Biomarkers, Cancer Research / 16.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Martin Köbel M.D. Assistant Professor, Pathology and Lab Medicine
Calgary Laboratory Services 9 3535 Research Road Nw Calgary, Alberta T2L 2K8 Canada MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer:  Ovarian carcinomas are now divided into five histological types, which differ with respect to biology and clinical behaviour. However, the histological type assessment varies from center to center. Our study emphasizes the need for a standardized method to identify them. Until such consistent approach is established, histological types from various centers may not comprise the same entities and studies will give inconsistent results. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Johns Hopkins, Stem Cells / 13.08.2013

Harvard Stem Cell Institute's Kornelia Polyak, MD, PhD, MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kornelia Polyak, MD, PhD Professor of Medicine Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Harvard Medical School Boston, MA 02215 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Polyak: We found that when comparing normal breast tissue of women who have not had children (nulliparous) and those who had children in their early 20s, the largest changes are in breast epithelial progenitors. The frequency of these cells is lower in parous women (women who had children) and the properties are also altered in a way that they are less likely to proliferate. Women with high risk of breast cancer, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, have very high frequency of these cells, and also parous women who did get cancer have more than those who did not. These results indicate that the frequency of these cells may predict breast cancer risk. (more…)
Author Interviews, JNCI, Lung Cancer, Sloan Kettering / 09.08.2013

Prasad Adusumilli MD, FACS Associate Member, Thoracic Surgery Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center New YorkMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prasad Adusumilli MD, FACS Associate Member, Thoracic Surgery Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center New York MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The current standard of care of for early-stage lung adenocarcinoma, the common form of lung cancer is curative-intent surgery either by limited resection, LR (removal of tumor with clear margins) or lobectomy, LO (removal of one-third to one-half of the lung harboring the tumor). Although lung-sparing LR is preferable, there is a reported incidence of 30-40% of recurrences within the same lung. The causative factor/s for these local recurrences is not known. In our study, we analyzed recurrence patterns and pathological features in patients who underwent 476 LO and 258 LR performed at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York. We investigated the morphological patterns in pathology specimens utilizing the recently proposed International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer / European Respiratory Society / American Thoracic Society (IASLC/ERS/ATS) classification. We noticed that presence of micropapillary morphology was associated with three times higher recurrences in patients undergoing LR compared to LO, these recurrences were lower when there is an adequate margin (2 cm) resected beyond the tumor. In patients undergoing LO, the recurrences were 75% less. (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV, Infections, JNCI, Lymphoma / 08.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Satish Gopal, MD, MPH Program in Global Oncology, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center UNC Project-Malawi, Tidziwe Center, Private Bag A-104, Lilongwe, Malawi MedicalResearch.com: What is the primary message our physician readers should take away from the piece?” Answer: Lymphoma is one of the leading causes of HIV-associated death in the modern ART era. In our analyses of a large multicenter US cohort, survival for HIV-associated lymphoma patients receiving routine care has not clearly improved since the modern ART era began, and remains significantly worse than SEER outcomes for the same lymphoma subtypes in the general population. This was somewhat surprising in an era of normalizing life expectancy for HIV-infected patients on ART, and quite different from the outstanding results achieved for this population in recent clinical trials conducted by AMC and NCI. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 07.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lindsey Enewold PhD, MPH Division of Military Epidemiology and Population Sciences John P. Murtha Cancer Center Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Rockville, Maryland MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
 Answer: With increasing time since breast cancer diagnosis women were less likely to receive surveillance mammography. Minority women were equally or more likely than non-Hispanic white women to receive surveillance mammography within an equal access healthcare system. (more…)
Author Interviews, Colon Cancer, JAMA / 07.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com: Interview with: Samir Gupta, MD, MSCS San Diego Veterans Affairs Healthcare System Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine Moores Cancer Center University of California San Diego MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Dr. Gupta: In a randomized, comparative effectiveness study among uninsured individuals not up to date with screening, we found that mailed outreach invitations to complete colonoscopy outreach, and mailed outreach to complete a non-invasive fecal immunochemical test (FIT) tripled screening rates compared to usual care. Additionally, we found that outreach was almost twice as effective with offers for FIT versus colonoscopy screening. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Pediatrics / 07.08.2013

