Andrew Berchuck, MD, and Jennifer Plichta, MD, MS, were named co-directors of  Cancer Genetics at DCI. Gerald Grant, MD, was named co-leader of the DCI Neuro-Oncology Research Program. Chuan-Yuan Li, DSc, was named co-leader of the DCI Radiation Oncology and Imaging Research Program. Kris Wood, PhD, was appointed co-chair of the DCI Scientific Review Committee. READ

Recently doctors have been seeing an increase in colorectal cancer in people younger than 50. In this new Duke Health video GI medical oncologist Niharika Mettu, MD, PhD, addresses this troubling trend and also talks about early detection and symptoms to watch out for. WATCH

New Phase 2 Trial in Advanced CRC: The DeFianCe Study  &  Anti-HER-2 agents gain ground in colorectal cancer  (Targeted Oncology interviews with John Strickler, MD)

New radiotherapy research co-led by Chuan-Yuan Li, DSc, co-program leader for DCI's Radiation Oncology and Imaging Research Program found that “giant” cancer cells camouflaged as healthy cells could survive a bout of radiotherapy, repair themselves, and become almost normal. This will have significant implications in avoiding relapse after radiotherapy. The findings were published in Advanced Science in January. READ

Eighteen years and nearly 700 patients later, the results of the "Lobar or Sublobar Resection for Peripheral Stage IA Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer" clinical trial are in. Xiaofei Wang, PhD, a co-first author, and Thomas Stinchcombe, MD, a co-senior author, report in NEJM that the study establishes sublobar resection as standard of care. READ

Approximately a year after formal creation of the Duke Sarcoma Center at DCI, the sarcoma team is reaching out to regional physicians to encourage assessment and early treatment for unusual presentations. Delayed diagnosis, treatment may increase risk of metastatic cancer. READ 

(Warning: graphic image in article of a sarcoma)

DCI medical oncology fellow Hannah Dzimitrowicz McManus, MD, presented her study of Medicare data that showed Black patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer) are less likely to receive immunotherapy. WATCH

Last month McManus published in JCO Oncology Practice on “End-of-Life Care for Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma in the Era of Oral Anticancer Therapy.”

Duke Radiation Oncology resident Shake Kumar, MD, received an ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation GU Cancers Symposium Merit Award for his top-ranking abstract "Utilization of Local Treatment Modalities and Surveillance for Veterans with Early Stage Renal Carcinoma." READ

Daniel Nussbaum, MD, is one of 12 young surgeons nationwide to be selected by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute for the 2023 Early-Stage Surgeon Scientist Program. This pilot program brings together surgeon scientists from across the U.S.; building cohorts that will be trained together for up to three years per cohort. Nussbaum has also received a Duke Physician-Scientist Strong Start Award. For both projects, he will focus on pancreatic cancer metastasis to the liver. READ

Duke Department of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology investigators Thomas Bass, PhD, Donald Fleenor, PhD, Paige Burrell, and Michael Kastan, MD, PhD, published new work this month in Molecular Cancer Research on the ATM protein, which plays a central role in cell division and DNA repair: "ATM Regulation of the Cohesin Complex Is Required for Repression of DNA Replication and Transcription in the Vicinity of DNA Double-Strand Breaks." READ

One in seven men are diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetimes.

For those who aren't cured by surgery or radiation, treatments that suppress the male hormone androgen can temporarily stop the disease from progressing. But at some point, hormone-based treatments stop working for most men.

A new finding published online in the Journal of Pathology — from a team led by Jiaoti Huang, MD, PhD, chair of Duke Pathology — points to a new avenue for developing a therapy that could help, without causing unwanted side effects. READ

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) expression on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in men with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer increases upon disease progression during treatment with abiraterone or enzalutamide. PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy has dramatically improved clinical outcomes. "Recent prospective data from the PROPHECY trial sets the stage for a liquid biopsy of CTCs to assess PSMA expression that could complement PSMA PET imaging and identify men more or less likely to benefit from drugs that target PSMA," says Andrew Armstrong, MD, MSc, PROPHECY PI and senior author of a new paper published this month in Clinical Cancer Research. PROPHECY was funded in 2014 with a Prostate Cancer Foundation-Movember Challenge Award, and has resulted in eight publications so far, with more to come. LEARN MORE  READ THE CCR PAPER

MARCH 17 (8a to 4:35p in-person): Second Annual NICT (Navigating Immunotoxicities from Cancer Therapies) Conference presented by Duke Cancer Network in collaboration with Duke Cancer Institute

LOCATION: JB Duke Hotel, 230 Science Dr.

