Inside the Tulane Cancer Center Fall 2002 Newsletter

Headlines in this Issue

Female Faculty on the Front Lines in the Cancer Battle New Director of the Office of Clinical Research: Betty Jurisich Fashion Targets Breast Cancer 2002: A Review CAB Welcomes More New Members Former CAB Chair Joins Peace Corps

A Message from the Director
Accolades: Faculty honors and awards

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Index to all archived issues
Index to archived articles by topic
Editorial Staff & Contacts


Female Faculty Explore Frontiers in Cancer Research/Patient Care

The Tulane Cancer Center boasts a world-class faculty at the forefront of cancer research and patient care. Among them are a number of talented female researchers and clinicians who are on the front lines in the fight against cancer.

Barbara S. Beckman, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology
Dr. Beckman is a basic scientist exploring biochemical and molecular interactions within breast and liver cancer cells to better understand the process of natural cell death. According to Dr. Beckman, there are proteins within each cell critical to its survival. These chemicals can inhibit or activate cellular processes, such as cell death, depending on their concentrations and interactions. Dr. Beckman hopes to manipulate these molecules in order to induce a natural cell death within cancer cells. The ultimate goal is to create a sort of natural chemotherapy using the basic chemicals inherent to the cells rather than the toxic, synthetic chemicals introduced through traditional chemotherapy.

Erin E. Boh, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Dermatology
It wouldn't be unusual for the dermatologist to be the first doctor seen by a patient suffering from a cancer other than skin cancer, according to Dr. Boh. That's because internal malignancies often manifest themselves in the skin and are just as often the patient's first indication that there is a problem. This makes the dermatologic oncologist an integral part of the cancer care team at Tulane. In addition to taking care of patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma or malignant melanoma, Dr. Boh also assists the other oncologists in dealing with the adverse cutaneous effects of other cancers or immunosuppressive cancer treatments. It is often the work of the dermatologist, though, that most affects quality of life. "If we can make the patient look better, he or she will feel better and more comfortable," said Dr. Boh.

Melissa G. Brammer, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine: Hematology-Oncology
Although the incidence of cancer in Louisiana is no higher than in any other state, more people die from their cancers here. That's due chiefly to the fact that cancers are being found in late stages, when treatment options are limited, according to Dr. Brammer. In an effort to improve early detection, Dr. Brammer helped to establish the Disease Management Program at Charity Hospital. This program stresses the importance of early detection of cancer to the Charity patient population and to the community as a whole, and has organized intense screening efforts for breast, cervical and prostate cancers. Through a grant from the Komen Foundation, Dr. Brammer, in partnership with Dr. Mary Abell at LSU, has also established a walk-in breast clinic at Charity, where patients can be screened and treated for breast cancer or other breast abnormalities. She hopes to one day develop a similar easy-access clinic for colon cancer as well.

Joan Cheng, M.D., Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chief of Section of Gynecologic Oncology
Dr. Cheng has a saying -- The best chance to cure cancer is the first chance. She believes that initial treatment following diagnosis has the most critical impact on survival. That's why it's important to see a specialist. Dr. Cheng is a specialist in gynecologic oncology, which means she received several years of additional training in order to become an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of female genital tract cancers. Not many women know this subspecialty area exists, and yet it can be critical to their cancer care. Dr. Cheng is also very involved in clinical research; about 90% of her patients eligible for clinical trials enroll in studies. She feels this is due mostly to the trust she is able to build. She and the other members of the gynecologic oncology team follow each patient from diagnosis through to treatment or surgery and then rehabilitation. This team approach to continuity of care makes all the difference.

