Is climate change putting us at higher risk for cancer? Ohio State researchers are working to find the answers.

Climate change is already affecting people around the world in many ways. Wildfires, weather events, fossil fuel emissions and hotter temperatures will continue to affect public health. Among those effects may be the increase in some cancer rates, according to Lauren Koch, the Sustainability Program manager for The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Marium Husain, MD, a medical oncologist who specializes in treating patients with soft tissue and bone sarcomas at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

Episode 151: How Global Warming Could Impact Cancer Rates, with M. Husain, MD, and L. Koch

Ohio State engineering experts are working across campus to revolutionize cancer care through technological innovation.

“We’re not trying to engineer cancer, we’re using engineering processes and principles to better diagnose and cure cancer,” says Matthew Ringel, MD, who, along with Jonathan Song, PhD, is a co-director of the Center for Cancer Engineering – Curing Cancer Through Research in Engineering and Sciences (CCE-CURES) program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center — James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James).

CCE-CURES is a collaborative effort between the OSUCCC – James and several other colleges across Ohio State, including its colleges of engineering and arts and sciences. “We’re taking advantage of the incredible people we have here at Ohio State,” says Ringel, a thyroid cancer specialist who also leads The James Department of Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics. “We have 56 members right now and a core group is moving soon to the new Pelotonia Research Center (where the center will be housed).”

Episode 150: The Cancer Engineering Center, with Matthew Ringel, MD

Better understanding of head and neck tumor causes and progression could help doctors improve personalized treatment for cancer patients.

“How it started and how it evaded the immune system and got into the blood stream provides a wealth of information we can utilize, and gives us more treatment options,” says James Rocco, MD, PhD, a head and neck cancer specialist and chair of the head and neck surgery department at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

Rocco and his collaborators have developed a computational data analytics program called PhylogicNDT, which will evaluate the progression of head and neck cancer tumors caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), and they believe “the approach can be applied to other types of cancers,” according to Rocco.

Episode 152: Understanding Head and Neck Cancer Progression, with James Rocco, MD

With advances in care and research, along with the opening of new, state-of-the-art facilities, 2023 was another big year in Ohio State’s work to create a cancer-free world.

“These are really exciting times for our cancer program, as we continue to broaden our facilities and access, and further the innovation of treatments, technologies and expertise that offer tomorrow’s treatments today,” says David Cohn, MD, MBA, interim CEO and chief medical officer of The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

Listen for some of the many cancer care and research highlights from The Ohio State University over the past year.

Episode 153: The Best of Our 2023 Podcasts

Knowing your family’s medical history is important and can save lives. “When we think of family history in terms of cancer genetics [and inherited genetic mutations], we think about a broad spectrum of relatives, more than just your parents and siblings,” said Leigha Senter, MS, CGC, a James licensed genetic counselor. “We ask about grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and that can inform us about how likely you have a hereditary predisposition for cancer.” Ohio State and the James have one of the largest and most advanced genetic counseling programs in the country. “We have 12 genetic counselors on the faculty supporting the cancer program and we have genetic counselors who specialize in specific types of cancer,” Senter said. In this episode, Senter discusses the two most common types of inherited genetic mutations that increase the cancer risk: the Breast Cancer gene (BRCA1 and BRCA2) that increases the risk of breast cancer as well as ovarian, pancreas and prostate cancer; and Lynch Syndrome, which increases the risk of colorectal cancer as well as uterine cancer. “The average woman has a 12 percent chance over the course of their lifetime of developing breast cancer,” Senter said. “Those with [BRCA1 and BRCA2] have anywhere from a 50 to 80 percent chance.” Uncovering inherited genetic mutations leads to earlier and more frequent screenings that can detect cancer in its earliest and most treatable stages. In the case of patients with Lynch Syndrome, earlier and more frequent colonoscopies “can actually prevent a cancer from happening,” Senter said. Cascade testing is one of Senter’s specialties. “Someone in every family is always the first to test positive for an inherited genetic mutation,” she said. “The next step is to help them share this information with as many family members as possible. This is cascade testing and is where are real potential to help people is.”

