The site, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dCr1iOUWaY, features a video detailing:

• Redes’ research activities (e.g., our national patient navigation intervention study);
• Our pilot research studies that have garnered more than $100 million in subsequent successful grant awards;
• The more than 200 trainees that have been mentored and brought into the biomedical pipeline by experienced Redes researchers; and
• The outreach activities and educational products developed by the Redes team (e.g., PSAs, Buena Vida magazines, newsletters and E-Alerts).

Please view the video and feel free to give us your feedback at our SaludToday Blog or by e-mailing your comments to redesenaccion@uthscsa.edu.

Research Advocacy Network congratulates the Redes en Accion team and is proud to have served on the National Steering Committee.

This is your opportunity to:

• Hear from experts in breast cancer who will cover topics of highest public interest including the latest advances in prevention, treatment, and survivorship in breast cancer medicine
• Participate in a Question & Answer session with panelists
• Registration is required and will open in early September. For additional details & updates, please visit www.ascocancerfoundation.org.

For questions about this event, please contact Lauren McKenzie at Lauren.McKenzie@asco.org or 571-483-1436.

You may be familiar with previous groundbreaking cancer programs offered by the Center, including our original CancerGuides^® training and our five Complementary Cancer Care Conferences, which were offered in Washington, DC, 1998-2003. CancerGuides^® II is the advanced training we’ve been asked for again and again, and is designed for health professionals, patient advocates, patients and their families.  We hope it will be helpful to you!

Questions?  Please contact cancerguides@cmbm.org.

• Have a greater understanding of the concepts that contribute to the development of personalized medicine- genomics, proteomics, biomarkers?
• Be able to relate these concepts to specific research results?
• Be more effective in understanding and communicating research results that will change how cancer is treated?

Apply today to participate in the Focus on Research class for 2009. The program includes exciting discussions about concepts in oncology research and how research results progress to better patient care.

Focus on Research is a system of preparatory conference calls, virtual classroom (webinars), learning materials and mentoring to prepare advocates to attend research oriented meetings.  The purpose of physical attendance at ASCO 2009 will be to gather knowledge about biomedical advances and share this information with the advocate’s organization and constituency.

Highlights of the course includes:

• Web Lecture Series with facilitated discussion groups begins in May. Topics include concepts contributing to personalized medicine - genomics, proteomics, biomarkers.
• Networking events at the ASCO meeting
• Attendance and reporting from the scientific sessions at the ASCO meeting (certain number of hours attendance and session reports required)
• Attendance at the research review sessions for advocates at the ASCO meeting
• Opportunities to be a more effective advocate and communicate with researchers and your patient constituency better

Applications may be completed online by clicking here and are due April 24, 2009. There is no charge to participate in the course. Participants are responsible for costs of ASCO meeting registration and travel costs and are offered housing at the Focus on Research room block and meeting registration. Organizations are urged to sponsor advocates as there are travel scholarships available.

Research Advocacy Network’s Advocate Institute provides advocates with multiple learning modalities in order to better understand the medical research system, participant protections and scientific concepts for more effective interactions with the research “world”.  Advocates are often geographically dispersed and range in their knowledge of the system and scientific concepts. The Research Advocacy Network (RAN) Advocate Institute provides a means of directing the passion of patient advocates to more effective interactions with researchers through curriculum, on site presentations and online learning opportunities. A basic understanding of the science that leads to treatments for people is essential for patient advocates.

For questions, please email Elda Railey erailey@researchadvocacy.org.

You are cordially invited to join Dr. Paul Haluska in a teleconference for an update on and to discuss your questions/comments about the North Central Cancer Treatment Group Trial N0733 for HER2 positive breast cancer patients who have had their cancer back or grow through first line treatment with Herceptin.  In this trial, we are adding a new drug (IMC-A12- an IGF-1R inhibitor) to the standard therapy for this patient population (Lapatinib + capecitabine).  Pre-clinical experience indicates that this combination is much better than the sum of the parts.    To join the call on March 11 at 2 p.m. CST, please call: 1-866-365-4406 (toll-free); Participant Code: 2844481

Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation distributes scholarships to patient advocates nationwide so they may attend the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The advocates learn about recent breast cancer research and disseminate the information to their local organizations. The 32nd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium will take place December 9-13, 2009 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio, TX. Learn more about Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation advocate program.

* The development of a personalized risk assessment tool that combines prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test results with additional prostate cancer risk factors to more accurately predict a man’s future risk of developing prostate cancer, compared with PSA test results alone
* A study finding that a novel molecular urine test that detects the fusion of two genes – TMPRSS2 and ERG – was highly accurate for detecting prostate cancer and may be able to help identify cancers that are likely to grow and spread quickly
* Research finding that positron emission tomography (PET) scanning is more accurate than computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for determining the extent of disease in patients with suspected metastatic bladder cancer
* Interim results from a Phase III study showing that a shorter, five-week course of radiation therapy using higher doses of radiation – known as hypofractionation – was just as effective and as well tolerated as standard seven-and-a-half-week radiation therapy for reducing the risk of prostate cancer recurrence

More available at News for Patients on Prostate and Bladder Cancer: Cancer Advances from the 2009 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium

* An economic analysis showing that routine testing for KRAS gene mutations in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer could save the U.S. health system up to $604 million per year in the cost of the drug cetuximab (Erbitux). Recent studies have shown that cetuximab is only effective in patients with the normal (wild-type) form of the KRAS gene.

* Research finding for the first time that that specific mutations in the EGF gene may be able to predict esophageal cancer risk in people with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a key step in identifying which of the 20 million people with GERD in the United States may benefit from aggressive screening for esophageal cancer.

* A study finding that the drug octreotide LAR (Sandostatin LAR) slows cancer growth in patients with malignant neuroendocrine tumors of the lower small intestine, marking the first drug option for this rare cancer type.

* A study that identifies genetic variations that may predict survival and outcomes for people with pancreatic cancer. These early findings have the potential to spare patients from the side effects and high costs of aggressive surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation when such treatment is unlikely provide any health benefit.

Click here for more results from the ASCO GI Symposium.