CANCERS AFFECTING OUR COMMUNITY

Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) at The Tisch Cancer Institute (TCI) is focused on an important TCI mission: reducing cancer risk, illness, death, and disparities in our catchment area communities. A key component of our NCI-designated cancer center grant, this initiative is led by renowned cancer disparities researcher Nina Bickell, MD, MPH, Associate Director of TCI for Community Engaged and Equity Research, and includes the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement, directed by Lina Jandorf, MA. Both Dr. Bickell and Ms. Jandorf have been involved in this work since the 1990s. TCI is situated at the crossroads of New York City’s wealthiest and poorest communities. Our impact catchment areas include East Harlem (EH), Central Harlem (CH), the Upper East Side (UES), and the rescue and recovery workers of the World Trade Center (WTC)—a community Mount Sinai has been treating since the WTC attack. The Harlems are primarily minority and poor and the UES is predominantly White with just 7% living in poverty; the WTC population is 86% male, 57% White, 10% Black, and 22% Hispanic.   The top new cancers in EH and CH include prostate, breast, lung, colorectal, uterine, liver, pancreas, and multiple myeloma. Risk factors for liver carcinoma are elevated, with cancer incidence and mortality rates more than double those throughout the nation. The high rates of cancers that can be detected early (leading to improved survival)—like breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers—are also of concern. In the UES, breast cancer and melanoma are common. WTC workers have high rates of prostate and thyroid cancers and multiple myeloma.   To better understand drivers of behavior related to cancer care, we are investigating our catchment area residents’ views on topics such as cancer beliefs, information seeking, risk behaviors, access to care, and medical mistrust and discrimination. Survey results will inform future interventions.   Although screening rates are improving, COE will continue to focus on addressing the causes of disparately high rates of late stage cancers and diagnosis, expanding screening, improving the quality of cancer care in EH and CH, and identifying biomarkers for increased cancer risk in WTC workers.

DEFINING OUR COMMUNITY  Central Harlem (CH), East Harlem (EH), Upper East Side (UES) Population >500,000 individuals Neighborhoods epitomize the social, health & educational challenges, and disparities that face our nation Historically, the focus of our research and outreach efforts WORLD TRADE CENTER PROGRAM Population ~33,000 responders 57% White; 10% Black; 22% Hispanic 25% College graduates 14% English is not primary language  HIGH INCIDENT CANCERS IN OUR COMMUNITY INCIDENT CANCERS DIAGNOSED AT LATE STAGE View Complete Presentation

HONORS, AWARDS, GRANTS

Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists Steven Burakoff, MD , was among the inaugural class of honorees selected as a 2019 Distinguished Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI). The program recognizes active, long-term members (25 years or more) for distinguished careers and outstanding scientific contributions, as well as service to the AAI and the immunology community. A member of the AAI since 1978 and a Past Secretary-Treasurer, Dr. Burakoff has made seminal discoveries in T cell biology and has built renowned cancer programs that incorporate immunology as a major focus throughout his esteemed career. Dr. Burakoff was recruited in 2007 to be the first director of The Tisch Cancer Institute. He currently serves as Dean for Cancer Innovation and Chief of the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology.

Memorial Lectureship Award at MD Anderson Cancer Center Fred R. Hirsch , Executive Director of the Center of Thoracic Oncology in The Tisch Cancer Institute and Joe Lowe and Louis Price Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology), was the first recipient of the Dr. Waun Ki Hong Memorial Lectureship Award at MD Anderson Cancer Center, bestowed on March 5, 2019. Dr. Hirsch’s presentation was titled “Personalized Therapy in Lung Cancer; a Tale of Biomarkers.” Dr. Hong , who passed away in January of this year, was a pioneer in targeted therapies . With funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, he launched the Biomarker-Based Approaches of Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer Elimination (BATTLE) tri a l which demonstrated the promise of a personalized approach. Dr. Hirsch has served as an external advisor to this grant since 2007.

