Research
Research Programs
Radiobiology and Radiotherapy
Program Members | Research Highlights | Contacts
Radiation therapy is used in the treatment of more than 60% of all cancer patients in the United States. The use of radiation therapy is increasing because recent advances in the field have made radiation treatments even more effective while at the same time reducing side effects on healthy tissue. Advances in radiation therapy have been driven by better knowledge of how cancer cells and healthy cells respond to radiation so that tailored therapies can be devised. Improvements in imaging of tumors, combined with increased precision of radiation treatment machines, also have helped produce improved therapies and better outcomes.
The Radiobiology and Radiotherapy program in the Yale Cancer Center is devoted to making advances in these areas. The program has mounted a broadly based research effort in radiation therapy, radiation biology and radiological physics and related fields of tumor biology, with the long-term goal of improving the results of cancer treatment in general and radiation therapy in particular. It is the intent to have a balanced effort that covers a broad spectrum of activity from the molecular to the clinical level.
Some of the key themes of the program include studies of DNA repair pathways to better elucidate how cancer cells are killed by radiation. This has been a traditional strength of the program; in fact, DNA repair as a biological process was first discovered in this program at Yale. Another major thrust is the investigation of tumor hypoxia. Tumors as they grow have abnormal blood vessels and therefore develop regions of low oxygen. The program has a major focus on the development of hypoxia-targeted cancer therapies in both laboratory-based efforts and in clinical trials. Translational efforts include improvements in radiation dosimetry, tumor imaging, and highly focused radiation delivery.
The program comprises a total of 22 faculty affiliated with six departments and two schools and has attracted substantial peer-reviewed funding from the NIH and elsewhere, in excess of $8 million per year. The program also engages actively in training young physicians and researchers in Radiobiology and Radiotherapy.
Peter M. Glazer, MD, PhD, Program Director, Professor and Chairman of Therapeutic
Radiology; Professor of Genetics
Patrick Sung, PhD, Program Co-Director, Professor of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry
and Therapeutic Radiology
Susan Baserga, MD, PhD, Professor of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry
and Therapeutic Radiology
Douglas Brash, PhD, Professor of Therapeutic Radiology and Genetics
Francesco d’Errico, PhD, Associate Professor of Diagnostic Imaging
Junjie Chen, PhD, Professor of Therapeutic Radiology and Pathology
James Duncan, PhD, Professor of Diagnostic Imaging, Biomedical Engineering
and Electrical Engineering
James Fischer, MD, PhD, Professor of Therapeutic Radiology
Bruce Haffty, MD, Professor (Adjunct) of Therapeutic Radiology
Susan Higgins, MD, Associate Professor of Therapeutic Radiology
Jonathan Knisely, MD, Associate Professor of Therapeutic Radiology
K. Brooks Low, PhD, Professor of Therapeutic Radiology
Meena Moran, MD, Assistant Professor of Therapeutic Radiology
Ravinder Nath, PhD, Professor of Therapeutic Radiology
Richard Peschel, MD, PhD, Professor of Therapeutic Radiology
Kenneth Roberts, MD, Associate Professor of Therapeutic Radiology
Sara Rockwell, PhD, Professor of Therapeutic Radiology and Pharmacology
Yung Son, MD, Professor of Therapeutic Radiology
Patrick Sung, PhD, Professor of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry and Genetics
Joann Sweasy, PhD. Professor of Therapeutic Radiology and Genetics
Joanne Weidhaas, MD, Ph., Assistant Professor of Therapeutic Radiology
Lynn Wilson, MD, MPH, Professor of Therapeutic Radiology
Zhong Yun, PhD, Assistant Professor of Therapeutic Radiology
- Identification of genetic variants associated with microRNAs that predispose to lung cancer and influence therapeutic outcomes (Drs. Weidhaas and Slack).
- Development of novel approaches to correct mutations at the DNA level (Dr. Glazer).
- Identification of a new subset of lung cancer patients who would gain a survival advantage from post-operative radiation therapy, leading to new national recommendations for a revised treatment approach (Drs. Wilson and Detterbeck).
- Clinical trials using agents, such as mitomycin C, designed to target hypoxic tumor cells in head and neck cancers and in cancer of the cervix (Drs. Fischer, Roberts, and others).
- Novel clinical trial in the use of partial breast irradiation for early stage breast cancer (Dr. Weidhaas).
- Discovery that the human DNA polymerase beta plays a role in cell transformation and in carcinogenesis (Drs. Sweasy and DiMaio).
- Discovery of a new cellular complex that plays a key role in cell growth (Dr. Baserga).
- Key discoveries regarding the manner in which cells repair DNA double-strand breaks, the major type of damage produced by radiation in cancer cells (Dr. Sung).
- Identification of new molecules that play critical roles in the cellular pathway associated with the BRCA1 protein, which is associated with hereditary breast cancer (Dr. Chen).
- Elucidation of the function of the BRCA2 protein and associated factors, including some linked to the cancer prone disease, Fanconi anemia (Drs. Sung and Chen).
- Discovery that DNA repair pathways are altered in hypoxic tumor cells, opening up the possibility of developing new therapeutic strategies against cancer cells (Drs. Glazer and Rockwell).
- Discovery that tumor hypoxia inhibits the differentiation of cancer cells (Dr. Yun).
- Studies of how herbal medicines interact with radiation and other conventional therapies (Drs. Higgins and Rockwell).
- Improvements in imaging, dosimetry, and treatment planning for radiation therapy (Drs. Nath and Duncan).
Contacts
Peter M. Glazer, MD, PhD, Program Director
(203) 737-2788
peter.glazer@yale.edu
Patrick Sung, PhD, Program Co-Director
(203) 785-4553
patrick.sung@yale.edu