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News from the Association of American Cancer InstitutesDecember 2010


AACI Fellowship Deadline Nears
Hill Day Set for May 11
Social Media Enhances AACI Member Outreach

Awards & Honors
Grants & Gifts
Leadership Transitions
Research Highlights
Other News


Winter Holiday

The AACI Update will not publish during the holiday break, but will return to its monthly distribution schedule beginning February 1, 2011. We wish all a happy holiday season.

The AACI is dedicated to promoting the common interests of the nation’s leading academic cancer centers that are focused on the eradication of cancer through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary program of cancer research, treatment, patient care, prevention, education, and community outreach.
AACI Update is an e-newsletter for the cancer center directors and key contacts at AACI member institutions and individuals interested in the cancer center-related activities of AACI. AACI Update reports on the progress of AACI initiatives and other AACI endeavors that benefit the cancer community and highlights important news and events at AACI member institutions.

AACI encourages member institutions to submit cancer center highlights to AACI Update. News briefs are linked to complete stories posted on individual cancer center websites. Please e-mail materials to aaciupdate@aaci-cancer.org. AACI reserves the right to decide whether or not materials are appropriate for inclusion.

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Headlines

AACI Fellowship Deadline Nears
The deadline for applications for the first AACI Translational Cancer Research Fellowship is December 17, 2010 at noon. Please visit our website – www.aaci-cancer.org/fellowship.asp to read the complete guidelines and instructions for applicants. For additional information, please contact Kate Burroughs via e-mail at kate@aaci-cancer.org

This inaugural one-year $50,000 fellowship grant, funded by Amgen, was designed to help insure that qualified applicants receive research training and experience under the guidance of highly trained, well-respected researchers who have demonstrated success in their field of research. The goal is to assist the trainee in becoming a high-caliber, productive independent researcher with an enduring focus on the importance of translational research relevant to cancer. more...

Hill Day Set for May 11
Please plan to come to Washington on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 to meet with your Members of Congress to showcase your center’s work and to illustrate how the federal investment in research sustains progress in the fight against cancer. Partner organizations for the event include AACR, ASCO, and Friends of Cancer Research.

With numerous freshmen legislators entering Congress, and the possibility of flat funding threatening both NIH and NCI, advocacy efforts to maintain research support will be particularly important in the coming year. We strongly encourage you to attend and demonstrate to your legislators how cancer research creates both health and economic benefits for the nation. more...

Social Media Enhances AACI Member Outreach
As 2010 comes to a close AACI has implemented new social media tools to help its members stay up to date with developments within the association and throughout the cancer research community.

Please visit us on Facebook where we are already a fan of 46 of our member institutions http://www.facebook.com/pages/aaci

On Twitter we are currently following 42 of our members as well as sustaining members and trade publications http://twitter.com/AACI_Cancer/ more...
News from the Centers
Awards & Honors
UAB Director Named President of the American Cancer Society
UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center
UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Director Edward Partridge, MD, a renowned women’s cancer doctor and leader in the fight to reduce race- and ethnicity-based cancer disparities, has been named president of the American Cancer Society (ACS) National Board of Directors for 2010-11. more...
U-M Researcher Wins Biomedical Sciences Research Award
University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
The Association of American Medical Colleges has recognized University of Michigan Medical School researcher David Ginsburg, MD, with the Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences Award. Ginsburg is one of 10 scientists in the country receiving national recognition for their outstanding contributions to academic medicine and the global community. A graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine, today, in addition to being certified in four different specialties--hematology, oncology, internal medicine, and clinical genetics-- Ginsburg is an internationally recognized researcher who has devoted his career to finding better ways to treat inherited bleeding and clotting diseases, with a focus on the most frequent disorder of hemostasis, von Willebrand Disease (VWD). more...
St. Jude Named Recipient of Omar N. Bradley Spirit of Independence Award
Comprehensive Cancer Center St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has been named the recipient of the 2010 Omar N. Bradley Spirit of Independence Award, presented by the Independence Bowl Foundation. The Independence Bowl Foundation consists of volunteer committees of more than 400 members who carry out all functions of the Foundation, including organizing the Independence Bowl each year. The Omar N. Bradley Spirit of Independence Award began in 1978. It is given to an American organization or citizen that symbolizes the spirit of freedom and independence on which the United States was founded. more...
