Archive for May, 2013

Mark Varvares, MD, Director, Saint Louis University Cancer Center

Sunday, May 26th, 2013

 

 

 

Mark Varvares, MD
Director, Saint Louis University Cancer Center

Education

Undergraduate: University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
Medical School: Saint Louis University School of Medicine
St.Louis, MO
Internship: Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Chicago, IL
Residency: Harvard Medical School
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA
Otolaryngology
Fellowship: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Head and Neck Reconstructive Surgery
Board Certification
American Board of Otolaryngology
American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Clinical Interests
Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, free flap reconstruction of head and neck defects, skull base surgery, surgery of the parotid, thyroid and parathyroid glands, surgery of the larynx, cancer of the nose and paranasal sinuses

Research Interests
How the surgical pathology of head and neck tumor impacts survival, the histopathological response of head and neck cancer to chemoradiation, clinical outcomes as related to head and neck cancer therapy

Samantha Mixon is Changing thr Face of Lung Cancer

Saturday, May 25th, 2013

ATLANTA — Samantha Mixon looks and feels great, but she is fighting stage four lung cancer and all the assumptions that people make about her disease.

“The first thing they ask is, ‘Did you smoke?’ It’s annoying at this point,” Mixon told 11Alive’s Jennifer Leslie.

She’s a non-smoker with no family history and only 33 years old.

She was diagnosed in November at Piedmont Henry Hospital after complaining of migraines. Turns out, she had a tumor that formed when the lung cancer metastasized to the brain.

“Telling my daughter was the hardest part about it,” Mixon said. “How do you tell her your mommy’s odds are not very good for five years, its one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”

Mixon is part of a troubling trend, according to Piedmont Atlanta thoracic surgeon Dr. Saeid Khansarinia.
“We’re seeing more and more lung cancer in people who don’t smoke, especially women,” Dr. Khansarinia said.

Dr. Khansarinia said no one really knows why, but he said new targeted chemotherapy drugs are working well for younger, nonsmoking women.
“They seem to have much better success in controlling the disease and putting some of our patients even into remission,” he added.

Mixon and her 8-year-old daughter Karley still struggle with statistics that show a very low survival rate.
But the new drugs are making a difference, and Mixon is determined to do her part to raise awareness.

“It can happen to anyone,” she said. “It’s not a smoker’s disease anymore.”
For more information about lung cancer, Piedmont Healthcare has a list of symptoms, risk factors and treatment options.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women.

Lung cancer usually does not cause symptoms when it first develops, but symptoms often become present after the tumor begins growing. A cough is the most common symptom of lung cancer.
Other symptoms include: constant chest pain, shortness of breath, wheezing, recurring lung infections, such as pneumonia or bronchitis, bloody or rust-colored sputum and hoarseness.

A tumor that presses on large blood vessels near the lung can cause swelling of the neck and face.

A tumor that presses on certain nerves near the lung can cause pain and weakness in the shoulder, arm, or hand.

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Friday, May 24th, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

William Pao, M.D., Ph.D.

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Dr. Pao is a physician-scientist with a special interest in thoracic oncology. Dr. Pao’s research focuses on identification of genes involved in the pathogenesis of lung tumors and stratifying tumors intoclinically relevant molecular subsets. Using information derived fromthese experiments, Dr.

Education

Ph.D. – Yale University, 1998

M.D. – Yale University, 1990

Fellowship – Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 2005

Fellowship – Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 2004

Internship – New York Presbyterian Hospital, 2000

Residency – New York Presbyterian Hospital, 2000

Research Specialty

The Pao Laboratory aims to perform translational research in the area of solid tumor biology, using lung cancer as a paradigm. The overall goal is to develop molecularly-tailored treatments for patients with lung cancer.

Research Description

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S and worldwide. Most cases arise in former or current smokers, but about 10% of cases also occur in individuals who smoked less than 100 cigarettes in a lifetime (“never smokers”). Lung cancers are currently classified by histopathological techniques as either small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) or non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In North America, adenocarcinoma (a type of NSCLC) is the most frequent type of histological tumor, accounting for 40% of all cases of lung cancer.

