The symposium attracted representatives from all Fast Neutron Therapy facilities around the world. Seven centers in five countries are delivering FNT. Delegates from centers offering Boron Neutron Capture Therapy in six countries also attended.

Invited speaker Professor Wolfgang Sauerwein of the University Hospital in Essen, Germany, presented work by Jay Burmeister, Ph.D., D.A.B.R., associate professor of the Department of Radiation Oncology for the School of Medicine and chief of Physics for the Karmanos Cancer Center.

That presentation detailed the major technical advances made over the last five years at the Detroit FNT facility, where the possibility of intensity modulated fast neutron therapy (IMNRT) has been developed.

The potential of neutron therapy was demonstrated for prostate cancer treatment, the principal disease treated in Detroit. Dr. Burmeister, who also serves as director of Education in the Department of Radiation Oncology, said that to date almost 1,600 prostate cancer patients have been successfully treated using neutron therapy at WSU.

The work of Michael Snyder, Ph.D., a medical physics resident with the Department of Radiation Oncology at Wayne State University and the Karmanos Cancer Center, on Intensity Modulated Neutron Radiotherapy (IMNRT) vs. 3D Conformal Neutron Radiotherapy also was presented. The results of Dr. Snyder’s study open the possibility of dose escalation for prostate treatment with IMNRT and suggest this new technique might allow neutron therapy to be effective at sites previously restricted by normal tissue toxicities.

Professor Sauerwein also delivered a joint presentation on Boron Neutron Capture Enhancement of Fast Neutron Therapy conducted at Wayne State University and at the Cyclotron Isocentric Neutron Therapy Facility Radiological Centre Essen. The aim of this research is to attempt to capitalize on the potential advantages observed in the use of FNT for the treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme, a highly malignant brain tumor. FNT has been shown to be capable of eradicating GBM, a disease that has proved resistant to all attempts using conventional radiotherapy. The capability of delivering a boron neutron capture boost to provide a 30 percent gain in dose to tumors was demonstrated using currently achievable boron concentrations in the WSU Fast Neutron Therapy beam.

“When you consider the small handful of centers around the world engaged in this type of medicine, it’s clear that the School of Medicine and Karmanos physicians are blazing new trails in cancer treatment,” said Andre A. Konski, M.D., M.B.A., M.A. F.A.C.R., professor and chair of the WSU Department of Radiation Oncology and chief of Radiation Therapy at the Barbara A. Karmanos Cancer Center. “Our facilities are not only a major hub of cancer research, but science that is readily translated into beside practice.”

Space is limited. Please contact Augustine Sharp at sharp@detroitmi.gov or (313) 876-4776 to attend. For more information, call Anita Moncrease, M.D., at (313) 876-4300.

Published by Wiley-Blackwell, the book’s authors include Richard Lewis, M.D., professor and associate chair of the WSU Department of Neurology, and co-director of the Neuromuscular Program and director of the Hiller Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Center; Alex Tselis, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of the WSU Department of Neurology; and Kumar Rajamani, M.D., D.M., assistant professor of the WSU Department of Neurology.

Additional authors include Gregory P. Van Stavern, M.D., director of Neuro-Ophthalmology at Washington University in St. Louis. Mo., and formerly of the WSU Departments of Neurology and Ophthalmology; and Peter Lewitt of Henry Ford Health System and professor of the WSU Department of Neurology.

Daniel Truong, M.D., a former member of the WSU neurology faculty and now head of the Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Institute, Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, Fountain Valley, Calif., served as a co-editor of the textbook.

“The book differs from the usual textbooks of neurology in that it emphasizes how some diseases present differently in different populations, and therefore the authors are drawn from multiple countries and every continent,” Dr. Lisak said. “In the current practice of medicine neurologists in developing countries may be seeing patients from more advanced countries, and just as importantly, those of us in the U.S., Europe, Canada, etc. are seeing patients from developing countries or countries that while developed have very different ethnic/genetic populations, and their disease may present somewhat differently than in the developed Western countries.”