Accomplishments in Clinical Medicine and Research On March 14, three members of The Tisch Cancer Institute were honored with the 2019 Jacobi Medallion . These videos highlight their career paths and exceptional contributions:

Nina A. Bickell, MD, MPH Ming-Ming Zhou, PhD

Steven Burakoff, MD

Appointed System Chief of Breast Surgery Elisa Port, MD, FACS , was recently appointed System Chief of Breast Surgery. She joined Mount Sinai in 2010 as Director of the Dubin Breast Center and Chief of Breast Surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital , and was named Director of Breast Surgery at The Blavatnik Family – Chelsea Medical Center at Mount Sinai in 2018. A leading expert in sentinel-node biopsy and nipple-sparing mastectomy, Dr. Port conducts research on developing strategies to prevent triple negative breast cancers from progressing and metastasizing. She is the author of The New Generation Breast Cancer Book , a patient-friendly guide to managing a breast cancer diagnosis.

Training Program for Cancer Care Providers Julie Schnur, PhD , was awarded an NIH R25E grant titled “Training Cancer Care Providers to Implement Sensitive Practice Guidelines When Treating Adult Survivors of Sexual Violence: A Blended Learning Approach.”   The goal of this project is to implement a training program for cancer care providers in sensitive practice techniques to reduce distress and retraumatization and increase feelings of safety and empowerment in survivors of sexual violence undergoing cancer screening and treatment. The program will be the first, cancer-focused, sensitive practice training program of its kind.   Dr. Schnur holds faculty appointments in the departments of Population Health Science and Policy and Psychiatry. She is a member of the Center for Behavioral Oncology and co-director of the Integrative Behavioral Medicine Program.

Funding Opportunities 2020 research funding opportunities from Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance Letters of Intent Due Date: April 28   2020 funding opportunities through the NIH Director’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program, created to accelerate the pace of biomedical and behavioral breakthroughs

PUBLICATIONS

Autologous lymphocyte infusion supports tumor antigen vaccine-induced immunity in autologous stem cell transplant for multiple myeloma

Hearn Jay Cho, MD, PhD , Sacha Gnjatic, PhD , et al Cancer Immunology Research Our reported results provide proof-of-principle that autologous lymphocyte infusion augmentation of autologous stem cell transplant (autoSCT) is a promising component for multiple myeloma combination immunotherapy. The combined vaccine and autologous lymphocyte infusion augmentation strategy was effective in stimulating humoral and Th1-biased CD4 +  T-cell responses to the immunized antigen, despite the immune compromise exhibited by myeloma patients in general and especially after autoSCT, indicating the power of this strategy to generate antigen-specific immunity in the autoSCT setting. 

Mitochondrial origins of fractional control in regulated cell death

Jerry E. Chipuk, PhD , et al Nature Communications We use the response to TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) and a new statistical framework for DE termining P arameter I nfluence on C ell-to-cell variability T hrough the I nfluence of V arience E xplained (DEPICTIVE) to demonstrate that variable mitochondria abundance correlates with cell survival and determines the fractional cell death response. Our study suggests that inhibitors of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins , used in cancer treatment, may increase the diversity of cellular responses, enhancing resistance to treatment.  

Systemic clinical tumor regressions and potentiation of PD1 blockade with in situ vaccination

Joshua Brody, MD , Miriam Merad, MD, PhD , et al Nature Medicine Indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (iNHLs) are incurable with standard therapy and poorly responsive to checkpoint blockade. Although lymphoma cells are efficiently killed by primed T cells, in vivo priming of anti-lymphoma T cells has been elusive. Our data demonstrate that increasing and activating intratumoral, cross-presenting dendritic cells at the tumor site is achievable and can prime tumor-specific T cells, restore efficacy of checkpoint blockade, and yield superior antitumor immunity.   

Initial presentation of human papillomavirus-related head and neck cancer: A retrospective review

Brett Miles, DDS, MD , Eric Genden, MD , et al Laryngoscope In this study we outline the common presenting signs of human papillomavirus-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, providing physicians with a better understanding of initial cancer presentation and leading to earlier diagnosis and improved outcomes.

Host tissue determinants of tumor immunity

Helene Salmon, PhD , Sacha Gnjatic, PhD , Miriam Merad, MD, PhD , et al Nature Reviews, Cancer In this review, we discuss how tissue-specific determinants might influence tumor development and how unravelling the tissue-specific contribution to tumor immunity should: 1) support development of precise immunotherapeutic strategies for patients with cancer, and 2) help inform the mechanisms of resistance to treatment and transform the design of combination therapy trials. 

