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2007

December

Andrew Flood, Ph.D., Prevention and Etiology Program, was quoted in news reports by ABC News, Medical News Today, Reuters, and other media outlets about his study that found women with diabetes are 1.5 times more likely to develop colorectal cancer than those who do not have diabetes. His study was selected for a media briefing presentation December 7 at the American Association of Cancer Research's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research conference in Philadelphia. Read more on the Web site.

Jeannette Zinggeler Berg, MD/PhD student in the laboratory of Sharon Murphy, Ph.D., was interviewed by Elsevier Publications about her study that found African Americans may experience higher nicotine levels per cigarette. The study was selected for a media briefing presentation December 7 at the American Association of Cancer Research's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research conference in Philadelphia. Read more on the Web site.

Douglas Yee, M.D., Cancer Center director, was featured on KMSP-TV/Fox 9 December 12 in a report that some women with breast cancer have a better outcome if given a less harsh chemotherapy, and that a new gene test can help predict which women need chemotherapy for treatment of breast cancer.

Navneet Majhail, M.D., Cancer Center member, was quoted in Doctor's Guide about his study that found cord blood enables stem cell transplant in older patients without matched related donors, presented last week at the annual meeting of American Society of Hematology. The title of his talk was "Reduced intensity allogeneic transplantation in patients older than 55 years: Unrelated umbilical cord blood is safe and effective for patients without a matched related donor." A list of presentations given by Cancer Center researchers at the ASH annual meeting December 8-12 in Atlanta is available on the Web site.

Beth Virnig, Ph.D., Prevention and Etiology Program member, was quoted in MedPage Today about her study that found the proportion of patients receiving radiation therapy after breast conservation surgery has decreased with uncertain long-term consequences. Virnig presented the results of her study at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on December 16.

Kalpna Gupta, Ph.D., member of the Breast Cancer Research Program, was quoted last week in a news report on WCCO radio about her recently published study showing that morphine plus celecoxib may provide better cancer pain control. Read more about the study.

November

Joe Neglia, M.D., Prevention and Etiology Program member, was quoted in the November issue of Minnesota Medicine in an article about the decision-making challenges cancer patients confront when weighing treatment options. Read more.

Dorothy Hatsukami, Ph.D., co-leader of the Prevention and Etiology Program, was mentioned in an opinion column in the November 8 Rochester Post-Bulletin that discussed the recent National Conference on Tobacco or Health in Minneapolis. Read more.

Todd Tuttle, M.D., Breast Cancer Research Program member, was featured in news reports by the Minnesota News Network and KTTC-TV Rochester about his recent study showing that more women are choosing to undergo contralateral prophylactic mastectomy surgery when diagnosed with breast cancer in single breast.

Cancer Center member Tim Emory, M.D., will appear in a news report on the use of digital mammography for detection of breast cancer on KTTC-TV, Rochester, on November 15.

Selwyn Vickers, M.D., Cancer Centerassociate director for Translational Research and Chairman of the Department of Surgery, will appear along with Kristin Anderson, Ph.D., Prevention and Etiology Program member, to discuss pancreatic cancer on The Art Cunningham Show on Northwest Community Television's public access channel 19 November 28 at 8 p.m.

Jakub Tolar, M.D., Ph.D., and John Wagner, M.D., members of the Transplant Biology and Therapy Program, were quoted in a USA Today article about an experimental transplant which was done at the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview. An 18-monthold boy was transplanted with his brother's cord blood and bone marrow in the hopes of curing recessive dystrophic epidermylosis bullosa (EB), a genetic skin disease. Wagner was also interviewed on CBS' The Early Show.

October

Todd Tuttle, M.D., Breast Cancer Research Program member, was quoted by the Associated Press, New York Times, Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, Minnesota News Network, CNN, Reuters and other national and international news outlets about his study showing that more women diagnosed with breast cancer in one breast are choosing to have contralateral prophylactic mastectomy surgery. Read the news release.

