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St. Joseph's, Moffitt Join For Cancer Testing

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By RICHARD MULLINS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 16, 2008

TAMPA - St. Joseph's Hospital has embarked on a five-year contract with Moffitt Cancer Center to conduct specific genetic testing of tumors of individual patients in hopes of developing better cancer treatments.

The project is funded in part through the developing M2Gen project, a for-profit venture between H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and Merck & Co., one of the world's largest drugmakers.

As of Sept. 12, St. Joseph's began asking its cancer patients for permission to take tissue samples from their tumors. Researchers in the study then test the samples for 30,000 genes, both to better target treatments for that patient and to help assemble a database of tumor genetics for future research.

Ultimately, researchers hope to collect 100,000 tissue samples and sell access to that genetic information to drug companies and other researchers.

"The whole hypothesis is that we collect different samples from many people with the same type of tumor, then find similarities and track treatments over time to see what worked," said Jennifer Bailey, a project manager for clinical research at St. Joseph's and St. Anthony's hospitals.

Bailey cautioned that this is not a direct treatment program, so patients should not expect the testing to immediately affect their illnesses. Rather, it is a long-term research project.

Genetic testing of cancer tumors and other ailments represents one of the hottest areas of medical research, holding out the promise of drugs tailored to individuals. In practice, such drugs could be more effective and produce fewer complications than mass-produced drugs.

In this project, doctors will typically approach patients to ask whether they're interested in donating part of their biopsy tissues plus have their medical history tracked.

Related to the research, Moffitt set out to build the world's largest cancer tissue databank. The 100,000-square-foot building under construction near the University of South Florida will contain genetic information and samples from patients who received their treatment elsewhere. Tissue is being kept in massive, super-cooled tanks for storage and future research by 100 staff members and scientists.

The state, Hillsborough County and other entities kicked in tens of millions of dollars to support development of the project.

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919 or rmullins @tampatrib.com.

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