We've moved!

Check out our new blog site here! 

How Scientists Describe their Cancer Research through Dance!

Alaluf Emmanuelle, a MD/PhD student from University of Brussels, has posted a video on YouTube describing her latest publication on how to fight cancer's immunosuppressive (defined as partially or completely suppressing the immune response of an individual) capabilities through dance.

Though her research seems quite complicated, her ballet depiction of the work is easy to follow and watch! Take a look at it below! 

 

Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells (shown as MDSC in the video) play a major role in disguising tumor cells from the body's immune system. However, Alaluf's work reveals that if HO-1, an enzyme expressed by meyloid cells, is removed, the body can more readily recognize a tumor and eliminate it. In other words, if they can eradicate the expression of HO-1 enzyme in MDSC cells, they may be able to increase the immune systems antitumor response, and better treat cancer!

This work is not published yet, but right at the end of the video she shows this graph revealing the difference in tumor size when cells are not able to express HO-1 enzymes (green) versus when they are able to express HO-1 enzymes as normal (red). What a big difference! 

Immune response is the newest hot topic in cancer research. Join us for the monthly Patient Researcher Seminars at Cornell to find out more! 

Research at Cornell: Why is testicular cancer is so easy to treat with chemotherapy?

Advances in chemotherapy have become an important method of cancer treatment, but many cancers still have a poor prognosis and do not respond well to chemotherapy. One type of cancer which has shown astonishing levels of response to chemotherapy is testicular cancer: in 1970, only 5% of patients with highly advanced testicular germ cell tumors survived to the 5 year mark; this number increased to 74% by the early 2000’s, a survival rate which remains considerably higher than other advanced solid cancers. This improvement has been attributed to the sensitivity of testicular germ cell cancer cells to chemotherapy. The million-dollar question remains: why this treatment is so effective in testicular cancer, and not in other types of cancer?

Tim Pierpont, a graduate student in Robert Weiss’ lab at Cornell, believes that the answer may lie in the unique properties inherited from the cells that gave rise to the tumor. Most testicular cancers arise from the germ cells (the precursors to sperm, or an egg in females), and the few that arise from other parts of the organ (5%) have much poorer outcomes. The unique properties of the germ cells may thus explain why these tumor cells are much more sensitive to the effects of chemotherapy.

Tim is studying the mechanism of DNA damage response in these cancerous germ cells. Because germ cells are the cells that eventually give rise to an embryo, any DNA damage, or mistakes made during DNA damage repair, could be passed on to the next generation with devastating results. Germ cells are thus much more likely than other cells to die if DNA damage is detected. Chemotherapy drugs that work by causing DNA damage are thus extremely effective in eradicating testicular germ cell cancer cells.

Tim’s results will help explain why testicular cancer is so easy to attack with chemotherapy, and hopefully offer clues on how to make other tumors similarly sensitive to chemotherapy.

Many thanks to Tim Pierpont who sat down with me to talk about his research and elucidated many aspects of DNA damage!

Cancer stem cells

Image credit: http://www.verastem.com/research/

The latest buzzword (or, rather, words) in the cancer research world is “cancer stem cells”. These stem cells are thought to exist in tumours, and the theory goes that they are the reason that many cancers reoccur and medications fail. But what are these stem cells really, and how are they going to help us understand and fight cancer?

Stem cells are, by definition, cells that are capable of self-renewal (when they divide at least one of the two cells remains a stem cell), and are capable of transforming into other cell types. We have small reserves of stem cells in our body, for example in the bone marrow we have stem cells that produce blood, or in the muscle we have stem cells that form new muscle fibers when we exercise or damage our muscles.

In cancer, it has been proposed that a similar small reservoir of cancer stem cells exists within the tumour, and  these cells are not always capable of being targeted by chemotherapies. Thus, drugs may cause the tumour to shrink, but cancer stem cells may still remain and produce new tumor cells. Furthermore, if these stem cells which survive, pick up a new mutation that renders them immune to the chemotherapy, the tumour becomes chemotheraphy-resistant and continues to grow. Therefore, the answer does not only lie in finding drugs that can attack tumors and reduce their size, but in also finding a way to attack a potential source of the tumour: cancer stem cells. Similar to a video game, you don’t win by attacking the little guys, you win by attacking the big guy at the end of the game.

Because stem cells could be the key to unlocking the secrets of fighting cancer, extensive research is now going into understanding and fighting cancer stem cells. Researchers are beginning to further understand the mechanisms that allow  cancer stem cells to be resistant to chemotherapy. These resistant properties, which differ from normal cells, may even be used to develop targets for future drugs aimed at cancer stem cells.