Douglas Yee, M.D., Cancer Center director, discussed research and treatment advances for breast cancer on WCCO Radio's Mondale & Jones program October 24.

Tufia Haddad, M.D., Cancer Center member, discussed breast cancer clinical trials and treatment on KARE 11's Minnesota Showcase program October 26.

Michael Nelson, M.D., and Patrick Bolan, Ph.D., Breast Cancer Research Program members, were quoted in an article about MRI/MRS for breast cancer in the Minnesota Daily.

Dorothy Hatsukami, Ph.D., co-leader of the Prevention and Etiology Program, was quoted in an October 25 Star Tribune article about the National Conference on Tobacco or Health. The conference, held in Minneapolis last week, was attended by more than 3,000 tobacco researchers and experts from around the world.

Cancer Center Director Douglas Yee, M.D., will be a guest on WCCO Radio's Mondale & Jones program, 9:20-10 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 24, to talk about advances in research and treatment of breast cancer. Listeners can set their radio dial to 830 AM or listen live by visiting the Web site.

Kim Robien, Ph.D., Prevention and Etiology Program member, was interviewed on the importance of Vitamin D and the role of sunscreen in interfering with the body's vitamin D synthesis in the October 20 "Fixit" column in the Star Tribune.

Cancer Center Director Doug Yee, M.D., was interviewed Monday, October 15, 2007, on WCCO Radio's Mondale and Jones program about news from the nation's leading cancer organizations that the decline in cancer death rates has doubled. Visit the American Cancer Society Web site to read the news release or the report, "Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2004, Featuring Cancer in American Indians and Alaska Natives," published in the journal Cancer.

Yee was mentioned in an article published on the Medical News Today Web site about the American Association for Cancer Research's announcement of the inaugural recipients of the BCRF-AACR Grants in Translational Breast Cancer Research. Yee is the recipient of one of the grants for his study "Gene expression profiling to predict response to anti-IGF therapy." Read more.

Stephen Hecht, Ph.D., leader of the Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program, was interviewed about his research on the danger of using smokeless tobacco (oral snuff) for HealthBeat, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services series that provides health tips in audio and text formats for the public and news media. Listen to "Thinking twice about smokeless" (MP3) or read the tip.

Tufia Haddad, M.D., was interviewed about breast cancer research advances at the University and the decrease in mortality from breast cancer on WCCO Radio newscasts Friday, October 5.

Kristin Anderson, Ph.D., Prevention and Etiology Program member, was quoted in a University Relations article about the Kaiser Permanente study that found that one of any kind of alcoholic beverage consumed daily raises the risk of breast cancer in women by 10 percent. Read the article on UMNnews Web site.

David Perdue, M.D., Prevention and Etiology Program member, was quoted in an article, "Colorectal cancer rates higher for Minnesota's Natives," published in Indian Country Today. The article reported on the recent Dialogue for Action summit on the unequal burden of colorectal cancer among American Indians in Minnesota. Read the article. For more information about the Dialogue for Action summit, including photos from the event, visit the Cancer Center Web site.

September

Cancer Center members in the news Douglas Yee, M.D., and Tufia Haddad, M.D., wrote an article about advances in breast cancer research for the September issue of Minnesota Physician.

Robert Fecik, Ph.D., was featured in a September 27 story about alcohol increasing the risk of breast cancer on KMSP-TV Fox 9.

John Wagner, M.D., was quoted in the Pioneer Press about University of Minnesota researchers beginning a clinical trial to determine the optimal dose and safety of specialized immune cells called T regulatory cells (T-regs) to decrease the risk of immune reactions common in patients undergoing blood and marrow transplantation. Claudio Brunstein, M.D., Ph.D., is the principal investigator for the study, which is the first human clinical trial in the world that uses T-regs derived from umbilical cord blood. Ultimately, researchers hope the experimental therapy will improve survival rates for blood cancer patients as well as offer a new treatment for autoimmune diseases, such as type I diabetes and multiple sclerosis. For more information, read the Pioneer Press article or the Academic Health Center news release.

