Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

BUFFALO — With the ability to sequence human genes comes an onslaught of raw material about the genetic characteristics that distinguish us, and wading through these reserves of data poses a major challenge for life scientists. Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) and the Center for Human Genome Variation at Duke University Medical Center (DUMC) have developed an approach for analyzing data that can help researchers studying genetic factors in disease to quickly cull out relevant genetic patterns and identify variants that lead to particular disorders. The researchers outline this new approach in a study published in the September issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics. They note that while genome-wide association studies (GWASs), which analyze the DNA of many people in order to reveal genetic variations associated with disease, have reported thousands of variants associated with different traits, it’s very difficult to isolate “causal variants,” those genetic i...

BUFFALO, NY — Officials at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) applauded New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for signing into law a measure that delays the age at which state residents can begin to expose themselves to indoor tanning. Gov. Cuomo signed the legislation, which bans the use of ultraviolet (UV) radiation devices by those 16 and under, today. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Charles Fuschillo and Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, was approved in June by both houses of the New York State Legislature. “Governor Cuomo wasted no time in putting his signature on this very important legislation, which we believe will have life-saving impact,” noted Roswell Park President and CEO Donald L. Trump, MD, FACP. “He, along with legislators across the state, recognized that these protections for our youngest and most vulnerable citizens are reasonable, necessary and long overdue.” “Exposure to ultraviolet radiation is the most significant preventable risk factor for developing melanoma, the deadliest fo...

BUFFALO, NY — Alex Adjei, MD, PhD, FACP, Senior Vice President of Clinical Research and Katherine Anne Gioia Chair in Cancer Medicine at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), has received the inaugural Drug Development Research Professorship Award from the Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The funded professorship will support Dr. Adjei’s efforts to mentor junior colleagues in the areas of drug development, clinical trial design and regulatory science. Dr. Adjei’s current research on the anticancer effects of CBLB502, a toll-like receptor 5 agonist, will be the primary vehicle for his mentoring activities. “CBLB502 is an agent developed by my Roswell Park colleague Dr. Andrei Gudkov and his company Cleveland BioLabs Inc.,” said Dr. Adjei. “We’ve begun a phase I clinical research study to assess its effectiveness in preventing and controlling growth of cancer cells, looking at all solid tumors. In their preclinical studies, Dr. Gudkov and his...

BUFFALO, NY — An immunotherapy regimen incorporating poxviruses and targeting a particular tumor antigen, NY-ESO-1, has shown promise in treating two types of cancers. Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Director of the Center for Immunotherapy at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), Elke Jäger, MD, Head of the Department of Oncology and Hematology at Krankenhaus Nordwest, Frankfurt, and colleagues today published results from two studies testing this approach in PNAS, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Basing their work on a phase I trial that showed that poxviruses can be safely and effectively incorporated into immune-based cancer therapies, Dr. Odunsi, Dr. Jäger and their co-authors conducted two parallel phase II clinical studies using modified versions of the smallpox and fowlpox viruses, engineered to express NY-ESO-1, in patients with ovarian cancer and melanoma. In the two studies, which ...

BUFFALO, NY — Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) has once again been included on Becker’s Hospital Review’s annual list of centers that serve as leaders in cancer research, prevention, treatment and education. In selecting facilities for its “Great Oncology Programs” feature, the Becker’s editorial team analyzed data from such sources as U.S. News & World Report, HealthGrades, Thomson Reuters, the National Cancer Institute, the American College of Surgeons and the American Nurses Credentialing Center. RPCI is one of 70 hospitals and health systems recognized this year for providing full-spectrum care and support services, access to clinical trials, cutting-edge oncology treatment and groundbreaking research. “Roswell Park was the country’s first cancer center and remains the first and only facility in upstate New York designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute,” Becker’s notes in its description of RPCI. “Its patient satisfaction scores are consi...

