What if Birmingham was known as the city that cured cancer?

Birmingham, Ala., is known for many being things. The Magic City. The Pittsburgh of the South. One of the hottest food cities in the nation.


But what if Birmingham was known as the city that cured cancer? With this city being home to the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, we think that dream isn't that far-fetched. In fact, we have hundreds of scientists, physicians and other staff working every day to make that vision a reality.

To learn more about the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, and how you can get involved in the fight against cancer, visit our website.

Cancer Center in the News

This month's issue of Birmingham Medical News focuses on oncology, and several articles highlight work being done at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. Click on the links below to learn more.

UAB Testing Robotic Platform for Prostate Cancer Detection and Treatment

Immunotherapy: Using the Body's Own Defenses to Fight Cancer

Starve a Cancer, Feed a Patient

UAB Team Identify Protein that Plays Key Role in Brain Cancer Stem Cell Growth

Thank you to the Birmingham Medical News for featuring us, and if you would like to learn more about the Cancer Center, please visit our website or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!

UAB Women in Medicine: Kimberly Whelan, M.D.

Q&A With Kimberly Whelan, M.D.  

Dr. Whelan is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and is currently the Medical Director of the TLC clinic and Childhood Cancer's Survivor Program. 

What inspired you to become a doctor?  

Becoming a doctor has always been what I wanted to do. My mom would tell stories about when people would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up I didn’t say doctor. I said pediatric oncologist. I guess I just always loved science and always had a great relationship with all my doctors.  

Where did you attend school? 

I went to school all over the place. I got my medical degree from the University of South Carolina, did my pediatric residency at Vanderbilt University and my fellowship in pediatric hematology and oncology here at UAB. I stayed here because I love Birmingham and the group of people I work with. I’m thankful I put down my roots here.  

 

Did you face any challenges as a woman earning a medical degree?  

I can remember as a resident walking into a room with a male student and the patients would assume the man was the doctor. Some patients are still like that, but I think we’ve come a long way since those times. Eighty percent of pediatric residents here at Children’s are female. Females are supported in this department.  

What is your research focus? 

I do research in childhood cancer survivorship. UAB is a part of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), and we are a leader in this because of what we’ve learned about later effects of survivorship. We also use our own survivorship population to look at all sorts of things, like fertility studies and effects of exercise in survivors. So I am a part of bigger a smaller studies.  

What’s something important you think women should know if they’re pursuing a degree in medicine? 

I think the first thing is to work hard and not get discouraged. You also need a really good mentor and support system at home to help you along the way. It’s a really exciting time for women in medicine. The women before us have opened so many doors, and now we can be involved in anything - from research to leadership and everything in between. 

 

UAB Women in Medicine: Uma Borate, M.D.

Q&A With Uma Borate

Uma Borate is an Assistant Professor and the Co-Associate Director of the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program. She did her medical school training at the B.J. Medical College in Pune, India, before moving to Philadelphia to complete her residency and then to Birmingham to complete her fellowship and start her career. 

What inspired you to pursue a career in medicine?

I guess you could say it’s the family business. I grew up listening to my parents live and breathe medicine. I never really saw this profession as optional, because I saw how fulfilling it was to my parents, and I always knew I wanted that for myself. It was more than a job to them. I figured this out early on.

Can you tell me a little more about what brought you to Birmingham?

I grew up in India. I came here in 2002 to do my post-graduate education here at UAB, and I’ve been here ever since. I trained here as a fellow to do hematology/oncology. This is the place where I met my husband, and this is where I fully figured out what I wanted to do when I grow up, so Birmingham is very special to me.

What kind of challenges do you face being a woman in the medical field?

I don’t think there are many I had to face until I had my child. At that point, I knew I wanted to be a successful doctor and I knew I wanted to give 100 percent to being a wonderful mother. You don’t even know where to begin to achieve compromise. To me, that is the hardest part of being a woman and a doctor.

What is your favorite part of working in the Cancer Center?

The most exciting part of being a doctor who takes care of cancer patients is that every day there’s a new treatment or research finding we didn’t even know about five years ago. Just knowing that I am a part of that is exciting and fulfilling.

What are you working on right now?

I do a lot of research in the field of leukemia. We are now in the era of personalized medicine, and UAB is leading the pack in this. Being involved in that effort is very cool. 

Do you have any advice for young women interested in joining the medical field?

You just have to be focused and love what you do. This line of work is so much more than a job. It’s time-fulfilling and exhausting, but most of all, it is endlessly rewarding.

