TheoryLab

As a lung cancer pulmonologist who sees 5-7 new patients every week, runs a patient-focused clinical research program, and has been helping patients fight lung cancer for more than 25 years, Gerard Silvestri, MD, MS, has a long history with this disease. So when he says, “I have never been in my career so optimistic as I am now,” take note.

In this interview Dr. Silvestri talks about reasons for optimism in nearly every aspect of lung cancer research, from prevention and screening to new treatments and survivorship.

Dr. Silvestri is Professor of Medicine and the George C. and Margaret M. Hillenbrand Endowed Chair at the Medical University of South Carolina. He’s also on the steering committee of the National Lung Cancer Roundtable, a coalition of leading professional, government and non-governmental organizations working to accelerate the nation's efforts to reduce mortality from lung cancer.

2:29 – On his work in the clinic and the lab: “Every Tuesday I see between 5 and 7 new patients with lumps and bumps, and my job is to do three things—ask the questions: ‘What is it?’ (that’s the diagnosis); ‘Where is it?’ (that’s the stage); and ‘What can we do about it?’ (those are the treatment options).”

4:21 – What should people know about lung cancer? After noting that, “more women will die of lung cancer than all other female cancers combined,” he shared encouraging news about prevention and screening.

6:36 – On what it means to be a high-risk patient

8:42 – On where high-risk patients should go for screening, and the importance of returning for follow-up screenings: “The where is actually really important…you should be in a place that can really care for you.”

12:11 – On lung cancer in patients who have never smoked

15:09 – On why he’s never been more optimistic about treatment breakthroughs

20:04 – On the work of the National Lung Cancer Roundtable

23:30 – On three aspects of the Roundtable’s work that are particularly exciting

27:51 – A message he’d like to share with cancer patients and caregivers

The stark and persistent disparity in breast cancer outcomes between black and white women is a public health dilemma that Vanessa Sheppard, PhD, has dedicated her career to addressing.

Among the many reasons for this disparity is non-adherence to therapy, and in her new American Cancer Society-funded study, Dr. Sheppard has a plan to address that.

In this interview, Dr. Sheppard describes Sisters Informing Sisters, the first communication skills intervention for newly diagnosed black breast cancer patients. Co-created with survivors, it has already shown great potential for improving equity in adherence to treatment in black women.

Vanessa Sheppard, PhD, is Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, Associate Director of Disparities Research, and co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Massey Cancer Center.

2:55 – Important distinction between health equity and health disparities

5:45 – On the many contributing factors to the breast cancer disparities experienced by African American women, including delays from diagnosis to treatment, treatment decisions, and their opportunities to make treatment decisions

11:08 – On the importance of the patient-provider relationship and patient-centered communication: “the broader research has shown that providers communicate differently with patients based on age and race/ethnicity”

16:17 – On the first education intervention for newly diagnosed African American breast cancer patients, Sisters Informing Sisters, which she co-created with survivors

22:07 – On her new American Cancer Society grant, which is funding the first large-scale trial to include culturally targeted adherence interventions for African American women with breast cancer: “This project is a project of my heart…It’s very personal in terms of the women that we’ve engaged to develop this intervention.”

27:40 – A message she’d like to share with cancer patients

The stark and persistent disparity in breast cancer outcomes between black and white women is a public health dilemma that Vanessa Sheppard, PhD, has dedicated her career to addressing.

Among the many reasons for this disparity is non-adherence to therapy, and in her new American Cancer Society-funded study, Dr. Sheppard has a plan to address that.

In this interview, Dr. Sheppard describes Sisters Informing Sisters, the first communication skills intervention for newly diagnosed black breast cancer patients. Co-created with survivors, it has already shown great potential for improving equity in adherence to treatment in black women.

Vanessa Sheppard, PhD, is Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, Associate Director of Disparities Research, and co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Massey Cancer Center.

2:55 – Important distinction between health equity and health disparities

5:45 – On the many contributing factors to the breast cancer disparities experienced by African American women, including delays from diagnosis to treatment, treatment decisions, and their opportunities to make treatment decisions

11:08 – On the importance of the patient-provider relationship and patient-centered communication: “the broader research has shown that providers communicate differently with patients based on age and race/ethnicity”

16:17 – On the first education intervention for newly diagnosed African American breast cancer patients, Sisters Informing Sisters, which she co-created with survivors

22:07 – On her new American Cancer Society grant, which is funding the first large-scale trial to include culturally targeted adherence interventions for African American women with breast cancer: “This project is a project of my heart…It’s very personal in terms of the women that we’ve engaged to develop this intervention.”

