O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center Magazine Spring 2019 | Page 3

QUICK TAKES
EPIGENETICS EXPERT GIVES FIRST LECTURE IN INAUGURAL CANCER CENTER GRAND ROUNDS
The O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB welcomed epigenetics expert Bradley E.
Bernstein, M.D., Ph.D. as the featured speaker at its inaugural Grand Rounds seminar series on
Nov. 30, 2018.
Bradley E. Bernstein,
M.D., Ph.D.
Bernstein is the Bernard and Mildred Kayden Research Institute Chair and Professor of Pathology
at Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School and director of the Epigenomics
Program at the Broad Institute. He presented “Epigenetic Plasticity and the Hallmarks of Cancer”
to a crowd of more than 300 scientists, physicians and trainees.
“Dr. Bernstein is an internationally recognized expert in epigenetics in cancer. He has led this
emerging field with a particular attention to clinically impactful discoveries,” says Michael J. Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., Evalina B.
Spencer Chair in Oncology and director of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The new O’Neal Cancer Center Grand Rounds will bring premiere cancer researchers from across the country to UAB.
“The Cancer Center Grand Rounds series will connect UAB research with cutting-edge technical and scientific discoveries
in cancer. This will ensure our researchers are well informed and poised to help move the field forward,” Birrer says.
“Further, this series will inform leaders in cancer research to the wonderful scientific environment at UAB.”
A MORE ACCURATE TEST FOR BLADDER
CANCER
George Netto, M.D.
A new test for urothelial cancers
could detect mutations in
DNA that have been identified
for those cancers earlier than
traditional tests. The earlier
detection of urothelial cancer
could lead to earlier treatment,
and potentially better outcomes
for patients.
The test, called UroSEEK, uses urine samples to identify
mutations in 11 genes that indicate the presence of DNA
associated with bladder cancer or upper tract urothelial
cancer. Researchers say the test, when combined with
cytology — the gold standard noninvasive test currently
used for detection — significantly enhanced early
detection for patients who are considered at risk for
bladder cancer, and surveillance of patients who have
already been treated for bladder cancer.
“There were nearly 80,000 new cases of bladder cancer
and more than 18,000 deaths in 2017,” says George
Netto, M.D., Chair, UAB Department of Pathology. Netto
is a study leader for UroSEEK and a senior scientist in
the Experimental Therapeutics program at the O’Neal
Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB. “This is about
using the urine to detect the cancer. UroSEEK is a
molecular, noninvasive method of detection.”
Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in
men, according to the American Cancer Society.
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O ’ N E A L CO M PR EH EN S I V E C A N C ER C EN T ER AT UA B
MRI HELPS REDUCE UNNECESSARY BIOPSIES
IN PROSTATE CANCER
In a collaborative, multi-
institutional study published by
JAMA Oncology, researchers
from UAB, University of Chicago,
and the National Cancer Institute
determined that MRI-based
prediction models can help
reduce unnecessary biopsies
Soroush Rais-Bahrami,
in suspected prostate cancer
M.D.
patients and help improve
personalized risk stratification.
The evidence in the study concluded that, while
inclusion of MRI use as a biomarker can decrease
unnecessary biopsies, it also helps maintain a high rate
of diagnosis of clinically significant prostate cancers.
According to the research, the MRI-based model had a
lower false-positive rate than the baseline model, and
its use could result in performing 18 fewer unnecessary
biopsies per 100 men.
“This research will help us optimize patient selection,
determine risk-stratification more accurately and even
reduce associated morbidity as it relates to prostate
cancer diagnosis,” says Soroush Rais-Bahrami, M.D.,
assistant professor of in UAB’s Department of Urology,
associate scientist in the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer
Center at UAB, and co-author of the study. “Additionally,
this imaging biomarker will enable physicians to provide
an even more individualized approach to patient care
by way of more efficient and accurate prostate cancer
detection moving forward.”
CANCER CENTER SCIENTISTS PRESENT PIONEERING RESEARCH AT ASCO NATIONAL MEETING
A team of physicians and scientists from the O’Neal
Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB presented some
of the latest advances in cancer research to more than
32,000 oncology professionals from all over the world
during the annual meeting of the American Society of
Clinical Oncology in Chicago this past year.
O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center investigators
authored 56 abstracts accepted by ASCO for the annual
meeting. Topics ranged from new drug combination
therapies to investigator-initiated pilot studies that show
promising outcomes. Cancer Center members who were
lead authors include Rebecca Arend, M.D., gynecologic
oncology; Luciano Costa, M.D., multiple myeloma; Ravi
Paluri, M.D., gastrointestinal cancers and tumor biology;
Erica Stringer-Reasor, M.D., breast cancer; Grant
Williams, M.D., gastrointestinal cancers and outcomes
for geriatric cancer survivors; and Eddy Shih-Hsin Yang
M.D., Ph.D., precision oncology and tumor profiling. Comprehensive Cancer Center, was named a Fellow of
ASCO. This distinction recognizes ASCO members for
their extraordinary volunteer service, dedication and
commitment to ASCO.
Smita Bhatia, M.D., director of the UAB School
of Medicine’s Institute for Cancer Outcomes
and Survivorship and associate director for
Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship in the O’Neal Additionally, Gabrielle Rocque, M.D., was named the
chair of the ASCO Quality of Care Committee. She will
also serve on the editorial board of ASCO’s Journal of
Oncology Practice.
PLACEBO PILLS MAY HELP CANCER SURVIVORS MANAGE FATIGUE
Long after cancer treatment ends, many continue to
deal with one particular symptom that refuses to go
away: fatigue. In a recent study, researchers at UAB
and Harvard Medical School found that the power of
placebos, even when fully disclosed to patients, might
be harnessed to reduce fatigue in cancer survivors.
For cancer survivors, few treatments are available to
alleviate fatigue after treatment, and the most effective
pharmacological interventions come with side-effect
warnings that include panic, psychosis and heart failure.
In a study published in Nature Scientific Reports,
investigators found that cancer survivors who knowingly
took placebo pills reported a 29 percent improvement
in fatigue severity, and a 39 percent improvement in the
extent to which fatigue disrupts quality of life.
The study involved 74 survivors of different types of
cancer who reported moderate to severe fatigue. They
were randomized either to the open-label placebo
condition or to treatment as usual. Patients prescribed
the open-label pills were told they were receiving
placebos and asked to take two of the pills, twice per
day, for three weeks.
After the three weeks, patients being treated as usual
were offered the opportunity to take the placebo
pills for three weeks, while those who originally took
the placebo pills discontinued them. After another
three weeks, those who knowingly took placebo pills
reported significantly reduced fatigue. The group that
discontinued placebos reported no significant reduction
in benefits.
“Cancer survivors report that fatigue is their most
distressing symptom, even more distressing than other
symptoms like nausea or pain, and clinicians struggle to
find ways to help them,” says Teri Hoenemeyer, Ph.D.,
lead author and scientist in the Department of Nutrition
Sciences. “We really need to understand more about the
mechanisms by which placebo effect works and how we
can potentially use them to improve how we treat this
deleterious condition.”
UAB.EDU/CANCER
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