in a clinical trial that delves into reducing two serious complications
experienced by head and neck cancer patients during radiation treatment.
Monmouth’s Institute for Advanced Radiation Oncology is
a research site for the national study, which will explore whether
the drug amifostine can protect against conditions of the mouth
that can dramatically affect the quality of life for patients receiving
intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), the most advanced
breakthrough in 3-D conformal therapy.
“The goal of the study is to use amifostine in conjunction
with IMRT in an attempt to decrease mouth sores and ulcerations,
and dry mouth — devastating symptoms of radiation therapy
for the vast majority of head and neck cancer patients — while
maximizing a head and neck cancer patient’s chance for a
cure,” says radiation oncologist Mitchell Weiss, M.D., Monmouth’s
principal investigator who is conducting the trial with colleague
Sang Sim, M.D.
The trial also is being conducted at The University of Texas M.
D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research
Institute at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis, University of Nebraska
at Omaha and San-Diego-based Radiation Medical Group.
“It is a unique opportunity for Monmouth to participate
in a trial that is being conducted at only a handful of other leading
academic facilities in the United States,” Dr. Weiss says. “It
represents another example of the high-quality care we offer to
our patients in the local community.”
David Sharon, M.D., medical director of the Leon Hess Cancer Center,
agrees: “Collaboration with these prestigious institutions
in such an important clinical trial further strengthens Monmouth
Medical Center’s longstanding position as the region’s
prominent provider of cancer services. This commitment is driven
by our team of physicians, nurses and other professionals whose
expertise and experience are tantamount to our leadership role.”
In recent years, the Institute for Advanced Radiation Oncology
at Monmouth’s Leon Hess Cancer Center has received international,
national and statewide recognition for its clinical research into
advanced methods of radiation therapy, including IMRT — a
highly precise tool that has revolutionized the way cancerous head
and neck tumors are targeted.
“We look forward to playing a major role in this promising
clinical trial in determining whether amifostine can protect normal
tissue of the mouth so that we can deliver the optimal dose of
radiation to the cancerous cells, ” Dr. Weiss explains. “For
our patients, reducing complications that affect areas of the head
and neck critical for speaking and eating is extremely vital in
their treatment and recovery.”
During radiotherapy, nearly all head and neck patients experience
dry mouth, also known as xerostomia, which is the inability to
salivate and remains a permanent condition for most of these patients.
The majority of patients also develop mucositis, which is the inflammation
of the mucous membranes and causes mouth sores and ulcerations — a
condition that usually lasts for several weeks after treatment.
This clinical trial, titled “Amifostine (Ethyol) to Reduce
Mucositis, Decrease Hematological Toxicities and Improve Salivary
Sparing in Patients with Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer
Treated with Concurrent Chemotherapy and Intensity Modulated Radiation
Therapy,” is being offered by the Institute for Advanced
Radiation Oncology through the Head and Neck Cancer Program of
the Leon Hess Cancer Center at Monmouth Medical Center — an
affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System.
Introduced earlier this year by Monmouth’s head and neck
surgeons, the Head and Neck Cancer Program is the only offering
of its kind in southern and central New Jersey that takes a multidisciplinary
team approach to complex cancers of the endocrine and respiratory
systems, and oral cavity.
“Since we are one of the few cancer centers in New Jersey
to offer coordinated and comprehensive management of head and neck
tumors, our participation in this clinical trial provides an important
opportunity for us to further improve the delivery of treatment
to our patients,” says Darsit Shah, M.D., the program’s
medical director.
An otolaryngologist with special expertise in complex head and
neck surgical procedures, Dr. Shah leads a multidisciplinary team
comprised of other ENT (ear, nose, throat) surgeons, plastic surgeons,
medical and radiation oncologists, internists, endocrinologists,
dentists, pathologists, radiologists, nutritionists and speech
pathologists, among other professionals who are highly trained
in providing care for patients with head and neck cancer.
For more information on this head and neck clinical trial and
other services of the Monmouth’s Head and Neck Cancer Program,
call the Leon Hess Cancer Center at Monmouth Medical Center
at
732-923-6575.
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