BUFFALO — The New York State Department of Health (DOH) gave Western New Yorkers a look at its new ad campaign highlighting the price smokers pay for their addiction at a press conference today at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). The 30-second spots, which began airing statewide August 1, urge smokers to call the New York State Smokers’ Quitline. “Cigarette use is likely to cost smokers the things that they value the most,” said Kimberly Bank, RN, MS, Project Director for the Tobacco Cessation Center of Western New York, which is based at RPCI. “Smoking will take away your ability to pursue the athletic pursuits you love. It will cost you an exorbitant amount of money, both for the product and ensuing healthcare needs. And it’s a product that, if you use it as directed, there’s a good chance it will kill you.” The DOH campaign, which was funded by a federal grant, consists of three ads running through September 25 — Renaldo (Baseball), Renaldo (Swimming) and Emphysema — that illus...

BUFFALO, NY — Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) has again been ranked among the top cancer hospitals in the nation in U.S. News & World Report's 2011-12 Best Hospitals, published online at http://www.usnews.com/besthospitals . RPCI jumped six spots, to 27, on the publication’s annual roster of Top-Ranked Hospitals for Cancer — the only New York State institution outside Manhattan in the top 50 cancer centers. In addition to its national ranking, RPCI captured the top spot as the best hospital in the Buffalo metro region, and was recognized as “high-performing” in the medical specialties of Gynecology, Urology and Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases. The rankings will be featured in the U.S. News Best Hospitals guidebook, which will go on sale August 30. “Once again, our inclusion on the U.S. News list reflects the trajectory of growth and the outstanding quality of research, education and care at RPCI,” said Donald L. Trump, MD, FACP, President and CEO of RPCI. “The teams of indiv...

BUFFALO, NY — Clinical and administrative leaders at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) commend the New York State Legislature for taking steps to remove a barrier that has prevented many New Yorkers from accessing needed chemotherapy drugs. Both houses of the Legislature voted this week to approve legislation removing cost as a barrier for high-quality, targeted cancer care. The bill, which now awaits the signature of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, seeks to eliminate a cost disparity that has left countless cancer patients unable to afford oral chemotherapies. “This is outstanding news for people with cancer, who now have dramatically improved access to some of the most advanced and promising therapies,” said Alex Adjei, MD, PhD, Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Senior Vice President of Clinical Research at RPCI. “Discovery and innovation are constantly changing the way we treat cancer, and the bill just passed by the New York State Senate and Assembly is an appropriate and crucially ...

BUFFALO, NY — Saikrishna Yendamuri, MD, FACS, Assistant Professor in the Departments of Surgical Oncology and Thoracic Oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), has been awarded a $555,103 grant from the U.S. Army to develop a way to help predict which lung-cancer patients are more likely to have their cancer recur after surgery. People with early-stage lung cancer typically undergo surgery to remove the tumor, but unfortunately, as many as 35 percent of them see their disease return. Treating these patients with chemotherapy is associated with too many complications to advocate chemotherapy for all lung patents after surgery. Therefore, finding a way to identify those patients whose disease is likely to recur is important in determining who should undergo adjuvant chemotherapy and who may avoid it. Dr. Yendamuri plans to explore the potential of using microRNA profiling as a biomarker for non-small-cell lung cancer. MicroRNAs are small RNAs that regulate protein formation. By ...

BUFFALO, NY — The nation’s first FDA-approved cancer treatment vaccine, Provenge (sipuleucel-T), is being offered for the first time in Western New York at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). The vaccine is designed for men with advanced prostate cancer who have limited treatment options and who meet eligibility requirements. “It’s the first time we are able to offer immunotherapy with an FDA-approved product,” says Roberto Pili, MD, Chief of the Genitourinary Section in RPCI’s Department of Medicine. Provenge represents a new approach to cancer treatment — using vaccines to trigger the patient’s own immune system to attack cancer cells. RPCI patients who receive Provenge will have immune cells purified from their blood; this process will take place at the American Red Cross headquarters in Buffalo. The immune cells will then be shipped to a central lab, where they will be combined with a specific protein (an antigen) that stimulates the immune cells to recognize and kill prostate ca...

