Acs Research - Theorylab

Not all cancer survivors are the same. They have disparate healthcare needs and should not be approached in a “one size fits all” manner. Corinne Leach, PhD, MPH, MS—Senior Principal Scientist in the American Cancer Society’s Population Science team—explains why and how we should bring personalized follow-up survivorship care to everyone with a history of cancer that is at an appropriate level based on need, that is high quality and equitable, that is efficient and sustainable for the healthcare system, and that leads to positive outcomes for all individuals with a history of cancer. Dr. Leach also helped develop Springboard Beyond Cancer (https://survivorship.cancer.gov/), an online tool for cancer survivors developed through a collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute. Springboard Beyond Cancer is designed to make it easy for those in treatment and post-treatment to access essential information to help them manage ongoing cancer-related symptoms, deal with stress

Cancer patients undergoing treatment often need urgent medical care, because they become sick from the cancer and/or the cancer treatment. They might be experiencing pain or gastrointestinal issues. They might have a high fever. In these cases, many patients visit an emergency room, and there can be downsides to that. Arthur Hong, MD, recently received American Cancer Society funding to explore whether outpatient cancer urgent care clinics could be a better alternative to emergency rooms in some cases. Dr. Hong notes: “Cancer urgent care clinics are designed to handle many problems that are commonly the result of cancer and its treatment such as nausea, vomiting, weakness, fevers, and pain. Cancer urgent care visits are usually much more convenient, have shorter waiting times, and are faster and much less expensive than the emergency room.” Arthur Hong, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Population and Data Sciences at UT Southwestern. 4:42 – On what it’s like to find out in a phone ca

It started with a tweet, and in less than a month scientists, clinicians, and patients from over 100 centers in the United States and Canada came together to learn about the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients. The COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium was formed to “collect granular, uniformly organized information to stimulate translational science and also to arm our treating providers with the most comprehensive and scientifically accurate evidence as rapidly as possible on cancer patients affected with the virus.” It has already paid dividends. The consortium has already published evidence in a new paper in Lancet titled, “Clinical impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer: a cohort study.” One of the principal authors of that paper joined us to discuss the work of the consortium. Dimpy Shah, PhD—an American Cancer Society research grantee and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson—is a founding member of the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium

Melissa Bates, PhD, describes the “fascinating twist of going from observation to molecular and cellular manipulation in the lab to a clinical setting” as she and her team uncover exciting links between sleep apnea and multiple myeloma. Dr. Bates is Assistant Professor of Health and Human Physiology and Pediatric Neonatology and Director of the Leukemia Molecular Epidemiological Resource at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa. 2:51 – How she and her research team are dealing with the pandemic 4:32 – On sleep-disordered breathing and sleep apnea… 6:46 – …and how it relates to cancer risk and mortality 13:17 – On how she began researching multiple myeloma and why it’s so difficult to treat 17:30 – The link between obesity and both multiple myeloma and sleep-disordered breathing 20:09 – How experiments by Dr. Bates and her lab yielded exciting links between sleep apnea and multiple myeloma 23:11 – How 90% of patients with multiple myeloma had sleep apnea 25:12 – The potenti

How will COVID-19 impact cancer risk and survivorship? The American Cancer Society is inviting participants in its ongoing Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3) to use a new app to help investigators track the COVID-19 epidemic and inform future research efforts. Dr. Alpa Patel explains that understanding how COVID-19 infection is affecting patients—in combination with all the other data that she and her team are collecting through CPS-3 on an ongoing basis—will help answer some very important questions about the impact of COVID-19 on cancer risk and survivorship. Alpa Patel, PhD, is Sr. Scientific Director of Epidemiology Research and the Principal Investigator of Cancer Prevention Study-3 at the American Cancer Society. The app, the COVID Symptom Tracker (https://covid.joinzoe.com/us), was created by doctors and scientists at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, King's College London, and Stanford University School of Medicine, working in partnership with the health

Two guests joined the TheoryLab podcast for this episode. Dr. Terry Badger is a nurse scientist whose research helps cancer survivors and their caregivers to reduce psychological distress and manage cancer symptoms during and after cancer treatment. She talked about how she has helped remove barriers to receiving supportive care services by using the telephone to provide health education and counseling. Then, Dr. Beverly Zavaleta—a physician, cancer survivor, and author—talked about her experience going through treatment and about her book, Braving Chemo. For information and resources to help cancer patients, their families, and caregivers cope with cancer and the coronavirus, visit https://www.cancer.org/. 1:30 – Terry Badger, PhD, RN, PMHCNS-BC, FAPOS, FAAN, is an American Cancer Society grantee, an advanced practice psychiatric mental health nurse, and Professor of Nursing, Psychiatry, and Public Health at the University of Arizona, where she is Chair of the Community and Systems Health Science Divisi