Rudolph Keimowitz, M.D., clinical associate professor of hematology at the University of Minnesota and physician with Fairview's Transitions and Life Choices Palliative Care Program, was quoted in an article in the August 2007 issue of Hem/Onc Today on the importance of incorporating a palliative medicine rotation in oncology fellowships. Keimowitz is a member of the editorial board for Hem/Onc Today's supportive care section.

August

Stephen Hecht, Ph.D., leader of Chemoprevention and Carcinogenesis Program, was quoted in the New York Times, Miami Herald, Detroit Free Press, Jerusalem Post, and other national and international media outlets about his study on smokeless tobacco exposing users to some of the same potent carcinogens as cigarettes. The study was published in the August issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Read more.

Michael Garwood, Ph.D., member of the Breast Cancer Research Program, was interviewed about his research team's efforts to make MRI for cancer screening more widely available in the article "Thinking outside the box on MRI" on the Web site, MedicalPhysicsWeb.

Stephen Hecht, Ph.D.,leader of Cancer Center's Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program, was quoted about his research study showing that users of smokeless tobacco are exposed to higher amounts of tobacco-specific carcinogenic molecules than cigarettes smokers, on FoxNews.com, Web MD, and Science Daily. Results of the study, published in the August issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, were also reported on WCCO-TV news.

Doug Yee, M.D.,Cancer Center director, discussed breast cancer, cancer research, and the Cancer Center on WCCO radio's Fairview On Call program Sunday, August 12. The program was hosted by Gretchen Phillips, M.D., a Fairview family medicine physician.

June

Dorothy Hatsukami, Ph.D., co-leader of the Prevention and Etiology Program, wrote an article titled "The nicotine vaccine: A shot in the arm for cigarette smokers," that was featured as the cover story of June issue of Minnesota Physician.

John Wagner, M.D., member of the Transplant Biology and Therapy Program, was quoted in a Star Tribune editorial regarding the need for Congress to fund the expansion of umbilical cord blood inventories. Read more. Wagner was also quoted in a June 8 front page article in the Star Tribune about a study he co-authored that found five-year leukemia-free survival rates in children are similar after bone marrow transplantation or transplantation of umbilical cord blood. He also appeared on KARE-11 news. The study was published in the June 9 issue of The Lancet. Visit the Cancer Center Web site for more information and related links.

May

Rudolph Keimowitz, M.D., clinical associate professor of hematology at the University of Minnesota and physician with Fairview's Transitions and Life Choices Palliative Care Program, was quoted in an article "Helping L-carnitine supplement improved fatigue symptoms in patients with cancer," in the May 2007 issue of Hem/Onc Today.

Logan Spector, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics and member of the Cancer Center's Prevention and Etiology Program, was interviewed in a news report on WCCO radio and on Fox 9 News about the $1.7 million grant he received from the National Cancer Institute to conduct a national study on the causes of pediatric osteosarcoma.

Julie Ross, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics and associate director of the Cancer Center's Population Sciences Program, was quoted in Reuters Health about results from a study she conducted on the association between childhood cancer and birthmarks. An article about the study, which is published in the May issue of Pediatrics, also appeared on the Scientific American website. Read more

Kenneth Koeneman, M.D., director of the Center for Prostate Cancer at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, was featured on KSTP-TV's On the Road with Jason Davis. Davis was diagnosed last fall with prostate cancer. Koeneman, a member of the Cancer Center's research programs for Translational Research and Cancer Progression and Metastasis discussed various treatment options and the future of prostate cancer research with him. Click to see the video.

Kristin Anderson, Ph.D., member of the Cancer Center's Prevention and Etiology Program, was quoted in the June issue of Real Simple about the importance of grilling meats at low temperatures to reduce the level of carcinogens.

