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 sa ..read more

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 geneti ..read more

The number of younger patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer is on the rise. “We always used to say at age 50 get your first colorectal screening, and now we’ve dropped that to 45,” said Samuel Akinyeye, MD, an Ohio State gastroenterologist. “And the reason is we’re seeing younger people being diagnosed with colorectal cancer … I’m seeing younger patients in my clinic.” In this episode, Akinyeye discusses several of the reasons for the increase, including the impact of unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles, and the role of family history and inherited genetic mutations that increase the ..read more

Clinical trials are “the foundation of cancer research and lead to better treatment options and outcomes for patients,” said John Hays, MD, PhD, a James medical oncologist who treat patients with peritoneal cancers. He is also one of the leaders of the James clinical trials office and “at any given time we have between 500 to 600 clinical trial open and we put 1,000 patients a year on clinical trials, which is one of the largest numbers in the country.” In this episode, Hays explained the process of how an idea that begins in the lab (usually a new drug) goes through several different phases b ..read more

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 p ..read more

The new James mobile lung cancer screening unit is on the road, traveling around the state of Ohio. This is a big step forward because “lung cancer still accounts for more cancer deaths than breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer combined,” said Michael Wert, MD, a James pulmonologist and director of the James lung cancer screening program. “I still see too many patients who haven’t seen a doctor in a while, ignore symptoms and come in so sick that we’ll do a CT scan and find they have really advanced lung cancer.” In this episode, Wert talks about the goals for the screening unit and ..read more

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 bes ..read more

The proton radiation center began operations in the James Outpatient Center on December 13. While there are a handful of cancer hospitals in the world that offer proton radiation treatment, the James proton radiation facility is the “most advanced proton radiation therapy in the world,” said Arnab Chakravarti, MD, chair of the James Department of Radiation Oncology. In this episode, Chakravarti explains the advantages of proton radiation. “With conventional radiation there is an entry point and exit point and all the normal tissue in-between receives radiation,” he said. “With proton radiation ..read more

It’s been a year of growth and innovation at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and James Cancer Hospital. This special “Best of 2023” episode features highlights from several of the past year’s episodes from the world-class scientists, physicians and leaders at the James. Another highlight comes from a patient enrolled in two James clinical trials. “I went in there [to see a James oncologist] feeling kind of hopeless and by the time my wife and I left we both felt very optimistic,” said Robert Bioni. “It will be six years from my diagnosis and I’m still here.” The thread th ..read more

Understanding the progression of a cancerous head and neck tumor, “how it started and how it evaded the immune system and got into the blood stream and spread provides a wealth of information we can utilize and gives us more treatment options,” said James Rocco, a head and neck cancer specialist and chair of the James Cancer Hospital’s Head and Neck Surgery Department. In this episode, Rocco discusses how he and his collaborators have developed a computational data analytics program called PhylogicNDT. The program will evaluate the progression of head and neck cancer tumors caused by the human ..read more