Last week, over 300 attendees joined together virtually for the 4th Great Lakes Breast Cancer Symposium, hosted by the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center in partnership with The Ohio State University James Comprehensive Cancer Center, the University of Pittsburgh Hillman Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the West Virginia University Cancer Institute. This two-day event fostered conversation among researchers and clinicians from institutions across Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Washington, the UK, and Malaysia.

Throughout the two-day event, we heard advanced research talks delivered by our colleagues and trainees, shared ideas, developed plans for future collaborations, and, most importantly, discussed avenues for the future treatment of breast cancer patients.

Renowned translational breast cancer investigator, Dr. Helen Piwnica-Worms from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center delivered the keynote address focused on tackling resistance in triple-negative breast cancer. The talk was complemented by engaging presentations on therapeutic response and resistance, survivorship and disparities, microenvironment and immunology, cancer cell biology, and metastasis. All of our research discussions were enhanced by a powerful patient advocacy session that provided the patient, friend, and family perspective. We thank the advocates for their open, honest stories that remind us why we fight against this disease each day.

A significant focus of this symposium is on training the next generation of breast cancer researchers. We discussed potential cross-institutional training and will be delighted to keep this conversation going as we build new learning opportunities. We were also impressed by the high-quality science delivered by our trainees during the oral abstract and poster presentations! Congrats to the award winners!

First Place: Lindsey Anstine – Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

Second Place: Kimberly Parker – Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

Third Place: Kai Ding – University of Pittsburgh Comprehensive Cancer Center

Tasneem Arsiwala – West Virginia University Cancer Institute

Dennis Braden – University of Pittsburgh Comprehensive Cancer Center

Daniel Brown – University of Pittsburgh Comprehensive Cancer Center

Ashuvinee Elangovan – University of Pittsburgh Comprehensive Cancer Center

Abha Maskey – West Virginia University Cancer Institute

Nicole Mihalik – West Virginia University Cancer Institute

Katrina Piemonte – Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

Dillon Richardson – The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Darcie Seachrist – Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

With our virtual format, we were able to find new and creative ways to keep our attendees engaged. Participants made great use of our Whova app's features, using the Community board to connect and share ideas. Notably, symposium presentations and materials are accessible on Whova for six months, and attendees are encouraged to view them as often as they like.

It has been our honor to chair the Planning Committee for this symposium and deliver yet another compelling agenda to our colleagues. We are particularly grateful for the support from our sponsors and the input from our Committee Members: G. Thomas Budd, MD; Megan Kruse, MD; Bahar Moftakhar, MD; Alberto Montero, MD, MBA; Carola Neumann, MD; Elena Pugacheva, PhD; Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy, MD; Partha Roy, PhD; Mike Ruppert, MD, PhD; William Schiemann, PhD; Gina Sizemore, PhD; Steven Sizemore, PhD; Daniel Stover, MD; and Ioannis Zervantonakis, PhD. And finally, we appreciate the unending support from Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Director Stan Gerson, MD; Deputy Directors Alan Diehl, PhD; Jame Abraham, MD; and Ted Teknos, MD; Associate Director for Administration John Pounardjian, and his incredibly dedicated team – especially Mary Wright, Kelsey Kirsch, and Gillian Irwin - that executed yet another exceptional event.

Please continue to share ideas, form new collaborations and keep the momentum going. We look forward to seeing you all in 2022 for the fifth Great Lakes Breast Cancer Symposium!

Best,

Ruth Keri, PhD and Halle Moore, MD

Co-Chairs, Great Lakes Breast Cancer Symposium

Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

A multidisciplinary team of Cleveland Clinic researchers has shown for the first time that diet-associated molecules in the gut are associated with lethal prostate cancer. Findings from the study were published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

While more research will be necessary, the study’s lead author Nima Sharifi, MD, says findings from the team’s analysis of nearly 700 patients may have clinical implications for diagnosing and preventing lethal prostate cancer.

“We found that men with higher levels of certain diet-related molecules are more likely to develop aggressive prostate cancer,” said Sharifi, director of the Cleveland Clinic Genitourinary Malignancies Research Center, staff in Lerner Research Institute’s Department of Cancer Biology, member of the Member Population and Cancer Prevention Program of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. “As we continue our research in this area, our hope is that one day these molecules can be used as early biomarkers of prostate cancer and help identify patients who can modify their disease risk by making dietary and lifestyle changes.”

An individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis of randomized, controlled clinical trials provides strong evidence for the addition of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) to definitive radiotherapy (RT) for the treatment of prostate cancer, with the projection that adding ADT to the treatment of 10-15 men would prevent the development of distant metastasis in one man. Similarly, if ADT has been added, prolonging the portion of it that follows the radiation (called “adjuvant ADT”) to 18-36 months provides a similar benefit in terms of preventing metastatic disease. The benefits of adding ADT and of prolonging adjuvant ADT were identified regardless of patient age, RT dose (high vs. low), or prostate cancer risk group (high vs. intermediate risk). In contrast, prolongation of ADT that begins before radiation (called “neoadjuvant ADT”) beyond two to three months did not improve any cancer outcome, according to the study, prompting researchers to conclude that the latter treatment should not routinely be employed.

The analysis was conducted thorough the Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials in Cancer of the Prostate (MARCAP) Consortium, a group formed in 2020 to serve as a data repository from international trial groups. The MARCAP consortium was co-founded by Dr. Amar Kishan, associate professor and vice chair of clinical and translational research in the department of Radiation Oncology at UCLA and researcher at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Dr. Daniel Spratt, the chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and member of the Developmental Therapeutics Program of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. The MARCAP consortium has data from multiple trials across the world and is the first consortium group of its kind for prostate cancer. Kishan will be presenting the results at ASTRO 2021, the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.