Kirsten Ness, PT, PhD 
 Epidemiology and Cancer Control MS 735, Room S-6013 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 262 Danny Thomas Place Memphis, TN 38105-3678MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kirsten Ness, PT, PhD Epidemiology and Cancer Control MS 735, Room S-6013 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 262 Danny Thomas Place Memphis, TN 38105-3678 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?  Answer: Even though they report similar levels of physical activity, children who were treated for cancer and who survive at least five years, on average, do not perform as well as their siblings on tests of physical performance.  They have muscle weakness and decreased cardiopulmonary fitness. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, OBGYNE / 01.08.2013

Hemodialysis.com Interview with:: Marcela G. del Carmen, M.D., M.P.H Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey 9 E Boston, Massachusetts MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The study sample included 7,973 women, including 7,363 (92.3%) whites and 610 (7.7%) AA, diagnosed with vulvar cancer from 1973 to 2009. African American women were younger and had a higher rate of distant metastasis compared to white women.  African American women were more likely to be treated by radiaton therapy and less likely to receive survival therapy. Although the study found that compared to white women, African Americans were more likely to be younger and have more advanced disease upon diagnosis, they had lower rates of vulvar cancer related mortality compared to white women. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Lung Cancer, Radiology, Smoking / 31.07.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Linda L. Humphrey, M.D., M.P.H. Professor of Medicine Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology and Public Health for Oregon Health & Science University;Associate Chief of Medicine at the Portland VA Medical Center Dr. Humphrey comments on this important study on Screening for Lung Cancer With Low-Dose Computed Tomography: Lung cancer is the 3rd leading cause of cancer in the United States and the leading cause of cancer related death.  It is estimated that in 2012 there were 226,160 cases of lung cancer and 160, 340 lung cancer related death in the US.   In addition, lung cancer is the leading cause of years of life lost to cancer.   Cigarette smoking is by far the leading cause of lung cancer in the US and while many people have quit smoking, data in the US indicate that 37% of adults are either current or former smokers and at risk of lung cancer.    (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Radiology, Yale / 30.07.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Brian Haas MD Department of Diagnostic Radiology,Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT Dr. Brian Haas MD Department of Diagnostic Radiology,Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Haas: We found that tomosynthesis helped to reduce the number of women who undergo a screening mammogram and are called back for additional imaging and testing. Specifically, the greatest reductions in patients being called back were seen in younger patients and those with dense breasts. Tomosynthesis is analogous to a 3D mammogram, and improves contrast of cancers against the background breast parenchyma. (more…)
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Lancet, Lung Cancer / 30.07.2013

Ole Raaschou-Nielsen, MSc, PhD Head of Research Group for Work, Environment & Cancer Danish Cancer Society Research Center Strandboulevarden 49 2100 Copenhagen ØMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ole Raaschou-Nielsen, MSc, PhD Head of Research Group for Work, Environment & Cancer Danish Cancer Society Research Center Strandboulevarden 49 2100 Copenhagen Ø MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The study shows that people who live at locations with higher levels of particles in the air are at higher risk for development of lung cancer. It seems that there is no threshold for air pollution with particles below which there is no risk; the results show that it is more like “the more air pollution the worse and the less pollution the better”. The strongest association was seen for adenocarcinoma of the lung. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Nature, University of Pennsylvania / 25.07.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Xiaolu Yang, Ph.D.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Xiaolu Yang, Ph.D. Professor of Cancer Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania and the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Yang: TAp73 is a structural homologue of the preeminent tumor suppressor p53, but its role in tumorigenesis has been unclear. In this study, we show that TAp73 supports the proliferation of tumor cells. Mechanistically, TAp73 activates the expression of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), a rate-limiting enzyme in the pentose phosphate pathway. This function of TAp73 is required for maintaining a robust biosynthesis and anti-oxidant defense in tumor cells. These finding connects TAp73 to oncogenic growth and suggest that G6PD may be a valuable target for tumor therapy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JAMA, Nutrition, Prostate Cancer / 10.07.2013

Maarten C. Bosland, DVSc, PhD Professor of Pathology Department of Pathology University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine Chicago, IL 60612MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Maarten C. Bosland, DVSc, PhD Professor of Pathology Department of Pathology University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine Chicago, IL  60612 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Bosland: Daily consumption of a supplement containing soy protein isolate for two years following radical prostatectomy did not reduce recurrence of prostate cancer in men at high risk for this (radical prostatectomy is surgical removal of the prostate to treat prostate cancer). The study showed that this soy supplementation was safe. It is not clear whether this result indicates that soy does not prevent the development of prostate cancer, but men that have the disease probably do not benefit from soy supplementation. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, CT Scanning, Heart Disease, JACC, Lung Cancer, Medical Imaging / 08.07.2013