*Speakers include Afreen Shariff, MD, MBBS; Kerry Reynolds, MD (Mass. General); David Ortiz-Melo, MD; Michael Dougan, MD, PhD (Mass. General/Harvard Medical School); Sophia Weinmann, MD; Meenal Kheterpal, MD; Michel Khouri, MD; Suma Shah, MD; Coral Giovacchini, MD; Jon McDunn, PhD (Project Data Sphere); Yousuf Zafar, MD. 

MARCH 22 @8 a.m. (via Zoom): DCI Seminar Series “Translating the Genome in Gastroesophageal Cancer (and some views from the other side...)”
Features Adam Bass, MD, Global Head, ONC Translational Research, Oncology NIBR, Novartis Institutes for Biomed, Research, Inc.
Presented by DCI Precision Cancer Medicine and Investigational Therapeutics (PCMIT)
Email Joan Lofton, MBA, to register/get Zoom link

MARCH 25-28: Society for Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting (Tampa, FL.) Angeles Alvarez Secord, MD, MHSc, to be inducted as SGO’s new president.

MARCH 30 (in-person): Faculty Lectures by Cagla Eroglu, PhD, and Andrew West, PhD (SoM Dean's Research Series)
(1p to 2:30p): Trainee Poster Session 
LOCATION: Great Hall, Trent Semans Center for Health Education, & live-streamed

MARCH 31 TO APRIL 2 (in-person): NCCN Annual Conference REGISTER (Orlando World Center Marriott)

APRIL 13 (5p to 6p via Zoom): Black Men in Medicine "Moving Forward Together" (Zoom series) RSVP *Calendar invites with Zoom details will be sent upon registration

APRIL 14 TO APRIL 19 (in-person): AACR Annual Meeting 2023 "Advancing the Frontiers of Cancer Science and Medicine" (Orange County Convention Center; Orlando, FL)

APRIL 20 (4p to 5p in-person): Faculty Lectures by Kimberly Johnson, MD, and Lisa McElroy, MD, MS (SoM Dean's Research Series)
LOCATION: Great Hall, Trent Semans Center for Health Education, and via Zoom

APRIL 21-23 (in-person): REGISTER: 23rd Annual Duke Debates: Controversies in the Management of Patients with Hematologic Malignancies presented by Duke Cancer Network in Collaboration with DCI

LOCATION: Westin Hilton Head Island Resort, South Carolina

*Speakers include Therese Hennig, MPAS, PA-C; Scott Winkel, MHS, MSPH, PA-C; Donna Adams, NP; Emily Sellars, RN, MSN, ANP-C; Krista Rowe Nichols, RN, MSN, AOCNS; Tanya Helms, PA-C, R.Ph; Ahmed Galal, MD; Katharine Ciarrocca, DMD, MSEd; Kevin Oeffinger, MD; Harry Erba, MD, PhD; Emily Curran, MD (Univ. of Cinn.); Patrick Stiff, MD (Loyola); Lindsay Rein, MD; Mitch Horwitz, MD; Richard Stone, MD (Harvard); Harry Erba, MD, PhD; Cristiana Chase, DO; Clifton Mo, MD (Harvard); Taewoong Choi, MD; Cristiana Chase, DO; Yubin Kang, MD; Bill Wierda, MD (MD Anderson); Andrea Sitlinger, MD; Danielle Brander, MD; Andrea Sitlinger, MD; Bill Wierda, MD; Mazyar Shadman, MD, MPH (Fred Hutch); Basem William, MD, MRCP, FACP; Matthew McKinney, MD

THROUGH MARCH 23 (on Thursdays, in person): Moving from Surviving to Thriving, a Duke Integrative Medicine series for breast cancer survivors
LOCATION: Duke Integrative Medicine on the Center for Living Campus.

MARCH 25 (9a): LUNGE Forward Triangle 5K Run, Walk, & Celebration. Duke Raleigh Hospital is a presenting sponsor.
LOCATION: Koka Booth Ampitheatre, 800 Regency Parkway, Cary

APRIL 15 (in-person): REGISTER: Women's Health Awareness Day/Conference, sponsored by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences This event  includes free mammograms (with prior registration), lung and colorectal cancer screening education, health education and healthy living sessions.

LOCATION: North Carolina Central University Campus, 1900 Concord St., Durham, NC

APRIL 22 (in-person): Angels Among Us 5K and Walk of Hope, hosted by The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at DCI
LOCATION: Duke University Campus

APRIL 23: Healthy Kappas/Healthy Communities Initiative: 2nd Annual 1911 Cycle Fest

Julie Poucher Harbin, Senior Writer, DCI, is Managing Editor of the DCI E-News & the DCI Blog.

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