Breast cancer activists in the 90s got DOD to fund cancer research—now that program has been gutted

WINDBER - Thanks to a dream of a local cancer survivor, the [Windber Medical Center (2001)] will enter into a breast cancer risk assessment, treatment and research partnership with Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. 

U.S. Rep. John Murtha, announced on Thursday, that a portion of the $7 .5 million dollar grant from the Department of Defense will be used to establish a facility at Windber Medical Center with all research, diagnostic and treatment modalities needed to mirror screenings set up by Walter Reed.

Murtha said that the funds became a reality because of the strong views of local breast cancer survivors, including [Jeanne (Wolford) McKelvey (born 1947)], Windber Medical Center treasurer. 

"I am convinced that we will be able to find a cure and ultimately be. able to prevent breast cancer and that's why I've been in the forefront in directing over $S00 million of defense funding into breast cancer research and related programs in recent years," Murtha said. "It makes economic sense and defense sense to focus on breast cancer research and treatment for our servicewomen, especially when these programs can simultaneously benefit every women and the families of every women in America who faces breast cancer.'

[Jeanne (Wolford) McKelvey (born 1947)] spoke on the role she played in seeing the [Windber Medical Center (2001)] become part of such an important program.

McKelvey said that having gone through the treatment, she knew there had to be a better way. Since she and her husband are friends with the Congressman and his wife, McKelvey said concern was always expressed for her well being . "When we ran into them at a social event, the Congressman asked about my experience and what he could do for the women in this area who may be going through the same thing."

"You would be able to talk to others who have gone through the same thing because people who have been through the experience can help others. It would really be sort of a home away from home."

After listening to McKelvey, the Congressman asked where she would suggest such a center be located and she answered, the Windber Medical Center. Murtha issued McKelvey a challenge to put together a proposal for such a center, within ten days. McKelvey called [Francis Nicholas "Nick" Jacobs (born 1947)], CEO of Windber Medical Center, who had just returned from a trip to Bosnia, and the proposal was prepared within three days, she said. 

Jacobs commended McKelvey for her work on the project. He said, "through programs to prevent breast center, we will be able to prevent breast cancer."  Jacobs said that the new facility will be located near the $8 million dollar medical arts buildings  and will be called the Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center. "I think this is the first public facility in the area to be identified with Mrs. Murtha."

The Windber Medical Center's new breast care center will operate as an effective research screening facility to test Department of Defense beneficiaries of the genetic mutation that causes breast cancer in women. If the studies show women are prone to cancer through genetics, research will determine the proper protocols to be used army-wide to prevent the onslaught of breast cancer in both women in the military and Department of Defense dependents. 

WINDBER - A new method of determining if breast cancer will spread, sparing many women with early-stage breast cancer from chemotherapy, will be one of the research methods done at the new Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center to be built at [  Windber Medical Center (2001)].

A portion of a $7.5 million grant from the Department of Defense will be used to establish the center in honor of the congressman John Murtha's wife who has long been a proponent of early diagnosis and treatment. Eight representatives of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Dr. Joe Osterman from the Jackson Foundation, which administers the grant, were in Windber on Tuesday to meet with hospital officials.

"This is the first meeting between the people from Walter Recd and us," [Francis Nicholas "Nick" Jacobs (born 1947)], president and chief executive officer of Windber Medical Center, said. "We're discussing who is doing what, how, when and where. We already collaborate with Walter Reed on the Ornish program and this will be a similar joint venture."

(A defense department grant was awarded earlier for defense department employees, retirees and their families to use the Dr. Dean Ornish Heart Disease Reversal Program at the hospital.)

[Col. Craig David Shriver, MD (born 1958)], chief of surgical oncology at Walter Recd, said the hospital has a good relationship with Windber Medical Center.

"We at Walter Reed are proud of our association with Windber and grateful that congressman (John) Murtha supports these programs." he said. "We will be screening people and assessing their risk of developing breast cancer. Those who are unfortunate to get it will have the advantage of being at a center on the most cutting edge of treatment."

"Some call it an epidemic of breast cancer," Shriver said. ''By age 90, one in nine women will develop it and we are seeing an increase in younger women. Our first goal is to help women learn their risks so they will be diagnosed at an early age because the cure rate is 90 percent if detected early. Our second goal is to show how you can affect the life-changes to prevent breast cancer."

About 175,000 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Most will have small tumors that have not spread to the lymph nodes. About 70 percent can be cured with surgery and radiation alone. Cancer will reoccur in about 30 percent, who will need chemotherapy.

