Fighting Cancer

According to the American Cancer Society, about 1.4 million new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2004,* with approximately 88,000 cases predicted to be diagnosed in New York State.

Initiatives by independent colleges and universities may help reduce those numbers in the future. Our colleges, universities, medical centers, and laboratories are engaged in critical research as well as education and outreach activities that provide the medical community with important discoveries and insights.

Understanding cancer cells.

The Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research at Albany Medical College focuses on understanding how cells function in normal and disease states. In late 2002, its research team was awarded five grants to support research targeting the processes involved in tumor formation and metastasis. The grants focus on the identification of certain factors known to contribute to the way cancer spreads, including changes in cell adhesion, activation of local inflammatory responses, and the establishment of tumor blood supply.

Children undergoing a stem cell transplant to treat leukemia, blood disorders, and other cancers may one day safely undergo a less toxic treatment regimen than the one traditionally used, according to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center researchers. Typically, these young patients have their immune system destroyed with high doses of chemotherapy or radiation before the transplant procedure. This allows the transplanted stem cells to “take” and start producing a new, healthy immune system. However, the destruction of the immune system leaves youngsters vulnerable to life-threatening infections and dangerously low white- and red-blood cell counts before the new immune system begins functioning. In the study, researchers tried “reduced intensity” regimens on a group of 21 children and found that 85 percent or more of the children achieved at least a 50 percent donor “chimerism,” a sign that the graft is “taking.” The researchers cautioned that larger studies, and long-term follow-up, are critical.

While studies increasingly show that many major cancers, including colon cancer, are linked to diet, it is unclear just how diet determines whether cells become cancerous. Researchers at the Cancer Center of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have been awarded a five-year, $10 million grant from the National Cancer Center (NCC) of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers will employ cutting-edge technology for studying genetic changes in both normal cells and tumor cells to investigate how certain nutrients in the diet influence the development of cancer.

The Cancer Center was awarded a second $10 million grant from the NCC for a project designed to decipher the signals that trigger tumor cells to move, to find ways to block those signals so that metastasis can be prevented or halted.

Developing better drugs.

Even when chemotherapy eliminates a tumor, there is often a chance that it may grow back. Cancer vaccines show promise in preventing such recurrence. The Cancer Institute of the New York University School of Medicine is a participating center in the National Cancer Institute’s Phase III clinical trial of a vaccine for patients with newly diagnosed follicular lymphoma. The study will determine if vaccine treatment after standard chemotherapy can prevent recurrence of lymphoma.

Researchers at The Rockefeller University have identified how a protein linked to cancer corrects errors when cells divide. The protein, an enzyme called Aurora Kinase, has been linked to tumor formation when it is overproduced. But researchers discovered that in normal amounts it actually helps correct errors during the cell division that can lead to cancer and other diseases. This finding may eventually lead to new ways to treat cancer.

Researchers at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center at the University of Rochester Medical Center are studying ways to provide more targeted radiation therapy, control side effects of treatment, and improve lymphoma care. Among its numerous pioneering works, the center was awarded the patent for an entire class of drugs known as cox-2 inhibitors, which studies show can help reduce cancer incidence and improve survival.

Breast cancer research.

Long Island University researchers are seeking to improve breast cancer detection among diverse groups in Brooklyn, hoping to discover why African-American women are less likely to get breast cancer than European women but are more likely to die of the disease. Results suggest that a major reason may be the different rates of mammography along ethnic lines and that a better understanding of women’s reactions to screenings may be necessary.

The New York Breast Cancer Study of more than 1,000 Ashkenazi Jewish women with inherited gene mutations arrived at important findings. Conducted by a team that included Sarah Lawrence College faculty, results include new statistics about incidences of ovarian cancer among women with the gene mutation and suggest that exercise and appropriate weight during adolescence delayed the onset of breast cancer in women who carry the mutation.

At the Cancer Research Center of the Watson School of Biological Sciences at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory the genetic “book of life” is being interpreted and applied to the fight against human cancer. Designated as a basic research cancer center by the National Cancer Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s overall program is consistently rated as “outstanding” by the institute. One current project is The Women’s Cancer Gene Initiative, which will focus on a cure for breast and ovarian cancers.