Dr. Pim A. de Jong, Department of Radiology University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, E.01.132, 3508GA Utrecht, the Netherlands. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. de Jong: The main findings of the study is that lung cancer screening CT scans can predict future cardiovascular events. MedicalResearch.com: Where any of the findings unexpected? Dr. de Jong: The unexpected aspect is that the CT scans were not-ECG gated, but even these non-gated scans were good enough to quantify arterial calcifications and predict risk. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JAMA, Melanoma, Stanford / 03.07.2013

Susan Swetter, MD Professor of Dermatology Director, Pigmented Lesion & Melanoma Program Stanford University Medical Center & Cancer InstituteMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Susan Swetter, MD Professor of Dermatology Director, Pigmented Lesion & Melanoma Program Stanford University Medical Center & Cancer Institute  

Melanoma Survival Disadvantage in Young, Non-Hispanic White Males Compared With Females

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Swetter: Women diagnosed with melanoma tend to fare better than men in terms of improved survival, and this has mostly been attributed to better screening practices and behaviors in women that result in thinner, more curable tumors, and/or more frequent physician visits in older individuals that result in earlier detection.  Our study focused on survival differences between young men and women (ages 15-39 years) diagnosed with cutaneous (skin) melanoma, who constitute a generally healthy population compared to the older adults that have usually been studied. We found that young men were 55% more likely to die of melanoma than age-matched women, despite adjustment for factors that may affect prognosis, such as tumor thickness, histology and location of the melanoma, as well as presence and extent of metastasis. Our results present further evidence that a biologic mechanism may contribute to the sex disparity in melanoma survival, since adolescent and young adults see physicians less frequently and are less likely to have sex-related behavior differences in skin cancer screening practices than older individuals. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Radiology, Yale / 01.07.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sarah H. O'Connell M.D. PGY-4 Yale New Haven Hospital Yale School of Medicine Department of Diagnostic Radiology MedicalResearch.com:  What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the visibility of cancers in women at high-risk for breast cancer on 2D mammography compared to digital breast tomosynthesis. In other words, how would the use of tomosynthesis contribute to cancer visualization in this population  of patients? We evaluated the cancers seen in both high-risk patients, those with a >20% lifetime risk of breast cancer, and intermediate risk  patients, those with a 15-20% lifetime risk of breast cancer, for a total of 56 cancers. We found that 41% (23/56) cancers were better seen on tomosynthesis and 4% (2/56) were only seen on tomosynthesis. The majority of the cancers seen better or only on tomosynthesis  presented as masses rather than as calcifications alone which were better seen on 2D mammography. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Breast Cancer, Cancer Research, Fish, Nutrition / 28.06.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Duo Li (PhD, MSc, BMed) Co-Editor, Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition Associate Editor, Journal of Nutrigenetics & Nutrigenomics Professor of Nutrition Dept. of Food Science & Nutrition Zhejiang University 866 Yu-Hang-Tang Road Hangzhou 310058, China MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Li: The main finding is that intake marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) from both fish and fish oil lower the risk of breast cancer. Women with a high intake of marine n-3 PUFAs had a 14-percent reduction in risk of breast cancer compared with those who had a low intake. Every 0.1 g increase in marine n-3 PUFA per day was linked to a five-percent reduction in breast cancer risk. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Esophageal, Nutrition / 08.06.2013

