Cancer Research Foundation

R E S E A R C H

Lymphoma Breast Research

The goal of Dr. Polly Etkind’s research is to determine if the Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus (MMTV) that is responsible for causing breast cancer and certain types of lymphoma in mice is also involved in these two diseases in humans. Dr. Etkind has found the presence of MMTV-like genes in 37% of human breast tumors that have been analyzed but not in normal breast tissue. Three other laboratories have published similar results to those of Dr. Etkind’s. Additional studies from Dr. Etkind’s lab revealed that eight out of fourteen patients who had been diagnosed with both breast cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma were found to have the MMTV-like genes in both malignancies. Also in a separate study three out of nineteen patients who were diagnosed with only non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma were positive for the presence of MMTV-like genes in their malignant tissues. Very recently Dr. Etkind’s lab has found the presence of MMTV-Like DNA genes in the breast tumor tissue of three family members, father, mother, and daughter, all of whom were diagnosed with breast cancer. Curiously, the three family members lived together in the same house for decades.
Dr. Etkind’s laboratory is currently trying to determine how this virus may be involved in the development of these two malignancies. One goal is to determine if one or possibly more than one of the genes of the virus that are present in the tumor tissue may be an agent that is contributing to the development of these cancers. Also, a major question is where this virus is coming from. Since the MMTV-like genes are not found in normal tissue it appears that the virus must be the result of an outside infection. Curiously the viral genes seen in the human cancers are nearly identical to those present in the mouse.

Renal Cell Cancer Tissue Bank with Clinical Correlations

This is a unique resource funded by the Cancer Research Foundation to collect paraffin embedded tissue from Kidney Cancer nephrectomies, as well as blood and serum from patients with known clinical outcomes. More than 100 patients have consented to participate and we have collected slides or blocks on more than 65 of these. We are continuing to contact departments of pathology for slides or blocks, and in some cases must pay to obtain these precious samples. All of these are from patients for whom we have a complete clinical profile and history of treatment and outcome. This has been and continues to be ongoing a tremendous effort to capture very detailed clinical information and to obtain the specimens. Our goal is to correlate new markers of kidney cancer with clinical outcome, or to use profiles of protein expression in tissue or blood or blood cells to identify patients with responsiveness to certain treatments, or with different categories of outcome. The current project utilizing the tissue bank is described by Dr. Thambi Dorai.

Immunology/Molecular Oncology Laboratory

The Immunology/Molecular Oncology Laboratory at Our Lady of Mercy Cancer Center serves as a reference laboratory and leukemia tissue bank for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), one of the three major groups for cancers in the adults. Dr. Elisabeth Paietta is the director of the laboratory, and she is assisted by Dr. Janis Racevskis. Dr. Paietta’s major interest lies in the identification of leukemic cell marker profiles that reflect genetic lesions. This idea follows the concept that a specific change in the genetic make-up of a cell will yield reproducible changes on the cell surface in terms of receptors and other antigens that allow us to recognize a cell as abnormal.

As the Leukemia Translational Studies Reference Laboratory for ECOG, the laboratory receives specimens from virtually every patients enrolled on ECOG leukemia treatment trials. This has allowed the establishment of a large tissue bank of well-characterized leukemia specimens, which ECOG makes available for further research to any investigator whose research proposal passes the ECOG scientific review committee. Dr. Paietta and her laboratory also participate in various aspects of leukemia trials, such as the determination of multidrug resistance and the monitoring of minimal residual disease following the diverse treatment strategies under investigation in the various leukemia subtypes.

Recent Presentations of Research Results by Our Lady of Mercy Cancer Center Investigators

Doctor Presentation

Dr. Peter Wiernik
American Society of Clinical Oncology, June 2006, Atlanta , GA Preliminary results from a phase II study of lenalidomide monotherapy in patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

European Hematology Association, June 2006, Amsterdam Preliminary results from a phase II study of lenalidomide monotherapy in patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Dr. Janice Dutcher Satellite Symposium at the NCI/EORTC/AACR Molecular Targets Meeting, November 2006, Prague. Targeted therapy in Renal Cell Cancer – Rationale and Current Applications

Dr. Thambi Dorai
MD Anderson Symposium on Carbonic Anhydrase IX 2006. - Functional implications in renal cell cancer.

Dr. Elisabeth Paietta
Becton-Dickenson Symposium on Immunophenotyping of Acute Leukemia -- California, October 2006