’James Hope Award’ Honors Senator Sherrod Brown
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and sponsor of the Access to Cancer Clinical Trials Act of 2009 (S. 488), has received the James Hope Award presented by The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James). The James Hope Award was created in 2009 to recognize the community’s commitment to support exceptional cancer care, education and research. Criteria for the award include advocacy, collaboration, innovation and leadership. Brown was chosen based on his leadership in helping patients gain access to life-saving clinical trials through his sponsorship of the Access to Cancer Clinical Trials Act and the drug pricing legislation that will have a positive impact on patients treated at The James. more...
Presidential Early Career Award Goes to Tewari
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Dr. Muneesh Tewari, an oncologist and researcher in the Human Biology Division, has been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers—the nation’s highest honor for scientists at the beginning of their independent research careers. Tewari is among 85 researchers and engineers nationwide to receive the honor this year. Tewari was nominated for the honor by the National Institutes of Health, which supports his work. Tewari’s research focuses on molecules called microRNAs, which act like brakes on different parts of a cell, keeping genes in check. He is working to understand why the brakes sometimes fail—allowing unchecked cell growth and resulting in cancer. He is also studying microRNAs that are released from cancer cells and enter the bloodstream. His work holds promise for both treatment and early detection of a variety of cancers, including prostate, breast, lung and ovarian cancers. more...
Olopade Honored by American Cancer Society
University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center
Five Americans whose unique talents and dedication have helped make progress in the fight against cancer today received prestigious awards from the American Cancer Society for their work in volunteerism, humanitarianism, distinguished service and palliative care Olufunmilayo Olopade, MB, BS, FACP, received the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of major contributions and commitment in the field of cancer. Peter S. Sheldon, Esq, and Karen A. Moffitt, PhD, were both awarded the National Volunteer Leadership Award in recognition of long and exemplary volunteer service to the Society. Sister Mary Scullion received the Humanitarian Award for her efforts to begin an internationally recognized organization addressing the prevention of homelessness and alleviation of poverty. Anthony Back, MD, received the Pathfinder in Palliative Care Award for his innovative contributions to the advancement of the field of palliative care. more...
Rowley Receives Rockefeller University Greengard Award
University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center
Janet Davison Rowley and Mary-Claire King, pioneering cancer geneticists, are the recipients of the 2010 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize awarded by The Rockefeller University. Created to recognize the accomplishments of outstanding female scientists. Rowley, Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and Human Genetics at the University of Chicago, is regarded as a major champion of the modern cancer cytogenetics movement that helped open the field of molecular oncology. In 1972, Rowley discovered two recurring chromosome translocations involved in human cancer: the 8;21 translocation in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and the 9;22 translocation, which results in the Philadelphia chromosome seen in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Rowley’s work provided evidence that genetic abnormalities are a critical factor in cancer and revolutionized cancer research and treatment. The success of the targeted cancer drug Gleevec, based on her discovery of the chromosome translocation in CML, is a notable outcome of Rowley’s seminal findings. more...
Grants & Gifts
NCI Renews Vanderbilt Support Grant
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) has been awarded a five-year renewal of its Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Under the NCI’s Cancer Center Support Grant Program, VICC will receive more than $6.2 million a year for the next five years. The total represents a 12.7 percent increase over the previous award. The CCSG is an institutional grant designed to provide operational stability for shared resources used by investigators throughout VICC for innovative cancer research. The CCSG grant supports direct costs for cancer research, as well as indirect costs needed for Cancer Center facilities and administration. This is the third renewal of the CCSG grant for VICC, which is an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. more...
Renewal of Comprehensive Status for Siteman
The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center
The Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine has received renewal of its designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The designation recognizes Siteman’s clinical research, basic science, community outreach and education activities. The renewal includes $23 million in research funding for the next five years. more...
NCI Awards $25 Million in Multi-year Grants to Stanford Center
Stanford Cancer Center
The National Cancer Institute has awarded more than $25 million over the coming five years to two centers at the Stanford University School of Medicine to develop new diagnostic techniques and therapies, as well as advancing the understanding of basic cancer cell biology. Sanjiv “Sam” Gambhir, MD, PhD, professor of radiology, is the principal investigator for both grants. more...
