Radiation Oncology News
This year's joint AAPM/COMP meeting was held virtually July 12 - 16. This year's theme was Improving Health Quality. Increasing Global Impact. Our Department participated in dozens of posters and presentations. The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation recently named Dr. Aguilera as one of four new Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators. The three-year, $600,000 award supports outstanding early career physician-scientists conducting patient-oriented cancer research with the potential to impact cancer diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. SMSDr. Todd Aguilera, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at UTSW, has received a Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award for his work in immunotherapy. The award grants Aguilera’s multidisciplinary team $600,000 to support their research. Brock Sishc, Ph.D., part of UTSW since 2014, has been recruited by NASA's Johnson Space Center to serve as the cancer discipline lead within the Space Radiation Element, a part of the Human Research Program. Brock's primary role will be to support the chief and deputy element scientists in the direction and development of research goals including gaining an understanding of the risk of space radiation exposure to astronaut health. Congratulations Brock! Debabrata Saha, Ph.D., part of our Molecular Radiation Biology team, received a $250,000 AACR-Novocure research grant award from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) for tumor-treating field research. His research project is titled “Evaluating efficacy of TTFields and radiotherapy in preclinical tumor model.” Narasimha Kumar Karanam, Ph.D., recently received AACR-Novocure Career Development award from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), which awards him a three-year grant of $225,000 to study system-level effects through trans-omics approach and to find novel combination therapies together with Tumor-Treating Fields. Xiao Liang, Liyuan Chen, Dan Nguyen, Zhiguo Zhou, Xuejun Gu, Ming Yang, Jing Wang, and Steve Jiang—all part of our Department—were just awarded the Roberts’ Prize for best paper published in the journal of Physics in Medicine and Biology for 2019. Their paper is entitled “Generating synthesized computed tomography (CT) from cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) using CycleGAN for adaptive radiation therapy.” Dr. Kevin Albuquerque, head of our GYN team, to teach part of the 2020 ASTRO Annual Refresher Course in New Orleans March 20-22. UT Southwestern Simmons Cancer Center researchers have developed technology that is spawning a much better form of drug delivery for gene therapy and has achieved a 43 percent increase in the survival of mice with glioblastoma, one of the deadliest forms of human brain cancer. The researchers used specially engineered silicon chips to zap cells and produce a new drug delivery system. The results were published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. Artificial intelligence can help cancer patients start their radiation therapy sooner – and thereby decrease the odds of the cancer spreading – by instantly translating complex clinical data into an optimal plan of attack. Listen to Dr. Asal Rahimi, head of our breast team, talk with KERA's Sam Baker regarding our GammaPod--one of only two in the world currently being used to treat breast cancer. The GammaPod allows us to use a radiation technique that reduces treatment time and can be less toxic. Dr. Robert Timmerman awarded the Patricia and William L. Watson Jr., M.D. Award for Excellence in Clinical Medicine is UT Southwestern’s highest honor in clinical care. Dr. Nina Sanford, part of our GI team, has been chosen as an AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador. IF/THEN's goal is to further advance women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) by empowering current innovators and inspiring future generations! Nina Sanford, M.D., part of our GI team, was recently awarded the Dedman Family Scholar in Clinical Care. The Dedman Foundation established this incredibly generous program to help recruit the most promising early career physicians to UTSW. Carbon ion therapy is similarly precise, but because carbon ions are heavier, they deliver more cancer-killing power than protons do. Carbon centers have reported impressive survival rates, particularly for hard-to-treat bone and soft-tissue cancers such as spinal tumors. E-cigarette use is climbing among cancer patients and cancer survivors, according to a new study by a UT Southwestern Medical Center oncologist. UTSW is now home to cutting-edge breast cancer care. The GammaPod can cut down radiation time from weeks of daily treatment to just a few sessions. Covalent kinase inhibitors, which typically target cysteine residues, represent an important class of clinically relevant compounds. Approximately 215 kinases are known to have potentially targetable cysteines distributed across 18 spatially distinct locations proximal to the ATP-binding pocket. However, only 40 kinases have been covalently targeted, with certain cysteine sites being the primary focus. Members of the Westover lab worked with collaborators to develop a strategy that combines the use of a multi-targeted acrylamide-modified inhibitor, SM1-71, with a suite of complementary chemoproteomic and cellular approaches to identify an additional 23 targetable cysteines. One out of every three U.S. cancer patients uses alternative or complementary therapies, but many keep that info from their doctors, a new study finds. UT Southwestern Medical Center now offers more precise radiation