Pine Street Foundation

The Pine Street Foundation's mission is to help people with cancer reach more informed decisions through education and research. To this end, we conduct meta-analyses and clinical trials on a variety of topics and sponsor various educational programs throughout the year.

META-ANALYSIS
The Pine Street Foundation conducts meta-analyses in collaboration with researchers from around the world. Meta-analysis is a method of systematically selecting relevant primary research, appraising its quality, and synthesizing the results to arrive at a summary conclusion. Click here to learn more about meta-analysis. In our meta-analysis program, we systematically review past clinical trials to evaluate and substantiate the effectiveness of integrative treatment protocols for a wide range of illnesses. Most recently, our reviews have focused on integrative treatments for some of the most common forms of cancer where conventional treatments have had more limited success.

CLINICAL TRIALS
The Pine Street Foundation designs and conducts innovative clinical trials in collaboration with researchers from around the world. The Foundation has an Institutional Review Board (IRB), an internal ethics board that provides oversight for human research subjects' concerns for other complementary and alternative medicine researchers. Our IRB is registered with the Office for Human Research Protections, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Our IRB number is 3082. Our Federal Wide Assurance (FWA) number is 8970. For optimal ethical review, all of the Pine Street Foundation's own research projects are independently reviewed by an external and independent Institutional Review Board. Click here for more on our Institutional Review Board.

MEDICAL EDUCATION & COMMUNITY OUTREACH
The Pine Street Foundation sponsors various educational events throughout the year. Two recent events were the Seventh Chinese Medical Health Screening and The China Study: An Evening with Dr. T. Colin Campbell.

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Canine Scent Detection of Lung and Breast Cancers (Integrative Cancer Therapies, March 2006)
Chinese Herbal Medicine and Chemotherapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (Journal of Clinical Oncology, January 2006)
Chinese Herbal Medicine and Chemotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Integrative Cancer Therapies, September 2005)
Pine Street Foundation Survival Study (San Francisco Medicine, April 2005)
Integrative Tumor Board: Colon Cancer with Liver Metastases (Integrative Cancer Therapies, June 2003)
Chinese Herbal Medicine and Interferon for Chronic Hepatitis B (American Journal of Public Health, October 2002)
Integrative TCM and Chemotherapy: Survival Data in Node-Positive and Metastatic Breast Cancer (San Francisco Medicine, December 2001)

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EARLY DETECTION OF EPITHELIAL OVARIAN CANCER USING EXHALED BREATH MARKERS:
GC/FT-ICR Mass Spectrometry and Canine Olfaction

Is there meaningful information contained within a person's breath? Could this information lead to 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. Click here for more on this research.

HIGH-INTENSITY FOCUSED ULTRASOUND: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Study Background: High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is a non-invasive treatment for solid tumors. HIFU is a promising new treatment because it is a procedure that destroys the tumor without any incisions, or needle insertions, and in contrast to many forms of radiation, can be repeated. There are two types of HIFU technology: trans-rectal HIFU for prostate cancer, where the sound beams are directed at the prostate using a rectal probe, and extracorporeal HIFU, where the sound beams are directed at tumor lesions in other body areas using a device outside of the body. Although recent reports suggest HIFU appears to be safe and effective, a critical assessment based on a thorough and systematic search of all available published literature has not yet been conducted. Goals of this Study: This study is an effort to comprehensively review all available clinical evidence, published or unpublished, for the safety and effectiveness of HIFU. Study Design: We will analyze and summarize results from a systematic search of PUBMED, EMBASE, and TCMLARS for clinical trials of any type: case series, open-label controlled studies, and rendered by studies. We will search for reports that document safety and both short-term and long-term effectiveness. Thus, specific endpoints will include tumor response, quality-of-life, survival, and any adverse effects associated with HIFU therapy. What We Expect to Find: We expect that our report will provide a comprehensive summary of all available clinical evidence for the treatment of solid tumors with HIFU technology. We anticipate that HIFU will compare favorably with existing cancer therapies. Implications for Research and Patient Care: We expect this project will provide a solid foundation for the planning of future clinical studies, and may perhaps be a useful decision-making tool for patients and clinicians who may be interested in evaluating HIFU treatment. This Project is a Collaboration With: Feng Wu (Oxford, England)