Grants to Fund Lung and Colon Cancer Detection Program
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded two Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) grants to a group of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) investigators to support early detection of lung and colon cancers. Pierre Massion, MD, associate professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology, has been awarded $3 million over five years for the creation of the Vanderbilt Clinical Validation Center. Daniel Liebler, PhD, Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and professor of Biochemistry, Pharmacology and Biomedical Informatics, and David Tabb, PhD, assistant professor of Biomedical Informatics and Biochemistry, have been awarded $3 million over five years for the creation of the Vanderbilt Biomarker Development Laboratory (BDL). The BDL will be established within the Jim Ayers Institute for Precancer Detection and Diagnosis which is dedicated to biomarker development. more...
UCCC Gets $1.6 Million in New Grants to Study Stem-Like Breast Cancer Cells
University of Colorado Cancer Center
Two groups of Colorado breast cancer researchers have received a total $1.625 million in grants to better understand the role of stem-like breast cancer cells in treatment resistance and recurrence. University of Colorado Cancer Center researcher Carol Sartorius, PhD, received a $1.25 million grant from the NCI to investigate the role of stem-like cells in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer. Sartorius, associate professor of endocrinology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine (SOM), was the first person to show that the hormone progesterone regulates a stem-like cell phenotype in breast cancer. more...
City of Hope Awarded $6.3M for Stem Cell-Based Therapy Research
City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute
City of Hope researchers have been awarded $6.3 million by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) for research and development of stem cell-based therapies to treat HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease and Canavan disease, an often fatal neurological disease that affects infants. The organization has previously received more than $36.7 million in grant support from CIRM. more...
$11.5 Million to Hutchinson to Lead Breast Cancer Consortium
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded $11.5 million to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to lead a five-year, Seattle-based breast cancer research consortium. The goal of the endeavor is to positively impact breast cancer prevention, detection, treatment and care of women who have or are at risk for the disease. Known as the Seattle Cancer Consortium Breast SPORE (Specialized Program in Research Excellence), the initiative will involve 25 investigators at the Hutchinson Center and the University of Washington as well as project consultants from a variety of institutions in the U.S. and abroad. more...
The Gathering Place & UH Ireland Cancer Center Win LIVESTRONG Grant
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University
Thanks to Cleveland’s social media power, The Gathering Place & University Hospitals (UH) Ireland Cancer Center are winners of a LIVESTRONG® Community Impact Project award. LIVESTRONG, an organization founded by Lance Armstrong to serve those affected by cancer, created the awards to fund cancer support programs in communities nationwide. The Gathering Place & UH Ireland Cancer Center will receive a joint $4,000 award to create Cancer Transitions, a program designed to support, educate and empower those transitioning out of cancer treatment. The innovative program, set to launch in early 2011, will incorporate support groups, education, nutrition and physical exercise, as well as address other medical management, psychosocial and quality of life issues. The program also will provide survivors with practical tools and resources to formulate a personal action plan for survivorship. more...
Duncan Researchers Get More Than $8 million in State Cancer Funding
The Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center
Researchers from the NCI-designated Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine have been awarded 11 new research projects totaling more than $8 million in the fourth round of recently awarded Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) grants. To date, Duncan Cancer Center researchers have been awarded more than $38 million in CPRIT funding. more...
Carbone Doctor Receives Professorship to Study Thyroid Cancer
University of Wisconsin Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center
Herbert Chen, MD, a member of the Experimental Therapeutics program at the UW Carbone Cancer Center, has been selected to lead the American Cancer Society’s MEN2 Thyroid Cancer Consortium. Dr. Chen, Professor and Vice-Chairman of Research at the UW Department of Surgery, will oversee several research scholars and post-doctoral fellows to undertake the 5-year project. This professorship is one of the most prestigious research grants given by the ACS and provides funding for full-time investigators who have made seminal contributions to cancer research. more...
Massey Awarded $2.4 Million From Virginia Tobacco Commission
Massey Cancer Center
Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center was recently awarded a two-year, $2.391 million grant from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission (Tobacco Commission) to expand the breadth of the Center’s community involvement and grow its state-of-the-art clinical research and cancer specialist delivery system. That delivery system is already in place in communities across Virginia, such as in the Lynchburg, Fredericksburg and Newport News areas. The award builds upon a previous grant of $1 million that the Tobacco Commission awarded to VCU Massey in 2008. The first grant supported Massey in bringing its nationally recognized cancer clinical trials and prevention and control research to Southside and Southwest Virginia through a new cancer research community outreach program. more...