treatments for breast cancer with a new, cutting-edge device that is only the second of its kind in the world. The recipients of the AACR-Novocure Tumor Treating Fields research grants were announced on April 2 at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019 in Atlanta. Rayfield Byrd knows when it’s time to wake up every morning. The 68-year-old Oakland, Cal., resident hears a voice from the living room offering a cheery good morning. Except Byrd lives alone. Osama Mohamad, M.D., one of our senior residents, spent his research year in Japan researching carbon radiotherapy, a form of heavy particle radiation that may be more effective in killing cancer cells and may be associated with less long-term side effects. New data reveals the life expectancy of patients with kidney cancer that’s traveled to the brain has now stretched from months to years. UT Southwestern Kidney Cancer Program investigators report survival rates beyond 2.5 years for some patients with specialized multidisciplinary care. Three-year survival rates hover between 20 and 35 percent, and the rate of keeping the primary tumor from spreading elsewhere isn’t much better. That's until Dr. Robert Timmerman puts them on a new treatment plan. Adding more evidence to the comparison between radiation therapy and surgery in treating an increasingly diagnosed head and neck cancer, a new study by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center found no major long-term differences in the effectiveness of the two therapies. Given these results, investigators suggest quality-of-life factors should help inform a treatment decision. Imagine a future in which the wristband you're wearing can nudge your doctor by indicating you've been in the exam room for half an hour. Or where the clinic is wired for sensors that recognize you when you walk in the door, taking your temperature and blood pressure and recording your height and weight.Far from science fiction, these clinic scenarios are real artificial intelligence (AI) projects currently being developed at UT Southwestern's Medical Artificial Intelligence and Automation (MAIA) Laboratory. For 81-year-old Marilyn Gibson, it was a no-brainer: Would she be interested in having a single dose of radiation to treat her breast cancer instead of the standard, multiple-dose treatment delivered over several weeks? With support from a fiscal year 2015 (FY15) Lung Cancer Research Program (LCRP) New Investigator Idea Development award, Dr. Kenneth Westover studied the interactions between KRAS and potential therapeutic small molecule inhibitors. Sexual function is one of the first things many men think about if they’re diagnosed with prostate cancer. Dr. Neil Desai, Assistant Professor and part of our genitourinary team, is the Principal Investigator of the new POTEN-C trial--a culmination of a decade of research on ways to improve radiation therapy for prostate cancer. The Gamma Knife Icon, located at Zale Lipshy University Hospital, is one of several leading-edge radiation oncology technology systems available at UT Southwestern. Researchers at UT Southwestern’s Simmons Cancer Center have shown that RAS molecules act in pairs, known as dimers, to cause cancer, findings that could help guide them to a treatment. As a preteen in Bombay, India, Dr. Kevin Albuquerque was indelibly impressed by the cancer patients at the hospital where his mother worked – an experience that inspired him to become a doctor. Dr. Kenneth Westover was named one of "44 Faces Representing the Future of Biochemistry" in the January 9 special issue of Biochemistry.Dr. Westover, part of our Radiation Oncology lung team, has a lab that focuses on developing new, targeted cancer therapies. It’s true that kidney cancer doesn’t respond well to conventional, low-dose per treatment radiation therapies. But we’ve found that the disease is sensitive to a type of high-dose per treatment radiation therapy known as stereotactic radiotherapy. New Study Shows Breast Cancer Death Rate Drops Nearly 40 Percent Over A 25-Year Period Dr. Larry Kun is this year’s Memphis Business Journal Health Care Heroes Lifetime Achievement honoree for his 32 years of commitment and innovation at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He joined St. Jude in 1984 to help establish a radiation therapy team that specialized in treating childhood cancer. Under his leadership, that program became one of the country’s most successful pediatric brain tumor programs. In 2013, he was appointed to Clinical Director and Executive Vice President. In 2016, Dr. Kun left St. Jude for Dallas to be closer to family. Soon after, he joined UT Southwestern as Professor and Director of Educational Programs for Radiation Oncology and Professor for Pediatrics. U.S. News & World Report just released its 2017 list of top hospitals. UT Southwestern ranks #1 in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and #2 in Texas. In addition, we nationally ranked in six specialties and are noted as high-performing in four conditions, including cancer. An honor to be recognized! According to the American Brain Tumor Association, there are nearly 700,000 people in the U.S. living with a primary brain and central nervous system tumor, and nearly 17,000 this year will die from it. Glioblastoma represents 14.9 percent of all primary brain tumors and has the highest number of cases of malignant tumors with an estimated 12,390 new cases predicted in 2017. Combination therapy with two immunotherapy drugs produces an unprecedented doubling of response rates from 20 percent to 40 percent, a new study shows. Dallas-based UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only site in