According to Spratt, "MARCAP represents the first international collaboration of all radiotherapy clinical trial groups to assess the true impact of the many treatment strategies we have to offer in prostate cancer. The results from MARCAP will be practice-changing and benefit patients around the world."

A new machine learning model developed by Timothy Chan, MD, PhD, and colleagues accurately predicts whether immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), a growing class of immunotherapy drugs, will be effective in patients diagnosed with a wide variety of cancers.

The forecasting tool assesses multiple patient-specific biological and clinical factors to predict the degree of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors and survival outcomes. It markedly outperforms individual biomarkers or other combinations of variables developed so far, according to findings published in Nature Biotechnology.

With further validation, the tool may help oncologists better identify patients most likely to benefit from ICB. Discerning, prior to treatment, patients for whom ICB would be ineffective could reduce unnecessary expense and exposure to potential side effects. It could also indicate the need to pursue alternate treatment strategies, such as combination therapies.

“It’s important to know which treatment modalities patients are most suited for,” said Dr. Chan, director of Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Immunotherapy & Precision Immuno-Oncology. “Our model provides a more comprehensive understanding of the diversity of responses among patients to immune checkpoint blockade. It’s the first to assemble such a large-scale set of clinical and genomic variables that have predictive value for immunotherapy across numerous cancer types.”

These latest findings build on earlier work from Dr. Chan, who discovered that patients with high tumor mutation burden and DNA repair deficiencies respond well to immune checkpoint therapy. These findings have been validated by clinical trials and the FDA approved as the first tumor type-agnostic approvals for any cancer therapy.

Now accepting applications for the 2022 Virtual AACR Early-career Hill Day through Tuesday, November 30. Apply today via myAACR!

The AACR Early-career Hill Day is an annual event that brings a group of AACR Associate members to advocate for robust, sustained and predictable funding for cancer research and biomedical science through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), on behalf of early-career cancer researchers. In 2022, Hill Day will be held virtually, on March 2-3, 2022 to protect the health of all participants due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the course of more than 50 total congressional visits during a single day, participants are able to stress how important it is to invest in the future of cancer research and provide their own personal perspectives as the investigators whose careers may be most impacted by the support of this essential funding. Participants receive support from AACR staff and are accompanied by one or more established investigators with significant advocacy experience. This event is an important opportunity for the AACR’s Associate members to engage in advocacy at the federal level and educate lawmakers on the progress and promise in cancer research.

The Cancer Center Seminar Series will continue today, November 5 at noon in the Biomedical Research Building Auditorium (BRB 105). This interdisciplinary seminar series addresses cutting-edge clinical, translational, and basic research topics in cancer and is a focal point of the educational and inter-programmatic activities of the Cancer Center. CME credit is available for those who attend seminars. 

We hope you will attend to ask questions and engage with our invited speaker!

Physician, Radiology, Neuroradiology/Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center; Clinical Director, MRI, University Hospitals

Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology; Member, Cancer Imaging Program, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine

Dr. Chaitra Badve is a board certified neuroradiologist with expertise in clinical quantitative neuroimaging and advanced imaging techniques in brain tumors. Her work is focused on using multi parametric quantitative imaging biomarkers from current and emerging techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting to address clinically relevant problems in neuro-oncology.

Professor, Epidemiology, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Director, Center for Environmental Health and Technology

Head, Environmental Health Section, Department of Epidemiology

Brown University

Assistant Professor, Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Director of Cellular Immunotherapy, Cancer Center

Massachusetts General Hospital

November 26, 2021 - Thanksgiving Holiday. No seminar

Professor, Department of Pathology

Director, Center for Translational Research in the Molecular Genetics of Cancer

University of California, San Francisco

Registration is open for the 6th Annual Cancer Disparities Symposium: "The Intersection of Racism, Poverty and Biology in Cancer Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment," presented by the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Office of Community Outreach and Engagement.

This multi-disciplinary event will appeal to researchers, clinicians, health professionals, community outreach groups, community-based organizations, patient advocates and trainees. Keynote presentations will be delivered by renowned disparities researchers and community leaders, and a poster session highlighting academic research and community programs will provide a showcase of the depth and breadth of work happening in this field. Plus, there will be a discussion of "Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do," a book by Jennifer L. Eberhardt.

Professor, Radiation Oncology

Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs

University of Michigan

There is still time to submit a nomination for the Office of Disease Prevention's (ODP) 2022 Early-Stage Investigator Lecture. The nomination deadline has been extended to November 5, 2021.

This award is made annually to early-career scientists who have made significant research contributions in disease prevention but who have not yet successfully competed for an R01 or R01-equivalent National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant.

THRIVE provides seed grants for clinical and translational research and technology-based solutions that enhance our ability to predict when and how adverse effects may occur in patients who have received cancer treatment. THRIVE also supports the development of approaches to avoid or lessen these effects.

Peter J. Mazzone, MD, MPH, pulmonologist and director of the lung cancer program for the Respiratory Institute at Cleveland Clinic, spoke with Healio about presentations on lung cancer given at the CHEST annual meeting, Oct. 17-20, 2021.

University Hospitals has a new mobile clinical research unit which officials hope will lead to more diversity in clinical trials. A customized 38-foot Winnebago is equipped with a range of medical equipment. University Hospitals' Mobile Clinical Research Unit program is meant to increase convenience for participants in clinical trials.