Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, JNCI, MD Anderson, Weight Research / 02.07.2014

Sai-Ching Jim Yeung, MD, PhD, FACP Professor of Medicine The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Department of Emergency Medicine Department of Endocrine Neoplasia & Hormonal Disorders Houston, Texas 77230-1402MedicalResearch.com Interview with Sai-Ching Jim Yeung, MD, PhD, FACP Professor of Medicine The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Department of Emergency Medicine Department of Endocrine Neoplasia & Hormonal Disorders Houston, Texas  77230-1402 MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Yeung: We believe that this study has bridged a significant gap in knowledge between epidemiological data (the association of obesity and poor breast cancer prognosis) and biological mechanisms mediating the impact of obesity on cancer. This study provides an important mechanistic insight into the causal relationship between obesity and breast cancer growth.
  1. Direct evidence for the links between obesity-associated changes in the biological processes and hallmarks of cancer in human estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer. 
It is well known that obesity is associated epidemiologicaly with decreased survival in ER+ breast cancer patients. Although a body of experimental literature exists to suggest important roles for estrogen, insulin/IGF-1 and adipokine signaling and inflammation in the mechanisms mediating the impact of obesity on cancer, direct evidence for these mechanisms and their importance relative to one another is lacking in cancers from obese humans. Functional transcriptomic analysis of a prospective observation cohort with treatment-naïve ER+ breast cancer samples identified the insulin/PI3K signaling and secretion of cytokines among the top biological processes involved. Many of the obesity-associated changes in biological processes can be linked to cancer hallmarks.  Upstream regulator analysis identified estrogen (?-estradiol), insulin (INS1), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1), and adipokines [vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), tissue necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin-6 (IL6), oncostatin-M (OSM), chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5), leptin (LEP), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), C-reactive protein (CRP), adiponectin (ADIPOQ), and interleukin-10 (IL10)] in mediating the impact of obesity on human ER+ breast cancer.
  1. Experimental evidence that obesity causes accelerated oncogene-driven ER+ breast cancer carcinogenesis.
While it is not possible to conduct a human experiment to prospectively examine the causal relationship between obesity and breast cancer, we created a transgenic mouse model with genetically induced obesity and oncogene-driven breast cancer.  With this model we found strong in vivo evidence using both longitudinal experiments and cross-sectional experiments that obesity accelerated oncogene-driven breast carcinogenesis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Colon Cancer, JNCI / 01.07.2014

Kaspar Truninger, MD, FMH Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine Langenthal, SwitzerlandMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kaspar Truninger, MD, FMH Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine Langenthal, Switzerland MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Truninger: In our study, we investigated the effect of lifestyle exposure on DNA methylation. We measured genome-wide promoter CpG methylation in 1092 normal colon biopsies from 546 healthy females. We observed that fewer CpGs acquired age-dependent methylation in users of aspirin and hormonal replacement therapy compared with nonusers, whereas more CpGs were affected in smokers and individuals with a body mass index > 25 compared with nonsmokers and less obese females. Half of the CpGs showing age-dependent methylation gain were hypermethylated in tissue of colorectal cancer. These loci gained methylation with a higher rate and were particularly susceptible to lifestyle exposure compared to age-only methylated CpGs. In addition, these CpGs were enriched for polycomb regions.  Finally, all effects were different according to the anatomic location along the colon. (more…)
Author Interviews, JNCI, Nutrition, Prostate Cancer / 24.05.2014

Edward Giovannucci, MD, ScD Department of Nutrition Harvard School of Public Health Boston, MAMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Edward Giovannucci, MD, ScD Department of Nutrition Harvard School of Public Health Boston, MA MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Giovannucci: In 50,000 men followed over 24 years, we found that those regularly consuming tomato products, which are high in lycopene, had a 30% lower risk of developing lethal prostate cancer. Among men being screened regularly with PSA, the risk reduction from high tomato consumption was 50%. We also examined the prostate cancer tissue and found that higher dietary lycopene intake was associated with less new blood vessel formation, which may help explain why the cancers were less likely to progress. (more…)
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, JNCI, Nutrition / 11.04.2014

dr_sabina-sieriMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sabina Sieri, PhD Epidemiology and Prevention Unit Department of Preventive & Predictive Medicine Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori 20133 Milan – Italy MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of this study? Dr. Sieri: In our study we found that there was an increased risk of developing breast cancer from high saturated fat intake. High total and saturated fat intake were associated with greater risk of ER PR positive breast cancer. High saturated fat intake was also associated with a greater risk of HER2 negative disease. So, a high-fat diet increases breast cancer risk and, most conspicuously, a high saturated fat intake increases the risk of developing hormone-sensitive diseases, suggesting saturated fat involvement in the etiology of hormone-sensitive breast cancer. (more…)
Aging, Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Chemotherapy, JNCI / 30.03.2014