David Sabatini, MD, PhD, is an American Cancer Society Research Professor, a Member of the Whitehead Institute, and Professor of Biology at MIT. In 2020, he was co-recipient of the prestigious Sjöberg Prize—which promotes scientific research on cancer, health, and the environment—for discovering the mTOR protein and its role in controlling cell metabolism and growth. 1:55 – How his research lab has been impacted by the pandemic 3:04 – The history of how TOR was discovered, going back to a soil sample from Easter Island 5:25 – How mTOR is kind of like the general contractor for the cell (“Well, we need more proteins, we need more lipids, we need more mitochondria…”) 6:34 – If mTOR is the “general contractor,” then what is it building? And what are the signals that tell it to make things? 8:27 – “…80% of cancers have to find a way to turn on mTOR…” 14:34 – Why inhibiting mTOR to treat cancer isn’t such a straightforward proposition 18:50 – Research tools that he and his team have developed; for example,

A healthy diet, weight control, and a physically active lifestyle are important for everybody, but especially for cancer survivors, who are at higher risk for recurrence as well as second malignancies, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and functional decline. Nutrition scientist, Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, PhD, RD, has made significant advances designing and implementing home-based diet and exercise interventions for cancer survivors. Her team created a website, https://survivorshine.org/, that helps cancer survivors reach and maintain a healthy weight through diet and exercise. And she’s recruiting cancer survivors living in the Southeastern United States to participate in AMPLIFY, a research study that will help find out the benefits of a healthy eating and exercise program. Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, PhD, RD, is an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor. She’s also Professor of Nutrition Sciences and Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control at the University of Alabama at Birmi

90% of cancer deaths are caused by metastasis. What is metastasis? Why are metastatic cancer cells so hard to target? Are they different than the cancer cells in the primary tumor? What opportunities for treatment are there? To answer these questions we spoke with former American Cancer Society grantee Karuna Ganesh, MD, PhD, a physician scientist and Assistant Member at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Ganesh is a GI medical oncologist who runs a lab that’s trying to understand what it is about metastatic cancer cells that make them so deadly and how we can target them. 1:20 – A simple, clear explanation of what metastasis is 2:31 – Why would cancer cells leave their neighbors and seek alternative housing? Moving is stressful; why not just stay put? 5:14 – On why the concept of “wound healing” is so important in cancer research 9:30 – How metastasis is wound healing gone wrong—cellular processes used in a good way for wound healing could be used in a bad way in metastasis 14:56 - Are t

Working with community partners largely in faith-based communities, Cheryl Knott, PhD, and Nate Woodard are trying to increase the early detection of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer. With the support of American Cancer Society funding, their team trains church members to become community health advisers who deliver cancer early detection workshops in African American Churches. Cheryl L. Knott, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health in the University of Maryland School of Public Health. Nate Woodard is a doctoral student and graduate research assistant in Dr. Knott’s lab. 3:52 – The Community Health Awareness, Messaging and Prevention (CHAMP) program 6:07 – The role played by African American churches in cancer health promotion 8:35 – On training church members to serve as community health advisors and present evidence-based cancer educational workshops 11:34 – The impact of these workshops 13:51 – The upside and downside of virtual training to compensate for th

Cancer hasn’t stopped during this pandemic and neither has the National Cancer Institute or American Cancer Society. Ned Sharpless, MD, director of the National Cancer Institute, joined the TheoryLab podcast to talk about how we can sustain research momentum during the pandemic, what new research opportunities have arisen, and how clinical trials have been impacted. 2:57 – How his job has changed as a result of the coronavirus, and new tasks taken on by the NCI 5:09 – How we can sustain research momentum in the fight against cancer during this pandemic 8:57 – On why data sharing among scientists, always an NCI priority, has become even more important 11:02 – Several interesting cancer research opportunities that have arisen as a result of COVID-19 14:23 – How the pandemic has impacted clinical trials for cancer patients 19:48 – A message he’d like to share with cancer patients and their loved ones

What do we know about how tobacco use affects risk and outcomes for coronavirus patients? Jeff Drope, PhD—the American Cancer Society’s Scientific Vice President of Economic and Health Policy Research—explains what we know, what we don’t know, and what we recommend. (2:10) Then Dr. Drope takes us through a fascinating look at how tobacco farming impacts the developing world. How is global tobacco farming changing? What is daily life like for the tobacco growers in developing countries? How does the tobacco industry incentivize farmers and governments, and what other options do the latter have? (9:25) Finally, Alex Liber (Senior Scientist on the Society’s Economic and Health Policy Research team) joins us to describe his new paper showing that JUUL sales recovered within weeks following a dip after the company withdrew some flavored products from stores, eventually surpassing sales from before the change as consumption shifted to the menthol/mint and tobacco flavors that remained on shelves. (41:12)