Izabela Podgorski, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the school’s Department of Pharmacology, won a $342,000 Early Career Investigator Health Disparity grant for her three-year project, “Biochemical and Genetic Markers in Aggressiveness and Recurrence of Prostate Cancer: Race-Specific Links to Inflammation and Insulin Resistance.”

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of death for men in the United States. Prostate cancer deaths are more than twice as high among African American men. Dr. Podgorski said that African-Americans are diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier in life and the disease is often in a more aggressive form at the time of diagnosis.

Oddly, there are no significant differences in prognosis between African-American and European-American men when the cancer is diagnosed before spreading to other organs. Yet, when diagnosed in advanced stages, the likelihood the cancer will return is much higher in African-Americans.

Dr. Podgorski noted that while it is likely genetic and environmental factors such as diet and chemical exposure contribute to prostate cancer risk and progression, researchers don’t yet know the reasons for the racial differences in the cancer’s aggressiveness. Recent clinical studies demonstrate that metabolic syndrome -- abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high levels of triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and high fasting glucose – plays a key role in the development of prostate cancer. Men with metabolic syndrome may have more aggressive tumors and be more likely to experience reccurrence after initial surgery.

High blood pressure and obesity are often associated with metabolic syndrome in African-Americans. Among this population, the risk of developing high blood pressure has recently been linked to low levels of a hormone called adiponectin, and high levels of proteins associated with inflammation. Research has also suggested that the distribution of specific forms of adiponectin in blood and not the levels of the total protein are associated with high blood pressure and insulin resistance, indicating biological factors related to metabolic syndrome may play a role in racial disparities in prostate cancer aggressiveness and prognosis.

Dr. Podgorski’s study will search for indicators of prostate cancer in the blood of prostate cancer patients. Those biomarkers may include proteins and genes associated with metabolic syndrome and related conditions such as inflammation, insulin resistance and oxidative stress and which may be responsible for racial differences in prostate cancer aggressiveness and prognosis.

“Overall, these studies will help us understand which factors are responsible for racial differences in prostate cancer risk, progression and responsiveness to treatment,” Dr. Podgorski said. “We expect that these studies will demonstrate that metabolic syndrome-related inflammation, insulin resistance and oxidative stress influence prostate cancer progression in African-American men differently than they do in European-American men.”

The findings, she said, should result in identification of novel biomarkers for the detection and prognosis of aggressive prostate cancer and of biological targets for improved therapy or prevention of aggressive forms of the disease. The study results will provide the basis for future validation of blood indicators as biological targets for improved therapy and prevention of aggressive cancer.

The study will collect blood samples from a large number of African-American and European-American prostate cancer patients recruited for a recently funded study on metabolic syndrome and prostate cancer. Dr. Podgorski will determine the levels of adiponectin in the samples and the levels of 15 proteins associated with inflammation, insulin resistance and oxidative stress in an effort to determine how different forms of adiponectin correlate with the biomarkers and how this relationship predicts cancer aggressiveness and racial differences. She will also, in collaboration with Cathryn Bock, Ph.D., M.P.H., and Jennifer Beebe-Dimmer, Ph.D., M.P.H., both assistant professors of the Department of Internal Medicine and the Karmanos Cancer Institute, study differences in DNA sequences of 34 genes related to inflammation, insulin resistance and oxidative stress to discover how differences predict the risk of aggressive prostate cancer and recurrence in the groups of men.

The project and grant, Dr. Podgorski said, resulted from collaboration with Isaac Powell, M.D., a professor of Urology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and Karmanos Cancer Institute, on his study, “The Influence of Metabolic Syndrome on Prostate Cancer Progression and Risk of Recurrence in African-American and European-American Men,” which was funded last year.

Fazlul H. Sarkar, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Pathology at the School of Medicine and the Karmanos Cancer Center, received a $300,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The award is an expansion of two research grants totaling $3 million funding Dr. Sarkar’s investigation of the role of B-DIM, a small molecule found in leafy vegetables, in pancreatic cancer prevention and treatment.

Pancreatic cancer has one of the worst prognoses of any solid tumor type and is the fourth leading cause of all cancer deaths in the United States. The median survival time is six months after diagnosis, with only 3 percent of those diagnosed surviving five years. The low survival rate has been attributed to the ability of pancreatic cancer cells to grow and spread faster than most other cancers, a phenomenon that makes the disease difficult to treat.