27:40 – A message she’d like to share with cancer patients

Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or DIPG, is a rare but particularly aggressive and hard-to-treat tumor. Ranjit Bindra MD, PhD, a practicing radiation oncologist at the Yale School of Medicine and Associate Professor of Therapeutic Radiology, is leveraging his translational research and clinical experience to find new ways to treat this cancer.

3:18 – On the use of radiation to treat cancer patients: “…really the most exciting research on the horizon is trying to understand which particular tumors—what types of mutations in the DNA of those tumors—make them more sensitive to treatments that have radiation therapy.”

6:19 – On his research into combining drugs with radiation: “We are very interested in finding tumor mutations—the actual mutations that drive those cancers. We try to find ways to target them with novel drugs so that when we combine them with radiation, it’s sort of a 1-2 punch.”

10:11 – On Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or DIPG. What is it? What are the current treatments? Why aren’t they working? What is the exciting new finding by his team?

22:09 – On how his lab sees a path towards a clinical trial with DIPG patients

26:43 – On the impact of American Cancer Society funding on his work

28:23 – A message he’d like to share with patients

Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or DIPG, is a rare but particularly aggressive and hard-to-treat tumor. Ranjit Bindra MD, PhD, a practicing radiation oncologist at the Yale School of Medicine and Associate Professor of Therapeutic Radiology, is leveraging his translational research and clinical experience to find new ways to treat this cancer.

3:18 – On the use of radiation to treat cancer patients: “…really the most exciting research on the horizon is trying to understand which particular tumors—what types of mutations in the DNA of those tumors—make them more sensitive to treatments that have radiation therapy.”

6:19 – On his research into combining drugs with radiation: “We are very interested in finding tumor mutations—the actual mutations that drive those cancers. We try to find ways to target them with novel drugs so that when we combine them with radiation, it’s sort of a 1-2 punch.”

10:11 – On Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or DIPG. What is it? What are the current treatments? Why aren’t they working? What is the exciting new finding by his team?

22:09 – On how his lab sees a path towards a clinical trial with DIPG patients

26:43 – On the impact of American Cancer Society funding on his work

28:23 – A message he’d like to share with patients

“Mitosis is not only important from a fundamental point of view to try to understand how the body can develop all the cells that it has and heal its wounds and so forth, but also it represents an entrée into a process that you can attack as a physician trying to block the processes that are fundamental to cancer…I’ve now spent 50 years on mitosis, and I’ve never been bored.”

In a career that has spanned decades, with seminal accomplishments that earned him an American Cancer Society Research Professorship, Richard McIntosh, PhD, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has profoundly impacted our understanding of mitosis.

And now he has written an undergraduate textbook for non-science majors, Understanding Cancer; an Introduction to the Biology, Medicine and Societal Implications of this Disease.

In this conversation he talks about the importance of mitosis, his motivation for writing this new book for students who aren’t necessarily scientists, and his son’s battle with stage 4 lung cancer.

2:14 – On why it’s important for undergraduates who aren’t majoring in science to understand cancer.

7:37 – On the diagnosis of his son, Rob, with stage 4 lung cancer

12:40 – On how understanding the science behind cancer can help friends and families who are supporting patients dealing with cancer

15:19 – What is mitosis? It’s kind of like separating a bowl of tangled up spaghetti noodles into two perfect halves.

19:41 – On how mitosis—or the control of mitosis—differs in cancer cells

21:16 – On the impact of ACS funding, and how he built an infrared laser into (wait for it) a laser trap with which he measured “the forces that microtubules generate as they grow and shrink in a test tube.”

24:25 – A message he’d like to share with cancer patients and caregivers

“Mitosis is not only important from a fundamental point of view to try to understand how the body can develop all the cells that it has and heal its wounds and so forth, but also it represents an entrée into a process that you can attack as a physician trying to block the processes that are fundamental to cancer…I’ve now spent 50 years on mitosis, and I’ve never been bored.”

In a career that has spanned decades, with seminal accomplishments that earned him an American Cancer Society Research Professorship, Richard McIntosh, PhD, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has profoundly impacted our understanding of mitosis.

