TheoryLab

Cancer patients undergoing treatment often need urgent medical care, because they become sick from the cancer and/or the cancer treatment. They might be experiencing pain or gastrointestinal issues. They might have a high fever. In these cases, many patients visit an emergency room, and there can be downsides to that.

Arthur Hong, MD, recently received American Cancer Society funding to explore whether outpatient cancer urgent care clinics could be a better alternative to emergency rooms in some cases. Dr. Hong notes: “Cancer urgent care clinics are designed to handle many problems that are commonly the result of cancer and its treatment such as nausea, vomiting, weakness, fevers, and pain. Cancer urgent care visits are usually much more convenient, have shorter waiting times, and are faster and much less expensive than the emergency room.”

Arthur Hong, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Population and Data Sciences at UT Southwestern.

4:42 – On what it’s like to find out in a phone call that your grant has been funded (Dr. Hong was recently awarded a Clinician Scientist Development Grant from the ACS)

6:11 – How the pandemic has impacted his clinical practice and research program

9:24 – Why cancer patients visit the emergency room and…

11:46 – …some of the downsides to them visiting ER for treatment

15:19 – What are cancer urgent care clinics? How common are they?

20:36 – On the advantages of cancer urgent care clinics as an alternative to the emergency room

26:22 – The best-case scenario for how his work unfolds over the next 5 years

28:50 – A message he’d like to share with cancer patients, survivors and caregivers

It started with a tweet, and in less than a month scientists, clinicians, and patients from over 100 centers in the United States and Canada came together to learn about the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients.

The COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium was formed to “collect granular, uniformly organized information to stimulate translational science and also to arm our treating providers with the most comprehensive and scientifically accurate evidence as rapidly as possible on cancer patients affected with the virus.”

It has already paid dividends. The consortium has already published evidence in a new paper in Lancet titled, “Clinical impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer: a cohort study.”

One of the principal authors of that paper joined us to discuss the work of the consortium.

Dimpy Shah, PhD—an American Cancer Society research grantee and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson—is a founding member of the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium and serves on its steering committee, where she provides support, guidance, oversight of progress, and strategic future directions for the consortium.

4:20 – Why the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium was formed and what they hope to accomplish.

6:58 – On the first evidence published by the consortium: “Clinical impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer: a cohort study.”

10:32 – How this global collaboration between different centers, community partners, and academic centers started with one tweet

15:03 – The mechanics (and magnitude) of the collaboration

17:17 – Early findings from the consortium that have benefited providers

21:19 – How the study could help develop strategies to decrease COVID-19-related risks for cancer patients

24:18 – How her current American Cancer Society-funded grant—which is focused on identifying cancer patients at higher risk of developing viral pneumonia following stem cell transplant—impacted her understanding of COVID-19 in cancer patients

26:44 – A message she’d like to share with cancer patients and caregivers

It started with a tweet, and in less than a month scientists, clinicians, and patients from over 100 centers in the United States and Canada came together to learn about the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients.

The COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium was formed to “collect granular, uniformly organized information to stimulate translational science and also to arm our treating providers with the most comprehensive and scientifically accurate evidence as rapidly as possible on cancer patients affected with the virus.”

It has already paid dividends. The consortium has already published evidence in a new paper in Lancet titled, “Clinical impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer: a cohort study.”

One of the principal authors of that paper joined us to discuss the work of the consortium.

Dimpy Shah, PhD—an American Cancer Society research grantee and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson—is a founding member of the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium and serves on its steering committee, where she provides support, guidance, oversight of progress, and strategic future directions for the consortium.

4:20 – Why the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium was formed and what they hope to accomplish.

6:58 – On the first evidence published by the consortium: “Clinical impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer: a cohort study.”

10:32 – How this global collaboration between different centers, community partners, and academic centers started with one tweet

15:03 – The mechanics (and magnitude) of the collaboration

17:17 – Early findings from the consortium that have benefited providers

21:19 – How the study could help develop strategies to decrease COVID-19-related risks for cancer patients

24:18 – How her current American Cancer Society-funded grant—which is focused on identifying cancer patients at higher risk of developing viral pneumonia following stem cell transplant—impacted her understanding of COVID-19 in cancer patients

26:44 – A message she’d like to share with cancer patients and caregivers

Melissa Bates, PhD, describes the “fascinating twist of going from observation to molecular and cellular manipulation in the lab to a clinical setting” as she and her team uncover exciting links between sleep apnea and multiple myeloma.

Dr. Bates is Assistant Professor of Health and Human Physiology and Pediatric Neonatology and Director of the Leukemia Molecular Epidemiological Resource at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa.

