17th Annual Retreat for Cancer Research
On November 3rd, the 17th Annual Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Host-Tumor Interactions Program and Program in Cancer Biology Retreat for Cancer Research was held at the Student Life Center. Highlights of the event included a keynote address by a famous cancer researcher, talks by postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and graduate students, a poster session, and a silent auction to benefit cancer patients.
Our featured keynote speaker was Charles M. Perou, Ph.D. Dr. “Chuck” Perou is currently the May Goldman Shaw Distinguished Professor of Molecular Oncology, a Professor of Genetics, and a Professor of Pathology & Laboratory medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Perou has received numerous accolades, including the 2016 Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Basic Research from the Susan G. Komen Foundation.Throughout his career, Dr. Perou has conducted groundbreaking work in the genomic characterization of human tumors, which resulted in the discovery of the intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer. This gene expression-based classification was the first to identify the basal-like/triple negative breast cancer subtype and has been translated into genetic testing for patients in breast cancer clinics worldwide. Dr. Perou spoke about his continued investigation into the genetic causes of breast cancer subtypes, including the Carolina Breast Cancer Study, which found that pre-menopausal African-American women are diagnosed with basal-like breast cancer approximately twice as often as their Caucasian counterparts. Dr. Perou argued that this indicates a biological mechanism exacerbating the disparity in outcomes between African-American and Caucasian women with breast cancer.
Other exciting talks included an address by Ira Baxter, Executive Director of the Prostate Cancer Coalition of Tennessee. Mr. Baxter was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014 and received a robotic prostatectomy in 2015 here at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He spoke about the stigma associated with prostate cancer and his dedication to raising awareness and educating men and their families about prostate cancer.
Kristin Kwakwa, a graduate student in the Sterling Lab, spoke about the tumor cell response to the physical bone microenvironment. Kristin has created a novel 3D tissue-engineered bone construct that mimics the trabecular structure of human bone at different anatomical sites, including the femur, tibia, and vertebrae. She found that cancer cell lines cultured on her 3D scaffolds differentially express osteolytic genes that contribute to bone disease found in patients with advanced breast, prostate, and lung cancers compared to cells seeded on a standard scaffold with uniform pore size.
New Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Microbiology, & Immunology Dr. Mary Philip, who completed her M.D./Ph.D. at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, spoke about her work surrounding the fate of T cells that encounter neoantigens expressed by tumors during early tumorigenesis. She found that tumor-specific T cells exhibit several dysfunctional states, the first of which is “reprogrammable” and the second of which is fixed. She found that these states were governed by chromatin remodeling. Dr. Philip plans to continue to track tumor-specific T cells as they differentiate, elucidating novel strategies for cancer immunotherapy.
Assistant Professor of Medicine Douglas Johnson, M.D., M.S.C.I., showed us a more clinical perspective regarding cancer immunotherapy. He discussed that while immunotherapy has the exciting ability to increase long-term survival, treat multiple cancer types, and selectively target tumor cells better than many other cancer treatments, current FDA-approved immunotherapies including ipilimumab and nivolumab can induce rare but deadly toxicities that are especially concerning when they are used in the adjuvant setting. He discussed the cases of two melanoma patients who developed fatal myocarditis following treatment with ipilimumab and nivolumab. Dr. Johnson found that selective clonal T cell populations infiltrating the patients’ myocardia and skeletal muscles were identical to those present in the patients’ tumors, and that the patients’ tumors were overexpressing muscle proteins such as troponin. Therefore, one of the next steps in the cancer immunotherapy field involves developing biomarkers to determine which patients will respond positively to treatment and which patients will develop significant adverse events.
During breaks throughout the day and the poster session, the Cancer Biology Student Association (CBSA), which planned and executed the retreat, also held a silent auction to benefit Gilda’s Club Middle Tennessee, one of more than 55 nonprofit Cancer Support Community affiliates worldwide. Gilda’s Club was named after Gilda Radner, one of the original cast members of “Saturday Night Live,” who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1986. Gilda envisioned places of participation, education, hope and friendship to be made available to men, women and children with all types of cancer and their families and friends. After her death in May 1989 her husband, Gene Wilder, and Joanna Bull founded the flagship Gilda’s Club in New York City.
Gilda’s Club Middle Tennessee, located right in Midtown, offers support groups, lectures, workshops, and social events for all ages. The “clubhouse” contains a large kitchen for cooking classes, a workspace for art therapy, and rooms for individualized and group counseling. There is a game room for teens, as well as a playroom for children complete with play CT scanners and stuffed animals with chemotherapy ports. All of these services are offered completely free of charge for cancer patients and their families.
Businesses from all over Tennessee, as well as faculty and students in the Program in Cancer Biology, helped make the silent auction a success by donating items including an Apple watch, gift cards to popular restaurants in Nashville, free ice cream for a year at Maggie Moo's, a signed Nashville Predators canvas, tickets to the Nashville Symphony, handmade jewelry, and homemade baked goods. The silent auction raised $1500 to support cancer patients and their families!
If you are an MSTP M1 or M2 considering doing a Ph.D. in Cancer Biology or are interested in meeting potential thesis mentors, I would highly recommend attending next year’s Retreat for Cancer Research. It was a great place to learn more about Vanderbilt investigators’ and their students’ work, as well as develop new ideas for my own thesis project!
The retreat was planned and hosted by the 2017-2018 Cancer Biology Student Association (CBSA) officers, consisting of Executive Chair Zachary Sandusky (Lannigan Lab), Retreat Planner Laura Kim (Chen Lab), Financial Chair Ariana von Lersner (Zijlstra Lab), Academic Co-Chairs Eileen Shiuan (MSTP G3, Chen Lab) and David Elion (Cook Lab), Philanthropy Chair Rachel Brown (MSTP G1, Williams Lab), Social Chair Kristin Kwakwa (Sterling Lab), Communications Chair Jennifer Pilat (Williams Lab), and Graduate School Council Representative Aaron Lim (MSTP G2, W. K. Rathmell Lab).
Featured keynote speaker Chuck Perou, Ph.D. Throughout his career, Dr. Perou has conducted groundbreaking work in the genomic characterization of human tumors, which resulted in the discovery of the intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer.
Ira Baxter, Executive Director of the Prostate Cancer Coalition of Tennessee, spoke about the stigma associated with prostate cancer and his dedication to raising awareness and educating men and their families about prostate cancer.
During the poster session, CBSA Philanthropy Chair Rachel Brown (MSTP G1, Williams Lab) hosted a silent auction to benefit Gilda’s Club Middle Tennessee. The silent auction raised $1,500 for cancer patients and their families!
Ayaka Sugiura (MSTP G2, J. Rathmell Lab) donated three paintings and a handmade plate to the Silent Auction to Benefit Gilda’s Club of Middle Tennessee. Her beautiful pieces were some of our highest earning auction items, as several bidding wars erupted over them!
CBSA officers presented $1,500 to Hayley Levy, Major Gift & Foundation Officer of Gilda’s Club Middle Tennessee, on Giving Tuesday.