I. Bernard Weinstein. M.D.
Columbia University
New York
Treating and preventing cancer by attacking the cell cycle of cancer cellsI
Until recently the approaches to cancer prevention and therapy occurred mainly through trial and error. But through basic research, scientists are acquiring a detailed understanding of why cancer cells grow and behave abnormally. With this understanding, scientists can now design therapies that are aimed squarely at the molecules research has shown to play a critical role in cancer cells, such as the cell cycle control proteins cyclin D1 and p27.
NFCR Fellow Expertise
Dr. Weinstein is a professor of genetics and development and public health at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center of Columbia University in New York City. The Frobe Jensen Professor of Medicine at Columbia, he is the leading expert on cancer causation and cancer prevention. Dr. Weinstein has served on numerous national and international advisory committees concerned with cancer research, has lectured at numerous national and international conferences, and has published more than 500 scientific papers. His areas of research include cellular and molecular biology of cancer, abnormalities in signal transduction and cell cycle control in human cancer, molecular epidemiology, and cancer chemoprevention.
NFCR Research Overview
When cells divide and multiply they go through a clock-like mechanism called the cell cycle. One of the genes that plays a critical role in controlling the cell cycle is called cyclin D1. Dr. Weinstein has found that several human cancers express increased amounts of cyclin D1, including cancers of the breast, prostate, esophagus, stomach, and colon. In fact, cyclin D1 is one of the most frequent abnormalities found in human cancer.
NFCR Research Findings
In the laboratory Dr. Weinstein found that through genetic engineering, if he forces normal cells to express high levels of cyclin D1, it enhances their growth. On the other hand, he demonstrated that if he reduced the expression of cyclin D1 in human cancer cells, they revert towards normal and lose their tumorigenicity. These results suggest a novel strategy for cancer prevention and treatment could result from developing drugs that inhibit the function of cyclin D1.
Dr. Weinstein also has performed detailed research on a gene called p27 which normally inhibits the cell cycle. He has found that increased expression of this gene inhibits the growth of cancer cells and enhances their differentiation.
Future Research Goals
By examining a large number of human tumors for both cyclin D1 and p27, Dr. Weinstein has concluded that cancer cells often maintain an abnormal balance in the levels of expression of these two factors. This and other findings suggest abnormalities in the circuitry within cancer cells that control growth, and he is now working to apply these findings to more effective strategies for cancer prevention and therapy by developing drugs that would cause tumor cells to decrease their expression of cyclin D1 and increase their expression of p27.
Impact on Cancer Prevention, Treatment, or Cure
Dr. Weinstein has made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the molecular actions taken by carcinogens during the multiple-step process that culminates in cancer. His research has led to new approaches for identifying the origins of human cancer. He also had made major contributions related to the mechanisms of action found in tumor promoters. Dr. Weinstein's work has wide-ranging implications for developing more effective ways to both prevent and treat cancer.
Dr. Weinstein has made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the molecular actions taken by carcinogens during the multiple-step process that culminates in cancer. His research has led to new approaches for identifying the origins of human cancer. He also had made major contributions related to the mechanisms of action found in tumor promoters. Dr. Weinstein's work has wide-ranging implications for developing more effective ways to both prevent and treat cancer.
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