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EARLY DETECTION OF OVARIAN CANCER
SUMMER 2008 UPDATE
 Is there meaningful information contained within a person’s breath?
Could this information lead to the early detection of ovarian cancer?
In partnership with Touradj Solouki, associate professor of chemistry
at the University of Maine, the Pine Street Foundation seeks to answer
these questions by using two of the most sensitive and sophisticated
scent detection devices on the planet: a type of mass spectrometer and
a dog’s nose.
DOG TRAINING PROGRESS
This research project has officially launched and we are pleased to report
that everything has been going incredibly well.
Working in collaboration with Kathy O’Brien and other staff from
Guide Dogs for the Blind (San Rafael, California), we have recruited
a terrific team of dogs and volunteers. Our principal volunteers are
Jett Gulbronsen, Rebecca Hornick, Jennifer Jackson, Nancy Knott, and
Linda Riedel. Coordinating our dog-training program is Johanna Altgelt.
The dogs currently being trained include:
» Beauty, a five-year-old golden Labrador, who lives in Danville
with Ruth Ann Pearsons.
» Bella, a four-year-old Portuguese water dog, who lives in San
Rafael with Rebecca Katz.
» Chapin, a seven-year-old golden Labrador, who lives in Napa
with Morry Angell.
» Collins, a three-year-old golden retriever, who lives in San
Ramon with Becky Ordin.
» Freeman, a five-year-old black Labrador, who lives in Mill Valley
with Paul Meade.
» Ida, a seven-year old yellow Labrador retriever who lives in
Walnut Creek with Nancy Olivas.
» Jack, a five-year-old border collie who lives in San Rafael
with Rebecca Hornick.
» Tessy, a three-year old golden Labrador who lives in Mill Valley
with Paulo Pompanin.
» Tibbs, a two-year-old black Labrador who lives in Berkeley with
Becke Broadbent.
» Trevino, a four-year-old golden retriever who lives in Greenbrae
with Jeff Grey.
All of the dogs (except Bella) are “career-change” dogs originally
trained at Guide Dogs of Marin. The most common reason for a guide dog-in-training
to make a “career change” is that they are more motivated
by their sense of smell than by the visual skills needed for guide dog
service. This is, however, an ideal trait for our scent-focused research
project.
LABORATORY PROGRESS
Our University of Maine partner, Dr. Touradj Solouki, has been working
diligently to ready his laboratory for analysis of exhaled breath samples.
At the Pine Street Foundation, we have purchased the following equipment
for gathering breath samples:
» A super low temperature freezer to store exhaled breath samples
along with specialized air purification equipment, which ensures that
no matter where we recruit women and gather their breath samples, they
are all breathing the same background air. This special freezer and air
filter cost $11,045.73.
» Specially designed breath collection tubes called rTubes, which
cool and condense exhaled breath samples. We have purchased five-hundred
of these tubes so far at a cost of $11,103.38.
» A sophisticated system of Teflon valves and tubing that bring
purified air from the air purifiers into the rTube, custom-designed for
our project by Dr. James Walker, professor emeritus, from Florida State
University. This system cost $2,565.
SPONSOR A TUBE
Every breath sample collection tube costs about $23 and we’ll be
needing over a thousand of these specialized devices during this research
project. If you’re interested in “sponsoring a tube,” please
click here.
OTHER FUNDING NEEDED
In our last issue of Avenues, we reported on a variety of project needs.
Thanks to your generous help, we were able to cover the following expenses:
» Research Assistant Salaries: $12,000
» Research Supplies: $575
» Research Equipment: $11,984
We still need help, however, in covering the following major costs:
» Recruitment Coordinator Salaries: $12,000
» Hospital Center Data Coordinators: $30,000
» TOTAL STILL NEEDED: $42,000
If you are interested in helping us fulfill this urgent and important
funding need, please click here.
PATIENT AND CONTROL RECRUITMENT
We will need 30 non-smoking women with biopsy-confirmed ovarian cancer
in the San Francisco Bay Area to breathe through a special tube prior
to beginning treatment. We will also need 30 non-smoking women with endometriosis
or polycystic ovarian syndrome as well as 60 healthy non-smoking controls
who do not have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer.
We are recruiting women for this project through our website and through
local hospitals (University of California at San Francisco, Marin General
Hospital, and Seton Medical Center). Our collaborating clinicians include
Donald Abrams MD, Leemay Chen MD, John Chan MD, Bethan Powell MD, and
Jenta Shen MD. Our patient recruitment coordinator is Ashley McKnight.
So far, we have successfully recruited one woman with ovarian cancer,
one woman with endometriosis, and fifteen healthy controls.
To learn more about being a patient or control for our study, please
click here or call our recruitment hotline: (415) 342-0886.
VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT
We are still looking for staff support and experienced grant writers.
If you are interested in volunteering your time, services, or expertise,
please click
here.
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