Previous studies by Dr. Sarkar's lab found B-DIM to be a potent inhibitor of the expression of genes known to activate signaling pathways that lead to cancer cell growth, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis and inducing apoptosis. The current study focuses on determining the mechanism by which B-DIM inhibits these pathways and testing the molecule's effectiveness in pancreatic cancer prevention and treatment using two recently developed animal models. The results could aid in designing preventive or therapeutic approaches for saving the lives of pancreatic cancer patients.

"Our lab has shown that B-DIM can significantly inhibit the pathways that are instrumental in the progression of pancreatic cancer," Dr. Sarkar said. "Now we want to better understand the effect of this molecule on several genes essential to cancer progression and elucidate exactly how B-DIM works. The knowledge gained from this study could significantly increase our ability to prevent and treat this very aggressive form of cancer, for which there is no cure."

In addition to his research, Dr. Sarkar was recently selected to serve as an associate editor of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association of Cancer Research. He was also recently chosen as one of 11 senior editors in the country for Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, another AACR journal.

Jeffrey Loeb, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Neurology and Molecular Medicine and Genetics, has been selected as an ambassador of the Hiller’s Good Deeds in the Making program. The program is an effort to raise funds for worthy causes through the sale of prepared foods.

Through Nov. 30, you can purchase Jeff Loeb’s Bowtie Pasta at the prepared foods counter at all seven Hiller’s Markets. All of the profits from the sales of the dish will be donated to the Hiller ALS Center at the School of Medicine.

“I hope that if people like the dish they’ll buy more and more through Nov. 30 so we can send funds to a cause that many know is near and dear to my heart,” said Dr. Loeb, who also serves as associate director of the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics. “The recipe is a great impromptu, no-hassle weeknight dinner or it can be part of your Thanksgiving feast, and the best part is, you’ll help me raise money to keep funding research and treatment for ALS as we work toward a cure.”

The center was established when Jim Hiller, CEO of Hiller’s Markets, pledged $1 million to establish the clinic and research center at WSU in 2007. Hiller’s mother died of complications from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The center focuses on comprehensive team-centered research and patient care while collaborating extensively with other universities and programs which also conduct cutting-edge neuromuscular research.

“I’m honored to be part of a community led by Jim Hiller, who is dedicated to supporting important causes and companies right here in Michigan,” Dr. Loeb said.

The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education is a consortium of colleges and universities committed to making the academic workplace more attractive and equitable for early-career faculty. COACHE gathers diagnostic and comparative data that academic administrators need to recruit, retain and develop tenure-track faculty.

Contact Kelley Skillin in the Provost's Office at ab8939@wayne.edu for further information.

The annual survey was conducted through an e-mail questionnaire between September 2008 and August 2009. Survey respondents were the primary health care decision-makers in approximately 3,975 households in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Livingston, St. Clair and Monroe counties. Based on survey results, the Karmanos Cancer Center was ranked the preferred hospital for cancer care by respondents within the overall seven-county area, as well as by respondents in Detroit’s tri-county area.

“We are honored that southeast Michigan residents continue to make the Karmanos Cancer Center their number one choice for cancer care,” said Ann G. Schwartz, Ph.D., M.P.H., interim president and chief executive officer of the Karmanos Cancer Institute and of the Wayne State University School of Medicine. “Our focus is totally on cancer treatment, research and education. We remain committed to providing the highest quality of care for our patients and offering access to the latest cancer-fighting therapies. Our cancer experts are dedicated, compassionate and relentless in their mission to find the best possible treatments for our patients and to save lives.”

This year’s National Research Corp. survey went to 250,000 households nationwide. The study has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.2 percent at a national level. When looking at why people choose a hospital, the top three reasons were hospital participates in their health plan, reputation and their doctor’s recommendation.

Peter Littrup, M.D., professor of the Department of Radiology and the Karmanos Cancer Institute, and Neb Duric, Ph.D., professor of the Department of Radiation Oncology and the Karmanos Cancer Institute, developed the new technology, called Computerized Ultrasound Risk Evaluation. The technology will be marketed under the name SoftVue through a spinoff company called Delphinus Medical Technologies LCC.