Researcher Wins DOD Era of Hope Scholar Award
University of Wisconsin Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center
Dr. Wei Xu, member of the Cancer Genetics program at the UW Carbone Cancer Center, is one of only three scientists in the country to have won the 2010 Era of Hope Scholar Award. The award, from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Breast Cancer Research Program, supports individuals who have high potential for innovation in breast cancer research early in their careers. Based at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research and assistant professor of oncology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Xu will use the $3.6 million grant over five years to further her studies on estrogen receptors. more...
Leadership Transitions
Choi to Head New Therapeutic Cell Production Facility
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Yeong “Christopher” Choi, PhD, has joined Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) as Director of the newly created Therapeutic Cell Production Facility, a critical component of RPCI’s Center for Immunotherapy. The facility is the first of its kind in the Western New York region. As Director of the facility, Dr. Choi will be responsible for developing and implementing standard operating procedures and a quality control plan for the facility. more...
College of Public Health Names Epidemiology Chairman
UNMC Eppley Cancer Center
Dana Loomis, PhD, was named chairman of the epidemiology department in UNMC’s College of Public Health. He was formerly the director of the School of Community Health Sciences at the University of Nevada-Reno. "I’m delighted to have the opportunity to participate in building a strong College of Public Health at UNMC," Dr. Loomis said. "In addition, I’m particularly impressed with the incredible support for this young college and look forward to its enhanced presence in the region and nation." more...
Personalized Medicine Expert Fills Leadership Role at KU Cancer Center
University of Kansas Cancer Center
A leading scientist in the field of personalized medicine and drug development has joined The University of Kansas Cancer Center. Andrew K. Godwin, PhD, will serve as the Cancer Center’s Associate Director of Translational Research, filling a key leadership position and moving the Cancer Center closer to its goal of attaining National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation. Godwin arrived at The University of Kansas Cancer Center from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pa., where he was the director of the Clinical Molecular Genetics Laboratory, the co-leader of the Women’s Cancer Program, and the initiator and director of one of the top biospecimen repositories in the country. His specialty is developing tests to determine whether a drug will work on a particular patient or tumor. more...
Soff Appointed Chief of the Hematology Service
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Gerald A. Soff has been appointed Chief of the Hematology Service within the Department of Medicine’s Division of Hematologic Oncology. Under Dr. Soff’s leadership, the Hematology Service will focus on the management and study of non-neoplastic hematologic disorders, including thrombosis, blood coagulation, and disorders of red cells and platelets. This will include a particular focus on the hematologic disorders that occur in cancer patients. more...
Research Highlights
Certain Therapies’ Success Depends on Presence of Immune Cell
Stanford Cancer Center
The immune system may play a critical role in ensuring the success of certain types of cancer therapies, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The research showed treatments that disable cancer-promoting genes called oncogenes are much more successful in eradicating tumors in the presence of a signaling molecule secreted by a kind of immune cell called a T helper cell. more...
Trigger Mechanism Provides ’Quality Control’ in Cell Division
Huntsman Cancer Institute
Researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah report that they have identified a previously undiscovered trigger mechanism for a quality control checkpoint at the very end of the cell division process in a paper to be published in the November 29 issue of The Journal of Cell Biology. This trigger mechanism monitors whether the cell’s nucleus, where the DNA resides, has the proper structure and delays cell division if the structure is not correct. Previously discovered triggers have been associated with improper DNA division and distribution, but not the nuclear structure. more...
New Way of Expanding Cancer Screening for Minority Women
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Minority patients have a significantly decreased survival from colon cancer compared to white patients, most often as a result of a late diagnosis. To help address this problem, a team of healthcare professionals at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has identified an efficient way to increase minority access to lifesaving colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) in communities where multiple barriers to preventive care exist. In the November 8 issue of the journal Cancer, the group reports how women living in Harlem were introduced to CRCS during their routine mammography screening. more...
