RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:We shouldn't be in this positionDamnYankees wrote: O'Donnel was compelling but I'm not sure that he was familiar with the insignificant mechanics of the trial that Adcomm members spent more than half their energy on.
I think if you put Berendt up there getting the same questions, someone who has been around for two years vs. someone who knows bladder cancer and BCG inside and out.
Dr. O'Donnell's basic and clinical research has a long history of focusing on bladder immunology and bladder cancer immunotherapy, particularly the anti-cancer mechanisms of bacillus Calmette-Gu¿½rin (BCG) and its enhancement with combination therapies. Dr. O'Donnell recently headed a national trial of bladder cancer treatment utilizing BCG plus interferon (a natural protein which induces healthy cells to combat disease) comprised of over 1,000 patients, and holds several U.S. patents for his work. While BCG has long been a standard treatment for bladder cancer, its toxicity profile can be devastating. Dr. O'Donnell's studies, both laboratory and clinical, seek to both determine the exact mechanism by which BCG targets bladder cancer tumor cells, and enhance its efficacy, either alone or in combination with other agents, while reducing its toxicity to healthy cells. Dr. O'Donnell's research efforts also include exploration of methods to detect bladder cancer at earlier stages, as well as new combination topical chemotherapy treatments for early bladder cancer. He has instituted two such methods, including a urinary FISH assay and the NMP-22 Bladder Check test in the Urology Clinic. He has pioneered several new sequential combination therapies involving adriamycin, gemcitabine, docetaxel and mitomycin for treating BCG-resistant/recurrent bladder cancers.