Student projects.

Students working in Niagara University’s new drug-design laboratory have shown that some molecules uniquely synthesized at the university preferentially targeted liver cancer cells. Work continues in the molecular modeling lab as students explore ways to use computers to enhance the drug’s effectiveness in targeting the cancer cells.

Microbes, viruses, and bacteria are cited as causes in various forms of cancer, including gastric and cervical. Two St. Bonaventure University students collaborated with Roswell Park Cancer Institute to pursue a similar connection between bacteria and epithelial ovarian cancer by obtaining DNA samples and examining them for the presence of infectious agents in cancer tissue.


 

People behind the research.

Albany College of Pharmacy (ACP) researcher Shaker Mousa, Ph.D., has dedicated his career to the study of blood. “Regulation of blood vessel growth underlies a wide spectrum of biological processes,” says Dr. Mousa. Among his primary work at ACP, Dr. Mousa is seeking pharmaceutical methods to inhibit angiogenesis — the formation of new blood vessels — for the treatment of cancer and macular degeneration.

Another researcher at ACP, Jeff Voight, Ph.D., is pursuing the possible connection between increased levels of vitamin D and decreased levels of some cancers. In particular, Dr. Voight is conducting a three-pronged study to determine whether increased levels of vitamin D can kill breast cancer cells.

Andrew Aplin, Ph.D., assistant professor of cell biology and cancer research at Albany Medical College recently received a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institute of Health to study melanoma. Dr. Aplin will look at the adhesive properties of cells, and what causes melanoma cells to survive and grow outside of normal cells despite these adhesive properties.

Since 1995, Pace University biologist Nancy Krucher has been investigating the biochemical mechanisms involved when breast epithelial cells become cancers and how some cancer cells become resistant to traditional treatments. According to Dr. Krucher, many solid tumors exhibit resistance to chemotherapy and radiation because of differences in nutrients and oxygen within the tumor. When oxygen levels are low (hypoxia), cells stop dividing. These hypoxic cells become resistant to the standard clinical treatments that target rapidly dividing cells. The resistance of hypoxic cells to treatment may in part be responsible for recurrence of cancer in certain individuals. “If we understand the biochemical mechanism responsible for the treatment resistance in hypoxic cancer cells, approaches that target the molecules involved may be devised to eradicate a larger proportion of the tumor cells,” said Dr. Krucher.

As a breast cancer survivor, Dr. Patricia Stocking Brown of Siena College decided to conduct research into treatment options and outcomes. Now she empowers others through a course dedicated solely to the study of the disease. Professor Brown first offered the course to pre-med students at Siena in 1995, and then developed it as an intensive six-week course open to the community.

Studies by Syracuse University chemistry professors Jerry Goodisman, Ph.D., and J. C. Dabrowiak, Ph.D., and other colleagues could lead to improved protocols for treating cancer patients with cisplatin, one of the oldest effective anti-cancer drugs. The studies focus on the ways in which cisplatin-induced cell death is affected by agents in the cell and by other drugs often administered with cisplatin.

 


 

Support programs.

Breast cancer hotline.

The Adelphi New York State Breast Cancer Hotline and Support Program, operated by Adelphi University, is a public/private partnership that offers support groups, counseling, educational outreach, and legislative advocacy. To learn more call 1-800-877-8077.

Legal and advocacy services.

The Health Law Project at Albany Law School recently received state funding to provide free legal and advocacy services to underserved individuals and families impacted by cancer. The project will provide families with legal assistance in guardianship, health care proxies, power of attorney, and medical insurance coverage issues. Contact 518-445-2311 for more information.

Hospice nursing.

To address the need for more registered nurses in hospice and other palliative care settings, Excelsior College was awarded a $516,000 grant in April 2004 from the United States Department of Labor to develop the Hospice and Palliative Care Certificate Program. This credit-bearing program will help transition RNs who have left the health care field into hospice positions.