cancer

Five scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a combined $2 million in grants for their innovative approaches to fighting cancer. The awards are from the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Research Fund.

The Molecular Imaging Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received a five-year, $7.1 million grant to develop innovative ways to study cancer and other disorders by monitoring the activity of cells and proteins inside the body.

Oluwadamilola “Lola” Fayanju, MD, MPHS, a clinical research fellow at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, has been named one of 16 recipients of the 2012 Breast Cancer Symposium Merit Award.

Zuum, a free iPad app, estimates a user’s disease risk and offers a customized plan for living a healthier life.

The 2-1-1 phone information and referral system could be a key partner in efforts to reduce cancer disparities affecting low-income and racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S., finds a new study by Jason Purnell, PhD, assistant professor of public health at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a genetic test that can accurately predict whether the most common form of eye cancer will spread to other parts of the body, particularly the liver. The test successfully classified tumors more than 97 percent of the time.

Maranda Witherspoon has agreed to co-lead a group of community members and public health experts who are working to improve cancer prevention and care in medically underserved populations.

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are using powerful DNA sequencing technology not only to identify mutations at the root of a patient’s tumor – considered key to personalizing cancer treatment – but to map the genetic evolution of disease and monitor response to treatment.

Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH, a disease prevention expert at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will be recognized April 3 for his 30 years of fighting cancer before it starts.

Four applications of the new imaging technique photoacoustic tomography are moving into clinical trials. One is to visualize the sentinel lymph nodes that are important in breast cancer staging; a second to monitor early response to chemotherapy; a third to image melanomas; and the fourth to image the gastrointestinal tract. Biomedical engineer Lihong Wang believes photoacoustic tomography might also allow early diagnosis of cancer because the technique can reveal the hypermetabolism that is cancer’s hallmark.