Odile David, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pathology
In an academic cancer center like Tulane's, patients benefit from the interaction between clinicians and basic scientists. It is the role of the pathologist, according to Dr. David, to fill the gap between the two. Access to and study of human tissue allow her a unique perspective. For the individual patient with immediate needs, her role is to help the clinicians confirm their diagnoses so they can plan appropriate treatments. For patients still to come, her role is to drive the development of targeted patient-specific therapies by providing basic scientists with information about cancer in the microenvironment of the human body. Every cancer she sees is different, and she has come to believe that these differences may be accounted for in part by differences in patterns of protein expression by tumor cells and apparently normal surrounding tissue. These patterns must be studied human tumor by human tumor if truly effective therapies are to be developed in research and pharmaceutical company laboratories.

Melanie Ehrlich, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry
Most cancers are not inherited, according to Dr. Ehrlich. Instead, they are the result of spontaneous or environmentally induced genetic changes (mutations or rearrangements in genes) or epigenetic changes (alterations not affecting the sequence of the genetic code). These changes alter the normal amounts or the structure of gene products leading to uncontrolled growth of tumors. A very large percentage of the spontaneous chromosomal changes that lead to cancer are the result of abnormalities in a natural and necessary cellular process known as DNA methylation. Dr. Ehrlich's lab was one of the two labs which pioneered this field of study as it relates to cancer in 1983. Today, many biotech companies are looking at DNA methylation in an effort to improve cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Dr. Ehrlich envisions the eventual development of highly individualized cancer drugs that will specifically target the altered genes within each patient after automated analysis of improper DNA methylation and of mutations.

Renee S. Hartz, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Surgery
Although other types of cancer receive more media attention, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the United States. Tulane's lung cancer patients have an advantage. At the weekly meetings of the Lung Cancer Tumor Board, there is active discussion by a roomful of experts regarding every lung cancer patient cared for by Tulane Cancer Center physicians. Pathologists, radiologists, oncologists, surgeons and a host of other medical specialists discuss each patient's case individually and plan together the proper course of action. As a surgeon and an integral member of Tulane's Lung Cancer Program, Dr. Hartz is especially proud to offer her patients this level of multidisciplinary care. She is also excited to be able to offer a new diagnostic tool, PET (positron emission tomography) scanning -- a whole body scan that can pinpoint the location of some tumors in the body. According to Dr. Hartz, PET scans can be helpful for the staging of lung cancer, minimizing the number of biopsies needed so the patient can proceed more rapidly to appropriate treatment.

Laura S. Levy, Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Dr. Levy's research could answer many questions about the development of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in AIDS patients. Although AIDS patients often suffer from a number of malignancies, they have a 100-fold greater risk of developing this rapidly fatal disease. Dr. Levy's lab is able to predictably and controllably induce SAIDS, the monkey equivalent of AIDS, in Rhesus monkeys, which then develop the lymphoma as well. The data she gathers could identify predictors of this type of lymphoma long before the disease is evident.

Marta K. Rozans, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics: Hematology-Oncology
At Tulane, pediatric oncology includes more than just taking care of children who are extremely ill. "We try to take care of the children and their families," said Dr. Rozans. "The welfare of each child we see is highly dependent upon the status of his or her parents, and so our team focuses on the family as a unit." Dr. Cookie (as she is known to her young patients) is an eternal optimist. "I have the greatest job in the world. I get to make terrible situations tolerable. Most children with cancer do get cured. They get to grow up, get married, and have children of their own." One thing Dr. Rozans is especially proud of is the fact that so many of her patients enter clinical trials. She describes this as the "standard of care" for children with cancer. "I can't imagine not entering these patients into trials," said Dr. Rozans. "It provides them with access to the most recent treatment options while improving our understanding of pediatric cancers at the same time."

Hana Safah, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of Bone Marrow Transplant
Tulane's Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) program goes a step beyond. "We don't just do what's being done at other centers; we create our own clinical studies hoping to improve upon the science so we can offer our patients a treatment spectrum," said Dr. Safah. Tulane's BMT program offers both adult and pediatric patients with hematologic malignancies or benign hematologic diseases autologous and allogeneic transplants with high-dose chemotherapy. Tulane's program can also harvest and store healthy bone marrow from patients who are in remission for later use in case of relapse. Only 25% of patients needing a bone marrow transplant are able to find suitable donors. Tulane's program is exploring new avenues for the collection and use of stem cells in order to expand the chances for donor matches for some patients, especially children.