BUFFALO, NY — Yeong “Christopher” Choi, PhD, has joined Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) as Director of the newly created Therapeutic Cell Production Facility, a critical component of RPCI’s Center for Immunotherapy. The facility is the first of its kind in the Western New York region. The objective of the center is to accelerate efforts to bring effective immune-based therapies to cancer patients sooner, explains Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Director of the Center for Immunotherapy. “One promising approach is the use of immune cells directly harvested from cancer patients. The cells are expanded and manipulated in a ‘clean’ facility, and given back to patients in order to fight their cancer,” says Dr. Odunsi. “The Therapeutic Cell Production Facility will prepare these immune cells, and take appropriate steps to ensure that they can be safely administered to our patients. It will allow us to deliver these cutting-edge, innovative treat...

BUFFALO, NY — Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) leadership received official word this morning that America’s first cancer center has earned Magnet Recognition for nursing excellence, a top national honor bestowed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Approximately 6% of all hospitals in the United States earn Magnet designation. RPCI is the only hospital in Western New York — and the only freestanding cancer center in New York State — to earn this designation, according to a news release sent to WESB and The HERO. The Magnet distinction recognizes quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice, providing the ultimate benchmark for consumers to measure the quality of care they can expect to receive. In Magnet hospitals, patient outcomes are better, and their length of stay is shorter. “We’re ecstatic and honored to receive such a distinction,” says Maureen Kelly, RN, MS, Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursin...

Paying tribute to a man who helped steer the Institute through crucial junctures, Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Edwin A. Mirand, PhD, DSc, Vice President Emeritus for Educational Affairs and Senior Advisor to RPCI President and CEO Donald L. Trump, MD, FACS — one of the five RPCI presidents with whom Dr. Mirand has served. “Dr. Mirand has been part of the fabric of Roswell Park Cancer Institute for nearly 60 years,” said Dr. Trump. “He helped to build and to lead the Institute at key points in its history, playing a critical role in planning and decision-making that ultimately benefited people far outside our immediate reach. Dr. Mirand has made incalculable contributions worldwide, and his lifelong commitment to Roswell Park, its patients and its mission is exemplary.” Associated with RPCI since 1946, Dr. Mirand was appointed director of its Springville Laboratories in 1951. He went on to head RPCI’s departments of Biology, Viral Oncolo...

BUFFALO, NY — Mikhail Nikiforov, PhD, an Associate Professor in the Department of Cell Stress Biology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the American Cancer Society to develop new pharmaceutical agents to treat malignant melanoma, one of the most serious and aggressive forms of cancer. Malignant melanoma represents less than 5% of all skin cancers, but accounts for more than 65% of skin cancer deaths. Although surgical intervention in the earliest stages of the disease increases one’s chances of a positive outcome, lifetime risk and mortality rates have been steadily — and significantly — rising for decades. In fact, the average survival rate for malignant melanoma is 8.5 months. “It has become a matter of urgency to develop effective, more targeted treatment regimens for malignant melanoma,” said Dr. Nikiforov, whose research focuses on the expression and inhibition of the cancer gene (oncogene) C-MYC. C-MYC is a member of the MYC family of...

Buffalo, NY — Dr. James Marshall, PhD, Senior Vice President for Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) and newly named Roswell Park Alliance Foundation Endowed Chair in Cancer Prevention, has received a two-year, $300,000 grant from the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF). The grant is one of 12 Creativity Awards given by the PCF to “support innovative projects because of their potential to fast-forward discovery and deliver game-changing results for prostate cancer research.” Dr. Marshall’s grant will fund a multisite intervention trial that will test the results of putting men with small, low-grade prostate cancers on a diet low in animal products. Marshall and his team ­— which includes researchers both at RPCI and at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego — will identify 450 men with prostate cancer from across the country, all considered to be low-risk. For the 225 in the experimental group, the researchers wi...

