tumor cell biology program - Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

A seminal observation by Dr. Harrington
and coworkers regarding the activity of
antivirals in ATL, as well as in HHV-8
linked primary effusion related lymphoma,
has spawned a highly successful
correlative and basic research effort. The
unexpected clinical activity of AZT in
these malignancies has led to a concerted
search for underlying mechanisms leading
to the fundamental observation that
constitutive activation of the NFkB pathway
may play a central role in resistance
to therapy as well as susceptibility to antivirals.
In addition, working with Drs.
Lawrence H. Boise and Glen Barber, a
central role for upregulation of the death
receptor TRAIL has been demonstrated,
leading to new therapeutic approaches
to these refractory lymphomas.
In a new and promising gene
therapy approach, Dr. Barber’s laboratory
has also developed new oncolytic viruses
derived from Vesicular Stomatitis Virus
(VSV), a common cause of “cold sores”
that have the selective ability to kill cancer
cells, and has used these to eradicate
a variety of tumors either directly or
through the local delivery of cytokines
and/or costimulatory molecules. A
unique aspect of the Viral Oncology Program
has been its ability to rapidly translate
clinical observations into meaningful
basic questions in the lab. Ongoing efforts
to further develop the program are
directed at recruitment of additional scientists
with interests in Gamma Herpes
virus biology and other oncogenic viruses,
which will broaden what has been
a highly focused and original effort.
CLINICAL RESEARCH
INFRASTRUCTURE
As a tertiary referral center, many
patients arrive at UM/Sylvester seeking
options and therapies not yet available
in the community. UM/Sylvester is especially
invested in the development of
home grown intramural trials based on
science and technology developed at the
University of Miami. Furthermore, special
emphasis continues to be placed on
the investigation of patient related
samples for purposes of correlative research.
To facilitate the improvement and
expansion of our translational research
efforts as well as our clinical trials portfolio,
the Clinical Research Services office
has been reorganized under the
leadership of Dr. Shou-Ching Tang, a
newly arrived recruit from the University
of Newfoundland. In Canada, Dr.
Tang acquired an international reputation
in the conduct of breast and lung
cancer trials as a leading investigator in
both the Canadian cooperative group,
AECOG, and the international breast
cancer research group, BCIRG. In addition,
Dr. Tang is an accomplished laboratory
researcher who has made seminal
observations regarding the role of BAG-
1 in apoptosis and has identified BAG-1
as an important prognostic factor in both
breast and lung cancer. Since his arrival
earlier this year, Dr. Tang has presided
over the rapid reorganization of the
Clinical Research Services regulatory
arm, site-specific protocol management,
and centralized research nursing and data
and safety monitoring functions, in order
to assure rapid throughput of studies,
monitoring of accrual and data
acquisition, and compliance with the
highest federal and scientific standards.
Clinical Research Services, along with
our able Biostatistics Division under the
seasoned leadership of Dr. James J.
Schlesselman, has become an important
resource to UM/Sylvester investigators
seeking to develop new trials and/or correlative
research protocols.
As we work to integrate JMH patients
into ongoing trials, Clinical Research
Services has worked to facilitate
screening and successful shepherding of
patients through complex protocols, and
to assure that the many options available
to patients at UM/Sylvester are also available
to our JMH population. As scientific
director, I accord the integration of
JMH special priority as we expand our
clinical research activity.
CANCER PREVENTION AND
CONTROL PROGRAM
We are both jubilant and saddened
by the recent departure of Dr. Edward
Trapido to a senior leadership position
at the National Cancer Institute in Cancer
Control. Dr. Trapido has worked very
hard over the years to establish our Cancer
Prevention and Control Program as
one of the foremost in the nation. This
program has done an excellent job of
capitalizing on the unusually diverse patient
base in South Florida and on the
unique epidemiology of cancer in our
population. The program has made exciting
discoveries of new and different
BRCA1 mutations in African-American
familial breast cancer patients that have
allowed the development of specialized
screening assays. The impact of emotional
distress and chemotherapy on the
immune system continues to be investigated
by Dr. Michael H. Antoni, our new
Cancer Prevention and Control Program
leader, and Dr. Bonnie Blomberg, as we
expand investigations in the emerging
discipline of psychoneuroimmunology.
Important new advances have been made
in our ability to monitor the cumulative
effects of stress on immune function.
New surrogate markers for the effects of
stress are being tested and the effectiveness
of psychological intervention in reversing
changes engendered in response
to stress can now be more definitively
measured. Dr. Antoni and his group are
pioneering important new means of
group intervention to reduce anxiety and
stress among cancer patients. Dr. Trapido
has also continued his leadership of the
Florida Youth Tobacco Prevention Program,
the most successful program of its
type in the United States. This program
has dramatically reduced the rates of tobacco
use in the state’s high schools and
middle schools.
It is impossible to fully enumerate
the progress of UM/Sylvester in recent
years, and these comments serve to highlight
but a few of our outstanding
achievements. Under the dynamic leadiv
UM/Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center Scientific Report 2002