Robert Wood Johnson Medicine • Spring 2011 • Population Science

our goal is to provide comprehensive
cancer care and improved outcomes
for patients with cancer.”
Translational Science
“
The Cancer Institute is the ideal
hub for the Cancer Prevention
and Control Program,” says
Dr. DiPaola. Every member of CINJ
conducts research, but it is also a center
for patient care, where the emphasis
is on translational science — discoveries
that will improve clinical care
and outcomes for patients with cancer.
“It is gratifying to work in a place
where your research can directly affect
clinical prevention and treatment,”
says epidemiologist Grace Lu-Yao,
PhD, MPH, professor of medicine. “In
research, it’s always a strength to
include doctors who treat patients and
know the issues. They know the questions
we need to ask to make our work
clinically relevant.”
Following is a
representative
sampling of the
population-based studies led by
members of CINJ who are also
members of the Cancer Prevention
and Control Program:
• “The Jersey Girl Study”:
An evaluation of environmental
factors, including nutrition, that
affect early onset of puberty, a
possible risk factor of breast cancer
(Elisa V. Bandera, MD, PhD,
associate professor of surgery)
• A study of the association between
increased physical activity and
greater quality of life in patients who
have undergone surgery for early-
Dr. Lu-Yao, a member of the Cancer
Prevention and Control Program,
has published several studies that
reflect the value of “watchful waiting”
for men diagnosed with low-risk
prostate cancer. Most recently, she
found that a high proportion of men
with that diagnosis still choose radical
treatment — most often surgery or
radiation — when it may not be necessary.
In continuing research, Dr. Lu-
Yao will study the decision-making
process that leads to a patient’s choice
of aggressive treatment for low-risk
disease. “This is especially concerning
for older men,” she says, “as previous
studies done by our team show excellent
disease-specific survival for men
with low-risk cancer following conservative
management.”
Dealing with prostate cancer benefits
from a multi-disciplinary approach,
including the psychosocial reasons for
choosing a form of treatment. “Perhaps
it is because cancer is viewed as
CINJ Researchers Apply Population Science Methodologies
stage lung cancer (Elliot J. Coups,
PhD, associate professor of
medicine)
• Investigation of possible factors
underlying the finding that breast
cancer is more aggressive and more
lethal for African American women
than for white women (linked
studies by Dr. Bandera and Kitaw
Demissie, MD, PhD, MPH, associate
professor and chair, Department of
Epidemiology, and director, Institute
for the Elimination of Health
Disparities, UMDNJ-School of Public
Health)
• Development of an intervention to
increase cancer screening in obese
patients by improving patient
an enemy to be fought.
Men who have initially
chosen the ‘watchful
waiting’ approach may be
influenced by a cancer survivor,
friend, or family member who
presses them to get treatment,” says
Dr. Lu-Yao. “It’s hard for patients to
choose among available treatments,
but patient education using the facts
derived from a population science approach
will help them to weigh the
risks and benefits of the treatments
and understand that watchful waiting,
with monitoring, may be the most sensible
choice.”
“Many people think of population
science as a dry laboratory science, but
it is the cornerstone of all medicine,
leading to disease prevention and
increased survival among people of all
ages,” says epidemiologist and former
physician Kitaw Demissie, MD, PhD,
MPH, associate professor and chair,
Department of Epidemiology, and
navigation in primary care practices
(Jeanne M. Ferrante, MD, associate
professor of family medicine and
community health)
• Identification of small but common
genetic changes that may have
significant implications for the
identification of those at risk for
early breast cancer and the treatment
of those at risk of relapse (Kim M.
Hirshfield, PhD, MD ’99, assistant
professor of medicine)
• A study of smokers of mentholated
cigarettes to determine the role of
menthol in increased tobacco addiction
and its interference with cessation
attempts (Jill M. Williams, MD,
associate professor of psychiatry)
Robert Wood Johnson ■ MEDICINE 31