BUFFALO, NY – Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), in conjunction with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), is holding a Bone Marrow Donor Drive in the main lobby of Roswell Park on Tuesday, April 27 from 4-6 p.m. Community members, ages 18-60, with no history of cancer, diabetes or heart problems, are invited to help share life at the drive by becoming a bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell donor. Marrow and stem cell transplants are used to treat leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening blood diseases. Each year more than 30,000 children and adults are diagnosed with diseases for which a bone marrow transplant is the only chance for a cure. Only 30% of these people will find a matching donor within their families, making drives like this critically important. A simple swab of the inside of the cheek gives the necessary tissue typing information needed for determining matches. All typing information collected at the drive will be put into the NMDP computerized registr...

BUFFALO, NY – Youcef Rustum, PhD, Distinguished Member, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, department of Cancer Biology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), has been awarded a grant by the National Cancer Institute to study curaxins, novel multifunctional anticancer agents that came out of a collaborative drug discovery program between researchers of RPCI and Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. (CBLI). Inactivation of the tumor suppressor p53 is frequently found in many types of cancer. Constitutive activation of pro-survival pathway NF-kappaB is another common property of tumor cells. This is commonly associated with poor response to chemotherapy and thus decreased survival chances. Curaxins are a novel class of multifunctional anticancer agents that simultaneously target p53 and NF-kappaB, causing their activation and suppression, respectively. The study will aim to select a lead curaxin for development through the side-by-side evaluation of efficacy and pharmacodynamics in assisting p53 to “t...

Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) is the recipient of a grant from Susan G. Komen for the Cure for $186,000 to support research exploring the role of certain genetic markers in the development of breast cancer. Dr. Vita Golubovskaya, Associate Professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology at RPCI, is leading the exploration of two genetic indicators that have been linked to the growth of malignant tumors of the breast. These markers, known as the Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) and p53, have been noted separately in previous research as potential indicators for breast cancer. Dr. Golubovskaya’s research, however, seeks to establish a link between the two to prove that the presence of both could accelerate the growth of malignant breast cancer. Dr. Golubovskaya’s study theorizes that overexpressed FAK, when present with mutant p53, can block the effectiveness of traditional drug treatments, reducing their ability to destroy breast cancer cells. “By better understanding the relationshi...

BUFFALO, NY – Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) announced an Institutional Research Grant (IRG) for $180,000 from the American Cancer Society to provide pilot funding for junior-level investigators. Andrei Gudkov, PhD, Senior Vice President Basic Science and Garman Family Chair in Cell Stress Biology is the principal investigator. The IRG funding stimulates a mini-internal grant program within RPCI. These grants allow young investigators an opportunity to seek mentorship, develop pilot data and gain confidence in submitting grant applications for peer-reviewed funding mechanisms. The focus on cancer research allows the scientists to take their first step in a career to advance cancer treatments and diagnostic tools. The scientists are given an opportunity to test their ideas and translate the ideas into meaningful results. “By providing seed-funding to the young investigators, we are encouraging the exploration of new ideas which can potentially lead to new therapies or prevention t...

By George Nianiatus, senior writer/media manager Marketing and Communications Department Upper Allegheny Health System Holly Pascale may have never envisioned being a trailblazer who could ultimately help herself and so many other women with breast cancer. Still, this is precisely the direction she’s taken by being the first to participate in a national clinical breast cancer trial through the Cancer Care Center at Bradford Regional Medical Center (BRMC), a regional clinical network member of Roswell Park Cancer Institute. The national study by Roswell Park, scheduled to last three years, is designed to help researchers determine whether drugs called bisphosphonates can prevent breast cancer from spreading to the bone and also protect against bone problems associated with standard treatments for breast cancer. Ms. Pascale hopes her participation in the study, which includes free medication to those volunteering, will help her own condition and spur other women to enroll in the national...