Newswise — Brain Cancer
Guitar-Playing Patient Begins 2024 on High Note After ‘Awake’ Brain Surgery to Remove Tumor
Christian Nolen usually plays guitar on stage, but last December he was playing notes from songs while a Sylvester neurosurgical team worked to remove his brain tumor. Nolen was awakened during a delicate part of the procedure – an awake craniotomy – so surgeons could evaluate and protect his manual dexterity while aggressively removing the tumor. Ricardo Komotar, MD, brain and tumor neurosurgeon leading the team, said Nolen had a glioma in his right frontal lobe, near the area controlling lefthanded movement. Nolen has resumed his active lifestyle and guitar playing, beginning 2024 on a high note.
Cancer Pioneer
Sylvester Appoints Prominent Oncologist-Researcher to Lead Key Cancer Areas
Damian Green, MD, will join Sylvester on March 1 to be chief of its Division of Transplantation & Cellular Therapy, as well as assistant director of Translational Research. Green arrives from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, where he built a distinguished track record in blood cancer research and clinical care. He specializes in multiple myeloma and other B-cell malignancies, and his research has led to the discovery and testing of pioneering immunotherapy approaches to treat these cancers.
Blood Cancer
Targeting Treatment Resistance in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
New research from Sylvester and collaborating organizations has identified a next-generation BTK degrader that could help overcome treatment resistance in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and related blood cancers. The findings, published in the journal Science, could offer a therapeutic option for patients whose tumors become drug-resistant or are unresponsive to frontline treatment. “This new compound not only inhibits the cellular molecule BTK, but goes further by taking aim at the target and destroying it,” explained Sylvester’s Justin Taylor, MD, the study’s senior author.
Immunotherapy
Expanding the Patient Pool for Immunotherapy
A recent study from Sylvester and collaborators could bring cancer researchers closer to identifying which patients are likely to respond favorably to immunotherapy for solid tumors, thereby improving its odds of success. In the study, reported Feb. 14 in the journal Cell, researchers profiled various solid tumors, cataloging them into seven immune subtypes. One subtype appeared to be particularly sensitive to immunotherapy drugs. The findings could lead to ways to routinely predict which patients are good candidates for immunotherapy, according to Michele Ceccarelli, a UM professor of computational oncology who co-led the study. The results also may spur new therapies to alter tumors, making them more responsive to immunotherapy.
Head and Neck Cancer
Recent Study Could Boost Progress with New Treatments
Little progress has occurred in treating head and neck cancers, despite the fact they annually kill almost 450,000 people worldwide. But a new, preclinical study that delves into the molecular underpinnings of these tumors suggests a more targeted approach to treatment. The study, which appeared in the journal Genes & Development, provides evidence that some head and neck cancers may respond to the drug Olaparib alone or in combination with Decitabine, drugs approved for other tumors. The study was co-led by Sylvester scientist Lluis Morey, PhD.
Cancer Prevention
Sylvester, Other Cancer Centers Partner to Bolster Prevention Programs
Sylvester and two other academic cancer centers – Moffit Cancer Center and the University of Florida Health Cancer Center – are teaming up to fund grants for four projects statewide to promote early cancer detection and treatment. The grants will support new and ongoing cancer screening and prevention projects across Florida, including efforts to help people quit smoking, obtain mammograms and understand the importance of early detection of colon cancer.
Sylvester Researchers Study Diet, Exercise Impact on Cancer Outcomes
Several Sylvester researchers are investigating how diet and exercise can impact cancer outcomes. Tracy Crane, PhD, RDN, co-lead of Cancer Control and director of lifestyle medicine, prevention and digital health, and colleague Matthew Schlumbrecht, MD, are leading Sylvester’s efforts for the NCI-funded Exercise and Nutrition Interventions in Cancer Treatment-related Outcomes (ENICTO) in Cancer Survivors consortium.
Crane also is working alongside Yale researchers on the Trial of Exercise and Lifestyle in Women with Ovarian Cancer study to determine if lifestyle interventions can help patients complete chemotherapy regimens.
She, Craig Moskowitz, MD, and colleagues also are involved with the Lifestyle Intervention of Food and Exercise for Lymphoma Survivors (LIFE-L) trial to evaluate if the Mediterranean diet and exercise can improve chemotherapy completion rates for lymphoma patients.
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