Cancer research is a big sector of medical research today, and a topic that should be discussed among the Stevens community. Such a discussion was held by the President’s Distinguished Lecture Series on Transitions in Cancer Research. Dr. Harold Varmus, director of the National Cancer Institute and co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine in 1989, came to speak to the Stevens community on February 12, 2015.
An extremely humble and humorous individual, Varmus glazed over his personal contributions to cancer research, and instead focused his attention on the overall changes and improvements in the research itself. He explained to his audience the transition to precision medicine, where the classification of disease is based on molecular structure. This requires a greater understanding of genetics, molecular markers, and etiology.
Varmus took his audience through the symptoms, causes, and current treatment for cancer research. He explained both the progress we have made, and areas where we’re still lacking. Unfortunately we are still “unable to prevent, predict, and cure most metastatic diseases” he says. However, he did provide examples of how precision medicine has helped shape success stories in treating certain cancers such as chronic myeloid leukemia.
However Varmus’ take home message is that more research needs to be done for precision medicine to truly change the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Cancer genomes are complex; it is the product of multiple mutations. “No cancer is identical to another” said Varmus. Even if its phenotypic manifestations are similar, the combination of mutations that lead to it may be different. Therefore, the use of precision medicine for cancer is complicated.
“There are more steps that need to be taken,” Varmus said. Tumors need to be analyzed. Single cells need to be examined. There needs to be further development of liquid biopsies. Pre-clinical models need to be developed which use a combination of drugs, so there is less chance for drug resistance to develop. And of course, more tools need to be developed to learn from data.
Varmus explained that there is much room for improvement in this fight against cancer, and much more to do. Students and staff alike were engrossed in Varmus’s talk as he explained the science behind the research as well as the science we do not yet know. “I enjoyed how he explained how the mutated Ras gene can contribute to cancer” said junior Sara Hassan. “I learned about the gene in class, but I never truly appreciated its impact.”
“Precision medicine as a whole fascinates me, and tying it to cancer research fascinates me even more” said chemical biology major Soany Heredia. “Varmus’s talk was relevant and engaging. I learned a lot.”
From the questions students asked, to the conversations staff had at the reception, it was clear that Varmus invoked great interest in his audience. The Stevens community is well aware of the science and technology behind cancer research, and was receptive to the discussion.
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