Ellen L. Zakris, M.D., Associate Professor of Radiology, Chief of Radiation Oncology
Dr. Zakris is head of a radiation oncology team offering Tulane's patients technology on the cutting edge of radiation therapy. Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) allows for much more precise targeting of the tumor, sparing irradiation of healthy tissues surrounding the cancerous cells. This can eliminate skin burns, so often a side effect of radiation, as well as coincidental irradiation of major organs such as the heart and lungs. Dr. Zakris is also pleased to offer breast cancer patients a brand new way to deliver brachytherapy with a MammoSite¨, which renders an accelerated dose of radiation directly to the site of a lumpectomy through a balloon catheter. This new technique shortens the course of treatment from 6 weeks to just one.

Congratulations to Betty S. Jurisich, RN, BSN, OCN
Newly named Director of the Office of Clinical Research
The faculty and staff of the Tulane Cancer Center would like to congratulate Betty S. Jurisich, RN, BSN, OCN, on her recent promotion as Director of the Office of Clinical Research. Betty graduated from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing in December 1996 and started working at Tulane University Hospital and Clinic soon afterward. However, nursing was not her original calling. Betty and her husband ran their own specialty food manufacturing and distribution business for over ten years before Betty went to nursing school. "The premature death of a very dear friend from breast cancer was a life-changing event for me," said Betty. It drew her to the field of oncology nursing. "There are too many lives needlessly lost to cancer. I wanted to try to make a difference." Betty channels much of her energy into community outreach events, where she educates the public about cancer prevention, screening, and early detection. She is currently working toward her Masters of Public Health Degree at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. As new director of the Office of Clinical Research, she hopes to increase participation in clinical trials at Tulane by marketing the program to referring community physicians and our ACCTION network affiliate sites. She also plans to work with Tulane's in-house physicians on increasing the number of investigator-initiated trials here. Her eventual goal is to move in the direction of web-based protocols.

Community Advisory Board
Tulane Cancer Center Welcomes Three New Community Advisory Board Members
The faculty and staff of the Tulane Cancer Center are pleased to welcome three new members to the Community Advisory Board (CAB):
Diana Bajoie,
Jacquelyn Clarkson, and
Ana Gershanik

State Senator Diana Bajoie
State Senator Diana Bajoie is currently in her fifth term in the Louisiana Senate, serving as chair of the Senate Committee on Local and Municipal Affairs and vice chair of the Senate Committee on Finance. She also serves on the Senate Health & Welfare Committee and on the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. Before being elected to the State Senate, Bajoie served four terms in the State House of Representatives from 1976 - 1991. In fact, she has earned the distinction of serving longer than any other woman in the history of the Louisiana State Legislature. As the first African-American woman elected to the Louisiana State Senate, Senator Bajoie can be proud of her many accomplishments. She has sponsored bills mandating the coverage of clinical trials and other cancer-related legislation that puts Louisiana ahead of most states. Senator Bajoie was instrumental in the passage of the tobacco tax increase providing funding for the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium of New Orleans this summer. She is also responsible for the creation of school-based health clinics and the Minority Health Care Council. Before joining politics, Senator Bajoie was a self-employed business woman and adult educator. She is also a political and marketing consultant and a graduate of Southern University. Senator Bajoie is founder and past chair of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus and also a founder and former chair of the Louisiana Legislative Women's Caucus. She is currently president of the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women (NOBEL) and former chair of the Human Resources and Public Safety Committee for the Southern Legislative Conference.

