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WEDNESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2014 • plus@pen.com.qa • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside Japanese COMMUNITY reptile takes on • AMU Alumni observes founder’s birth anniversary Hollywood rival P | 4 P | 8-9 MARKETPLACE • AlFaisal Without Borders flies students to Beijing P | 5 ART AND CULTURE • Rome’s Maxxi art museum aims to build Cancer patients are paying private labs to breed mice that creativity out of crisis carry bits of their own tumours so treatments can be tried first on the customised rodents. The idea is to see which drugs might work best on a specific person’s specific P | 6 cancer. FOOD • Shawarma sizzles Indian city of Hyderabad P | 7 HEALTH • Medical tourism CANCER PATIENTS booms in Asia TURN TO RATS FOR P | 11 LEARN ARABIC • Learn commonly used Arabic words CURE and their meanings P | 13 2 PLUS | WEDNESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2014 COVER STORY Cancer patients testing drugs on mouse Charles Cook, manager of facilities and operations at Champions Oncology, opens a plastic cage containing mice carrying bits of a cancer patient’s tumour in a lab in Baltimore. By Marilyn Marchione hey are paying a private lab to breed mice that carry bits of their own tumours so treat- Tments can be tried first on the customised rodents. The idea is to see which drugs might work best on a specific person’s specific cancer. The mice may help patients make what can be very hard choices under difficult circumstances. Studies can suggest a certain chemotherapy may help, but patients wonder whether it will work for them. Often there’s more than one choice, and if the first one fails, a patient may be too sick to try another. So hundreds of people have made “mouse avatars” over the last few years to test chemotherapies. “What I’m doing is personalized cancer treatment. It’s the wave of the future,” said Eileen Youtie, a Miami woman using mice to guide care for Charles Cook her hard-to-treat form of breast can- displays mouse cer. “Part of this is trying to eliminate carrying a cancer chemos that are not going to work on patient’s tumor graft me. I don’t want to waste time taking under its skin in a them and poison my body.” lab in Baltimore. But there are no guarantees the mice will help. PLUS | WEDNESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2014 3 Charles Cook, manager of facilities and operations at Champions Oncology, pulls a plastic cage containing mice car- rying bits of a cancer patient’s tumour from a shelf in a lab in Baltimore. “There’s not a lot of science” to say cancer patient’s name. Youtie spent $30,000 “because I want turned out to have helped the patients, how well this works, and it should Most mice are white-haired females them to test all the possible drugs,” he said. And if something had not be considered highly experimental, with beady red eyes, but others are even some for other types of cancer. worked in the mice it almost never said Dr Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief hairless. Some live alone while others That approach helped Yaron Panov, worked in a patient. medical officer of the American Cancer climb over one another and sleep in a 59-year-old Toronto man diagnosed Mice have some drawbacks, said Dr Society. small piles. All have easy access to food four years ago with liposarcoma, a soft- Benjamin Neel, director of research There are some early encourag- and water, and many bear signs of the tissue cancer. No specific drugs were at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre ing reports, he said. One study of 70 tumor graft — a shaved portion of hair, recommended, and “I was given six in Toronto and a spokesman for the patients found the mice generally an incision scar and a lump growing months to live,” he said. American Association for Cancer reflected how well patients responded off one side. Tests on his avatar mice suggested Research. to various drugs. But there is no evi- Most patients try three to five drugs the first drug he was prescribed would The tumour grafts are under the dence that using mice is any better and spend $10,000 to $12,000, said not work but that one for colon cancer mouse skin — not in places where than care based on medical guidelines Champions’ chief medical officer, Dr. might. the cancer normally occurs, such as or the gene tests that many patients Angela Davies. “It was working on the mice so I the pancreas or lungs, and therefore get now to help pick drugs. knew it would work on me,” he said. don’t reflect the human tumor’s envi- Mouse testing costs $10,000 or more, “It’s such a boost of confidence” and ronment. The mice also have highly and insurers don’t cover it. It takes it makes it easier to endure side impaired immune systems so they several months, so patients usually