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Cancer center conference addresses new directions, new hopes

Speakers discuss new plans to benefit the center and its patients

The University Cancer Center’s Patients & Friends Committee hosted a presentation Thursday to promote new developments in research and treatment.

The event featured Dr. Thomas P. Loughran Jr., director of the University Cancer Center, and Dr. Michael E. Williams, chief of the hematologic malignancies section of the Health System. The doctors discussed four main topics: their research, funding, recruitment and the Cancer Center’s status as comprehensive center.

Williams first addressed his work on lymphoma and leukemia, including a new medication that can be taken in pill form and treats both first-time lymphoma and remission of the disease. He told the story of a woman whom he had treated for lymphoma, who came back with remission and double vision from a tumor. After one day on the pill, her double vision was cured. By the end of treatment, there was no sign of the lymphoma.

“It’s a dramatically effective treatment with a targeted agent,” Williams said.

Williams spoke to efforts to reach out to less fortunate patients who may have geographic and economic troubles in trying to reach the Cancer Center. Meredith Gunter, founder and co-chair of the Patients & Friends Committee, asked the audience for donations to this cause.

Loughran then spoke on large granular lymphocyte leukemia, a type of cancer he discovered. Loughran and his team are currently working on a type of nanotechnology called nanoliposomes, globs of fat so small they can be absorbed by a cell and then explode, releasing medication. Part of the promise of nanotechnologies like this one is the ability to target specific, problematic cells, rather than spreading harsh compounds across the body, as with chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

“The easiest way of stopping cancer is making sure it never starts,” Loughran said.

Loughran said his new research has found what he believes to be a “master switch” found in all patients with LGL leukemia, as well as most with rheumatoid arthritis. He said by studying the link between the two diseases, they hoped to halt the pathway that eventually leads to LGL leukemia and RA.

“These folks really are like superstar athletes,” Gunter said of the presenters. “Other schools come calling, they offer big contracts, they offer new labs, they offer to really extend their work.”

The Center has been ranked by the National Cancer Institute as comprehensive cancer center for 26 out of its 41 years.

Being designated a comprehensive cancer center brings prestige and some additional funding, but Loughran says that the main benefit and intention of the program is its focus on the local community.

“Everyone in the U.S. should have access to comprehensive cancer care,” Loughran said.

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