The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine offers a series of Topics in Interdisciplinary Medicine (TIME) courses as part of its Genes to Society medical student curriculum. As part of this year’s Cancer TIME program I taught the Frontiers in Cancer Therapy track with Dr. Shawn Lupold from the Department of Urology. Several of the students who selected this track planned to pursue post-graduate residency training in diverse specialties that include cancer care and others stated that they just wanted to improve their knowledge of cutting-edge cancer treatments.
On the first day, a cancer overview lecture on new molecular approaches to therapy and clinical trial results was presented by Dr. Lupold and me. I presented an overview of game theory as applied to cancer treatment. On days 2 and 3, the students presented a recent article they chose from an extensive list Dr. Lupold and I created.
The topic categories included:
Prevention
Microenvironment mechanisms
Targeted therapies
Combination therapies
Immunotherapy
Gene therapy
Biomarker targeted therapy
Therapeutic dosing and tumor response; and
Cancer physics, computation & information
“This is an exceedingly rewarding experience each year I teach the course. I myself learn a lot from the high level discussion by these outstanding students.”- Dr. J. James Frost, BioMolecular Imaging.
The publications presented by the students spanned a wide array of topics. The role of inflammation in cancer genesis generated spirited discussion, as did the paper on fecal transplantation for treatment. I look forward to working on this course again in 2023!
The articles:
TRANSFORMER: A Randomized Phase II Study Comparing Bipolar Androgen Therapy Versus Enzalutamide in Asymptomatic Men With Castration-Resistant Metastatic Prostate Cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2021 Apr 20;39(12):1371-1382. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33617303/
Use of Aspirin and Statins in Relation to Inflammation in Benign Prostate Tissue in the Placebo Arm of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2020 Oct;13(10):853-862.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32581009/
T-Cell Receptor Gene Therapy for Human Papillomavirus-Associated Epithelial Cancers: A First-in-Human, Phase I/II Study. J Clin Oncol. 2019 Oct 20;37(30):2759-2768https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31408414/
Phase I study of ABBV-428, a mesothelin-CD40 bispecific, in patients with advanced solid tumors. J Immunother Cancer. 2021 Feb;9(2):e002015. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2020-002015.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33608377/
Aspirin Use to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease and Colorectal Cancer: Updated Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force. JAMA. 2022 Apr 26;327(16):1585-1597. doi: 10.1001/jama.2022.3337.
An RNA vaccine drives immunity in checkpoint-inhibitor-treated melanoma. Nature. 2020 Sep;585(7823):107-112. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32728218/
Fecal microbiota transplant promotes response in immunotherapy-refractory melanoma patients. Science. 2021 Feb 5;371(6529):602-609. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33303685/
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