New Orleans City Council Member Jacquelyn Clarkson
For New Orleans City Council Member Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson, public service is a family tradition. She is the second of four children born to Sophie and Johnny Brechtel, legendary football coach and founder of NORD. In 1953, Council Member Clarkson married Arthur "Buzz" Clarkson, the son of the Commanding Officer of the Algiers Naval Station, and together they had five daughters. After raising her family, she managed to become one of the state's leading real estate professionals. Council Member Clarkson served on the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra Advisory Board, the New Orleans Museum of Art Board of Trustees, and the University of New Orleans Board for Higher Education. She is also a founding Board Member of the National D-Day Museum. Thirteen years ago, Ms. Clarkson became the first woman elected to represent District C on the New Orleans City Council. As a Council Member, she created a neighborhood cabinet to seek input from people throughout the community, revitalized NORD, strengthened police patrols in the French Quarter, and worked with neighborhood activists to preserve our heritage and culture. An alumna of Tulane University, she became State Representative Clarkson in 1994, concentrating her energy and passion in Baton Rouge, where she was instrumental in drafting legislation to protect public health, improve education, prevent domestic violence, strengthen economic development, fight crime, care for the elderly and children, and reform government. Among the groundbreaking legislative reforms she championed in the healthcare arena are laws which prevent health insurance carriers from denying coverage based on the results of genetic testing, legislation mandating health insurers to cover the medical costs of cancer clinical trials, and a bill which allows women to get mammograms without referrals from their primary care physicians. An ardent supporter of academic partnerships between Tulane and LSU, Council Member Clarkson helped to foster the Tulane/LSU Center for Gene Therapy and is an outspoken proponent of the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium. Today, she once again represents District C on the New Orleans City Council.

Ana Gershanik
Ana writes a weekly column, Nuestro Pueblo, for the Times-Picayune, and has received many professional awards. In 1994, the New Orleans Chapter of Professional Women in Communications awarded her the Helicon Achievement Award for merit in her work as a columnist. She also received the Aqui New Orleans Aplauso Award in 1993 and the Que Pasa New Orleans Award in 1994 for outstanding work in the field of communications. Originally from Argentina, Ana is married to New Orleans neonatologist Dr. Juan Gershanik. They have three children and have lived in New Orleans since 1979. In addition to professional commendations, Ana has been the recipient of numerous community service awards. In 1981, she was named one of the Outstanding Young Women of America. She was recognized as a Role Model by the Young Leadership Council in 1997 and again by the YWCA in 2000. Also in 1997, Ana was listed by the Family Service of Greater New Orleans as one of Ten Outstanding Persons. She serves on the boards of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, the Louisiana Children's Museum, the New Orleans International Ballet Conference and Young Audiences. She is past chair of the Tulane University Medical Center Chancellor's Council and serves on CADA's (Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse) Hispanic Advisory Committee. She is a member of the Community Advisory Board of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Loyola University Visiting Music Committee, and advisory committees to the Tennessee Williams Festival, Tulane-Xavier National Center of Excellence in Women's Health, the University of New Orleans Latin American and Caribbean Studies Council and WLAE. She is also a founder of the United Way Women's Leadership Initiative and a member of the United Way's Marketing Committee. As a consultant in arts education, Ana developed music enrichment programs for Caddo Parish Schools and for schools in the New Orleans area. Ana is also an active and talented singer, who has performed with the Coro Estable de Rosario, the Shreveport Gilbert and Sullivan Society, the New Orleans Symphony Chorus and various theatrical productions.