effects, said Panov, whose cancer is in can tolerate the human tumors. That have to start therapy before mouse remission. means they don’t reflect how a per- results are in. Reuven Moser, a 71-year-old man son’s immune system would respond to “I do see promise, but it’s very time- from Tel Aviv, Israel, said his avatar a treatment and cannot be used to test consuming, it’s very expensive. For the mice confirmed that drugs prescribed immunotherapies. “Even if it turns out average patient, standard care is going for colon cancer that had spread to his these have real value,” they’re likely to to be the way to go,” said Alana Welm, liver were a good option. be eclipsed by newer advances, such as a cancer researcher at the Oklahoma Most mice are white- “Most of the time the oncologists ways to grow tumor cells in a lab dish Medical Research Foundation. She want to follow a protocol, but they don’t that take only a few weeks, he said. gave a talk on mouse avatars last week haired females with know how it will affect the patient,” For now, mice seem the best bet, at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Moser said. “It was very reassuring” to along with gene testing and her doc- Symposium. It was the third major beady red eyes, but see the mice respond, he said. Moser’s tors’ advice, said Youtie, the Miami cancer meeting this year to feature mice were bred in February and he is woman with breast cancer. Her mouse work on customised cancer mice. others are hairless. still undergoing treatment. testing suggested that either of two Several labs breed these mice but Dr Andrew Gaya of Leaders in drugs would be effective, so she chose the main supplier to patients has Some live alone while Oncology Care, a private clinic in the one thought to have fewer side been Champions Oncology, a company others climb over one London, helped lead the 70-patient effects on the heart. She recently fin- based in Hackensack, New Jersey, that study of avatar mice and gave results ished chemotherapy, is about to finish also operates in London, Tel Aviv and another and sleep in at a cancer conference in September. radiation treatment, and said she does Singapore. About 7,000 mice are kept It looked back at how well mice per- not feel guilty about using the mice. in a Baltimore lab with six rooms that small piles. formed in patients whose outcomes “Animal abuse? I don’t look at it that resemble stock rooms of a shoe store, from treatment were already known. way,” she said. “It’s not testing cosmet- with tall shelves that hold row upon About 70 percent of the time, tests in ics. It’s trying to save my life.” row of plastic cages labeled with each the mice suggested something that AP 4 PLUS | WEDNESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2014 CAMPUS/COMMUNITY BPS students vist VIJIT Malarwadi celebrates National Day A group of Birla Public School students accompanied by a teacher visited the In connection with Qatar National Day, Malarvadi Children Organisation Indian Coast Guard Ship VIJIT, which is on a diplomatic visit to Qatar. Varun, conducted a carnival under the title of ‘Qatar National Day Malarvadi the Assistant-in–Command, welcomed the students on board and explained Balolsavam 2014’ at Al Arabi Sports club facility. More than 1,500 children in the objective of Indian Coast Guard - the safety, security, pollution control the age group of 4 to 13 representing 29 Malarvadi units took part in the col- and law enforcement in the EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) of India. He also ourful march-past at Training field of Al Arabi Sports club. Malarvadi Chief inspired the students to join the Coast Guard and briefed them about various Patron Indian Islamic Association President K C Abdul Latheef flagged off job opportunities in the Indian Coast Guard. He said that the new genera- the march in the morning. Bin Omran, Azizia and Ezdan 21 units bagged tion offshore patrol vessel, ICGS Vijit, was commissioned on December 11, 1st, 2nd and third place respectively in various sports competitions, which 2010 and was inducted into the fleet in a function held at port town of Vasco was held in two venues. Children’ were grouped in four categories, such in Panaji. Officer on board B Jayson guided the students through various as Kids, Sub-Junior, Junior and Senior according to their age. parts of the ship and explained their functions and answered their questions. Sir Syed remembered MU Alumni Association Qatar Dr Nadeem Tarin’s address wherein A(Alumni of Aligarh Muslim he urged all Aligarians to sponsor University, Aligarh, India) celebrated needy students back in India and play the 197th birth anniversary of the instrumental role towards education as university’s founder Sir Syed Ahmad dreamt by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

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