For Immediate Release
May 5, 2008

BUFFALO, NY – Maegan L. Capitano, a predoctoral trainee in the laboratory of Julie Ostberg, PhD and Elizabeth A. Repasky, PhD, Department of Immunology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), is the Winner of the 2007 Society for Thermal Medicine Young Investigator Award.

Her award-winning study – “Fever-Range Whole Body Hyperthermia Prevents the Onset of Type 1 Diabetes in Non-Obese Diabetic Mice” – was published in a recent issue of International Journal of Hyperthermia.

Type I diabetes, also known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or juvenile diabetes, is a disease in which the patient’s own immune system progressively destroys insulin producing cells of the pancreas. Since insulin is central to regulating blood sugar, patients can experience life-threatening dysregulation of blood sugar levels and other symptoms. Treatment options are limited. The possibility that body temperature manipulation could affect immune responses has long been a major focus of research in the Repasky laboratory. The diabetic animal model closely mimics the immunological disease process which occurs in humans with type 1 diabetes.

Mild thermal therapy was administered once each week for 32 weeks and blood sugar levels were monitored. “We found that the group warmed once per week showed a significant prevention of disease symptoms, compared with a group maintained in normal room temperatures,” according to Capitano.  “Further, even when treatment ended, the treated laboratory animals did not become diabetic, thus demonstrating the long-term effects of the therapy in this model.”

 “We believe that with further research and clinical evaluation in humans that mild thermal therapy could be a safe and effective countermeasure to type 1 diabetes, especially if administered early in disease progression,” notes Dr. Ostberg.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers. Roswell Park has affiliate sites and collaborative programs in New York, Pennsylvania, and in China. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or e-mail askrpci@roswellpark.org.

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