M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Receives $500,000 to Aid Stomach Cancer Research

Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Cantu have presented a $500,000 gift for stomach cancer research to The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

The donation will be used in part to help fund Dr. Jaffer Ajani's familial gastric cancer study. Dr. Ajani, a professor in the department of gastrointestinal medical oncology and digestive diseases, believes there may be a genetic predisposition for gastric cancer. He is developing a database of approximately 200 families from the United States, Japan, Chile and Mexico containing a detailed family history of patients suspected of having a gastric cancer family syndrome.

Blood and tissue samples will be collected from each patient and all first-degree relatives, if possible, in order to conduct genetic analyses which may eventually lead to the discovery of a genetic marker useful for early detection. It may take several years to complete the database, Dr. Ajani says.

"It is such an uncommon disease," he says. "That is why we want to focus on the familial aspects, where the risk is much greater."

A portion of the donation also will be used to help fund Dr. Paul Mansfield's research on understanding the role of angiogenesis, which is the growth of new blood vessels, in treating gastric cancer metastases. Dr. Mansfield is an associate professor of surgery at M. D. Anderson.

It was Cantu's own gastric cancer diagnosis that prompted him to provide philanthropic support for stomach cancer research.

Cantu came to M. D. Anderson in October 1998 after being diagnosed with a tumor at the juncture of the stomach and esophagus. He says he chose M. D. Anderson because he was familiar with its reputation for quality and its "user friendly" attitude.

Dr. Mansfield suggested Cantu would be a good candidate for a clinical trial of preoperative chemotherapy and chemoradiation for potentially resectable adenocarcinoma, which is being led by Dr. Ajani.

"Frankly I did not know what it meant," Cantu says. "When I met with Dr. Ajani I was very much impressed. I developed an immediate sense of admiration for him for the manner in which he conducted the interview and explained what would take place."

The protocol called for two courses of chemotherapy over two months followed by five weeks of low dose continuous infusion of chemoradiotherapy and five weeks of recovery prior to surgery. Cantu underwent surgery March 22. He is now back in Memphis and will be monitored for the next five years as part of the trial, he says.

- JENNIFER PODOLOFF

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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