Test Your Knowledge on Adolescents & Young Adults with Cancer

[ re-posted by ayavoice ]

April 2-8th is National Young Adult Cancer Awareness Week (NYACAW). What better way to celebrate than to share some facts about this special population of 15 to 39 year olds affected by cancer?
Did you know?

• Every year 70,000 people between the ages of 15 and 39 are diagnosed with cancer.
• That makes AYAs more likely to have cancer than their childhood counterparts.
• Survival rates for adolescent and young adults have lagged behind the steady improvement for children and older adults.
• AYAs have special needs such as fertility preservation consultations, and unique psychosocial concerns.
• OHSU Knight Cancer Institute has the only AYA Oncology Program in the state of Oregon.

Now that you’ve got some facts, test your knowledge against the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Adolescent and Young Adults with Cancer Quiz. Don’t forget to check out the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute AYA Oncology Program website to find out what we do and how we can help you or someone you love.

Dept of Radiation Medicine - An Essential Partner in Research

The OHSU Department of Radiation Medicine is led by Chairman Dr. Charles Thomas and encumbers a strong heritage in basic and clinical cancer research.  For a list of recent visiting speakers click here or here.  

Check Out How the National Cancer Institute Has Gone All AYA Style

There’s a new cyber-place on the block for people searching for info on Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) affected by cancer. It’s the folks from the National Cancer Institute… that’s top of the line for cancer related information.

“Young people with cancer can no find relevant information from the NCI all in once place – in the Adolescent and Young Adult portal. This portal was designed to reach newly diagnosed AYA patients with evidenced-based information that will help them learn about treatment options, explore clinical trial options, get emotional support, and learn about organizations that serve young people with cancer. It now has videos and links to a special AYA issue of the NCI Cancer Bulletin. The portal was inspired by the many organizations, and incredible young people, who make up the LAF Young Adult Alliance; many are listed in the Organizations and Resources section of the portal.” – Carol Sienche, Senior Program Manager, National Cancer Institute

This one-stop shop of videos, articles and links galore is available now. Search around, and you’ll be sure to find our AYA Medical Director, Brandon Hayes-Lattin, MD in a few of those videos and articles.

  

Adolescents and young adults with cancer have different needs from other patients. The Knight Cancer Institute is proud to offer Oregon’s only program designed exclusively for people ages 15-39. Our internationally-recognized, award-winning Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Oncology Program is dedicated to ensuring all AYAs with cancer have access to services tailored to their specific needs.
  
re-posted from ayavoice blog

AYA Voice: Our Program Director Talks Survival Gaps

Issues in Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology was a hot topic at the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago. Our Program Director, Brandon Hayes-Lattin, MD, blogged about the highlights last week.
He then joined fellow experts, Archie Bleyer, MD, and Karen Albritton, MD to discuss the survival gap in adolescents and young adults with cancer for the ASCO Post.

“Survival is worse for young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) than it is for children with ALL. Similarly, in breast cancer, survival rates are worse for women under 40 than for older women.” – Brandon Hayes-Lattin, MD

Check out what the all the experts had to say here.

[ this entry re-posted from Knight News ]
 
[ Update!  see Brandon's guest editorial of the NCI Cancer Bulletin! ]

Wilm's Tumor Clinical Scientist, Dr. Douglas Weeks

Pediatric embryonal tumors of the kidney often have very good outcomes, yet stratification to a particular treatment regimen depends to the great extent on the careful eye of a specialized pathologist. At OHSU, Department of Pathology Chairman, Dr. Douglas Weeks, is one such key Wilms tumor pathology expert.  Having such a pioneer and active participant of the National Wilms Tumor Study Group at OHSU is of enormous value to the study of this childhood cancer -- and other tumors of embryonic origin.  

Pediatric Hematology & Coagulation at OHSU

Pediatric Hematology and Oncology are seamlessly linked in the treatment of children with blood disorders and leukemia.  The care of patients with bleeding predispositions is an important component of this mission.  Directed by Michael Recht, MD, PhD,  the Hemophilia Center at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is 1 of 12 regional grantees nationwide that receive grant funding from the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Funding received from MCHB directs Hemophilia Centers to provide comprehensive care for bleeding & clotting disorders. 

OHSU Fellows present Targeted Therapy Studies

Congratulations to OHSU Pediatric Hematology Oncology fellows, Dr. Praveen Anur, and Dr. Jason Glover who presented their well-received studies, "Dasatinib supressess TNF-alpha over-production in FANCC deficient cells" and "Exploring novel targets in the tyrosine kinase family in Neuroblastoma", respectively, at the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology annual meeting in Baltimore, MD.  Praveen's mentor is Fanconi Anemia expert, Dr. Grover Bagby, and Jason's mentor is Dr. Brian Druker.  
  
These two studies exemplify the OHSU commitment not only to personalized cancer care, but also to the training of the brightest young minds of the next generation. 
  

Umpqua Bank award honors young researcher

Thomas Russell, MD, a second-year fellow in pediatric hematology/oncology, is the 2011 recipient of the Umpqua Bank Innovation Award for Pediatric Cancer Research.