Discovery Blocks Cancer Drug’s Toxic Side Effect
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
A debilitating side effect of a widely used but harshly potent treatment for colon cancer could be eliminated if a promising new laboratory discovery bears fruit. The pre-clinical finding, published in the Nov. 5, 2010, issue of the journal Science, relates to the drug CPT-11, or Irinotecan, a chemotherapeutic agent used against colon cancer and other solid malignancies. It is believed to be the first successful targeting of an enzyme in symbiotic bacteria found in the digestive system. more...
Peptide Inhibits Ovarian Cancer Growth in Human Cell Lines and Mouse Models
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA
A drug in testing to treat atherosclerosis significantly inhibited growth of ovarian cancer in both human cell lines and mouse models, the first such report of a peptide being used to fight malignancies, according to a study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center The study follows previous discovery by the same group showing that a protein called apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) in patients may be used as a biomarker to diagnose early stage ovarian cancer, when it typically is asymptomatic and is much easier to treat. These earlier findings could be vital to improving early detection, as more than 85 percent of ovarian cancer cases present in the advanced stages, when the cancer has already spread and patients are more likely to have a recurrence after treatment, said Dr. Robin Farias-Eisner, chief of gynecologic oncology and co-senior author of the study with Dr. Srinu Reddy, a professor of medicine. more...
Researchers Discover Potential Therapy Target for Deadly Prostate Cancer Subset
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA
A monoclonal antibody targeting a well known cell surface protein inhibited prostate cancer growth and metastasis in an aggressive form of the disease that did not respond to hormone therapy, according to a study by researchers with the UCLA Department of Urology and UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. The researchers also found that the protein, N-cadherin, is up regulated or turned on in prostate cancer that does not respond to hormone therapy, known as castration resistant disease. The results of the study, done in cell lines and mouse models, were confirmed in humans after researchers examined tissue from dozens of men who died from prostate cancer, said Dr. Robert Reiter, a professor of urology, a Jonsson Cancer Center scientist and senior author of the study. more...
People with Specific Kind of Lung Cancer Respond to New Targeted Treatment
University of Colorado Cancer Center
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows more than half of patients with a specific kind of lung cancer are responding positively to a treatment that targets the gene that drives their cancer. The study shows 57 percent of patients with ALK-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer responded partially or completely to a tablet called crizotinib, an investigational anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor. In some cases, the cancer becomes undetectable in body scans. more...
Gene Identified for Spread of Deadly Melanoma
The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a gene linked to the spread of eye melanoma. Although more research is needed, the researchers say the discovery is an important step in understanding why some tumors spread (metastasize) and others don’t. They believe the findings could lead to more effective treatments. The team found mutations in a gene called BAP1 in 84 percent of the metastatic eye tumors they studied. In contrast, the mutation was rare in tumors that did not metastasize. more...
Mechanism Behind Demethylation Pinpointed in APC Gene Mutants
Huntsman Cancer Institute
Colon cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States and causes more than 50,000 deaths each year. It has been known for some time that mutations in the APC gene occur in more than 85 percent of all sporadic colon cancers. Now researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah demonstrate in a study featured in Cell the mechanism by which mutation of the APC gene affects a cellular process known as DNA methylation. DNA methylation is a chemical modification made to DNA that plays an important role in dictating how DNA is read and interpreted by a cell. more...
Fracture Risk for Older Prostate Cancer Patients Warrants Close Review of Hormone Therapy
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey
Research by a team of investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), shows careful consideration should be given before initiating androgen deprivation therapy, a common treatment for older men with localized prostate cancer. The investigators are concerned that this particular population has a higher than average risk of bone fracture, and that androgen deprivation therapy might add to their fracture risk. For more than a decade, this form of treatment, which shuts off male hormones known to promote growth of prostate cancers, has become a popular alternative to surgery, radiation or conservative management, but little is known about long-term toxic effects associated with its extended use. more...
IU Project Will Evaluate Ovarian Cancer Drug for Clinical Trials
Indiana University Simon Cancer Center
Indiana University will receive $900,000 from the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF) to help prepare the new drug SGI-110 for clinical trials in patients whose once-thwarted ovarian cancer has returned. Kenneth Nephew, PhD, a researcher with the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, is leading the project in collaboration with co-investigators and fellow cancer center members Daniela Matei, MD, and John Turchi, PhD. The OCRF this year approved only three Program Project Development Grants, which are reserved for senior researchers whose projects are deemed most likely to bear fruit -- in the form of phase I clinical trials and, later, National Institutes of Health support. more...
