Cancer (see more articles like this)

WHAT: It’s been more than a year since Patrick Brenner began participating in a clinical trial for his recurring brain tumor involving a very unusual agent – scorpion venom - at the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute (FHCI).  Now, the 46-year-old Port Orange man is experiencing positive MRI results.  And he says, it’s thanks to the clinical trial, which has now enrolled additional patients, he has a second chance at life.  The trial uses scorpion venom protein tagged with radioactive iodine to deliver localized radiation to the tumor cells.  The scorpion venom protein has been found to selectively attach to brain tumor cells, while sparing normal cells.  This appears to be the first time that a therapeutic agent differentiates between normal and cancerous cells.  Traditional treatments like radiation and chemotherapy kill healthy cells in the process of controlling the cancer growth.  Brain tumors are one of the deadliest forms of cancer.  This type of tumor re-occurs 100% of the time and when treated with standard cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation, patients live an average of 2 – 3 months.

FHCI is one of ten sites around the country, and the only one in Florida, participating in this clinical trial with TransMolecular, Inc.  131I-TM-601 is TransMolecular’s anti-cancer therapeutic that incorporates a tumor targeting, biologically active and chemically synthesized 36 amino acid peptide derived from a naturally occurring protein found in scorpion venom that is conjugated with a medicinal radioisotope referred to as iodine 131. 

WHY: Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Americans.  To try to learn more about the best ways to treat it, many hospitals, physicians, and patients participate in clinical trials, which are FDA-regulated research studies that investigate new treatment options for cancer. In 2005, FHCI enrolled more than 300 patients in clinical trials, enabling these patients to receive cutting–edge cancer therapies.  FHCI currently has more than 120 ongoing clinical trials. 

VISUALS/ 
I-VIEWS:  Interview with Neuro-oncologist Nicholas G. Avgeropoulous, MD; Interview with the patient, Patrick Brenner; B-roll of Brenner receiving the cancer treatment using scorpion venom one year ago; B-roll of scorpions