Become a Cancer Champion: Enroll in CPS-3

Last year, the American Cancer Society launched its Cancer Prevention Study-3, a historic research study enrolling at least 300,000 adults from various racial/ethnic backgrounds from across the U.S. in order to better understand the lifestyle, behavioral, environmental and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer and to ultimately eliminate cancer as a major health problem for this and future generations.

Today, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, along with the American Cancer Society, launched our own effort to help CPS-3. Between now and October 2-3, we at the Cancer Center will be working with our colleagues within UAB to recruit and enroll 1,201 individuals in the CPS-3 study. In doing so, we will be tremendously helping the ACS to reach its recruitment goal.

Cancer affects everyone, and our employees at UAB are no exception. I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in a video explaining CPS-3 with several UAB employees, all of whom have been touched by cancer, which you can watch below.


Help scientists better understand cancer. Enroll in the CPS-3 study from uabnews on Vimeo.

For more information on the study, as well as how to enroll, you can visit our website. I highly encourage you to join me in participating and helping us achieve our vision of a world where cancer is no longer a major public health problem.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Rally for Medical Research

Today, I had the opportunity to participate in the Rally for Medical Research in Washington, D.C. More than 80 national organizations and institutions are participating in this effort to call on our nation's policymakers to make life-saving medical research funding a priority. The goal is raise awareness among members of Congress and the general public about the critical need for a sustained investment in the National Institutes of Health, which is the largest source of funding for medical research in the world.

I've written previously about the importance of funding medical research and how in today's economic climate, that funding is tougher than ever to receive. That still holds true today. Now even more so, because sequestration is slashing the NIH budget by 5.1 percent, or approximately $1.5 billion. This makes it extremely difficult to keep pace with the rate of biomedical inflation.

Funding for research does more than just save lives. It also fuels the economy and creates jobs. NIH funding supports research by 325,000 scientists at more than 3,000 universities and other entities across the United States, including the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. Thanks to that research, we have made unprecedented advances in science and medicine that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Now is the time for us to move full steam ahead, and not linger behind.

If you would like to see an end to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other diseases, I encourage you to contact your congressional representative and tell them to make funding for medical research a national priority. All of our lives depend on it.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Tipping the Scales

The scales are once again tipping in Alabama's favor - or rather, not in our favor. According to a report released by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, our state once again ranks in the top 10 of our nation's fattest states.

Alabama weighs in at fourth for high adult obesity rates, behind Mississippi, Louisiana and West Virginia. Michigan rounded out the top five, and fellow Southern states Arkansas, South Carolina and Kentucky also made appearances in the top 10.

Obesity is a major risk factors for many diseases, including cancer. It accounts for nearly 30 percent of cases of the major cancers, including postmenopausal breast and colorectal cancers. It also poses a greater risk for endometrial, kidney, pancreatic and esophageal cancers.

Because of our location in the heart of the Deep South, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center has identified obesity and its connection to cancer a major research priority going forward. Our scientists are examining obesity from the cellular level to the population level, as we are leading studies enrolling hundreds of thousands of patients across the country to examine the roles that diet, nutrition and physical activity play in this epidemic.

More information about healthy eating can be found at www.choosemyplate.gov. I encourage you to learn more and help us make a difference.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Clearing the Air

If you don't think policy and excise taxes on cigarettes don't make a difference, I encourage you to check out an article recently published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

In recent years, the state of California has systematically imposed excise taxes on cigarettes, banned smoking in public places through clean indoor air laws and helped residents of the state to stop smoking. Meanwhile, Alabama has done very little as a state to address these issues. In this article, entitled "Why Are Women More Likely to Die from Lung Cancer in Alabama?," researchers found that for Caucasian women born since 1933 lung cancer death rates in California have dropped by more than half while in Alabama they have more than doubled.

The evidence of policy impact could not be clearer! While Birmingham has recently taken a stand to enforce clean indoor air laws and tighten regulations on smoking in public spaces, the entire state of Alabama must continue to advocate for stricter policies across the board. Otherwise, I fear that we will continue to pay the price.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

A Disturbing Trend

Today's edition of The Birmingham News features a story that highlights a disturbing trend among Alabama teens - the increasing use of smokeless tobacco products. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, about 19 percent of high school boys in Alabama use dip, chew or other such products. The national average among this same age group is 12 to 15 percent.

This statistic is extremely concerning for many reasons. One is that if someone becomes addicted to tobacco at a young age, he or she is more likely to become addicted for life. This greatly increases their cancer risk, as smokeless tobacco can lead to cancers of the throat, mouth, larynx and stomach.