DR. RAUL ZAMORA-ROS, PhD. POSDOCTORAL FELLOW UNIT OF NUTRITION, ENVIRONMENT AND CANCER CATALAN INSTITUTE OF ONCOLOGY (ICO) – BELLVITGE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE (IDIBELL) BARCELONA, SPAIN MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Zamora-Ros:  Our study shows that diets rich on flavonoids (polyphenols ubiquitously distributed in the plant kingdom, such as in fruit, vegetables, tea, wine and chocolate), particularly flavonols, are associated with less esophageal cancer risk, especially in current smokers. Tobacco smoking causes oxidative stress, and both oxidative stress and smoking tobacco are related to increased esophageal cancer risk. Therefore, our data suggest that the possible protective mechanism of dietary flavonoids may be related to their antioxidant properties, which may not be attributed to the direct antioxidant action, but to the ability to modulate antioxidant enzymatic pathways. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Stanford / 30.05.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Ronald Levy, M.D. Professor and Chief Division of Oncology Stanford University, 269 Campus Drive Stanford, California 94305, USA MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Levy: Injection of antibodies that deplete Treg cells directly into a tumor can evoke an immune response that cures  the animal of distant, untreated tumors. This effect eliminates cancer even in the brain. The dose of antibodies locally injected can be as low as 1/100 the dose used for systemic injection and therefore should avoid the usual autoimmune side effects of these antibodies. The antibodies used are directed against CTLA4 and OX40 antigens. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Prostate Cancer, Stanford / 29.05.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Timothy J. Daskivich, MD Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars® University of California Los Angeles Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research 10940 Wilshire Blvd, 7th Floor Suite 710, Room 721 Los Angeles, California 90024 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?  Were any of the findings unexpected? Dr. Daskivich:  We found that age and a simple count of comorbidities were strongly predictive of likelihood of dying of causes other than prostate cancer.  When we put numbers to it, it was surprising how often older men with multiple comorbidities were dying of something else than their prostate cancer within 14 years of diagnosis.  For example, a 75-year old man with 3 or more comorbidities—diabetes, high blood pressure, and history of heart attack—had a probability of death from something other than CaP of 71% at 10 years.  For a 71-year old man with 3 or more comorbidities, the probability was 60%.  We compared that to the amount of time they were dying of prostate cancer, which was 3% for low-risk disease and 7% for intermediate-risk disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cancer Research, CT Scanning, Medical Imaging, Medical Research Centers / 27.05.2013

prof_john_d_mathewsJohn D. Mathews, MBBS, MD, PhD, DSc Hon, DMedSc Hon, Professor of epidemiology at the School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria, Australia Cancer risk in 680 000 people exposed to computed tomography scans in childhood or adolescence: data linkage study of 11 million Australians MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Prof Mathews: We found that for persons having at least one CT scan before the age of 20 years, and followed for an average period of 10 years, the average risk of cancer was increased by 24% compared with unexposed persons matched for age, sex and year of birth. The cancer risk increased by 16% for each CT scan that preceded the cancer by more than one year. The proportional increase in risk was greater for persons exposed at younger ages. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Genetic Research, Lung Cancer / 26.05.2013