(L to R) Ray Davis, Umpqua Bank President & CEO, Charles Keller, MD, Thomas Russell, MD, Kelly Johnson, Umpqua Bank Executive Vice President

In 2010, Umpqua Bank pledged $100,000 to make one $10,000 award each year for the next 10 years to promising cancer researchers at the Knight and Doernbecher who are in the early stages of their career. To be eligible to apply, faculty members must be within five years of their first faculty appointment or senior-level trainees (senior post-doctoral fellows without faculty rank of assistant professor). The purpose of this award is to cultivate outstanding cancer research by assisting in the generation of preliminary data for peer-reviewed national funding, career development proposals, or similar. Each summer, leadership at the Knight and at Doernbecher selects the award recipient.

Dr. Russell works with Peter Kurre, MD, an affiliate investigator of  the Pediatric Cancer Biology Program.

Dr. Keller, leader of the Pediatric Cancer Biology Program, and Dr. Russel, along with Knight director Dr. Brian Druker, met Umpqua Bank President & CEO Ray Davis and bank Executive Vice President Kelly Johnson this week, and explained some of their research into pediatric cancer. Dr. Russell expressed his deep gratitude for Umpqua Bank’s gift:

You’re not just helping me learn to be a good scientist and further the goal of OHSU, you’re helping foster an understanding of cancer and cancer biology in a way that will help us help children face cancer in a way that they are not able to do now.

Drs. Keller and Russell hosted a tour of the Pediatric Cancer Biology Laboratories in the biomedical research building, and showed the team from Umpqua Bank some of the tests that are currently under way.

   

reposted from:  KnightNews Blog. 

The Fedorov Laboratory

The laboratory of Lev Fedorov investigates the important cross-talk between the Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) and the mTor pathway.  By focusing on the Ras homolog enriched in brain (Rheb) gene using mouse genetics, important aspects of normal human development, birth defects and tumor predisposition syndromes (phakomatoses) can be understood.  The intersection of these signaling cascades is also important to a number of other pediatric cancer to which targeted therapies are being developed. In addition to this research, Dr. Fedorov directs the OHSU Transgenic Mouse Models Shared Resource.  
  
To contact Dr. Fedorov about his exciting work, email him at fedorovl-at-ohsu.edu .
  
  
 

The Neuwelt Laboratory

Dr. Edward Neuwelt is a neurosurgeon and leader of the Blood Brain Barrier and Neuro-Oncology Program at OHSU, as well as organizer of the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) Consortium.  Dr. Neuwelt's large and active laboratory investigates not only novel methods for imaging primary brain tumors and their leptomeningeal metastases, but his group has developed leading preclinical models for testing therapeutic strategies for pediatric metastatic brain tumors, including medulloblastoma. 

The Grompe Laboratory

The laboratory of Markus Grompe investigates the biology of liver and pancreas stem cells.  This work has important implications for the development of embryonal (pediatric) and adolescent cancers, namely hepatoblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma.  Dr. Grompe is a medical geneticist with expertise in metabolic disorders and Fanconi Anemia.  He is also Director of the Oregon Stem Cell Center and the Pape' Family Pediatric Research Institute.   
  
[ right:  an exciting recent study published in Nature, describing an unprecedented biological process whereby normal liver cells are capable of increasing their chromosome number, without apparent predisposition to cancer developing. ]  
   

The Fleming Larboratory

The laborator of Dr. W. Harv Fleming investigates the factors related to normal and abberant myelopoeisis and the interaction with the microenvironment (vascular endothelium), specifically in the context of acute myelogenous leukemia. 
 

[ left:  human leukemia cells integrating into the vascular endothelium in  a NOD/SCIDg-/- mouse ]

The Druker Laboratory

The Druker Laboratory  at OHSU is distinguished for its work in developing molecularly-targeted, non-chemotherapy treatments of leukemia.  Dr. Druker is the recipient of the 2009 Lasker-DeBakey Award for this pioneering work, which opens the door to personalized therapy for a wide range of cancers. 

Current projects in collaboration between the Keller laboratory and the Druker complement ongoing childhood cancer research programs within the Druker laboratory, including that of:

Dr. Jason Glover (pediatric hematology-oncology fellow) studies the role of kinases in cell signaling of pediatric cancers.  Dr. Glover's project takes the approach of using high throughput siRNA technology and small molecule inhibitor panels to understand the processes of tumor initiation, maintenance and progression.  Dr. Glover's primary area of focus is the pediatric solid tumor, neuroblastoma, which is among the 5 most frequent causes of mortality in childhood cancer.

Dr. Bill Chang (Assistant Professor, pediatric hematology-oncology) is investigating novel targets for therapies in pediatric leukemias. Dr. Chang utilizes a translational approach using RNA interference technologies to screen and identify functional biochemical targets from patient samples that have the potential to be developed for therapy.

The Kurre Laboratory

The Kurre Laboratory is interested in understanding the process by which leukemia cells actively alter the bone marrow microenvironment to promote chemotherapy resistance and relapse.