2:51 – How she and her research team are dealing with the pandemic

4:32 – On sleep-disordered breathing and sleep apnea…

6:46 – …and how it relates to cancer risk and mortality

13:17 – On how she began researching multiple myeloma and why it’s so difficult to treat

17:30 – The link between obesity and both multiple myeloma and sleep-disordered breathing

20:09 – How experiments by Dr. Bates and her lab yielded exciting links between sleep apnea and multiple myeloma

23:11 – How 90% of patients with multiple myeloma had sleep apnea

25:12 – The potential of sleep-disordered breathing as a therapeutic target for multiple myeloma and other cancers

26:44 – The impact of ACS funding on her career

28:28 – Her message for cancer patients and caregivers

Melissa Bates, PhD, describes the “fascinating twist of going from observation to molecular and cellular manipulation in the lab to a clinical setting” as she and her team uncover exciting links between sleep apnea and multiple myeloma.

Dr. Bates is Assistant Professor of Health and Human Physiology and Pediatric Neonatology and Director of the Leukemia Molecular Epidemiological Resource at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa.

2:51 – How she and her research team are dealing with the pandemic

4:32 – On sleep-disordered breathing and sleep apnea…

6:46 – …and how it relates to cancer risk and mortality

13:17 – On how she began researching multiple myeloma and why it’s so difficult to treat

17:30 – The link between obesity and both multiple myeloma and sleep-disordered breathing

20:09 – How experiments by Dr. Bates and her lab yielded exciting links between sleep apnea and multiple myeloma

23:11 – How 90% of patients with multiple myeloma had sleep apnea

25:12 – The potential of sleep-disordered breathing as a therapeutic target for multiple myeloma and other cancers

26:44 – The impact of ACS funding on her career

28:28 – Her message for cancer patients and caregivers

How will COVID-19 impact cancer risk and survivorship?

The American Cancer Society is inviting participants in its ongoing Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3) to use a new app to help investigators track the COVID-19 epidemic and inform future research efforts.

Dr. Alpa Patel explains that understanding how COVID-19 infection is affecting patients—in combination with all the other data that she and her team are collecting through CPS-3 on an ongoing basis—will help answer some very important questions about the impact of COVID-19 on cancer risk and survivorship.

Alpa Patel, PhD, is Sr. Scientific Director of Epidemiology Research and the Principal Investigator of Cancer Prevention Study-3 at the American Cancer Society.

The app, the COVID Symptom Tracker (https://covid.joinzoe.com/us), was created by doctors and scientists at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, King's College London, and Stanford University School of Medicine, working in partnership with the health science company ZOE. Participants simply download the app and each day, track whether they are feeling any symptoms.

3:05 – On the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study-3, or CPS-3

4:38 – How CPS-3 participants stay involved during the life of the study

6:06 – What makes CPS-3 such a valuable resource?

8:00 – How and when results from CPS-3 are shared with the scientific and cancer community

9:48 – On what CPS-3 can tell us about physical activity and cancer risk

13:05 – On the addition of the COVID-19 Symptom Tracker app to CPS-3

15:40 – How information from the app in combination of data from CPS-3 could be used to help cancer patients

18:31 – Some of the exciting ways that data from the app could be integrated from information collected through CPS-3, and how that could help cancer patients

21:58 – When data from the COVID-19 Symptom Tracker app might be ready to share

23:01 – What she’s most excited about in terms of the potential impact of CPS-3

25:21 – A message she’d like to share with cancer patients and caregivers

How will COVID-19 impact cancer risk and survivorship?

The American Cancer Society is inviting participants in its ongoing Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3) to use a new app to help investigators track the COVID-19 epidemic and inform future research efforts.

Dr. Alpa Patel explains that understanding how COVID-19 infection is affecting patients—in combination with all the other data that she and her team are collecting through CPS-3 on an ongoing basis—will help answer some very important questions about the impact of COVID-19 on cancer risk and survivorship.

Alpa Patel, PhD, is Sr. Scientific Director of Epidemiology Research and the Principal Investigator of Cancer Prevention Study-3 at the American Cancer Society.

The app, the COVID Symptom Tracker (https://covid.joinzoe.com/us), was created by doctors and scientists at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, King's College London, and Stanford University School of Medicine, working in partnership with the health science company ZOE. Participants simply download the app and each day, track whether they are feeling any symptoms.

3:05 – On the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study-3, or CPS-3

4:38 – How CPS-3 participants stay involved during the life of the study

6:06 – What makes CPS-3 such a valuable resource?

8:00 – How and when results from CPS-3 are shared with the scientific and cancer community

9:48 – On what CPS-3 can tell us about physical activity and cancer risk

13:05 – On the addition of the COVID-19 Symptom Tracker app to CPS-3

15:40 – How information from the app in combination of data from CPS-3 could be used to help cancer patients

18:31 – Some of the exciting ways that data from the app could be integrated from information collected through CPS-3, and how that could help cancer patients

21:58 – When data from the COVID-19 Symptom Tracker app might be ready to share

23:01 – What she’s most excited about in terms of the potential impact of CPS-3

25:21 – A message she’d like to share with cancer patients and caregivers

Two guests joined the TheoryLab podcast for this episode.