PINE STREET SURVIVAL STUDY: 10-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF TREATMENT FOR LUNG, COLON, AND BREAST CANCERS WITH A MULTI-MODALITY HERBAL/VITAMIN PROTOCOL

Study Background: Although herbal/vitamin therapies are commonly used by people with cancer, there is little convincing evidence confirming the effectiveness of these treatments. Goals of this Study: We are seeking to learn whether herbal/vitamin therapy can help people with breast, lung, or colon cancers live longer. Study Design: Our study will focus specifically on a group of 720 people treated with herbal/vitamin combinations at the Pine Street Clinic, whom we have been following for ten years. We will compare people using herbal/vitamin therapy to control patients from the same geographical region. In order to make this comparison as valid as possible, we will compare people of the same age, disease stage and hormonal status, from the same geographical area, and treated during the same time period with the same conventional treatment. In our analysis, we will also account for important characteristics that may affect survival: whether people smoke, are overweight, are menopausal, or use hormonal therapy such as Tamoxifen. What We Expect to Find: We believe that (1) treatment with herbal/vitamin therapy combined with and following standard chemotherapy will reduce the chances of dying early due to cancer. We also believe that: (2) people choosing herbal/vitamin therapies will be less likely to be smokers or overweight, but more likely to have more severe disease, (3) people who smoke will not benefit as much from herbal/vitamin therapy as non-smokers, (4) people taking higher doses of herbal/vitamin therapy lived longer than those taking lower doses, and that (5) people who sustained their vitamin/herbal protocol after completing chemotherapy lived longer than those who discontinued therapy. Future Goals: What we learn from this study will help us design a randomized controlled trial on herbal/vitamin therapies in treating breast, lung, or colon cancers. This Project is a Collaboration With: Lawrence Kushi (Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Division of Research), Cynthia O'Malley (Northern California Cancer Center), Alan Kramer (San Francisco Oncology Associates, San Francisco, CA), Donald I. Abrams (Division of Hematology-Oncology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA), Jin Gao (Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China), and John M. Colford Jr. (University of California at Berkeley, School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology). Click here for more on the Pine Street Survival Study.

META-ANALYSIS OF CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE AND CLOMIPHENE CITRATE FOR ANOVULATORY INFERTILITY

Study Background: Problems with ovulation are common causes of infertility, accounting for approximately 25% of all infertility cases. Chinese Herbal Medicine may be effective in addressing anovulatory infertility and its related issues. However, there are few relevant published studies demonstrating this combined treatment approach. Goals of this Study: In this review, we seek to evaluate the clinical evidence for effectiveness of clomiphene citrate (Clomid) combined with Chinese Herbal Medicine in improving success rates of successfully inducing ovulation and achieving pregnancy. We seek also to examine the quality of the published data, and make specific recommendations for improvement in future studies. Study Design: We will analyze and summarize results from a systematic search of PUBMED, EMBASE, and TCMLARS for randomized trials. We will use trials that measure changes in endometrial lining, ovulation, recurrent pregnancy losses and achieved pregnancy in patients with:(1) Chinese herbal medicine alone, compared to treatment with clomiphene citrate (Clomid) alone, and (2) Chinese herbal medicine combined with clomiphene citrate, compared to treatment with clomiphene citrate alone. What We Expect to Find: We expect that our findings will demonstrate that using these combined therapies will have a beneficial implication on clinical practice and treatment of anovulatory infertility. Future Goals: Our future goal is to conduct clinical trials with reproducibility for multi-center trials and demonstrate not only efficacy in pregnancy outcomes, but also reduction of side effects related to standard infertility treatment. We seek also to examine the quality of the published data, and make specific recommendations for improvement in future studies. This Project is a Collaboration With: Collin Smikle (Laurel Fertility Care, San Francisco, CA) and Jin Gao (Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China).

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Pine Street Foundation · 124 Pine Street · San Anselmo · California · 94960-2674
P: (415) 455-5878 · F: (415) 485-1065 · Email Us

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