Doug Yee, M.D., was quoted in the May issue of Hem/Onc Today on the American College of Physicians recommendation that the decision to have a mammogram for women ages 40-49 be made on a case-by-case basis.

Cancer Center members Brian Van Ness, Ph.D., Robert Kratzke, M.D., and Douglas Yee, M.D., were quoted in the article "code YOU: Will genetic testing make personalized medicine a reality?" in the May issue of Minnesota Medicine.

Peter Lee, M.D., appeared on Sunrise, KARE-11's morning news program, speaking about Melanoma Monday, the annual free skin cancer screening.

Doug Yee, M.D., was quoted in an article about breast reconstruction in Mpls/St. Paul Magazine.

Rudolph Keimowitz, M.D., clinical associate professor of hematology at the University of Minnesota and physician with Fairview's Transitions and Life Choices Palliative Care Program, was quoted in an article "Helping patients with cancer deal with all aspects of their illness," in the April 2007 issue of Hem/Onc Today.

April

Research conducted in the laboratory of Shana Sturla, Ph.D., member of the Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program, was highlighted in a Chemistry World article titled "Chemical probe seeks out DNA damage." The article describes a novel method of detecting DNA damage that was discovered in the Sturla lab. The article quotes Henry Scowcroft of Cancer Research UK, who said, "Research like this adds to the scientist's armoury in the quest to beat cancer." Chemistry World is the news magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Visit the Web site to read the full article.

Levi Downs, M.D., member of the Translational Research Program, wrote an article about the cervical cancer vaccine that appeared in the April 2007 issue of Minnesota Healthcare News.

Douglas Yee, M.D., Cancer Center director, talked about clinical trials on the April 3 Jack Rice Show on WCCO Radio. Yee discussed how new drugs go into clinical trials, how people get access to trials, and what types of people generally seek out new or experimental treatments.

Jakob Tolar, M.D., Ph.D., member of the Transplant Biology and Therapy Program, was interviewed by Reuters Health following the publication of a paper in the journal Bone Marrow Transplantation that reported the use of an antioxidant agent to improve the outcome after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for advanced cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy.

Dorothy Hatsukami, Ph.D., director of the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center and co-leader of the Cancer Center's Prevention and Etiology Program, was featured on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric on April 2, 2007, in a story about tobacco addiction and the research she is leading on a nicotine vaccine. The story also featured a local participant in a nicotine vaccine trial Hatsukami is conducting. View the story at CBS.com. Hatsukami was also quoted in the Wall Street Journal and Scientific American last week.

Douglas Yee, M.D., Cancer Center director, was quoted in a Star Tribune article about new recommendations from the American Cancer Society that women at high risk for breast cancer receive MRI in addition to mammography screening. Read the article.

March

Daniel Mulrooney, M.D., was featured on WCCO's Fairview on Call radio program on Sunday, March 18. He discussed childhood cancer survivorship and the upcoming "Survivorship Series: A Focus on Fertility" educational conference on Saturday, April 14, 2007. To listen to the program, visit the WCCO Audio/Podcast Web page and look under "Specialty Programming" in the lower right column.

John Ohlfest, Ph.D., is featured in a KARE 11 TV spot for the Randy Shaver Celebrity Golf Classic, an annual event that raises money for cancer research. View the spot.

February

Daniel Mulrooney, M.D., was quoted in January 2007 Clinical Cancer Letter article reporting on two studies presented at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in December. Mulrooney's comments focused on his research on childhood cancer survival and the need for long-term follow-up to screen for late effects of cancer therapy. Mulrooney will also be featured along with a cancer survivor in a KSTP-TV news story scheduled to air on February 23.

Tim Church, Ph.D., and Ken Koeneman, M.D., were quoted about the PSA test and prostate cancer in a February 5 Pioneer Press front-page article titled "A Cancer Quandary." Visit www.twincities.com to search for the archived article (registration and payment required).