Dr. Terry Badger is a nurse scientist whose research helps cancer survivors and their caregivers to reduce psychological distress and manage cancer symptoms during and after cancer treatment. She talked about how she has helped remove barriers to receiving supportive care services by using the telephone to provide health education and counseling.

Then, Dr. Beverly Zavaleta—a physician, cancer survivor, and author—talked about her experience going through treatment and about her book, Braving Chemo.

For information and resources to help cancer patients, their families, and caregivers cope with cancer and the coronavirus, visit https://www.cancer.org/.

1:30 – Terry Badger, PhD, RN, PMHCNS-BC, FAPOS, FAAN, is an American Cancer Society grantee, an advanced practice psychiatric mental health nurse, and Professor of Nursing, Psychiatry, and Public Health at the University of Arizona, where she is Chair of the Community and Systems Health Science Division.

2:45 – On how common it is for cancer patients to experience psychological distress and what to do about it

5:13 – On interventions she’s developed to deliver supportive care over the phone

7:36 – How lessons from her experience with telehealth are helpful during the pandemic

11:24 – On the impact ACS funding has had on her research

13:10 – Her message for cancer patients and caregivers

14:25 – To participate in Dr. Badger’s research to help survivors and caregivers manage their symptoms, call 866-218-6641

15:08 – Beverly Zavaleta, MD, physician, cancer survivor, and author

16:35 – On being diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer

18:27 – On what it’s like to be a physician diagnosed with cancer

20:53 – Lessons she learned from going through cancer treatment

25:00 – Her motivation for writing Braving Chemo and how she hopes it can help cancer patients and caregivers

Two guests joined the TheoryLab podcast for this episode.

Dr. Terry Badger is a nurse scientist whose research helps cancer survivors and their caregivers to reduce psychological distress and manage cancer symptoms during and after cancer treatment. She talked about how she has helped remove barriers to receiving supportive care services by using the telephone to provide health education and counseling.

Then, Dr. Beverly Zavaleta—a physician, cancer survivor, and author—talked about her experience going through treatment and about her book, Braving Chemo.

For information and resources to help cancer patients, their families, and caregivers cope with cancer and the coronavirus, visit https://www.cancer.org/.

1:30 – Terry Badger, PhD, RN, PMHCNS-BC, FAPOS, FAAN, is an American Cancer Society grantee, an advanced practice psychiatric mental health nurse, and Professor of Nursing, Psychiatry, and Public Health at the University of Arizona, where she is Chair of the Community and Systems Health Science Division.

2:45 – On how common it is for cancer patients to experience psychological distress and what to do about it

5:13 – On interventions she’s developed to deliver supportive care over the phone

7:36 – How lessons from her experience with telehealth are helpful during the pandemic

11:24 – On the impact ACS funding has had on her research

13:10 – Her message for cancer patients and caregivers

14:25 – To participate in Dr. Badger’s research to help survivors and caregivers manage their symptoms, call 866-218-6641

15:08 – Beverly Zavaleta, MD, physician, cancer survivor, and author

16:35 – On being diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer

18:27 – On what it’s like to be a physician diagnosed with cancer

20:53 – Lessons she learned from going through cancer treatment

25:00 – Her motivation for writing Braving Chemo and how she hopes it can help cancer patients and caregivers

David Sabatini, MD, PhD, is an American Cancer Society Research Professor, a Member of the Whitehead Institute, and Professor of Biology at MIT. In 2020, he was co-recipient of the prestigious Sjöberg Prize—which promotes scientific research on cancer, health, and the environment—for discovering the mTOR protein and its role in controlling cell metabolism and growth.

1:55 – How his research lab has been impacted by the pandemic

3:04 – The history of how TOR was discovered, going back to a soil sample from Easter Island

5:25 – How mTOR is kind of like the general contractor for the cell (“Well, we need more proteins, we need more lipids, we need more mitochondria…”)

6:34 – If mTOR is the “general contractor,” then what is it building? And what are the signals that tell it to make things?

8:27 – “…80% of cancers have to find a way to turn on mTOR…”

14:34 – Why inhibiting mTOR to treat cancer isn’t such a straightforward proposition

18:50 – Research tools that he and his team have developed; for example, one of his students developed the first CRISPR libraries and some of the original CRISPR screening technologies

25:39 – On “molecular nutrition” and research into how diet affects you at the molecular level

27:24 – How ACS funding has impacted his work

30:12 – His message for cancer patients and caregivers