As we approach the end of the calendar year, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the significant amount of progress made at Massey Cancer Center in 2014.

Is the human immune system similar to the weather - a seemingly random yet dynamical system that can be modeled based on past conditions to predict future states? Scientists led by Amir Toor at Massey's Bone Marrow Transplant Program believe it is, and they recently published several studies that support the possibility of using next-generation DNA sequencing and mathematical modeling to not only understand the variability observed in clinical outcomes of stem cell transplantation, but also to provide a theoretical framework to make transplantation a possibility for more patients who do not have a related donor.

Massey physician-researcher Charles E. Geyer, Jr., was the National Protocol Officer for one component of a large national study involving two National Cancer Institute (NCI)-supported clinical trials that demonstrated that trastuzumab significantly improves the long-term survival of HER-2 positive breast cancer patients. The combined study was designed to determine the long-term safety and efficacy of the drug trastuzumab, which is commonly known as Herceptin and is primarily used alongside chemotherapy to treat HER2-positive breast cancer. The combined study focused on both the overall survival rates of patients up to ten years post-treatment as well as the known and potentially harmful side effects to the cardiac system. 

Scientists at Massey have identified a novel interaction between a microRNA and a gene that could lead to new therapies for the most common and deadly form of brain cancer, malignant glioma. Led by Luni Emdad and Paul B. Fisher the study provided the first evidence of an important link between a specific microRNA, miR-184, and a cancer promoting gene, SND1, in the regulation of malignant glioma.

Deborah McGuire, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N. Cancer Prevention and Control member

Massey welcomes Deb McGuire as a new member of the Cancer Prevention and Control program. McGuire is a nurse scientist and associate dean for research at the VCU School of Nursing.

She is a nationally renowned researcher in oncology and palliative care and in 2013 was named VCU's first ever Florence E. Elliott Professor. McGuire has published in many journals and serves as president of the International Society of Oral Oncology. She is also a member of the Mucositis Leadership Group of the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer/International Society for Oral Oncology, the Oncology Nursing Society, the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association and numerous other organizations.