Episode 160: Understanding Genetics and the Cancer Risk, with Leigha Senter

The future of cancer care has arrived at Ohio State with the opening of the region’s first proton therapy center.

While there are a handful of cancer hospitals around the globe that offer proton radiation treatment, The James proton therapy center offers the “most advanced proton radiation therapy in the world,” according to Arnab Chakravarti, MD, chair of the department of radiation oncology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

Episode 154: The New James Proton Radiation Therapy Facility, with Dr. Arnab Chakravarti

Advances in cancer research and treatment are accelerating at a rapid pace. We asked several James scientists and physicians to tell us about an advancement that has them especially excited. Their answers were fascinating and filled with hope. This special episode was co-hosted by Raphael Pollock, MD, PhD, director of the Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center. “We’ve recruited more than 200 new members to the cancer center in the past four years, that’s more that most cancer centers in the United States,” Pollock said, adding that collaboration is the key to breakthroughs and “this is the best collaborative environment for cancer research of any place I know of.” Roman Skoracki, medical director of the Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center, said the development of advanced chemotherapy and immunotherapy drugs will reduce the need for breast-cancer surgery. “We’re already seeing tremendous responses, to the point that there’s so much shrinkage of the tumor that we’re performing smaller surgical interventions,” he said. Advances in the techniques to genetically engineer a patient’s immune cells to better detect and fight cancer is another big step forward. “One of the benefits of utilizing the immune system is we’re seeing not only good responses, but responses that last a long time because your immune system has a good memory,” said Margaret Gatti-Mays, MD, MPH, a medical oncologist who specializes in immunotherapy. Advances in detecting cancer with sensors and blood draws that can identify the proteins on cancer cells “is coming and I think faster than people realize,” said James Rocco, MD, PhD, chair of the James Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery Division. Detecting new cancers earlier will save lives. Peter Shields, a lung cancer specialist, talked about how research into the use of psychedelics is in the very early stages and “has the potential for a huge impact” in reducing stress and anxiety for cancer patients and helping to improve their quality of life.

Episode 155: The Next Leaps Forward in Cancer Treatment, with Guest Co-Host Raph Pollock

The foods we eat can reduce or increase the risk of developing cancer over the course of a lifetime, according to Fred Tabung, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. “Think of food as medicine,” he said, adding that “what you eat should be enjoyable, but we should also eat in a healthy way to reduce the risk of cancer.” In this episode, Tabung joined with Candice Schreiber, RDN, LS, CSO, a James dietician, to discuss the importance of a healthy diet, including what it entails, how and why what we eat impacts the risk of cancer, and tasty ways to eat healthier. “A plant-focused diet is what I encourage people to eat,” Schreiber said. “It doesn’t have to be vegan or vegetarian, the goal is to fill the majority of your plate with fruits and vegetables and whole grains.” In his James lab, Tabung studies “combinations of food and beverages that effect the metabolism, specifically inflammation and the insulin response,” he said, adding that too much inflammation and insulin can increase the risk of cancer. “High levels of insulin [from consuming too much sugar] can tell the cells to divide when they’re not supposed to divide, and this can lead to cells becoming cancerous.” Red meat, processed meats, such as sausage and hot dogs, as well are highly processed foods chock full of preservatives and sugar increase the risk of cancer. “In these highly processed foods, the nutritious parts are removed … the cancer-fighting parts of the foods have been stripped away,” Tabung said. His lab is involved in a new clinical trial in which women with a high risk of developing breast cancer are placed on a diet designed to reduce the risk. “We’re really excited about this,” he said. Tabung and Schreiber provided numerous tips and suggestions on how to eat healthier. For example, when it comes to beverages, unsweetened coffee and tea are metabolically active and provide healthy nutrients, while diet soda “is metabolically active, but not in a good way,” Tabung said. “My pet peeve is that people often think that healthy food doesn’t taste good, but it absolutely does,” Schreiber said.