Hepatocellular Carinoma

Augusto Villanueva, MD, PhD New England Journal This review summarizes the main genetic alterations in hepatocellular carcinoma, key epidemiologic features, and evidence-based approaches to management.

Randomized trials and endpoints in advanced HCC: Role of PFS  as a surrogate of survival

Josep Llovet, MD , et al Journal of Hepatology In this review, we discuss the reasons for positive or negative phase III trials in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the strengths and limitations of surrogate endpoints (progression-free survival (PFS), time to progression, and objective response rate) to predict survival. The authors propose a conservative threshold of PFS (HR< 0.6) as a surrogate primary end-point of survival in advanced HCC trials.

FIRST DIVERSITY SERIES PRESENTATION

The Tisch Cancer Institute Diversity Series Lewis R. Roberts, MBChB, PhD , Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, was the first speaker in TCI’s Diversity Series. Dr. Roberts presented “Biomarkers for Hepatobiliary Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities,” on April 9.   Established in January 2019, the Diversity Subcommittee of the TCI Education and Career Development Committee addresses strategies to improve representation at the TCI Seminar Series and Grand Rounds of underrepresented minority scientists whose research is aligned with TCI programmatic strengths. The subcommittee also focuses on career enhancement for trainees of diverse backgrounds.

EVENTS - SAVE THE DATES

Translational Oncology Seminar Series

Martin McMahon, PhD , University of Utah  Identifying and Targeting Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in RAS-driven Cancers Friday, April 26 Noon 1468 Madison Avenue Room 24-206 A/B

TCI Frontiers In Oncology

Elaine Fuchs, PhD, The Rockefeller University Skin Stem Cells in Inflammation and Cancer Tuesday, May 14 Noon Icahn Medical Institute 1425 Madison Avenue Goldwurm Auditorium

Mount Sinai Reception at ASCO

The Ritz Carlton Chicago 160 East Pearson Street Chicago, IL 60611 Lakeview Room Sunday, June 2 6-9 pm RSVP to Dominique Bordes 

Seed and Soil: Mechanisms of Metastasis

The second joint conference on Seed and Soil: Mechanisms of Metastasis, organized by the European Association for Cancer Research and the Metastasis Research Society, will take place October 7-9 in Berlin. Registration is now open. The deadline for submission of abstracts is July 31. Julio Aguirre-Ghiso, PhD , will present “Dormant DCCs and Adult Stem Cell Niches: A Homeostatic Seed and Soil Partnership” at the conference. 

National Cancer Survivors Day

Sunday, June 2 Noon-2 pm The Mount Sinai Hospital Stern Auditorium and West Lobby RSVP to  Kaitlin Goldgraben, LCSW 212-824-8884 Read more

All about Gay Men and Prostate Cancer

Wednesday, June 19 5:30-7:30 pm Mount Sinai Downtown Union Square RSVP to  Darren Arthur, LCSW, OSW-C 212-844-6292 Read more

Back in Action After Targeted Therapy

Following targeted therapy, a former Marine and marathon runner with stage-four, nonsmoking lung cancer returned to his active lifestyle. ”This is an area where we can really help patients take their life back,” said Jorge Gomez , his treating physician. Episode 11 of  Mount Sinai Future You

MOUNT SINAI CANCER IN THE NEWS - CLICK HERE

Do you have news for the next issue of    TCI Connections   ?  Please send to  Janet.Aronson@mountsinai.org    and  Rhaisili.Rosario@mssm.edu Remember to share  breaking news  and  high impact news  that might be appropriate for media coverage with Marlene Naanes in the Press Office. This may include pending FDA drug/device approvals, studies/trial results being published in high-impact journals, and patient stories. The more lead time you can give Marlene, the better—ideally, four weeks or when a paper is accepted by the journal. Embargoes will always be honored and news will only be released with your approval. Marlene.Naanes@mountsinai.org  , 929-237-5802

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TCI Connections     is a monthly publication of The Tisch Cancer Institute. Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Director Co-editors: Janet Aronson and Rhaisili Rosario Past issues of    TCI Connections    are available on the TCI website.