Karmanos officials announced the launch of the new company Nov. 16.

“I’m proud to work with a dedicated team of physicians, scientific researchers and other medical experts who are committed to having a world free of cancer,” said Ann G. Schwartz, Ph.D., M.P.H., interim president and chief executive officer of Karmanos Cancer Institute. “Neb Duric and Peter J. Littrup, as well as their entire research team, never lost sight of the significance of achieving their goal. They continue to work tirelessly so this incredible imaging technology can go beyond the trial stage to benefit more people and help save lives.”

Dr. Littrup designed the ultrasound clinical studies and Dr. Duric is the project director of ultrasound tomography technology.

The SoftVue system is a tomographic ultrasound imaging and risk assessment device that examines women’s breasts for the presence of benign and malignant masses. The process does not involve radiation or compression. Instead, the breast is submerged in warm water and an ultrasound ring surrounds the breast and captures detailed three-dimensional images through the use of sound waves.

The system is also able to perform repeated imaging, a necessary tool for monitoring and treatment assessment. Through its three-dimensional capabilities, SoftVue can accurately measure breast density, a known risk factor for developing breast cancer. The system provides enhanced fusion imaging incorporating reflection, sound speed and sound attenuation information. The detailed images generated allow radiologists to make accurate breast cancer diagnoses. The results are similar to those provided by magnetic resonance imaging, but testing with the SoftVue system takes only minutes and costs much less.

What differentiates the SoftVue system from mammography, the current standard for breast cancer screening, is that this unique technology helps to accurately detect many early stages of breast cancer even in women with dense breast tissue, often not picked up by mammography.

"From a physics perspective, mammograms have the disadvantage of using X-rays, a form of radiation that can potentially damage tissue," Dr. Duric explained. "This is a major reason mammography usage is limited in the general population. It is also the main reason mammography cannot produce 3-D images. The radiation dosage would be too high to image the breast from many different angles. This is why mammography compresses the breast in order to make the breast as two-dimensional as possible, creating the discomfort that comes along with the exam. Our technique does not use X-rays but rather sound waves, which are completely safe at the levels of sound energy that we use. The technology is therefore unconstrained in the way mammography is and that is why we can do 3-D imaging and why we do not have to compress the breast. The exam is therefore both safe and comfortable."

More than 300 women were involved in the initial clinical studies that confirmed that SoftVue accurately and safely identifies breast cancer. SoftVue uses multi-parametric ultrasound and sophisticated computer algorithms rather than X-rays. The SoftVue exam takes about one minute, does not involve radiation or compression as the current mammography, and is a fraction of the cost of magnetic resonance imaging. It’s believed that it will help reduce the number of false positives that can occur with mammography and thereby reduce unnecessary biopsies.

“The work conducted by Dr. Littrup and Dr. Duric in developing this new technology is representative of the type of pioneering research that breaks new ground at the Wayne State University School of Medicine,” said Valerie Parisi, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., interim dean of the School of Medicine. “Our faculty members truly do change the face of medicine regularly. Millions of women around the world will benefit from the research of these doctors.”

Research carried out with the SoftVue product has been conducted under an investigational device exemption. The process to secure approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is under way.

Delphinus -- Latin for dolphin -- symbolizes the use of underwater sound signals representative of SoftVue. The company’s leadership team includes Chief Executive Officer William C. Greenway, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Littrup and Chief Technical Officer Dr. Duric. The company has already secured sale commitments for the SoftVue system from several health institutions nationally and internationally.

Karmanos and Delphinus officials said the new company will create new jobs. Approximately 50 to 100 highly technical engineering system and software positions will be needed within the next three to five years, company officials said. Final assembly, testing and quality assurance of the product will be performed at the company’s facility, which will be located in southeast Michigan.

Delphinus plans to use dealer sales organizations in the United States, as well as imaging original equipment manufacturers outside the U.S., for product distribution. The company will follow up with the introduction of the product for screening women who are at high risk of breast cancer and eventually serve the entire spectrum of breast imaging needs.