And now he has written an undergraduate textbook for non-science majors, Understanding Cancer; an Introduction to the Biology, Medicine and Societal Implications of this Disease.

In this conversation he talks about the importance of mitosis, his motivation for writing this new book for students who aren’t necessarily scientists, and his son’s battle with stage 4 lung cancer.

2:14 – On why it’s important for undergraduates who aren’t majoring in science to understand cancer.

7:37 – On the diagnosis of his son, Rob, with stage 4 lung cancer

12:40 – On how understanding the science behind cancer can help friends and families who are supporting patients dealing with cancer

15:19 – What is mitosis? It’s kind of like separating a bowl of tangled up spaghetti noodles into two perfect halves.

19:41 – On how mitosis—or the control of mitosis—differs in cancer cells

21:16 – On the impact of ACS funding, and how he built an infrared laser into (wait for it) a laser trap with which he measured “the forces that microtubules generate as they grow and shrink in a test tube.”

24:25 – A message he’d like to share with cancer patients and caregivers

Darren Roblyer and his lab has developed a small, painless wearable probe that a patient can wear over her tumor. It’s flexible and conforms to the shape of the patient’s breast, and it uses light to monitor the tumor’s response to chemotherapy.

Why is this important? It offers a new way to assess treatment response in real time to see if a patient is responding to pre-surgical chemotherapy, providing a pathway to personalize the treatment plan for each patient.

Dr. Roblyer is a two-time American Cancer Society grantee and Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University

2:27 – On why neoadjuvant (or pre-surgical) chemotherapy is important

3:45 – The challenges of pre-surgical chemotherapy

5:34 – An opportunity to adapt treatments for specific patients

7:54 – How his lab uses a wearable probe to monitor breast tumors

10:48 – How the technology can help identify who’s responding to chemotherapy and who’s not in the first week of therapy

12:21 – On why it’s safe and painless, and how the wearable probe will help them study larger patient populations

15:28 – On how, since the probe can be worn by the patient outside the hospital, it allows physicians to monitor treatment responsiveness at useful timepoints

20:03 – On the two aspects of this work he’s most excited about

24:51 – The impact of ACS funding on his work

25:55 – His message for cancer patients

Darren Roblyer and his lab has developed a small, painless wearable probe that a patient can wear over her tumor. It’s flexible and conforms to the shape of the patient’s breast, and it uses light to monitor the tumor’s response to chemotherapy.

Why is this important? It offers a new way to assess treatment response in real time to see if a patient is responding to pre-surgical chemotherapy, providing a pathway to personalize the treatment plan for each patient.

Dr. Roblyer is a two-time American Cancer Society grantee and Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University

2:27 – On why neoadjuvant (or pre-surgical) chemotherapy is important

3:45 – The challenges of pre-surgical chemotherapy

5:34 – An opportunity to adapt treatments for specific patients

7:54 – How his lab uses a wearable probe to monitor breast tumors

10:48 – How the technology can help identify who’s responding to chemotherapy and who’s not in the first week of therapy

12:21 – On why it’s safe and painless, and how the wearable probe will help them study larger patient populations

15:28 – On how, since the probe can be worn by the patient outside the hospital, it allows physicians to monitor treatment responsiveness at useful timepoints

20:03 – On the two aspects of this work he’s most excited about

24:51 – The impact of ACS funding on his work

25:55 – His message for cancer patients

Latina breast cancer survivors tend to be less physically active and experience more comorbidities (such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes) when compared to Caucasian breast cancer survivors. Christina Dieli-Conwright, PhD, is trying to change that.

Her American Cancer Society-funded work is a three-phase exercise intervention involving Latina breast cancer survivors, with the clinical phase of the trial providing the knowledge and motivation needed for them to continue to exercise in a community setting.

1:23 – Christina Dieli-Conwright, PhD, Associate Professor and Clinical Exercise Physiologist at City of Hope National Medical Center

2:41 – On comorbidities, and why she’s focused on Latina breast cancer survivors

6:50 – On the relatively high rates of metabolic dysregulation—which includes metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and visceral adiposity—in Latina breast cancer survivors

11:14 – On the three phases of her exercise intervention, and results so far

18:14 – Some of the reasons Latinas are underrepresented in clinical trials and research studies

21:15 – On how this program could be expanded to help Latinas who live far from big cancer centers

25:07 – A direction in her research she’s particularly excited about

26:32 – On the impact of American Cancer Society funding on her career

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