Hanna Sanoff MD, MPH Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Department of Medicine University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NCMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Hanna Sanoff MD, MPH Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Department of Medicine University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Sanoff: We measured p16, a protein that increases with cellular aging, in blood cells of women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer. We found that a standard course of chemotherapy led to an increase in p16 expression equivalent to what we have previous seen in people over the course of 10-15 years of chronological aging. This increase persisted in cancer survivors an average of three and half years after treatment. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JNCI, Pancreatic / 25.03.2014

Dr. Karolina Sjöberg Jabbar, MD, Medicine Policlinic II, Bla Straket 5, Sahlgrenska University Hospital Gothenburg, SwedenMedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Karolina Sjöberg Jabbar, MD, Medicine Policlinic II, Bla Straket 5, Sahlgrenska University Hospital Gothenburg, Sweden   MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The main finding of this study is that the presence of mucin proteins in pancreatic cyst fluid, as evaluated by mass spectrometry, can predict with high accuracy (97%) which pancreatic cysts contain premalignant and malignant tumours. This is important, given that pancreatic cystic lesions are an increasingly common incidental finding on imaging. While most of them pose no threat to the patient, a minor proportion has malignant potential, and may be considered precursors to pancreatic cancer. (more…)
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Electronic Records, JNCI, Prostate Cancer / 14.03.2014

Primo N. Lara, Jr, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of California Davis School of Medicine Associate Director for Translational Research UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center Sacramento, CA 95817MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Primo N. Lara, Jr, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of California Davis School of Medicine Associate Director for Translational Research UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center Sacramento, CA 95817 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study: Dr. Lara:  “We found that blood markers of bone turnover can be used to predict outcomes in men with advanced prostate cancer with spread to bone. We also found that a small proportion of men could be predicted to benefit from an investigational drug based on these same markers.” (more…)
Author Interviews, Colon Cancer, Gastrointestinal Disease, JNCI / 22.02.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jiyoung Ahn, PhD Assistant Professor of Epidemiology Department of Population Health NYU School of Medicine New York, NY 10016Jiyoung Ahn, PhD Assistant Professor of Epidemiology Department of Population Health NYU School of Medicine New York, NY 10016 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Ahn: Before we did our research, it was suspected that gut bacteria were related to colorectal cancer. We, for the first time, found colorectal cancer patients have a different gut bacteria composition than healthy subjects. (more…)
Alcohol, Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, JNCI, OBGYNE / 30.08.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ying Liu, MD, PhD Instructor, Division of Public Health Sciences Department of Surgery Washington University School of Medicine 660 South Euclid Ave Campus Box 8100 St. Louis, MO 63110 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Alcohol intake between menarche (first menstrual period) and first pregnancy was consistently associated with increased risks of breast cancer and proliferative benign breast disease. For every 10 gram/day alcohol intake (approximately a drink a day) during this specific time period, the risk for breast cancer increased by 11% and the risk for proliferative benign breast disease increased by 16%. (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, Cancer Research, Cost of Health Care, JNCI / 15.03.2013

Gabriel Brooks MD Fellow, Medical Oncology Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteMedicalResearch.com Interview with Gabriel Brooks MD Fellow, Medical Oncology Dana-Farber Cancer Institute MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Brooks: First, we found that there is substantial regional variation in Medicare spending for patients with advanced cancer.  For patients with a new diagnosis of advanced stage cancer, spending in the six months following diagnosis varied by 32% between regions in the highest and lowest quintiles of spending.  And for patients who died from cancer, spending in the last six months of life varied by 41% between the highest and lowest spending regions. Second, we tested the association between area-level spending and survival from the time of advanced cancer diagnosis.  We found that there was no consistent association between increasing spending and survival for any of the five cancer sites included in our study (non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreas cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer). (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, JNCI, Lung Cancer, NEJM / 08.03.2013

Dr. Martin C. Tammemägi Professor (Epidemiology) Brock University Department of Community Health Sciences Walker Complex – Academic South, Room 306 St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1Medical Research.com Author Interview: Dr. Martin C. Tammemägi Professor (Epidemiology) Brock University Department of Community Health Sciences St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1 Medical Research.com What are the main findings of the study?  Dr. Tammemägi: Our study accomplished three things: 1. We presented an updated Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Model, which compared to our previously JNCI-published model, incorporates more predictors but is simpler to use because we changed the way we modeled nonlinear effects. 2. We demonstrated that using the Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Model to select individuals for lung cancer screening was much more effective than using the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) enrolment criteria.  41.3% fewer lung cancers were missed.  Sensitivity and positive predictive value of identifying individuals who develop lung cancer were significantly improved.  Shortly after our NEJM paper was published, Ma et al published in CANCER their findings that 8.6 million Americans are NLST-criteria positive and if they were CT screened under ideal conditions 12,000 lung cancer deaths would be averted.  Our NEJM article findings indicate that an additional 2,764 lives would be saved if the selection criteria had enrolled 8.6 million individuals for screening based on highest risk by our Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Model. 3. Importantly, using NLST data we demonstrated that the beneficial effect of CT screening did not vary by model predicted lung cancer risk. (more…)