A German researcher released a study on Monday al the 91st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research held in San Francisco, Dr. Anita Prechtl, Technical University in Munich, described the use of two proteins in tumors that might help reveal the likelihood of the cancer coming back.

The proteins arc uPA - short for urokinase-type plasminogen activator - and its natural inhibitor, known us PAI--l. About 45 percent of breast cancer patients have high levels of these proteins. they have a higher risk of cancer spread. The new method is called microarray testing. A computer will analyze the sequence of proteins and compare how they. change over time.

It is a very exciting field of study, Shriver said. Instead of removing all the lymph nodes under a woman's arm, they are able to remove one or two for study. It is a more accurate means of determining if the cancer will spread and allows the majority of women avoid side effect of chemotherapy.

"The power of microarray testing is that it allows us .to analyze a huge number of genetic markers over a period of time." he said, "Computers assist with the data analysis. It's a powerful tool to help us decide which women are at risk by testing the tissue. Now we treat them as studies of a large number of people have shown is effective. We will he able to individualize treatment to each patient."

Groundbreaking for the new center should be in the next two months, Jacob said. Construction will he completed within a year.

"If is a significant day for us because we are signaling the beginning of the partnership with Walter Reed for the breast care center," Jacobs said. "This gives life to the dream of having a national breast care center in this area."

Lt. Col. Alfred Brooks, M.D., chief of medical oncology at Walter Reed,  said the new center will be an opportunity to enhance the concept of breast care in general, not just breast cancer. Prevention is the key. The center can make a significant impact in the ur ·as of research, prevention and treatment, he said.

Testing begins tomorrow on a breast cancer vaccine at Windber Medical Center in Somerset County. [RESEARCH NOTE : See  Windber Medical Center (2001)  as this is a 2001 article]

The vaccine against the her-2-neu breast cancer peptide is being tested on women who have already had breast cancer and have completed treatment.

Windber, a member of the Conemaugh Health Care System, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D. C. are beginning the first phase of the trial that will determine proper dose and how long the vaccine should be given. Participants will receive one dose per month for six months. 

The vaccine, developed by [Multiple Peptide Systems] in San Diego, targets the her-2-neu protein peptide because this peptide is expressed from the tumors of two-thirds of people who get breast cancer, said Diane Pringle, executive director of the Joyce Murtha Breast Cancer Center at Windber.

Windber researchers hope the vaccine will extend survival and reduce the chances of the disease recurring, said [Richard Idem Somiari (born 1968(est.))], scientific director for the Windber Research Institute.

"The vaccine works in a way which targets a specific peptide or protein in the breast cancer cell and stops it from expanding," said [Col. Craig David Shriver, MD (born 1958)], chief of surgical oncology at Walter Reed". The vaccine boosts the immune system, stimulating its response against foreign invaders." 

University of Washington researchers in June 2000 announced the results of a study that showed promising results in human trials of a similar vaccine developed by Corixa Corp., a biotechnology company in Seattle. That study showed that the her-2-neu protein can stimulate an immune response in cancer patients.

Dr. Mary L. Disis, a University of Washington associate professor of medicine, and colleagues based their work on the discovery that many tumors elicit a naturally occurring response in cancer patients. This means that the body is treating some tumor components as a foreign tissue. The response, however, is typically at a very low level and inadequate to thwart a recurrence of the cancerous cells.

Identification of the her-2-neu protein as a tumor antigen was the first step in turning up the "volume" on the body's response to cancer cells. Disis and her colleagues at Corixa identified some of the immune-response activating portions of the her-2-neu protein and manipulated these protein peptides to optimize their capacity to trigger an immune system vs. tumor response.

The first participant in Windber's trial is a Cambria County nurse in her 40s who completed breast cancer treatment in August. "She's at high risk for developing cancer again," Pringles aid. "That's why she's in [the trial]."

Researchers  believe the vaccine would be most effective on women who are less than a year out from cancer treatment because they want to start building up the immune response before the cancer is likely to recur.

About 60 women - 30 who will receive the vaccine and 30 in a control group - are needed for this first phase that will continue through September 2003.

Walter Reed has been testing the vaccine on patients who have had prostate cancer, which also expresses this protein and started the breast trial earlier this year. So far, participants have experienced no side effects with the vaccine, Pringles aid.

Phase II of the breast cancer trial will involve many more women once scientists determine a correct dose. Windber also plans to test the vaccine soon on prostate cancer patients.

Windber is one of the research partners in this project with Walter Reed because it already joined with the military hospital in offering the Dr. Dean Ornish Heart Disease Reversal Program. The Somerset hospital is building a 10,000-square-foot breast care center this summer.