Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Nearly 15,000 people in the United States die each year from metastatic bladder cancer. Signaling pathways that cause bladder tumor recurrence and spread are not clear. David DeGraff, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow in Urologic Surgery, and a multi-disciplinary team of colleagues including basic scientists, clinical pathologists and urologic surgeons, examined the role of the transcription [...]

An uncommon mutation of the BRAF gene in melanoma patients has been found to respond to MEK inhibitor drugs, providing a rationale for routine screening and therapy in melanoma patients who harbor the BRAF L597 mutation. The new study by co-first-authors Kimberly Brown Dahlman, Ph.D., Junfeng Xia, Ph.D., and Katherine Hutchinson, B.S., Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center [...]

A study led by Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center investigators has identified a gene expression pattern that may explain why chemotherapy prior to surgery isn’t effective against some tumors and suggests new therapy options for patients with specific subtypes of breast cancer. The study by lead author Justin Balko, Pharm.D., Ph.D., was published online June 10, 2012 [...]

Carlos Arteaga, M.D., professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology, associate director of Clinical Research and director of the Breast Cancer Program of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, has been awarded a five-year Clinical Research Professorship grant from the American Cancer Society (ACS). The $400,000 award is a renewal of a previous grant to Arteaga in 2007 [...]

A few years ago, Alison Hanson, Ph.D., a student in Vanderbilt’s Medical Scientist Training Program, was invited to have lunch with a visiting Nobel laureate, Aaron Ciechanover, M.D., D.Sc. Hanson was working on her dissertation research at the time, and she described some interesting findings to Ciechanover. “He said, ‘that could either be a total [...]

Cancer patients who are undergoing treatment with chemotherapy or radiation therapy expect to experience side effects like nausea, fatigue and possible hair loss. But they may not realize that those treatments can cause additional side effects like dry skin, rashes and complexion changes. To help patients cope with these hair and skin issues, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer [...]

Barbara Forbes, MSN, keeps a big jar of tar on her desk. The dark, goopy mess is a visual representation of the amount of tar that a smoker will ingest by smoking one pack of cigarettes per day for a year. Forbes is the director of the Smoking Cessation Institute at the Vanderbilt Dayani Center [...]

Cancer Queens! A Cancer Prevention Musical Revue is a 45-minute, live show featuring skits and song and dance routines set to popular music with new educational lyrics that are consistent with the educational messages of the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute. Cancer Queens! is a [...]

While September is a special month as it marks the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it is also a time to raise awareness about leukemia, lymphoma, childhood cancers, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, thyroid cancer and liver cancer. Leukemia and lymphoma affect children and adults. Leukemia is a type of cancer of the blood [...]

As you begin to fill your calendar with fall activities, we hope you, your family and friends will add one or all of these fun walking events to it. We challenge you and your loved ones to take a walk for those fighting cancer. Follow the links below, and join Team VICC! Here are several [...]