Screening guidelines for prostate cancer are on target

A study of more than 12,000 men who had been screened annually for prostate cancer suggests that current guidelines help catch the majority of potentially harmful cancers at early, more treatable stages.

Researchers reviewed follow-up data from 12,453 men between ages 50 and 60 who had been screened between 1991 and 2000. Suspicious results had led to ultrasound-guided biopsy of the prostate gland for 1,571 participants. Of them, 165 were diagnosed with prostate cancer, and about 85 percent of the tumors were considered potentially harmful.

"The take-home message is that early screening catches most prostate cancers at a curable stage," said Robert L. Grubb, M.D., a study leader and resident in urology at the School of Medicine. He presented the findings April 30 at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) in Atlanta. Team leader William J. Catalona, M.D., professor of urologic surgery, also discussed the findings at an AUA media briefing May 2.

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David Beebe named president of vision research association

David C. Beebe, Ph.D., the Jules and Doris Stein Research to Prevent Blindness Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, has become the new president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), the world's largest vision research organization.

The president is chosen from the ARVO Board of Trustees. Beebe has been on the board since 1995, representing researchers who investigate the eye's lens.

Beebe, also a professor of cell biology and physiology, examines how the lens forms during embryonic life and the basic mechanisms that predispose people to cataracts. He looks at both genetic and environmental factors that could contribute to cataracts.

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Gokel will investigate synthetic ion channels

George W. Gokel, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and pharmacology and director of the Bioorganic Chemistry Program at Washington University, has received a four-year $1.1 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The funding will allow Gokel to study the properties of synthetic ion channels.

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Di Cera to study blood-clotting protein

Enrico Di Cera, M.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, has received a $1.4 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Di Cera is studying the blood-clotting protein thrombin.

He discovered that sodium ions enhance thrombin's performance by prompting it to change shape. This shape change enables thrombin to interact more efficiently with other proteins involved in clotting.

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