Delphinus seeks to raise $5.5 million in venture capital to finance the company’s projected activities for the next 24 to 30 months. For more information on Delphinus visit www.delphinusmt.com or call (313) 576-8252.

A group of Wayne State University School of Medicine students has announced the formation of the Detroit Medical Orchestra, and is seeking additional member musicians from among students, faculty and physicians connected with the school.

Michelle Ubels, a second-year medical student and former professional violinist, said the orchestra may perform two concerts a year.

“I have been discovering in my time here that there are many medical students who are experienced musicians but currently lack an outlet for their musical talent,” Ubels said. “I've realized that we may have enough musicians in the medical field in Detroit to start a medical orchestra -- a group that would allow us to play our instruments and be sensitive to our demanding medical schedules, and one that could foster a meaningful interaction between students, faculty, physicians, residents and other medical personnel.”

Several weeks ago, Ubels sent an e-mail to all the medical students to discover who had music experience. “Within 36 hours I had approximately 40 eager musicians representing almost every instrument in the orchestra,” she said.

She has also engaged a professional conductor from her former conservatory training.

The orchestra will conduct a meet-and-greet meeting Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m. in Room 240 of the Mazurek Medical Education Commons. The meeting will cover logistics such as rehearsal space, a rehearsal schedule, concert venues and a vision for the organization.

The group plans to meet to read music as an ensemble the evening of Dec. 6 or 13.

If you are interested in joining the orchestra, contact Ubels at mubels@med.wayne.edu.

Deepak Prabhakar, M.D., M.P.H., presented “Metro Detroit: Is There a Need to Bail Out the Mentally Ill?” at the conference, held recently in Honolulu, Hawaii. He noted that the correlation between socioeconomic status and the prevalence of mental illness is recognized in existing medical literature. The lower a person's socioeconomic status, the greater his or her chances are of developing mental illness. He examined the rates of mental illness in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

“There is evidence of great socioeconomic disparity among the three counties. It is interesting to see how this disparity correlates with mental illness prevalence in our local community,” Dr. Prabhakar explained. “Wayne County has a higher overall mental illness prevalence as compared to Oakland and Macomb. Wayne County adolescents have a higher mental illness prevalence compared to Oakland and Macomb. Among Wayne County adolescents, minority groups have higher mental illness prevalence as compared to caucasians.

“There is a great disparity in the prevalence of mental illnesses across metropolitan Detroit and it correlates with the existing socioeconomic disparity,” he said. “Adolescents and minorities in particular have worse outcomes.”

Dr. Prabhakar recommended the use of age-appropriate and culturally congruent programs to alleviate disparities, adding that consideration should be given to using economic stimulus funds to address the situation.

“This has the potential of bringing much-needed relief to the adolescent patients of the metropolitan Detroit area and will also help in creating jobs that would eventually become self-sustaining with time.”

Dr. Prabhakar also recently submitted a chapter for a new book, “Community Quality-of-Life Indicators: Best Cases IV,” published by the Society for Quality-of-Life Studies. His chapter is titled “Mental Health Indicator Parity: Integrating National, State, and Local Data.”

The writing grew out of his 2007-2008 stint as project director of the needs assessment component of Project Transform: A North Texas Mental Health Transformation Initiative. That work resulted in the publication of “Epidemiologic Profile: Assessment of Mental Health in Dallas County,” which led the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies to invite him to contribute the chapter.

“Health is a function of the interaction of an individual’s social, genetic and physical environment,” said Dr. Prabhakar, whose area of interest is health care disparities, in particular those among minorities and children and adolescents. “Disparities exist as a consequence of the inequitable distribution of commodities, resources and political capital in American society.”

“Research to Innovation: New Pathways for Faculty Members” is an interactive program on technology commercialization facilitated by a panel of WSU researchers who have “been there and done that.”

Topics include “Why should I care about commercialization?,” “What can I commercialize?,” “What do you mean there's a difference between science, technology and innovation?,” “What’s my role?,” “What is the university’s role?” and “How can I work with industry?”

