Cancer center patients to be featured on PBS

Two Wisconsin residents who were enrolled in a clinical trial of a new anti-cancer drug at the UW Comprehensive Cancer Center are featured in an upcoming episode of “NOVA,” airing Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. on Wisconsin Public Television, Milwaukee Public Television (Channel 10) and PBS stations throughout the nation.

The one-hour film, entitled Cancer Warrior, focuses on the story of Dr. Judah Folkman of Children’s Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School. In the early 1960s, Folkman embarked on a scientific voyage that would ultimately redefine our understanding of cancer. Today, his persistence is paying off with a new class of drugs that fight tumors by cutting off their blood supply.

One of these drugs, endostatin, was discovered in Folkman’s lab in 1996. In late 1999, the first human patients began receiving endostatin in clinical trials at three cancer centers in the United States, including the UW Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Among the UWCCC patients included in the film is Duane Gay, currently on leave as a reporter for WISN-TV Channel 12 in Milwaukee. Gay was diagnosed with cancer in his lungs and liver in 1997, just one year after he was married.

“This is a war,” Gay says about his battle with cancer. “I am honored to be a solider and hit that beach.”

The UW Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of only 37 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute, the lead federal agency for cancer research.