MedicalResearch.com Authors’ Interview: Sophie Rousseaux and Saadi Khochbin INSERM, U823; Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble 1; Institut Albert Bonniot, Grenoble F-38700, France. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We first discovered that all cancer cells lose the ability to maintain gene silencing and therefore activate genes that should normally remain silent. Although present in all cells, some genes are normally expressed (or “active”) only in one cell type. For example, normal lung cells do not express genes that are only active in germ cells (i. e., cells that will become spermatozoa), but lung cancerous cells activate some of these germ cells-specific genes. In this work we designed a specific approach to detect these aberrant gene expressions and found that they occur in all cancers of all origins. We then decided to exploit this phenomenon to help the detection of cancers and predict their evolution. For this purpose, we chose to focus on lung cancer to establish “a proof of principle”. We found that, among all the genes wrongly expressed in the tumour cells, the activation of 26 of them enabled us to identify the most aggressive lung cancers. Compared with the existing information currently available for doctors (i.e.; tumour size, its pathological subtype…), our approach brings much more precision in predicting the evolution of the tumours and the prognosis of the patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, CT Scanning, Medical Imaging / 07.05.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr. Waël C. Hanna University of Toronto departments of Thoracic Surgery and Diagnostic Radiology, MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Hanna: By using Minimal Dose CT Scan (MnDCT) for surveillance of patients after lung cancer resection, we can detect 94.2% of recurrent or new lung cancer in this patient population. When we use chest x-ray (CXR) to conduct surveillance on the same cohort of patients, we can only detect 21.1% of new or recurrent lung cancer cases. Therefore, while MnDCT scan subjects the patient to a similar effective dose of radiation as CXR (0.2 mSV vs. 0.16 mSv), it is a vastly superior test for follow-up of this high risk population. More importantly, when we use MnDCT for surveillance, we can detect new or recurrent lung cancer at the asymptomatic locoregional stage in 78% of patients, and there quarters of those patients are candidates for further treatment in the form of surgery or radiation. In the patients who were treated, median survival was 69 months after initial operation, versus 25 months in those who received no treatment. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research / 02.05.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Christian Löw, Ph.D. Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics Karolinska Institutet SE-171 77 Stockholm Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Löw: In order to grow, cells need fuels such as sugars. Specialized proteins that reside in the cell envelope transport these nutrients into the cell; XylE is a bacterial transport protein that is highly similar to members of the human GLUT transporters. Our study describes for the first time the mechanistic details of how cells import sugars by resolving the different steps of the transport cycle at almost atomic resolution. Tumors are especially dependent on the uptake of sugars and other nutrients via these transporter systems in order to be able to grow rapidly. A possible strategy for cancer treatment therefore would be to block these transporters in the cell membrane, thus starving out and killing the cancer cells. Our structures can be used for initial structure based drug design studies to develop efficient and specific inhibitors against members of the GLUT family. We believe that our detailed mechanistic insights could become the basis for new strategies to fight cancer cells. Specialized proteins that reside in the cell envelope transport these nutrients into the cell; XylE is a bacterial transport protein that is highly similar to members of the human GLUT transporters (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Case Western, Cleveland Clinic, Mental Health Research / 25.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com: eInterview with Siran M. Koroukian, Ph.D. Population Health and Outcomes Research Core, Clinical & Translational Science Collaborative Associate Professor Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH 44106-7281 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Koroukian: Among individuals who died of cancer, those with mental illness (MI) died an average of 10 years earlier than those without MI. Overall, there was excess mortality from cancer associated with having mental illness in all the race/sex strata: SMR, 2.16 (95% CI, 1.85-2.50) for black men; 2.63 (2.31-2.98) for black women; 3.89 (3.61-4.19) for nonblack men; and 3.34 (3.13-3.57) for nonblack women. We note statistically significant higher SMRs for every anatomic cancer site in nonblack men and women and for most cancer sites in black men and women. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Chemotherapy, Hormone Therapy / 23.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Andrew Weickhardt, MBBS, DMedSc, FRACP MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Weickhardt: The study was hoping to confirm our earlier published observation that crizotinib use led to low testosterone in male patients. The earlier study was based on our observation of symptoms of low testosterone in some patients treated with the drug, and had suggested strongly that crizotinib led to rapid decrease in testosterone levels, however this was based only on a single center's patients, and only 19 patients. We hoped to do this by surveying a larger population of crizotinib treated patients across multiple institutions. We serially measured several relevant hormones. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research / 12.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Vincent Yi-Fong Su MD Department of Chest Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Amiodarone, one of the most widely used medications to treat arrhythmias may increase the risk of developing cancer, especially in men and people exposed to high amounts of the drug. That is the conclusion of a new retrospective study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Patients who were male or who received high cumulative daily doses of amiodarone within the first year had an increased risk of developing cancer. Those with both factors were 46 percent more likely to develop cancer than those with neither factor. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Genetic Research, PNAS / 03.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com eInterview with Dr. Mathieu Lupien PhD Dr. Mathieu Lupien PhD Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) Assistant Professor Department of Medical Biophysics University of Toronto Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) Assistant Professor Department of Medical Biophysics University of Toronto MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lupien: Approximately 50% of breast cancer patients fail to respond to the standard of care based on endocrine (hormonal) therapy. Our research identifies a mechanism that accounts for this resistance. Drugs against this mechanism are already tested for other diseases. Hence, our discovery should rapidly help reposition these drugs against endocrine therapy resistant breast cancer. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, PNAS / 02.04.2013

MedicalResearch.com Author Interview: Prof. Eytan Domany Department of Physics of Complex Systems and Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, IsraelDepartment of Physics of Complex Systems and Department of Biological Regulation, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Prof. Domany: The findings are two-fold: methodological and clinical.  A novel method was introduced for personalized analysis of cancer, and was applied on large colon cancer and glioblastoma datasets. The method uses high throughput (gene expression) data to infer a pathway deregulation score (PDS) for individual tumors, for hundreds of pathways and biological processes. The method is knowledge-based in that it uses well known information about the assignment of genes to biologically relevant pathways. No detailed knowledge of the underlying networks of interactions and activations is necessary. Each tumor is represented by a few hundred of these PDSs, and further analysis uses this representation. (more…)