Gene Therapy for Metastatic Melanoma in Mice Produces Complete Remission
Indiana University Simon Cancer Center
A potent anti-tumor gene introduced into mice with metastatic melanoma has resulted in permanent immune reconfiguration and produced a complete remission of their cancer. Indiana University School of Medicine researchers used a modified lentivirus to introduce a potent anti-melanoma T cell receptor gene into the hematopoietic stem cells of mice. Hematopoietic stem cells are the bone marrow cells that produce all blood and immune system cells. The T cell gene, which recognizes a specific protein found on the surface of melanoma, was isolated and cloned from a patient with melanoma. The gene-modified stems cells were then transplanted back into hosts and found to eradicate metastatic melanoma for the lifetime of the mice. more...
Nanoshells Provide Golden ‘Touch’ in Killing Breast Tumors
The Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center
Using tiny gold "nanoshells" to deliver just a little heat to breast tumor cells already treated with radiation boosts the killing potential of the treatment – not just shrinking the tumor but killing the cancer stem cells. In studies of tumor cells grown in the laboratory and of mice with the most aggressive mouse and human tumors, the researchers found that radiation plus gold nanoshells heated with a near-infrared laser not only shrank the tumors but dramatically decreased the population of cancer stem cells, said Rachel Atkinson, the BCM graduate student who is first author of the report. Her mentors are Dr. Jeffrey Rosen, professor of molecular and cellular biology and a member of the NCI-designated Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center and Dr. Jenny C. Chang, a former BCM professor who is now director of the Methodist Cancer Center. Both are senior authors of the report. more...
Study Finds NSAIDs Cause Stem Cells to Self-Destruct, Preventing Colon Cancer
University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) prevent colon cancer by triggering diseased stem cells to self-destruct, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their findings could lead to new strategies to protect people at high risk for the disease. Doctors have long known that NSAIDs, such as aspirin, can lower the risk of colon cancer, but it’s not been clear how they do it, said senior investigator Lin Zhang, a professor in the medical school’s Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology. more...
Prostate Cancer Linked to Higher Rate of Colon Cancer
University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Men treated with hormone-based therapy for prostate cancer faced a 30 percent to 40 percent higher risk of colorectal cancer, compared to patients who did not receive this treatment, according to a new study. The study looked at use of androgen deprivation therapy, a common type of treatment for prostate cancer that involves blocking the male hormone testosterone through either surgical removal of the testicles or a series of injections. It’s been shown to benefit men with advanced cancers, but its benefit for less-advanced disease is unclear. Still, more than half a million men in the United States currently receive this therapy. more...
Soy May Stop Prostate Cancer Spread
The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Northwestern Medicine researchers at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University have found that a new, nontoxic drug made from a chemical in soy could prevent the movement of cancer cells from the prostate to the rest of the body. Genistein, a natural chemical found in soy, is being used in the lab of Raymond Bergan, MD, the director of experimental therapeutics at the Lurie Cancer Center, to inhibit prostate cancer cells from becoming metastatic and spreading to other parts of the body. So far the cancer therapy drug has worked in preclinical animal studies and now shows benefits in humans with prostate cancer. more...
Our Normal Genetics May Influence Cancer Growth, Too
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -
The genes we possess not only determine the color of our eyes and hair and how our bodies grow, they might also influence the changes that occur in tumors when we develop cancer. A study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) suggests that our normal genetic background – the genetic variations that we inherit – contributes to the kinds of DNA changes that occur in tumor cells as cancer develops. The researchers compared multiple independent tumors from people with a form of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) for losses and gains of DNA in tumor cells. They found that the pattern of these changes is quite similar in tumors from the same person but quite different in tumors from different individuals. more...
Is the Shape of a Genome as Important as its Content?
The Wistar Institute
If there is one thing that recent advances in genomics have revealed, it is that our genes are interrelated, “chattering” to each other across separate chromosomes and vast stretches of DNA. According to researchers at The Wistar Institute, many of these complex associations may be explained in part by the three-dimensional structure of the entire genome. A given cell’s DNA spends most of its active lifetime in a tangled clump of chromosomes, which positions groups of related genes near to each other and exposes them to the cell’s gene-controlling machinery. This structure, the researchers say, is not merely the shape of the genome, but also a key to how it works. more...