Dorothy Hatsukami, Ph.D., was a panel participant testifying before The President's Cancer Panel in Mississippi on February 12, 2007. She discussed potential reduced exposure tobacco products, the need for tobacco regulation, and the research required for tobacco product evaluation. Last week, Hatsukami spoke on the current state of the science regarding smokeless tobacco issues at a forum on Smokeless Tobacco and Tobacco Control sponsored by the Health Ministry of Canada.

January

Dorothy Hatsukami, Ph.D., co-leader of the Cancer Center's Prevention and Etiology Program and co-director of the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center, was quoted in a UPI story on a study that found heavy smokers who try to cut back their cigarette intake actually show a greater exposure to toxins per cigarette than those who are light smokers.

Levi Downs, M.D., member of the Cancer Center's Translational Research Program, was quoted by Fox 9 News on the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil, (see article and video on the Fox 9 Web site). Also, Downs, along with Minnesota Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau , held a news conference January 18 on the importance of cervical cancer awareness and prevention. Read more.

Tim Church, Ph.D., member of the Cancer Center's Prevention and Etiology Program, was quoted in the January 18 Star Tribune as a follow-up to a national news story that reported cancer deaths in the United States have dropped for a second straight year.

Michelle van Ryn, Ph.D., member of the Cancer Center's Prevention and Etiology Program, was quoted by Bloomberg News and the Dallas Morning News about breast cancer and differences in treatment. Read more.

Steve Hecht, Ph.D., leader of the Cancer Center's Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program, wrote an article appearing in the Walker Pilot-Independent about the impact of secondhand smoke on infants. This article was based on a recently published research report and is part of the University's Health Talk and You series.

Irina Stepanov, Ph.D., Cancer Center research associate, was interviewed on WCCO radio about her study published in the December issue Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention demonstrating for the first time that a chemical derived from a cancer-causing agent in tobacco products can be found in toenails. United Press International also picked up this story. Read more.

In the Academic Health Center's Health Talk & You column, which is distributed to newspapers statewide, Stephen Hecht, Ph.D., leader of the Cancer Center's Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program, describes the risks associated with exposing children to secondhand smoke. Read more.

The January issue of Accelerate, published by the AHC Office of Clinical Research, describes how the General Clinical Research Center has supported the pediatric cancer survivor studies of Cancer Prevention and Etiology Program members Julia Steinberger, M.D., M.S., and K. Scott Baker, M.D., M.S., who is also a member of the Transplant Biology and Therapy Program. Read more (PDF).

Stephen Hecht, Ph.D., leader of the Cancer Center's Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention program, was quoted in an editorial supporting a statewide smoking ban in Sunday's St. Paul Pioneer Press. Read the editorial (free registration may be required to read this article).

Naoko Shima, Ph.D., assistant professor and member of the Cancer Center's Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer Program, was quoted in a January 2 KARE-11 television news story on her discovery of a gene mutation that may lead to breast cancer. Read the story .

Stephen Hecht, Ph.D., leader of the Cancer Center's Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention program, was quoted in an editorial supporting a statewide smoking ban in Sunday's St. Paul Pioneer Press. Read the editorial (free registration may be required to read this article).

Naoko Shima, Ph.D., assistant professor and member of the Cancer Center's Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer Program, was quoted in a January 2 KARE-11 television news story on her discovery of a gene mutation that may lead to breast cancer. Read the story.

Joel Slaton, M.D., was quoted in a Star Tribune article about testicular cancer.

Todd Tuttle, M.D., was featured in KARE-TV news reports about the drop in breast cancer rates.

Dorothy Hatsukami, Ph.D., was quoted about her recent study on compensatory smoking published in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention in articles in U.S. News and World Report and Reuters Health.

Selwyn Vickers, M.D., chair of the Department of Surgery and Cancer Center member, is featured in the Minnesota Medical Foundation's Medical Bulletin. Read more.