around the uft

Discussing cancer treatment

May 22, 2008 11:32 AM

On a chilly Friday night earlier this month, as most people headed home, close to 100 women, their friends and advocates made their way into UFT headquarters to hear from one of the stars of cancer research, Dr. Max Wicha of the University of Michigan. Wicha is currently testing one of the most promising and controversial ideas about the cause and treatment of the disease. The idea is to treat what some scientists say are the “stem cells” or root cells that maintain and propagate a malignant tumor. “The idea has been around for over 100 years,” said Wicha. Years of effort focusing on chemotherapy as a cure may have been avoided had the stem cell hypothesis been pursued sooner, he said. “If he’s right, it presents a whole new paradigm in treatment for cancer,” remarked Jenna Glaser, a patient advocate from SHARE, the breast and ovarian cancer support organization that co-sponsored the May 2 seminar with the UFT Health and Cancer Helpline. “We’ve been fighting cancer since the ‘70s; it’s nice to see someone taking a different approach,” said Amy Bonoff, who also attended.