Study Offers First Explanation of How Cells Rapidly Repair and Maintain Structure
Huntsman Cancer Institute
Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have discovered that a protein, zyxin, is necessary for the maintenance and repair of the cell’s cytoskeleton, or internal framework, which serves as the muscle and bone of the cell. The research has implications for cancer, as well as other diseases, since alterations in the cytoskeleton are often associated with disease. Mark Smith, PhD, one of the HCI researchers involved in the study explains that, "When a cell’s environment changes and stress is applied, cytoskeletal bundles, called actin stress fibers, can literally begin to tear, but then are rapidly repaired. This process begins within seconds and allows the cell to retain its structure. We showed that a protein called zyxin is required for the maintenance and repair of the actin cytoskeleton." more...
Researchers Shine Light on How Some Melanoma Tumors Evade Drug Treatment
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
The past year has brought to light both the promise and the frustration of developing new drugs to treat melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. Early clinical tests of a candidate drug aimed at a crucial cancer-causing gene revealed impressive results in patients whose cancers resisted all currently available treatments. Unfortunately, those effects proved short-lived, as the tumors invariably returned a few months later, able to withstand the same drug to which they first succumbed. Adding to the disappointment, the reasons behind these relapses were unclear. Now, a research team led by scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT has unearthed one of the key players behind such drug resistance. The researchers pinpoint a novel cancer gene, called COT (also known as MAP3K8), and uncover the signals it uses to drive melanoma. The research underscores the gene as a new potential drug target, and also lays the foundation for a generalized approach to identify the molecular underpinnings of drug resistance in many forms of cancer. more...
Knowledge of Genetic Cancer Risks Often Dies with Patients
Massey Cancer Center
If you were dying from cancer, would you consider genetic testing? A recent study conducted by researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center showed that most terminally ill cancer patients who were eligible for genetic testing never received it despite the fact that it could potentially save a relative’s life. The study, “Exploring Hereditary Cancer Among Dying Cancer Patients A Cross-Sectional Study of Hereditary Risk and Perceived Awareness of DNA Testing and Banking,” was recently published in the Journal of Genetic Counseling by VCU Massey researchers John M. Quillin, PhD, MPH, Thomas J. Smith, MD, Joann N. Bodurtha, MD, MPH, and Laura Siminoff, PhD The research is the first to document the prevalence of hereditary cancer risk and the need for genetic services and patient education among terminally ill cancer patients. Investigators interviewed 43 dying cancer patients, nine of whom had a strong genetic risk. more...
Studying the Metabolome of Smokers, Researchers Find Early Signs of Damage
Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University
Examining the blood “metabolomics” profile of smokers immediately after they had a cigarette revealed activation of pathways involved in cell death, inflammation, and other forms of systemic damage, say researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center. They say their findings, presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference in Philadelphia, is the best analysis for chemicals unequivocally produced by smoking and indicates the potential toll that carcinogens and toxins poise to smokers years before lung cancer, heart disease, or other smoking–related diseases appear. more...
Study Shows Two-Sided Immune Cell Could be Harnessed to Shrink Tumors
Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania
A recently identified immune cell that directs other cells to fight infection plays a critical role in regulating the immune system in both health and disease. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered how a stimulatory molecule and a protein found on the membrane of another immune cell make T helper 17 cells multi-taskers of sorts. Th17 cells protect the body against infection and cancer, but are also culprits in some autoimmune diseases and out-of-control, cancerous cell growth. This new understanding that Th17 cells manage to play both sides of the fence suggests that targeting or inhibiting the involved protein pathways might be a new way to treat cancer, chronic infection, and some autoimmune diseases. more...
Other News
Advancing the Science of Smoking Cessation Interventions through Recovery Act Funding
Other Organization
The NCI’s Cancer Information Service (CIS) Contact Center has been helping smokers quit since the 1980’s through its quitline, which was developed by NCI’s Office of Communications and Education, with web resources provided by NCI’s Tobacco Control Research Branch. Because smoking is a leading cause of cancer and a continuing major public health issue, one of NCI’s goals is to provide evidence-based interventions and new approaches to help smokers successfully quit. With a recent Recovery Act award, the NCI will be able to evaluate and improve its smoking cessation services to the public. more...