Episode 157: How Diet Impacts the Risk of Cancer, with Fred Tabung, PhD, and Candice Schreiber, RDN

A breast cancer diagnosis in 2011 changed the life and career path of Jessica Winter. “It was a really defining moment in my career,” said Winter, PhD, an Ohio State professor of engineering, and a member of the Ohio State Cancer Engineering Center. “I could have kept doing research and publishing papers … but now I really wanted to do translational work and take something from the lab to patients.” Winter is a leader in the growing field of utilizing nanotechnology for cancer science and treatment. “There are three areas where it can be applied – imaging, biosensing and drug delivery,” she said. Winter and her lab, and her collaborators at the James and the Ohio State Cancer Engineering Center are involved in all three of these areas. Nanotechnology has been used since the 1990s to deliver chemotherapy drugs. “Nanotechnology is defined as something between the size of one and 100 nanometers,” Winter said. “You can fit five million nanoparticles that are five nanometers in diameter inside a cell.” In her lab, Winter has developed what she calls “quantum dots” to improve the delivery of drugs to cancer patients. Another area of her research involves biosensing. “The COVID test is a biosensor and some of the earliest biosensors were home-pregnancy tests,” Winter explained. Winter and collaborators at the James are also working on a nanotechnology biosensing method to analyze solid tumors. “We came up with a method of erasable labelling,” she said of the method in which several different colors, or layers, of can be used to create a series of images. “We need better diagnostic tests to match the patient with the best therapy, this is personalized medicine,” Winter said. Her cancer diagnosis (she is in remission and doing well) continues to motivate Winter. “I love my job and what I do,” she said. “The idea that I can help people … and make real things for real people is very exciting.”

Episode 161: How Nanotechnology is Improving Cancer Treatment, with Jessica Winter, PhD

Pelotonia has changed Joe Apgar’s life. “I’ll never forget how I felt in the moment someone told me I had cancer,” the CEO of Pelotonia said in this episode. “You feel completely lost and by yourself and you don’t have answers to the questions running around through your head.” Apgar was diagnosed with testicular cancer while a student at Penn State. Pelotonia is the fundraising cycling event that has raised more than $285 million for cancer research at the James. Apgar first rode in 2011, soon after he moved to Columbus to work for Rockbridge Capital, a private equity firm that sponsors a Pelotonia team Apgar helped create. “I remember standing at my first opening ceremony [of Pelotonia] and how uplifted and excited and supported I felt … that’s when I could flip the switch on it and feel empowered by my own story and experience,” Apgar said of the start of his first ride and crossing the finish line. Apgar talked about his cancer journey, how he connected with a James physician for his follow-up cancer care, his Pelotonia experiences as a rider and leader, and the future of the event. Apgar also talked about the importance of the Pelotonia “community” and how it has helped connect members of the James team with riders, volunteers and donors. “I think [the Pelotonia founders] hoped that some of this sense of community would happen, but I don’t think anyone could have dreamed it would happen at the scale it has,” he said.

Episode 163: The Incredible Impact of Pelotonia, with CEO Joe Apgar

Join us on The James Cancer-Free World Podcast as we talk to the top scientists and doctors at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). They’ll discuss – in easy-to-understand language – all the cutting-edge cancer research going on at Ohio State and how this is improving patient care and ultimately saving lives.

About the OSUCCC – James:
The OSUCCC – James strives to create a cancer-free world by integrating scientific research with excellence in education and patient-centered care, a strategy that leads to better methods of prevention, detection and treatment. Since 1976, the OSUCCC – James has been a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of only a few centers funded by the NCI to conduct both phase I and phase II clinical trials on novel anticancer drugs. As the cancer program’s adult patient-care component, The James is one of the top cancer hospitals in the nation as ranked by U.S. News & World Report and has achieved Magnet ® designation, the highest honor an organization can receive for quality patient care and professional nursing practice.

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