Another cause for concern is the misinformation surrounding smokeless tobacco. While we have made great strides in educating people about the dangers of cigarettes - and decreased the number of smokers in the process - many people believe that smokeless tobacco is less addictive and less harmful than cigarettes. Reports, most recently one by the Surgeon General, have shown that this is definitely not the case.

With April being Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month, I encourage you to educate yourself and your children about the dangers of both smokeless tobacco and cigarettes by visiting the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center and UAB Medicine websites. And when it comes to these products, remember to just say NO.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Don't Forget to Make Your Cancer Resolutions

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year! For many of us, each January brings the opportunity for a fresh start by making a list of New Year's resolutions, which can be tough to keep, but well worth the effort.

Obviously, the most popular resolutions involve improving diet and increasing exercise. And for good reason, as there's no question that doing those two things can help improve your overall health. However, many people don't realize that as many as 30 percent of all cancers are obesity-related. So diet and exercise can not only help you lose weight, but it can also lower your risk of developing cancer.

There are some other "cancer resolutions" that I encourage you to follow this year, and they have to do with screenings for early detection.

• Get a mammogram. Women age 40 and older should have a mammogram every year and continue to do so as long as they are in good health. Women in their 20s and 30s should have a clinical breast exam as part of a periodic, professional health exam at least every three years.
• Get a colonoscopy. Both men and women, beginning at age 50, should have a colonoscopy once every 10 years, and perhaps more often if there is a history of colorectal cancer in their family.
• Get a Pap smear. Specialists recommend that women have their first Pap smears at age 21 and every one to three years afterward, depending on the person's age and medical history. When abnormalities are found early and treated properly, very few progress to cervical cancer.
• Determine if prostate screening is right for you. Beginning at age 50, men should have a discussion with their doctor or health care professional to see if they should be screened for prostate cancer and what type of test is right for them. For men at a higher risk of the disease, those conversations should begin at age 45.
• Stop smoking and stay away from tobacco products! Smoking causes between 80 and 90 percent of all lung cancers, and tobacco is a major cause of many types of head and neck cancer.

These are just a few ways that you can improve your health and either decrease your chances of developing cancer or increasing the chances of it being caught early. I urge you to contact your doctor or health care professional, and keep these resolutions for 2012. Simply applying the knowledge that we already know can make a huge difference.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

What We Know About Cancer

A new study in the British Journal of Cancer has reported that more than 60 percent of cancer cases in Great Britain can be prevented by simple lifestyle changes. Those numbers apply to those of us here "across the pond" as well.

We know that at least 70 percent of cancer cases in the United States can be prevented by lifestyle modifications, such as eating more fruits and vegetables, increasing physical activity, and reducing or, even better, eliminating tobacco use. This is especially important for those of us in Alabama, which ranks seventh in the nation for cancer mortality with 211.3 cancer deaths per 100,000 people.

During this time of year, when we all make resolutions to improve ourselves, let's make one to apply what we know and end cancer as a public health problem.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Too Much Pink? Or Not Enough?

As Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, it's been incredibly rewarding to see the sheer number of pink events that have occurred across our community this year. It seems that October gets "pinker" every year, which I think is a very great thing.

But for some, the question has arisen: Is there too much pink, and is it glamorizing breast cancer? To answer the first part of that question, I say no. The amount of awareness generated by pink events is tremendous, and even more importantly, the amount of research dollars raised has allowed us to make significant advancements in the understanding and treatment of the disease. As I've said many times before, research is the foundation for eliminating cancer, and without it, all cancers - including breast cancer - would be a death sentence, like they were just a few decades ago.

As for whether breast cancer is becoming glamorous, it is important to remember the realities of this disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 230,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2011, and more than 39,000 deaths will occur because of it. And while the overall five-year survival rate is around 89 percent, it is still the second-leading cause of cancer death among women (after lung cancer).

I do, however, encourage you to do your research to make sure your donations go to the right cause or organization, such as the American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, or us at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, where 100 percent of your donation will go directly toward research.

So, is there too much pink? No, there isn't. But we need more colors! For instance, November is both lung cancer and pancreatic cancer awareness month. Wouldn't it be great to see Birmingham covered in pearl for lung cancer and purple for pancreatic cancer? Or in teal for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in September? Or dark blue for March's Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month? We should not, and must not, limit cancer awareness for one month out of the year.

Cancer is a 24-7-365 fight, and we need to be all in this together. I thank you for your support!