Texas selected for a national cancer clinical trial. The Cancer Moonshot trial will focus on finding personal approaches to treat one type of blood cancer. UT Southwestern’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of the nation’s top destinations for patients seeking cancer treatments. Now it has a new radiation oncology building to call home that’s as sterling as its reputation. Dennis and Candace Kothmann, married for 26 years, are hoping a new approach to fighting brain cancer can extend or save Dennis’ life. Mr. Kothmann was diagnosed last fall with glioblastoma, the deadliest form of primary brain cancer. A new strategy for treating brain tumors may extend or save the lives of patients diagnosed with one of the deadliest forms of cancer, according to a study from UT Southwestern Medical Center. UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers recently discovered a new way to reduce breast cancer treatment time. They found that stereotactic partial breast radiation, a non-invasive form of radiation treatment, is just as safe and effective as traditional practices, and only takes days to complete. Currently, UT Southwestern’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only medical center in Texas to offer stereotactic partial breast radiation treatment to early-stage patients. UT Southwestern’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only site in Texas and among only a few in the world to offer this new treatment to early-stage breast cancer patients. Stereotactic partial-breast radiation is delivered with the latest-generation Cyberknife, one of several technologies housed in UT Southwestern’s newly opened Radiation Oncology facility. UT Southwestern’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of the nation’s top destinations for patients seeking cancer treatments. Now it has a new radiation oncology building to call home that’s as sterling as its reputation. UT Southwestern is paving the way for safer and more convenient radiation treatments for brain tumor patients. Doctors are using a new cutting-edge tool that combines precision treatment and increased protection, without the need for halo-style head restraints. UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists have uncovered the chemical process behind anti-cancer properties of a spicy Indian pepper plant called the long pepper, whose suspected medicinal properties date back thousands of years. The new Gamma Knife “Icon” being installed this month at the Annette Simmons Stereotactic Treatment Center at Zale Lipshy University Hospital will be the first in Texas to allow stereotactic radiosurgery without placement of a head frame. Neil Desai, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, has been appointed a Dedman Family Scholar in Clinical Care, an honor that comes with a $600,000, four-year grant. Two other physician-led grants were awarded by the Lupe Murchison Foundation and the Once Upon a Time Foundation. Dr. Raquibul Hannan is interviewed on Cancer Network about stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for advanced kidney cancer. In an interview with OncLive, Puneeth Iyengar, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, explains why dividing the prescribed radiation dose into fewer treatments, with a higher amount of dosage given in each treatment ("hypofractionation"), may benefit patients. Andrei Pugachev, Ph.D., is a new Assistant Professor in our Physics Division, while Heeyoun Bunch, Ph.D., joins the Molecular Radiation Biology Division as an Instructor. Assistant Professor Tony Davis, Ph.D., has been made an independent investigator in the department’s Division of Molecular Radiation Biology. Nhat-Long Pham, M.D., Ph.D., has joined UT Southwestern Radiation Oncology as Assistant Professor and member of the team treating head and neck cancer. With 16 abstracts, seven presentations, and one press briefing, the faculty of UT Southwestern Radiation Oncology will be well-represented at the 50th annual conference of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Combining targeted radiation therapy with a neutrophil stimulant enhances anti-tumor immunity, according to new research into cancer immunology at UT Southwestern Medical Center Zabi Wardak, M.D., has been appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology, joining the team focused on treating central nervous system (CNS) cancer. Michael Folkert, M.D., Ph.D., has been charged with leading the department’s Radiation Oncology Residency Program. Dr. Steve Jiang, Professor and Vice Chair of Radiation Oncology and Chief of the Division of Medical Physics and Engineering, has been awarded $4 million by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to develop new technology to treat lung cancer patients with heavy ions. A total of $9.6 million was awarded to UT Southwestern researchers by CPRIT in the latest round of funding. The Department of Radiation Oncology welcomes two physicians this month to our growing team. Grants totaling more than $2.6 million have been awarded to researchers in medical physics and molecular radiation biology. Nathan Kim, M.D., Ph.D., has joined the faculty of UT Southwestern Radiation Oncology as Assistant Professor and member of the breast cancer team. Department of Radiation Oncology faculty gave invited lectures at the following events recently: Department of Radiation Oncology faculty gave invited lectures at the following events recently: Our heavy ion initiative was highlighted during a national summit on cancer led by Vice President Joe Biden. Kajal Desai, MPA, has joined the Department of Radiation Oncology as Department Administrator overseeing