Introducing Summer 2024 Breakthroughs

Published

A woman in a pink jogging suit with her hands outstretched in front of cherry trees.

Creating Hope

It is likely that you or someone you care about is affected by cancer; one in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. In this issue of Breakthroughs, you will see just a few of the faces of people who are bravely taking on cancer with the help of Duke Cancer Institute. We were one of the first centers in the country to treat the whole person, not just their cancer, and we continue to break new ground in support services for our patients and their families. Our Supportive Care and Survivorship Center partnered with Duke University Communications to bring you the Many Faces of Cancer photo essay featured on the cover.

In this issue you’ll also read about the dedicated team that helps thousands of people at Duke and beyond reduce their dependence on tobacco, all the while contributing to the science that lies behind the newest treatments.

And you will find an inspiring story of hope about a mother and physician who is benefiting from a new combination treatment for people with bladder cancer and other urothelial cancers. Our physician-scientists played a role in taking this treatment to trial. This is just one example of how DCI is rewriting the narrative for patients who previously had few options.

None of this progress would be possible without you. The dedication of our donors and friends motivates us to continue pushing forward to discover, develop, and deliver tomorrow’s cancer care…today. Thank you for all that you do.

Michael Kastan signature

 

Michael B. Kastan, MD, PhD
Executive Director, Duke Cancer Institute
William and Jane Shingleton Professor, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Professor of Pediatrics

Three family members looking at the camera thoughtfully and embracing.
Clifford Chieffo, Patricia. Chieffo, and Nina Chieffo, Cary, NC.

Faces of Cancer

A photo essay from Duke University photographer Jared Lazarus.

Read Now
Bottom a family of four smiles and laughs at an outdoor table playing a game.
Talia Aron at home with her husband, Chad, and daughters Lily and Abigail. (Photo by Eamon Queeney.)

New Hope

An emerging treatment for bladder cancer helps a mom when she needs it most.

Read Now
Three women in business casual clothing talking and smiling.
Physician assistant Bolu Abe-Lathan, PA-C; program manager Jillian Dirkes, MSW, LCSW; and clinical social worker Megan Keith, LCSW, MSW, are part of the Duke team that helps more than 6,000 people each year quit tobacco. (Photo by Eamon Queeney.)

Quit at Duke

This team helps thousands beat tobacco addiction.

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Two men in lab coats facing the camera and smiling.
Lead study author Michael P. Plebanek, PhD, and senior study author Brent A. Hanks, MD, PhD. (Photo by Eamon Queeney.)

How Tumors Hijack the Body's Immune System

A step forward in understanding why some cancers don't respond to immunotherapy.

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Related News

A family and their two dogs smiling on a couch.
Cancer survivor Iris Bugbee with her husband, Greg, daughter Mila, and corgis, Candi and Charli, at her home in Fuquay Varina in 2024. Bugbee participated in a clinical trial aimed at helping young adults battling cancer learn strategies to ease their post-treatment symptom burden through things like mindfulness and physical activity. Photo by Eamon Queeney/Duke University School of Medicine.
Article

Helping Young Adults Move Forward after Cancer

Being diagnosed with cancer and going through treatment isn’t easy for anyone. For people diagnosed as young adults (ages 18-39), the experience comes with some unique challenges.“This is an age of transition,” said Caroline Dorfman, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Duke Cancer Institute. People in this age group are often in the midst of reaching milestones such as graduation, landing a job, building a friend group, getting married, and having children, she said. “One of the things we hear from our patients,” she said, “is that the cancer diagnosis stops them in their tracks from being able to move forward on life milestones.”Even after treatment ends, life doesn’t suddenly switch back to normal. Physical symptoms like pain and fatigue can linger, and emotional distress is common during the post-treatment period. Multiple follow-up appointments can present financial and logistical difficulties as well as emotional reminders of cancer.“Sometimes they just want the cancer behind them and to get back to doing what matters to them,” Dorfman said. “The trouble is that when they are in the midst of treatment, they are just trying to get through it, and they don’t stop to process the experience.”That emotional processing often happens after the last chemo treatment or radiation session.To support young adults during this vulnerable period, Dorfman has designed a 10-week program that aims to give them the tools they need to navigate physical and emotional symptoms and learn how to successfully manage their new lives as cancer survivors.