New “targeted” epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) like gefitinib (Iressa) and erlotinib (Tarceva) have given us a window of opportunity to elucidate clinically relevant molecular subsets of lung adenocarcinomas. For example, clinical trials have shown that gefitinib has an overall response rate of 10% in American and European populations, and 28% in Japanese patients. Retrospective analyses suggested that gefitinib is most efficacious in “never smokers” with adenocarcinoma histology. Such findings can now be largely accounted for by research from our group and others showing the relatively high incidence of mutations in the gene encoding EGFR in these respective populations and the association of EGFR mutations with increased sensitivity to both gefitinib and erlotinib.

While EGFR mutations are common in tumors from never smokers, mutations in KRAS, which encodes a signaling molecule downstream of EGFR, more commonly occur in individuals with substantial cigarette use. Moreover, EGFR and KRAS mutations appear to be mutually exclusive, suggesting that EGFR and KRAS mutations within lung epithelia are equivalent in their tumorigenic effects. We found that mutations in KRAS are associated with primary resistance to these drugs. This suggests that pre-treatment mutational profiling of both EGFR and KRAS may help guide treatment decisions regarding the use of these agents.

Unfortunately, virtually all patients who initially respond to gefitinib and erlotinib eventually develop acquired resistance. We have shown that tumor cells from patients whose disease progresses after initial responses on therapy with these agents frequently harbor second-site mutations in EGFR. The predominant second mutation substitutes methionine for threonine at position 790 in EGFR, which is predicted to block binding of gefitinib and erlotinib to the ATP-binding pocket of the kinase. Interestingly, the T790M amino acid change is analogous to changes seen in other kinases targeted by a related kinase inhibitor, imatinib (Gleevec), in patients that develop acquired resistance to that drug. Using a genomic approach, we have also recently found that tumor samples from patients with acquired resistance to gefitinib or erlotinib harbor amplification of MET, which encodes another tyrosine kinase. MET amplification appears to occur independently of T790M mutations. Importantly, MET inhibitors are currently being developed in the clinic.

The Pao Laboratory is now focused on the following:

1)            Defining further molecular subsets of lung cancers, based primarily upon mutational profiling of the oncogenome in tumor samples.

2)            Elucidating other mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance to EGFR inhibitors in lung cancer. For example, we recently showed that in drug-sensitive EGFR mutant lung cancer cells, induction of BIM is essential for apoptosis triggered by.

 

 

Keasha Rutledge Draft

Monday, May 13th, 2013

Dance ~ Smile ~ Live

Dance ~ Smile ~ Live

Lakeasha (Keasha) Monique Rutledge Draft, 38, of Atlanta, Georgia departed this earth on Tuesday, December 27, 2011.

Born on May 13, 1973 to Tommy and Gail Rutledge in Anderson, South Carolina, she was always a shining star while she attended the Palmetto schools of Anderson District One, and graduated a year early with honors. Keasha was a faithful member of her family church New Prospect Baptist Church of Williamston, SC. Always active and ambitious, Keasha participated in many organizations from National Honor Society to earning the title of captain on the varsity cheerleading squad. She was known for her phenomenal dancing ability, although her track and field accomplishments were stellar also, as she placed first in the high jump at the state meet every year from seventh through twelfth grade. She still holds the school record for high jump. As a Clemson University student, she was a well-loved classmate, dancer for the Rallycats and was inducted into the Lambda Theta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in the Spring of 1992. Keasha received her Bachelors of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Clemson University in 1995. She began her career in engineering for Cutler-Hammer. Keasha was an NBA dancer and beloved teammate for the Charlotte Hornets Honeybees. She began working as a pharmaceutical sales representative for Sanofi-Aventis in Charlotte and transferred to Atlanta, Georgia where she worked until her illness transpired. On November 27, 2011, she married her long-time sweetheart, Christopher Draft.

Keasha leaves to cherish beautiful memories her loving husband, Chris Draft; parents, Tommy and Gail Rutledge; parents-in-law, Anthony and Rose Draft; maternal grandmother, Wilma Clement; paternal grandmother, Synola Rutledge; and a host of relatives and friends.

In honor of Keasha’s admirable vibrant spirit, celebrate each day, dance often, smile, laugh, and embrace life.

~MUAH. Peace.

Keasha Rutledge Draft–Changing the Face of Lung Cancer from TEAM DRAFT on Vimeo.