all the academic, financial and HR functions. Assistant Professor Ken Westover, M.D., Ph.D., is featured in this article on developing cancer drugs to act against an elusive target. A five-year study shows that Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) given in five sessions offers a higher cure rate for prostate cancer than more traditional approaches. The Department of Radiation Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center has awarded five, two-year seed grants of $100,000 apiece to Texas researchers to facilitate research related to heavy ion therapy. UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have been awarded $3.6 million in NASA funds to study how space radiation would affect the cancer risk of astronauts taking part in deep space missions to Mars. The results of a national trial evaluating stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) in lung cancer patients too frail to receive surgery were so positive that physicians have opened a multi-institutional trial to directly compare surgery vs. SABR in operable patients. Dr. Robert Timmerman, Professor and Medical Director of Radiation Oncology, explains why treating cancer with a combination of stereotactic radiation and immunotherapy drugs is of increasing interest to researchers, in the wake of former president Jimmy Carter's cancer cure. Investigators in the Department of Radiation Oncology were awarded close to $2.7 million in the latest round of funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to study and treat childhood cancer. UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have developed a classification for cancers caused by KRAS, the most frequently mutated gene in cancer, that could eventually help oncologists choose more effective, customized cancer therapies. UT Southwestern Medical Center cancer researchers are investigating whether an injectable, biodegradable gel can reduce potential side effects from extreme high-dose radiation treatments for prostate cancer. Dr. Aaron Laine and Dr. Neil Desai are the newest clinical faculty members in Radiation Oncology. We welcome the arrival this month of David Sher, M.D., M.P.H., as Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and leader of the department’s head and neck team. Ken Westover, M.D., Ph.D., writes about "The Enzymology of GTP-Competitive RAS Inhibitors" on the National Cancer Institute's RAS blog. UT Southwestern Medical Center Kidney Cancer Program investigators have published what is believed to be the first reported successful use of stereotactic body radiation therapy for an often deadly complication of kidney cancer. Read more. UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers were awarded more than $7.5 million in research grants to improve diagnostic and therapeutic services and research relating to cancers of the brain, breast, throat, and bone, as well as to improve scientific understanding of cancer biology. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health awarded UT Southwestern a $1 million planning grant to establish the country’s first National Center for Heavy Ion Radiation Therapy. The American Medical Association selected Stephen G. Chun, M.D., a radiation oncology resident at UT Southwestern Medical Center, for its top award recognizing research from medicine’s brightest young minds. A clinical trial that combined the two therapy regimens more than doubled survival rates for certain stage 4 lung cancer patients. UT Southwestern Medical Center cancer researchers have found a molecule that selectively and irreversibly interferes with the activity of a mutated cancer gene common in 30 percent of tumors. Medical physicists at UT Southwestern Medical Center are finding new ways to use the speed of video game processors to promote research that is aimed at improving patient care. UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have demonstrated in both cancer cell lines and in mice that blocking critical DNA repair mechanisms could improve the effectiveness of radiation therapy for highly fatal brain tumors called glioblastomas. Stephen Wiley went from being a life-long cowboy to one of the world’s first patients to have vocal cord cancer treated by the CyberKnife, a robot that destroys tumors with highly precise doses of radiation. 
AAPM/COMP Meeting 2020
Dr. Aguilera receives Damon Runyon Award to study emerging immunotherapy
Dr. Aguilera wins funding award
Brock Sishc hired by NASA's Johnson Space Center
Debabrata Saha, Ph.D., receives a $250,000 AACR-Novocure research grant award
Dr. Karanam receives AACR-Novocure Career Development award
Roberts' Prize for best published paper in 2019
Dr. Kevin Albuquerque - ASTRO Annual Refresher Course
UT Southwestern nearly doubles lifespan of mice with brain cancer
AI can jump-start radiation therapy for cancer patients
GammaPod on KERA with Sam Baker and Dr. Asal Rahimi
Dr. Timmerman awarded Patricia and William L. Watson Jr., M.D. Award for Excellence in Clinical Medicine
Dr. Nina Sanford named AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador
Dr. Nina Sanford awarded Dedman Family Scholar in Clinical Care
Why a Promising, Potent Cancer Therapy Isn't Used in the US
E-cigarette use climbing among cancer patients and cancer survivors
New Radiation Technology for Breast Cancer Patients
Leveraging Compound Promiscuity to Identify Targetable Cysteines within the Kinome
Many Cancer Patients Take Alternative Meds But Don't Tell Their Doctors
UT Southwestern's new GammaPod advances breast cancer care
Inaugural AACR-novocure tumor-treating fields research grant recipients announced at AACR annual meeting 2019
Machines treating patients?