Duke Cancer Institute Blog
A womans wearing blue gloves holds up a vial under a fume hood.
Duke's PRIME-PREP Program helped Gabriella Torres get the research experience she needed to become a PhD student in the Duke University Department of Integrative Immunobiology.
Article

Filling in the Gaps

When Gabriella Torres was eight, she needed steroids to control asthma and allergies. Then her allergist recommended she take up swimming, and it helped. When she was nine, her younger brother was diagnosed with leukemia. He was treated and recovered. But watching him go through that left an impression.As she got older, Torres had nothing but questions. Why did swimming improve her asthma? Why did her brother get so sick? And why did treatment work for him when it doesn’t for so many other children?Torres was driven to find the answers. In college at New York University, she thought about becoming a pediatric oncologist; she pursued research experiences recommended for students interested in medicine. But then during her junior year an internship at a pharmaceutical company got her interested in pursuing a PhD. “I had never heard of getting a PhD before that,” said Torres, who is from New York City, where her parents are chefs. “But I was able to see that I could use my love of thinking critically about problems long term but still work on a project that relates directly to helping people.”Torres was on the swim team in college and spent much of her free time training. But she got as much research experience as she could, then applied to the integrative immunobiology PhD program at Duke University School of Medicine in 2023.Torres didn’t get in. Her goal of becoming a scientist could have ended there. Instead, she received a call from Johnna Frierson, PhD, associate dean of equity, diversity, and inclusion for the basic sciences at the School of Medicine, asking her if she’d be interested in applying for Duke’s PRIME PREP Program, which provides a year of research experience to recent undergraduates.Torres interviewed for PRIME PREP and got in, then she spent time at Duke conducting research in the lab of Stacy Horner, PhD, associate professor in integrative immunobiology.

Duke Cancer Institute Blog

Related News

A family and their two dogs smiling on a couch.
Cancer survivor Iris Bugbee with her husband, Greg, daughter Mila, and corgis, Candi and Charli, at her home in Fuquay Varina in 2024. Bugbee participated in a clinical trial aimed at helping young adults battling cancer learn strategies to ease their post-treatment symptom burden through things like mindfulness and physical activity. Photo by Eamon Queeney/Duke University School of Medicine.
Article

Helping Young Adults Move Forward after Cancer

Being diagnosed with cancer and going through treatment isn’t easy for anyone. For people diagnosed as young adults (ages 18-39), the experience comes with some unique challenges.“This is an age of transition,” said Caroline Dorfman, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Duke Cancer Institute. People in this age group are often in the midst of reaching milestones such as graduation, landing a job, building a friend group, getting married, and having children, she said. “One of the things we hear from our patients,” she said, “is that the cancer diagnosis stops them in their tracks from being able to move forward on life milestones.”Even after treatment ends, life doesn’t suddenly switch back to normal. Physical symptoms like pain and fatigue can linger, and emotional distress is common during the post-treatment period. Multiple follow-up appointments can present financial and logistical difficulties as well as emotional reminders of cancer.“Sometimes they just want the cancer behind them and to get back to doing what matters to them,” Dorfman said. “The trouble is that when they are in the midst of treatment, they are just trying to get through it, and they don’t stop to process the experience.”That emotional processing often happens after the last chemo treatment or radiation session.To support young adults during this vulnerable period, Dorfman has designed a 10-week program that aims to give them the tools they need to navigate physical and emotional symptoms and learn how to successfully manage their new lives as cancer survivors.

Duke Cancer Institute Blog
A womans wearing blue gloves holds up a vial under a fume hood.
Duke's PRIME-PREP Program helped Gabriella Torres get the research experience she needed to become a PhD student in the Duke University Department of Integrative Immunobiology.
Article

Filling in the Gaps

When Gabriella Torres was eight, she needed steroids to control asthma and allergies. Then her allergist recommended she take up swimming, and it helped. When she was nine, her younger brother was diagnosed with leukemia. He was treated and recovered. But watching him go through that left an impression.As she got older, Torres had nothing but questions. Why did swimming improve her asthma? Why did her brother get so sick? And why did treatment work for him when it doesn’t for so many other children?Torres was driven to find the answers. In college at New York University, she thought about becoming a pediatric oncologist; she pursued research experiences recommended for students interested in medicine. But then during her junior year an internship at a pharmaceutical company got her interested in pursuing a PhD. “I had never heard of getting a PhD before that,” said Torres, who is from New York City, where her parents are chefs. “But I was able to see that I could use my love of thinking critically about problems long term but still work on a project that relates directly to helping people.”Torres was on the swim team in college and spent much of her free time training. But she got as much research experience as she could, then applied to the integrative immunobiology PhD program at Duke University School of Medicine in 2023.Torres didn’t get in. Her goal of becoming a scientist could have ended there. Instead, she received a call from Johnna Frierson, PhD, associate dean of equity, diversity, and inclusion for the basic sciences at the School of Medicine, asking her if she’d be interested in applying for Duke’s PRIME PREP Program, which provides a year of research experience to recent undergraduates.Torres interviewed for PRIME PREP and got in, then she spent time at Duke conducting research in the lab of Stacy Horner, PhD, associate professor in integrative immunobiology.

Duke Cancer Institute Blog