Research Highlights Cancer Prevention and Control Program
Genetic Testing for Hereditary Cancer Risk
Duration: 50 min.
Now that there are tests that reveal a possible hereditary predisposition to certain cancers, is this testing appropriate for everyone? In this program Dr James Ford addresses the big questions surrounding genetic testing for hereditary cancer risks.
- Dr. Susan Swetter, Professor of Dermatology and Director of the Pigmented Lesion and Melanoma Program at Stanford University Medical Center and Cancer Institute was honored on May 17th with the Melanoma Research Foundation's 2012 Humanitarian Award for her commitment to the prevention, treatment and cure of melanoma.
- Christopher Gardner, PhD, discusses the Stanford Food Summit, the topic of a 1:2:1 Podcast. The objective of the meeting was to focus on some of the world's most challenging problems related to food production, distribution and consumption.
- Recent studies performed by investigator Heather Wakelee, MD, assistant professor of oncology and the Cancer Prevention Institute of California (CPIC) group including research scientists Christina Clarke, PhD, and Scarlett Lin Gomez, PhD. demonstrate that lung cancer is more likely to occur in women, particularly those of Asian descent.
- Dr. Marilyn Winkleby, Professor of Medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center in the Department of Medicine, received the inaugural Dr. Augustus A. White III and Family Faculty Professionalism Award. Her research has focused on understanding the disparities that affect the health of ethnic minority and low-income populations. Dr. Winkelby is the Director of the Office of Community Health, which has had a major impact on the school and community since it was founded. She is also the co-founder of the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program.
- A recent study lead by Dr Kim Rhoads, MD, MPH reports that black people with cancer are up to twice as likely as other races to die from their disease. The study results were published in the article Understanding racial disparities in cancer treatment and outcomes, in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
- Dr Kim Rhoads, MD, MPH has been appointed director of cancer education and community partnership for the Stanford Cancer Center and the Cancer Prevention Institute of California. Rhoads is working to enhance collaboration between researchers at the Stanford Cancer Center and the Cancer Prevention Institute of California.
- Dr Paul Fisher, professor of neurology & neurological sciences, pediatrics has received a "Grand Opportunities (GO)" grant from the National Institutes of Health. The two-year, $1.5 million award will fund a phase I clinical trial investigating the use of the anti-EGFRvIII vaccine for pontine gliomas in children.
- Samuel So, M.D., FACS, Director, The Asian Liver Center at Stanford University has received a 2009 CTSA Seed Grant for studying the Efficacy of Education and Community Center Vaccination and Screening Services to Reduce Chronic Hepatitis B.
- Michaela Kiernan, Ph.D. Senior Research Scientist, has received a 2009 CTSA Seed Grant for examining the Translation of Group-Based Behavioral Obesity Treatments to Extend Community Reach.
- Dr Abby King measured the success of personal and social interventions in health behaviors and outcomes. She and her team analyzed the progress reports and recorded tangible improvements in fitness and well-being in records of over 1000 cancer survivors in a study tracking exercise benefits for cancer survivors. Approximately 80 to 85 percent of the participants have been diagnosed with breast cancer, although people with ovarian, colon, prostate, lymphoma, lung, and other cancers were also represented. The pilot study sets the groundwork for additional investigations that can look more carefully at measureable ways to improve the program and make it more accessible for more diverse populations.
- Postmenopausal women who take combined estrogen plus progestin menopausal hormone therapy for at least five years double their annual risk of breast cancer, according to new analyses from a major study that clearly establishes a link between hormone use and breast cancer, Stanford researchers say. Dr Marcia Stefanick along with a group of WHI investigators analyzed the results of the WHI randomized clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, February, 2009 --in which one study group received 0.625 mg of conjugated equine estrogens plus 2.5 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate daily and another group received placebo--and examined temporal trends in breast-cancer diagnoses in the WHI observational-study cohort. The multi-center study found that women on hormones can quickly reduce their risks of cancer simply by stopping the therapy. Podcast
- Dr Christopher Gardner, assistant professor of medicine, conducted the largest and longest-ever comparison of four popular diets, and the lowest-carbohydrate Atkins diet came out on top. The study mimicked real-world conditions. MedCast
- Dr Marilyn Winkleby has been named the recipient of the 2007 Robert F. Allen Symbol of H.O.P.E.(Helping Other People Through Empowerment) Award. Details can be found in the Dean’s Newsletter.
- Dr Spiegel is currently conducting a large scale replication study of his finding, published in The Lancet (ii:888-891, 1989) that psychosocial support prolonged survival among metastatic breast cancer patients. This research involves assessment of possible mediating mechanisms of extended survival time, including examination of treatment compliance, diet, activity, and endocrine and immune responses to stress. Recent evidence from his laboratory demonstrates that loss of circadian variation in cortisol, indicative of HPA dysfunction, predicts early mortality with breast cancer.
- Combined estrogen plus progestin increases the risk for breast cancer and may decrease the risk for colorectal cancer; estrogen only does not. Dr Stefanick had a central role in the WHI randomized trials that showed that combined estrogen and progestin (E+P) therapy increases the risk of breast cancer and results in greater harm than health benefit in post-menopausal women (JAMA 2002: 288; 321; JAMA 2003: 289; 3243); whereas, estrogen alone did not increase breast cancer in women with prior hysterectomy (JAMA 2004: 291; 1701; JAMA 2006, in press). In addition to co-chairing the WHI Hormone Advisory Committee throughout the trial, Dr Stefanick led the Stanford team that enrolled and followed over 700 participants in the WHI hormone trials. Related MedCast
- An 8-year low-fat diet intervention, which included increased vegetables, fruits, and grains, on preventing breast and colorectal cancer in a trial of nearly 49,000 postmenopausal women did not result in weight gain, (JAMA 2006, 295; 39) as has been suggested by proponents of low-carbohydrate diets, a finding of importance to cancer prevention research. As Chair of the WHI Steering Committee and PI of the Stanford Clinical Center which randomized over 1300 women into the trial, 550 of whom received the intervention and 98% of whom provided final data, Dr Stefanick played a major role in this landmark cancer prevention trial.
- A 7 year calcium & vitamin D supplementation trial including 36,000 postmenopausal women measured the effects of these supplements in preventing colorectal cancer (NEJM 2006, Feb 16). Dr Stefanick also played a major role in this landmark cancer prevention trial involving approximately 1050 participants at the Stanford site. Home-based exercise intervention programs have higher adherence than group-based programs and a telephone-based program may be a useful alternative to intense face-to-face interventions.
- Drs Abby King and William Haskell demonstrated that older adults completed more exercise sessions in a home-based intervention (J Gerontol Med Sci, 2000). Dr King has shown that mediated approaches and interactive technologies may deliver such programs as effectively as personal counselors and may produce better long-term adherence(Health Educ Res 2002; 17: 5: 627-36).
This document was last modified: Saturday, 13-Apr-2013 15:51:03 PDT
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