Dana-Farber Turns to iPads to Help Patients Through Treatment
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Recognizing that patients can spend hours in the clinic for treatment and tests, Dana-Farber has started lending iPads to patients to help them pass the time. The portable Apple computers are available to sign out for a three-hour period at no charge; all that is needed is a patient identification card and driver’s license. They are pre-loaded with games like chess and Sudoku, movies, and a full library of music, as well as videos and information about cancer care at the Institute. The iPads also includes many popular news and entertainment apps. “Many patients here at the Institute have to spend a great deal of their day with us in infusion chairs, with limited mobility,” says Janet Porter, PhD, Dana Farber’s chief operating officer. “We have televisions and reading material already available, but this is an extra way to help entertain them and pass the time.” more...
Knight Embarks on Personalized Medicine Strategic Plan
Knight Cancer Institute
Two years after receiving a $100 million gift from Phil and Penny Knight to support cancer care and research, Oregon Health & Science University has settled on a strategy to become a regional powerhouse in "personalized medicine" for the disease. The three-prong plan includes a recruiting drive for researchers, the launch of a commercial DNA testing lab and the expansion of the university’s cancer tissue bank into a unique and potentially profitable resource for researchers and drug companies. more...
American Cancer Society to Launch Patient Navigator Program at UPMC
University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
The American Cancer Society is launching its Patient Navigator Program at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, thanks to support received from AstraZeneca. Magee is the fourth site in Pennsylvania that is part of a nationwide effort to extend the reach of this innovative program, which assists individual cancer patients in negotiating the health care system. The American Cancer Society Patient Navigator Program directly connects a patient to a cancer education and support specialist – known as a "patient navigator" – who, through a one-on-one relationship, serves as a personal guide to patients and caregivers as they face the psychosocial, emotional and financial challenges that cancer can bring. The service is free and confidential, and places an emphasis on assisting the medically underserved. more...
St. Jude Expands Tobacco Quit Line
Comprehensive Cancer Center St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital
Cancer survivors who smoke and need help quitting can receive help through a tobacco cessation program organized by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Despite the known risk of tobacco use, many cancer survivors still smoke. Cancer and its treatments put some survivors at increased risk for second cancers and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Smoking adds to health risks. The Cancer Survivor Tobacco Quit Line is open to survivors of childhood or adult-onset cancer, regardless of where they received treatment. Participation in the program is free. more...
RPCI to Train Clinical Staff from Saudi Hospital
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) and King Fahad Specialist Hospital (KFSH) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, signed a formal agreement in November under which RPCI will train KFSH clinicians, scientists, nurses and support staff to provide patients in Saudi Arabia with a level of cancer care comparable to that available at RPCI. The collaboration was finalized after negotiations and reciprocal visits by top leaders of the two institutions. more...
Unique Cancer Database Designed to Personalize Treatment Is Launched
Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University
Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center, announces the launch of the Georgetown Database of Cancer or G-DOC. Under development for two years, G-DOC is a repository for biological information that is normally only available in scattered information libraries and tissue banks, if at all. Data sets grow as researchers deposit new information. G-DOC also contains relevant tools to analyze the data, plus new ones not seen before. An overall goal of G-DOC’s use is to accelerate the ability to tailor or personalize medical treatment for patients. For physicians and researchers, G-DOC means they need only access a single website portal on their computers to open a unique universe of information on cancer – something that has not been widely available before to oncology researchers who must access a variety of data through different information systems. Researchers at Georgetown will be able to incorporate the G-DOC analytical capabilities immediately into their clinical and laboratory research, as their funding allows. The G-DOC developers hope to open the database for use outside of Georgetown in 2011. more...
Mayo Clinic Proton Beam Therapy Program in Development
Mayo Clinic Cancer Center
Mayo Clinic has announced plans to establish the Mayo Clinic Proton Beam Therapy Program as part of Mayo’s national three-site cancer center in Minnesota, Arizona and Florida. The new program will employ intensity modulated proton therapy — based on pencil beam scanning — which is a more precise form of proton therapy treatment that allows greater control over radiation doses, shorter treatment times and fewer side effects. It is also believed to be more cost effective in selected patients As part of the integrated program, Mayo Clinic will build facilities on Mayo’s campuses in Minnesota and Arizona. more...