Warren symposium follows legacy of geneticist giant

If we want to understand how the brain creates memories, and how genetic disorders distort the brain’s machinery, then the fragile X gene is an ideal place to start. That’s why the Stephen T. Warren Memorial Symposium, taking place November 28-29 at Emory, will be a significant event for those interested in neuroscience and genetics. Stephen T. Warren, 1953-2021 Warren, the founding chair of Emory’s Department of Human Genetics, led an international team that discovered Read more

Mutations in V-ATPase proton pump implicated in epilepsy syndrome

Why and how disrupting V-ATPase function leads to epilepsy, researchers are just starting to figure Read more

Tracing the start of COVID-19 in GA

At a time when COVID-19 appears to be receding in much of Georgia, it’s worth revisiting the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Emory virologist Anne Piantadosi and colleagues have a paper in Viral Evolution on the earliest SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences detected in Georgia. Analyzing relationships between those virus sequences and samples from other states and countries can give us an idea about where the first COVID-19 infections in Georgia came from. We can draw Read more
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Harvard Medical School

Anti-inflammatory approach suppresses cancer metastasis in animal models

An anti-inflammatory drug called ketorolac, given before surgery, can promote long-term survival in animal models of cancer metastasis, a team of scientists has found. The research suggests that flanking chemotherapy with ketorolac or similar drugs — an approach that is distinct from previous anti-inflammatory cancer prevention efforts — can unleash anti-tumor immunity.

The findings, published in Journal of Clinical Investigation, also provide a mechanistic explanation for the anti-metastatic effects of ketorolac, previously observed in human breast cancer surgery.

Medical writer Ralph Moss has a great summary of this background. A commentary accompanying the JCI paper concludes: ” If this can be translated from mouse models into the clinic, then it could revolutionize treatments.”

Vikas P. Sukhatme, MD, ScD, dean of Emory University School of Medicine, is senior author of the JCI paper. He was previously at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, with lead authors Dipak Panigrahy, MD and Allison Gartung, PhD.

“Collectively, our findings suggest a potential paradigm shift in our approach to resectable cancers,” says Sukhatme. “Clinical trials are now urgently needed to validate these animal studies.”

Most cancer-related deaths come from metastases, the spread of cancer cells from a primary tumor to surrounding tissues or distant organs. The cells that seed metastases are often in microscopic clusters – a surgeon can’t see them. Chemotherapy, typically given after or prior to surgery is aimed at eradicating these cancer cells in the hopes of preventing cancer recurrence.  However, chemotherapy can sometimes stir up inflammation, promoting metastasis.

“Cancer therapy is a double-edged sword,” says Panigrahy. “Surgery and chemotherapy can induce an inflammatory or immunosuppressive injury response that promotes dormant metastatic cells to start proliferating, leading to tumor recurrence.”

Ketorolac is an inexpensive NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug). Because of concern over side effects, it is only approved by the FDA for short-term pain management “at the opioid level.” It differs from other NSAIDs in that it preferentially inhibits the enzyme COX-1, more than COX-2. Other studies of prevention of cancer recurrence have focused on COX-2 inhibitors. Read more

Posted on June 18, 2019 by Quinn Eastman in Cancer Leave a comment