The Department of Radiation Oncology is very active in the development of new, innovative cancer treatments. We will be updating this page regularly to keep you informed of departmental updates regarding our clinic, research, and educational offerings.
What's New in the Department of Radiation Oncology?
January 2007
Clinic_________________________________________________________________
♦ SBRT FOR PROSTATE ● Dr. Bob Timmerman enrolled and began treating his first prostate cancer patient on the Phase I protocol using Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) last month. The faculty and clinic staff successfully implemented this new technique utilizing the cone beam CT. Radiation therapists Marissa Johnson and Patty Ray assisted.
SBRT is a relatively new procedure used for treating localized tumors outside of the brain by delivering very high doses of focused radiation using unique beam arrangements. Dr. Timmerman and others have already shown improved local control in lung and liver cancers using this technique, and now they are beginning a clinical trial that will use SBRT to treat prostate cancer. Currently, the standard treatment for early stage prostate cancer is prostatectomy, brachytherapy or external beam radiation. With SBRT, the reduced number of treatments are more convenient and much less invasive.
Research______________________________________________________________
♦ Dr. David Chen was recently awarded a competitive renewal of his National Institutes of Health (NIH) MERIT Grant, Roles of DNA PK in DNA Double Strand Break Repair.
Utilizing transgenic mouse models, Dr. Chen's group demonstrated that the kinase activity of DNA-PKcs is absolutely essential for the repair of DNA DSBs. Ongoing research in the Chen laboratory aims to dissect the molecular functions of the kinase activity of DNA-PKcs and the biological consequences of DNA-PKcs-mediated auto and trans-phosphorylation in mammalian cells. Research by Dr. Chen's group should provide insights into how deficiencies in DSB repair lead to the development of cancer and should contribute to the development of more effective anti-cancer therapies. (For more details: www.cancer.gov/researchandfunding/MERIT/Chen)
The NIH recognizes researchers who have demonstrated superior competence and outstanding productivity in research endeavors by the highly selective award, the MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award. MERIT Awards provide long-term support to investigators with impressive records of scientific achievement in research areas of special importance or promise. To give you an idea of the competitiveness of this grant, less than 5% of NIH-funded investigators are selected to receive MERIT Awards. Initiated in 1987, to date, only 82 researchers have been honored with the award. The principal feature of the program is the opportunity for such investigators to gain up to ten years of grant support. Congratulations Dr. Chen!
♦ Dr. Hirohiko Yajima's manuscript has been published in the highly cited journal, Molecular and Cellular Biology. Other authors include Drs. Kyung-Jong Lee and Benjamin Chen. ATR-Dependent DNA-Dependent Protein Kinase Catalytic Subunit Phosphorylation in Response to UV-Induced Replication Stress, MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY, Oct. 2006
♦ RRS Annual Meeting ● In November, the following researchers from our department presented as first author at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Radiation Research Society:
Reinhard Kodym: Mini Symposium - Characterization of the Molecular Lesion in a Patient with Chromosome Fragility/Radiation Hypersensitivity Syndrome
Asaithamby Aroumougame: Poster Session - Werner Syndrome Protein Phosphorylation is critical for its role in DNA Double Strand Breaks Repair through Non- Homologous End Joining Pathway
Elisabeth Kodym: Mini Symposium - Radiation Induced Mitotic Catastrophe in HCC2279 cells-Description and Mechanisms
Ben Chen: Poster Session - ATR-dependent DNA-PKcs Phosphorylation in Response to UV-Induced Replication Stress
David Chen: Symposium - DNA-PK activation and phosphorylation are required for DNA Double-Strand Break Repair; Symposium - DNA Damage Responses to HZE Particles in Human Cells
Mike Story: Poster Symposium - Differential Response in Radiation-Induced Oxidative Stress in Primary Human Skin Fibroblasts after HZE Particles Exposure of Different Energy. Poster Symposium - Human Lymphoma Cells Develop Resistance to Radiation in the Presence of Astrocytes
♦ Researcher Elisabeth Kodym presented the following poster at the 4th Annual Postdoctoral Poster Session here at UT Southwestern: The role of DNA-PKcs in the modulation of cellular radiosensitivity by celecoxib. Asaithamby Aroumougame presided as a judge of posters at the same event.
♦ During the ASTRO annual meeting held November 5-9 in Philadelphia, PA, Dr. Hak Choy presented the following talks:
Second Annual Integrating Novel Agents With Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Solid Tumors: Advances in Multi-Modality Therapy
Emerging Paradigms in the Multimodality Treatment of Cancer Satellite Symposium
Oral lung session: "Comparison of 5 Year Survival Between RTOG 94 10 and a Phase 2 Study of Induction Chemotherapy Followed by Efaproxiral Radiotherapy in Patients with Locally Advanced NSCLC"
Discussion on lung
Dr. Bob Timmerman also presented the following talks at the ASTRO meeting:
Stereotactic Body RT: Clinical and Biological Perspectives
Moderator, Panel 13: Management of Stage I Lung Cancer