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

A Rare Visionary

Like many people, I was saddened to hear the news of Steve Jobs passing away last week after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is truly a rare cancer - a person has only about a one in 76 chance of developing it in his or her lifetime. But though its incidence is uncommon, it is one of the most deadly types of cancer. With a 95 percent mortality rate, pancreatic cancer is the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

These survival rates are so poor because the disease is often not diagnosed until its later stages, as the few symptoms it exhibits don't usually appear early. Only five percent of pancreatic cancer patients survive five years after diagnosis.

But there is some hope, and we are making strides in understanding this disease. The UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of the few institutions in the nation to hold a SPORE (Specialized Program of Research Excellence) in pancreatic cancer from the National Cancer Institute. Through this prestigious grant, we are examining new and innovative treatments developed here in our laboratories and developing them for use in our patient clinics. Our SPORE gives us a tremendous opportunity to make real progress in the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer.

That Mr. Jobs was able to fight this particular cancer as long as he did puts him in rare company. He was a visionary whose groundbreaking ideas changed the world we live in. I hope that the research we do at the Cancer Center will do the same - by eliminating cancer as a public health problem.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Big News During a Busy Month

October has gotten off to an extremely busy start here at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center! We began the month by announcing the renewal of our National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation as a "comprehensive" cancer center - a status that we have maintained for 40 years.

Our NCI designation is what sets us apart in our state and region. We are the only comprehensive cancer center in Alabama, and the only one in the Deep South area that stretches from South Carolina to Louisiana and Arkansas. To maintain this designation, we must undergo a rigorous and extensive review process every five years in which members of our peer institutions across the country travel to our center to examine every aspect of our research enterprise.

During our most recent review, we received an excellent rating, with special emphasis placed on our community outreach and population-based studies and our translational research (moving scientific findings from the laboratory setting to the patient bedside). Our renewed grant is $27.5-million for the next five years, which allows us to maintain and grow our infrastructure that allows our scientists to conduct the cutting-edge research that we are known for.

On Monday,  to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Birmingham News "turned pink" for the second year in an effort to increase cancer awareness. This year, the paper extended its coverage to all cancers, and not just breast cancer. I was especially pleased to see that our Cancer Center was featured prominently in several stories.

Of course, with this being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, there are lots of events happening in our community to support this cause. Our friends and partners at the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama have a tremendous number of events happening in October, from motorcycle rides to shopping nights to a restaurant week to pink ribbon bagels. I encourage you to visit their website or the Cancer Center's for a listing of all the great community events that you can become a part of!

We must remember that awareness for ALL cancers is a year-round activity, and the support of our community is critical in helping us achieve our mission of eliminating cancer as a public health problem. On behalf of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, I thank you for your support.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Recognizing a Global Threat

This past week, I traveled to New York City to attend a United Nations General Assembly meeting. More than 22 heads of state, including President Obama, were in the city as well. The security was incredible; police and barricades were everywhere, and I had to go through metal detectors and X-rays to enter my hotel. Having just recognized the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, it was obviously that the impact of that terrible day will obviously be felt for decades, if not centuries, to come.

But it was another threat to our society that was discussed at this U.N. meeting – non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which were recognized as a threat to global health. Each year, NCDs kill 36 million people worldwide. This new focus on the threat of NCDs, which include cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke, is critical to worldwide health.

The economic consequences of NCDs are staggering. Cumulative losses for low and middle income countries are estimated to surpass $7 trillion. Population-based measures such as reducing tobacco use through taxation and enacting clean indoor air laws, as well as reducing unhealthy eating and physical inactivity, could be delivered to these countries at a cost of about 40 cents per person per year. The same principles can be applied in the United States for about $3 per person per year. That’s a bargain if I ever saw one!

It is time for us to elevate prevention of these diseases to a new level. We owe it to ourselves to do so.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

All Together Making a Difference

I have spoken many times about the importance of federal funding for cancer research, which is critical to our success in the fight against this disease. Today, the American Association for Cancer Research released a landmark report, the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2011, which is a call to action for the general public and lawmakers to intensify their efforts in supporting cancer and biomedical research.

The report highlights all the progress that we have made in the 40 years since President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act on December 23, 1971. What used to be a death sentence is now, in many cases, a very manageable disease, as evidenced by the more than 12 million cancer survivors living in the United States today.

But there is still work to be done. In the United States alone, more than 570,000 people died from cancer in 2010. That's more than one person every minute of every day. And that is far too many.