The session will take place at the School of Medicine in the Margherio Family Conference Center, located in the Mazurek Education Commons, from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

Please register in advance by logging into Pipeline, going to the Employee or Student tab and clicking on the Trainings, Seminars and Workshops button on the far right side of the screen. Scroll down to the Research category, click on the Professional and Academic Development Seminars link and select your session of interest.

In addition, mark your calendar for the next PAD seminar, “Research Education: Teaching and Learning through Research in the Laboratory,” set for Dec. 4.

Since 2007, Wayne State's offices of the Vice President for Research, Graduate School and Provost have sponsored these career development sessions twice monthly from September through June. This year, the School of Medicine’s Office of Faculty Affairs, Human Resources and Professional Development and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs are partnering with those offices to deliver the series.

To view the videos of past seminars, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu/seminars-training/seminar-series.php.

For more information about program, contact Sarah James at sjames@wayne.edu or (313) 577-8997.

By the end of this year, the American Cancer Society estimates, 1,479,350 new cases of cancer will be reported in this country. Karmanos Interim President and CEO Ann G. Schwartz, Ph.D., M.P.H., said approximately 70 percent of all cancers are linked to occupational and environmental causes, including tobacco use and diet, based on information from the National Institutes of Health.

“A medical evidence-based approach will be presented to doctors participating in BCBSM’s Physician Group Incentive Program in early December,” Dr. Schwartz said. “The initiative is being designed to detect cancers and other serious illness resulting from exposure to arsenic and asbestos, two of the state’s most frequently encountered carcinogens.”

The director and author of the initiative, Michael Harbut, M.D., M.P.H., F.C.C.P., chief of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, said that by utilizing existing data that has identified workplace and environmental arsenic and asbestos, “we can determine who is at risk, what preventive care may be recommended and more accurately diagnose and treat those at risk because of the water they drink or air they breathe.” 

Dr. Harbut said Karmanos “will offer this program to physicians to accurately identify who is at risk for disease before symptoms become apparent. It is not unusual for people to be unaware that they have even been exposed to these toxins.”

Asbestos and arsenic have been singled out because their impact continues to take a serious health toll on Michigan residents. Michigan has the nation’s largest arsenic-contaminated water table, located primarily in the southeastern part of the state, and an estimated 300,000 homes with asbestos-contaminated attic insulation.

Even low levels of exposure to asbestos can cause asbestosis – a potentially fatal disease of the lungs – as well as lung cancer and mesothelioma, an extremely aggressive cancer of the covering of the lungs and intestines. Smokers are 50 times more likely to develop lung cancer if they also are exposed to asbestos. In addition, colon cancer has been associated with asbestos exposure. There is a latency period from time of first exposure to clinical identification of disease of 15 to 40 years.

Angelika Burger, Ph.D., director of the Translational Research Laboratory at the Karmanos Cancer Institute and professor of the Department of Pharmacology at the School of Medicine, received the award at the Oct. 28 ceremony. The award recognizes demonstrated leadership in breast cancer research.

“I am honored and deeply touched by receiving the 2009 Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute Heroes of Breast Cancer Scientific Distinction Award,” Dr. Burger said. “This honor motivates me and my team to work even harder on finding and developing new treatments for breast cancer patients.”

Researchers from the School of Medicine, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Cardiff University in Great Britain and the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto collaborated to design a series of compounds based on Disulfiram, typically used to treat alcoholism, and found that one of the compounds was more potent than DSF itself in inhibiting an enzyme that spurs the growth of breast cancers. More than 50 percent of invasive breast cancers have the presence of the enzyme that could be treated by the DSF-derived compound.

Dr. Burger was one of the scientists to present the findings at the 2009 American Association for Cancer Research’s 100th Annual Meeting, highlighting research advancements in the treatment of aggressive forms of breast cancer. Researchers gave an oral presentation about the compounds derived from Disulfiram that could provide viable treatment options for breast cancer patients. Dr. Burger served as principal investigator of the study and doctoral candidate Daniela Buac presented the research.

“DSF is a very safe drug,” said Dr. Burger. “It could be given to cancer patients alone or in combination with standard therapies used to treat breast cancers."