Risk of subsequent primary cancers after carbon ion radiotherapy, photon radiotherapy, or surgery for localised prostate cancer: a propensity score-weighted, retrospective, cohort study
Multidisciplinary care improves outcomes of patients with brain metastases
Radiation reimagined
Surgery, radiation therapy equally effective in treating common type of head and neck cancer
Working smarter with AI
Breast cancer radiation treatment reduced to a single dose
Competing for RAS - Understanding KRAS and the Effects of Its Interactions for Potential Lung Adenocarcinoma Treatment
Sex after prostate cancer: Treatment choice matters
New radiation therapy technique aims to preserve sexual function
Fighting cancer with the world's best radiation oncology treatments
Researchers demonstrate RAS dimers are essential for cancer
Albuquerque appointed as first holder of Sharma Professorship
44 Faces Representing the Future of Biochemistry
How we're using high-dose radiation therapy to treat kidney cancer
New Study Shows Breast Cancer Death Rate Drops Nearly 40 Percent Over A 25-Year Period
Dr. Larry Kun - 2017 Memphis Business Journal Health Care Heroes Lifetime Achievement honoree
UTSW receives national recognition
For this cancer patient, hope comes without chemo
Combo immunotherapy may herald new standard of care for kidney cancer
UT Southwestern Cancer Center Only Texas Site Selected For Clinical Trial
A new chapter in radiation oncology
Strategy of Hope: Patients try creative approaches to fight brain cancer
Study: New approach to destroying deadly brain tumors
UT Southwestern Findings Show Stereotactic Radiation Reduces Treatment Time
Introducing a new, faster treatment for early-stage breast cancer
High-tech radiation oncology building opens its doors
UTSW first in Texas to premiere latest Gamma Knife Icon technology
Researchers uncover mechanism for cancer-killing properties of pepper plant
First Gamma Knife Icon in Texas allows frameless treatment option for brain cancer and metastases
Cancer investigators receive major donor-funded grants for combined immunotherapy and radiation research
Role for SABR in metastatic renal cell cancer
Dr. Iyengar on the rationale for treating stage 3 lung cancer with hypofractionated radiation
New faculty members and promotions in Radiation Oncology
New laboratory opens under Davis
Physician joins head and neck cancer team
Radiation Oncology well-represented at ASTRO
Neutrophils are key to harnessing anti-tumor immune response from radiation therapy, study finds
Wardak added to physician team
Residency program director named
Jiang awarded $4m from CPRIT
Physicians join Radiation Oncology
Grants awarded to Radiation Oncology researchers
Nathan Kim, M.D., Ph.D., joins Radiation Oncology
Speaker roundup for July
Speaker roundup for June
Texans want in on cancer "moonshot"
Desai joins Radiation Oncology leadership
Have drug hunters finally cracked KRas?
Research shows 98% cure rate for prostate cancer using Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy
Department makes heavy ion grant awards
NASA awards funds to study effects of space radiation during Mars mission
Surgery vs. SABR: "Stablemates" trial to directly compare treatment in operable cancer patients
Physician discusses stereotactic combination therapy with WFAA/Ch 8
With CPRIT grants, new approaches for pediatric cancer treatment
Researchers develop classification model for cancers caused by most frequently mutated cancer gene
Cancer researchers first in Texas to use new prostate rectal spacer to minimize side effects of SABR radiation treatments
Two physicians added to genitourinary team
New physician joins Radiation Oncology
Westover featured in NCI blog
Physicians pioneer the use of stereotactic body radiation for deadly kidney cancer complication
CPRIT awards faculty $11.5 million for recruitment and research in brain and bone cancer, biology, and immunotherapy
UTSW receives key NCI funding to plan first U.S. Center for Heavy Ion Radiation Therapy Research
Resident wins top award at AMA Research Symposium
Stereotactic body radiation therapy plus chemotherapy improves survival among stage 4 lung cancer patients
Cancer researchers identify irreversible inhibitor for KRAS gene mutation
Video game processors to improve cancer patient care
Blocking DNA repair could improve radiation therapy for brain cancer
Possible world's first: Physicians use CyberKnife to treat vocal cord cancer