I urge you to read the AACR report, which you can find here. I also encourage you to support cancer research by making a donation to the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, where 100 percent of your money will go toward research, or by contacting your congressional representative and urging them to increase the government's support in the fight against cancer. It will take all of us working together to make a difference and beat this disease.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Heading South: Colorectal Cancer Rates Decrease, But Not Much

A new study this week revealed that fewer people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and the number of people dying from the disease is decreasing as well. This is due in large part to an increase in the number of people getting screened, as well as reducing or eliminating risk factors such as smoking and obesity.

The news for us in the South, however, is not quite as good. The highest rates of colorectal cancer deaths are in the South and Appalachia. While death rates fell by as much as 33 percent in several Northeastern states, the decrease was only 15 percent or less in six Southern states, including Alabama.

Why is this the case? There are several reasons. Southern states are generally poorer than Northern states, and they tend to have more residents without health insurance who may forgo the regular screening that experts recommend for people over age 50. Southerners are also more likely to be obese and to smoke. Alabama is actually the second fattest state in the nation, with a 32.3 percent obesity level. Of the 10 states with the highest obesity rates, nine are in the South.

The UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center is committed to addressing disparities such as these. Our location in the heart of the Deep South makes us a natural leader in developing research and delivery programs to understand and eliminate cancer health disparities. Our Deep South Network for Cancer Control has been quite active and successful in making progress in these arena among minority populations. We have recently begun expanding our research efforts in obesity to better understand the connection between nutrition and cancer. This work is being led by world-renowned nutrition scientist Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Ph.D, who joined the Cancer Center in 2010.

Rest assured that our scientists are working every day toward our goal of eliminating cancer as a public health problem. I truly believe that this will soon be a reality.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Exporting Expertise

Yesterday, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center unveiled the UAB Cancer Care Network, an affiliation between the Cancer Center and community cancer centers and hospitals in Alabama and Georgia that provides access to the latest discoveries in cancer research and offers an unmatched level of expert cancer treatments in those communities. This is an incredibly exciting initiative that will allow us to bring leading-edge care to these communities, giving patients an opportunity to stay close to home while giving doctors and nurses access to leading cancer research.

Comprehensive cancer centers, such as ours at UAB, offer the highest levels of research and patient care. We set the standards that community hospitals follow. Our goal with the UAB Cancer Care Network is to make that expertise and knowledge available to every man and woman in our region.

One of the most important aspects of the network is that cancer patients at our partner hospitals will have access to the Cancer Center’s vast research enterprise, including our clinical trials that often feature therapies developed at UAB and unavailable elsewhere. The network allows us to bring all of these resources to patients while allowing them to stay close to home and their support system, which is so crucial.

I hope you will learn more about the UAB Cancer Care Network, and as always, thank you for supporting YOUR UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Bridging the Gap

While progress is being made in the fight against cancer, a new report from the American Cancer Society shows that there are still disparities in cancer death rates between people of lower and higher socioeconomic statuses.

Using education as a measuring stick, the study found that people with a high school education or less died at a rate of up to five times higher than those with at least four years of college education. Among men, those with less education died of cancer at rates more than two and a half times than those of men with college degrees. These numbers among women were almost identical.

Why is this the case? Studies have shown that people with less education - often those in lower socioeconomic situations - are more likely to engage in risky health behaviors, such as smoking, poor nutrition and lack of physical activity. Likewise, these populations are less likely to have access to the care they need and screenings for early detection.

It is our duty to continue to address these disparities, which has been a longstanding commitment of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. While we launch new research and discover new treatments, we must also look for ways to deliver all of these discoveries to every single person, regardless of where they are in life.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Fun in the Sun?

With Memorial Day this weekend, thousands of Americans will be taking to the lakes, rivers and beaches for some fun in the sun. Unfortunately, many of them will return with an unwanted souvenir - a severe sunburn.

With May also being Skin Cancer Awareness Month, this is the perfect opportunity for us to educate ourselves on the basics of sun safety. There are several things you can do to avoid getting burned.

• Use sunscreen - and a lot of it. Sunscreen with an SPF (Sun Protection Factor) of at least 30 should be liberally applied before going into the sun, and then reapplied every two hours or more often when getting wet. The higher the SPF, the better, and you should ideally use a sunscreen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays.
• Limit your exposure to the sun. The hours between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. are when the sun is at its most intense. If possible, minimize your time in the sun during that time.
• Wear protective clothing. While covering up exposed parts of the body works best, that's often extremely uncomfortable during the summer heat. However, a wide-brimmed hat and UV-blocking sunglasses can be helpful, and clothing with built-in ultraviolet protection is also available.

We all want to have fun in the sun, but it's important to do it responsibly. A tan simply isn't worth the risk of getting skin cancer. For more information and sun safety tips, visit the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.