Many thanks to Tim Pierpont for suggesting the topic of this blog post and providing additional information! For a short video on cancer stem cells made by the Canadian Stem Cell Foundation, visit this link.

Join us Thursday night for a Cancer Resource Center fundraiser at Cinemapolis!

Cancer biomarkers

Broadly defined, cancer biomarkers are biological markers that indicate the presence of a cancer, much like the tip of an iceberg.  If these markers can be identified early enough, a disaster of titanic proportions can be averted. Cancer biomarkers can also offer additional clues about specific properties of the tumour, helping in treatment decision-making.

Cancer biomarkers are used to diagnose cancer, such as a tumor mass that is visible on an x-ray. But more recently, new biomarkers have allowed for even earlier detection of cancer. Progress is being made in different imaging techniques that allow better detection of tumors: 3D mammography results in 40% more detection of cancer and a reduction of 15% in callbacks for “suspicious” mammograms. Blood tests for high levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) can indicate prostate cancer without ever looking at the prostate itself.

More recently, biomarker tests have been developed to test for a variety of genetic mutations that can make it very likely to develop cancer. The human genome was fully mapped in 2003, and now that we know what the different genes do, the next step is understanding what mutations in these genes can do. One high-profile example is the expression of the breast cancer, early onset (BRCA) gene, which has led some women (most famously Angelina Jolie) to have their breast or ovaries removed, rather than run the risk of potentially developing cancer.

The detection of cancer using early biomarkers has been controversial. Biomarker detection may lead to unnecessary treatment in patients who would have remained asymptomatic for the rest of their lives. On the flip side, these tests can provide a false sense of security in patients who unknowingly have cancer but do not have high levels of biomarker expression. In fact, some organization are now cautioning against PSA screening.

We are increasingly discovering that tumor formation relies on a variety of factors, with no two cancers being alike. Knowing this, detection of specific biomarkers is immensely promising for developing treatments tailored to the specific properties of the tumor, leading to more effective treatment.

Take for instance the protein HER2 that is present on the surface of cells, and is responsible for cell proliferation.This protein is often overexpressed in breast cancer, and leads to increased cell division-- a hallmark of cancer. Because it is expressed at the surface of cells, it is easily accessible, and drugs such as Herceptin have been developed to inactivate HER2 in cancer patients. Testing patients for this disregulation in HER2 leads to effective personalized therapies.

Other biomarkers can indicate whether specific drugs will be ineffective. Similarly to Herceptin, Cetuximab is used to block the EGF receptor, which acts on KRAS and BRAF. However, certain tumors (30-50%) bypass the EGF receptor and have mutations in KRAS directly, rendering Cetuximab completely ineffective! Patients are now tested for KRAS mutations, and drugs have been developed that target KRAS directly.

Further developments in this field will allow us to identify more specific biomarkers, detect cancer earlier with higher fidelity, increase the personalization of medicine, and offer patients better treatment.

Many thanks to Clint Stalnecker, who presented a seminar on cancer biomarkers for the Cancer Resource Center, which you can dowload here.

IBM is changing the face of cancer treatment

Have you ever heard of IBM Watson? You know the robot that beat Ken Jennings at Jeopardy!? Well he is not competing on game shows anymore, but is also being used at one of the best cancer institutes in the world, Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK). Watson helps advise doctors when treating patients with cancer. Because Watson is able to reason differently than humans, and condense large amounts of data into useful information, he may be able to work alongside physicians as they treat patients.

At Sloan Kettering, physicians treat more than 130,000 patients a year. Watson Oncology takes information from these patients and other past patients, to make individual treatment recommendations. The information that Watson uses to make these recommendations is collected  from the whole team of MSK doctors, an example of its capabilities to condense information from the some of the world’s best oncologist.

Currently, Watson Oncology at MSK can only help make recommendations for four different types of cancer; breast, lung, colon and rectal, but it is only a period of time before more cancers may be added. The capabilities are astounding, and may catch human errors. For example, Watson Oncology takes into account the ejection fraction of the heart (a complicated term for how well your heart pumps) when making its recommendation, ensuring that none of the cancer treatments interact with the patients already present health needs.

Other hospitals have jumped on board to participate in the development of Watson as well, such as MD Anderson, one of our Cancer Brainstorming Club partner institutions. At MD Anderson, they are using Watson Oncology to make recommendations for patients with leukemia. With some of the most talented and specialized oncologist involved in the growth of Watson Oncology, many strides may be made in the field of cancer treatment. 

Many thanks to Anita Govindjee, from IBM,  who came to Cornell’s Ithaca campus to tell us more about this recent collaboration between IBM and Memorial Sloan Kettering.

Watch a demo case of Watson Oncology working here.