If breast cancer recurs following a lumpectomy and whole breast radiation, standard treatment has been a mastectomy. That may be changing thanks to results from a clinical trial led by VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and conducted across the country.

The study showed that a second lumpectomy combined with partial breast reirradiation is as effective as standard treatment. “These women are now able to have a breast-conserving treatment choice that is a viable alternative to mastectomy,” says Massey physician-researcher Douglas W. Arthur, M.D., chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, who led the study. Read the full story 

White blood cells help the body fight infections. But an abnormal form of white blood cells called myeloma cells can spur the growth of bone tumors instead in a form of cancer called multiple myeloma. VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have discovered a protein that controls the genes that enable myeloma cells to proliferate. The protein, THZ1, also enhances the effectiveness of drugs already in use to treat multiple myeloma.

The discovery opens the door to using the protein and others like it for people whose disease has been resistant to current treatments. And Massey researchers are already working hard to transform their discoveries in the laboratory into treatments for patients. Read the full story 

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is known to cause most cervical cancers as well as many head and neck and other cancers. Yet a childhood vaccine can prevent the infection by the virus – and the cancers it causes. While HPV vaccination rates are increasing overall, children in rural areas are 11 percent less likely to receive this lifetime protection than others. To understand why, Massey’s Cancer Prevention and Control researchers turned to Facebook.

They conducted virtual focus groups with rural parents on the social media platform, then analyzed their responses. That analysis will guide messaging that relieves the concerns of rural families about the vaccination so that more children can be protected against these cancers. The study also showed the value of using social media in research to reduce health disparities. “It offers an unprecedented opportunity to reach out and engage large populations in real-world settings,” says Sunny Jung Kim, Ph.D., lead researcher on the study. Read the full story 

Too often the most aggressive type of brain tumor, glioblastoma multiforme, becomes resistant to radiation and chemotherapy. Searching for existing drugs that might overcome that resistance, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers discovered that a common drug used to treat malaria could be the answer. The drug, lumefantrine, works by binding to a genetic element in the tumor that controls that resistance. With lumefantrine present, the tumor’s ability to resist treatment is neutralized. That’s good news in the fight against brain cancer – and other cancers too, because the same genetic element is found in melanoma, ovarian cancer, breast cancer and more. “The present results may have broader implications than just treating glioblastoma,” says Massey researcher Paul B. Fisher, M.Ph., Ph.D., FNAI, the principal investigator of the study recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read the full story 

Cancer immunotherapy empowers a patient’s own immune system to fight back against tumor cells. To boost the immune system’s ability to fight cancer, Massey researcher Julian Zhu, Ph.D., developed a vaccine that in laboratory studies successfully treated colorectal cancer cells in combination with drugs that inhibit the function of specific proteins.

In pre-clinical experiments, the combination demonstrated a complete regression without recurrence in about 60 percent of cancer cells. “This is a war between cancer cells and the immune system,” Zhu says. “We’re trying to help the immune system to tilt the balance against cancer and elicit a more effective and durable response.” Read the full story