How do vaccines work? What are the challenges and opportunities around developing vaccines against cancers not caused by viruses, such as breast cancer and colorectal cancer? How can we harness all of our technology and understanding to create a vaccine for COVID-19? Nora Disis, MD, has made truly seminal contributions to our understanding of vaccines for cancer, and she helped us understand what needs to happen for effective cancer and COVID-19 vaccines to be developed. Dr. Disis is Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean at the University of Washington, and she’s an American Cancer Society Research Professor. 5:18 – On how she is holding up and how she and other researchers are helping out their clinical colleagues 6:37 – How her research has been impacted by the pandemic 8:55 – “We have a lot of projects and we’ve been going at breakneck speed, generating data and generating data…sometimes it’s good to slow down and think about your data rather than jumping on to your next experiment.” 11:45 – How

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld on the COVID-19 epidemic's effect on cancer research and treatment moving forward.

How is cancer research being affected by COVID-19? Susanna Greer, PhD—Scientific Director, Clinical Cancer Research and Immunology, at the American Cancer Society—describes conversations she’s had with ACS grantees across the country about how the pandemic has affected their research and their labs. Then we were joined (11:16) by Anthony Leung, PhD, an American Cancer Society grantee and an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Leung’s research focuses on how gene regulation impacts diseases such as cancer and virus infection. His work has never been so timely, and in this conversation he helps us understand why RNA is so important, what can happen when RNA regulation goes wrong, and how a deeper understanding of RNA could be critical to fighting cancer and COVID-19. For information and resources about cancer and COVID-19, please visit cancer.org/coronavirus. 11:16 – How the research community has been impacted

The American Cancer Society's acting COO, Kris Kim, describes how ACS is continuing to help cancer patients and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also announced a new initiative: The American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge COVID-19 Response Fund. This fund will help the Society use Hope Lodges to provide health care workers (such as doctors, nurses, and first responders) with rest, comfort, and care during the pandemic. Visit http://cancer.org/coronavirus for more details. 3:21 – What it’s like living in New York City right now 6:36 – Ways she has seen the spirit of the American Cancer Society coming through during the pandemic 9:33 – The American Cancer Society’s COVID-19 Response Hope Lodge Emergency Operations Fund 12:29 – Why Hope Lodges are so important to cancer patients and caregivers, and why the risk of coronavirus entering Hope Lodges led ACS to make difficult decisions 17:54 – How ACS has been impacted by COVID-19, and how ACS is getting creative to confront some of these challe

R. Sean Morrison, MD, is a leading voice in geriatric medicine and a pioneering palliative care researcher. He joined the TheoryLab podcast to talk about the steps Mount Sinai Hospital is taking to help patients and what we can all do to lower risk for cancer patients and older adults. He also emphasized the importance of doing things every day to lift our spirits and provide each other with social support. R. Sean Morrison, MD, is an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor. He is the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Professor and Chair for the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is also the Director of the Lilian and Benjamin Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute and the National Palliative Care Research Center. 2:27 – What he would say to people who think coverage of COVID-19 has been overblown and exaggerated 3:40 – How Mt. Sinai Hospital has reorganized to confront the pandemic 5:25 – The two subsets of people who appear to be at higher risk for complicatio

Len Lichtenfeld, M.D., MACP, American Cancer Society deputy chief medical officer, reviews the week's events as coronavirus gets real in the U.S.

What does COVID-19 mean for cancer patients and caregivers? How can they lower their risk of infection? How can everyone help reduce risk for this vulnerable population? What should cancer patients do if they are undergoing treatment? Len Lichtenfeld, MD, MACP, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the American Cancer Society, provides important guidance and perspective. 2:26 – The need for people, and particularly those with cancer, to find reliable sources of information 3:51 – How there is much we don’t yet know about how COVID-19 affects cancer patients 5:20 – Why the mortality rate for cancer patients with COVID-19 is higher than it is for other groups 7:22 – How cancer patients can mitigate risk 8:39 – “Never has there been a time when my health, or your health, depends so much on others around us doing the right thing.” 10:35 – Why we all have a responsibility to help “flatten the curve” 13:16 – Should cancer patients give up social activities like dinner with friends? 17:12 – What does this epidem

Tom Lynch, MD, is president and director of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. A former American Cancer Society grantee, Dr. Lynch is a physician scientist who has taken care of thousands of lung cancer patients and helped conduct translational research that has changed the field. Early in his career he was part of a transdisciplinary research team that discovered how targeted therapies could help lung cancer patients with mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene. Dr. Lynch was most recently chief scientific officer of Bristol-Myers Squibb. Previously he was CEO of Massachusetts General Physicians Organization, director of Yale Cancer Center, physician-in-chief at Yale’s Smilow Cancer Hospital, chief of hematology-oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. 0:53 – What he enjoys most about his new job 1:52 – The very important role of fundamental, basic science and the promise of transdisciplinary research 4:28 – Two cancer r