CAB Member, Wife Join Peace Corps
Retirement is a time for doing all those things you've been putting off during your working years. For some, it means an opportunity to travel, golf, or even start a business. For Sam and Noelle LeBlanc it means joining the Peace Corps, a dream they've shared since getting married in 1961. A partner at Adams and Reese law firm and Community Advisory Board member and past chair, Sam LeBlanc and his wife Noelle will depart for Romania in February 2003, to begin a two-year stint as Peace Corps volunteers. While there, Sam, who practices environmental law, will advise non-governmental entities on environmental problems, and Noelle will assist non-governmental organizations that provide health, youth and social services. "Joining the Peace Corps has been on our minds from time to time for many years but we put it on the back burner while pursuing our careers and raising our family," said LeBlanc. "Now, with the careers being long established and the kids all grown up, it's time to revisit our dream and have it become a reality. Noelle and I have been involved in many community activities. We decided to widen the concept of 'community' to a larger one. The Peace Corps is a phenomenal organization with arms stretched around the world. Its mission of peace and helping mankind allows the world the opportunity to put a face and heart with the name AMERICA. Noelle and I are so very proud, thankful and humbled by the opportunity to serve in such a great organization." The faculty and staff of the Tulane Cancer Center commend Sam and Noelle LeBlanc on their voluntarism and wish them all the best as they make their dream come true in Romania.


Sam and Noelle Leblanc

A Message from the Director
Roy S. Weiner, M.D.
Director of the Tulane Cancer Center

The beginning of the academic year brought tangible progress to our new partnership with LSU. We have begun joint recruitment efforts to add new and productive scientific programs to the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium, and we hope these efforts will bear fruit and add new faculty in the next few months. To accommodate our growth, we are also soliciting proposals from architects and planners for the new Consortium building that will rise on Tulane Avenue, hopefully in the next two years. Over the next five years we hope to double our NIH-funded cancer research and shift the bulk of that funding to National Cancer Institute-sponsored research. This is an aggressive goal that will stretch the capacity of every segment of both universities. The goal is worth the stretch. To guide us, Dr. Oliver Sartor and I have begun to select a new External Scientific Advisory Board (ESAB). This panel of internationally recognized leaders will provide feedback to both the Cancer Consortium directors and the senior leadership of both institutions. Dr. Harold Moses, director of the Vanderbilt Cancer Center and chairman of the NCI's Cancer Center Review Board, has agreed to chair our ESAB. The other members are now being invited to serve, and the first meeting is scheduled for March 17, 2003.

This issue of Inside the Tulane Cancer Center celebrates outstanding women involved in cancer research and treatment at Tulane. I hope you enjoy reading about the dynamic contributions each of the eleven highlighted female faculty members has made in the fight against cancer. The article about our new Community Advisory Board (CAB) members introduces three outstanding community leaders, who, along with the other members of CAB, will help guide the Tulane Cancer Center in the pursuit of its vision and mission in 2003 and beyond. Enjoy reading also about our successful partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue and the wonderful Fashion Targets Breast Cancer event that Ann Williams and Pam Ryan co-chaired on our behalf.

With the approach of the holiday season, our faculty and staff will do their part again this year by participating in a "giving alternative." Once again, we will acknowledge gifts of $5.00 or more to our Patient Relief Fund in honor of friends, family, and colleagues at work. This fund helps our patients meet unexpected expenses, such as lodging and transportation, associated with their care at Tulane. Our Patient Relief Fund is frequently the only source available to our social worker to solve an urgent problem for our patients. This is truly a gift that gives. We wish you all a happy holiday season and a new year of health and fulfillment!

Inside the Tulane Cancer Center is a quarterly publication of the Tulane Cancer Center, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans.
Executive Editor: Roy S. Weiner, M.D., Editor: Melanie N. Cross, Art Director: Kathy O. Barbazon

Address inquiries regarding this newsletter to: Melanie N. Cross
(504) 988-6592, fax (504) 988-6077, mcross@tulane.edu

To inquire about cancer research and treatment programs at Tulane
please call one of these toll-free numbers:
(800) 588-5300 (Physicians) 24 hours a day
(800) 588-5800 (Patients and others) 8:00 am to 8:00 pm US Central Time
Tulane University Hospital & Clinic (http://www.tulanehospital.com)

Tulane Cancer Center
http://www.som.tulane.edu/cancer or http://www.canceriscurable.com
Box SL-68, 1430 Tulane Ave., New Orleans, Louisiana 70122-2699
(504) 988-6060, fax (504) 988-6077

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