Duke Cancer Institute Logo Article

George Named a Fellow of ASCO

Daniel George, MD, Duke Cancer Institute professor and director of DCI’s Genitourinary Cancer program, has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO), ASCO announced last week in a press release introducing the 2021 FASCO class and presenting other special awards. Thomas Leblanc, MD, MA, MHS, FAAHPM, DCI clinical hematologic malignancies specialist and palliative care physician, was also named a Fellow of ASCO (READ).The FASCO distinction recognizes ASCO members for their extraordinary volunteer service, dedication, and commitment to ASCO.George, who co-leads the DCI Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers and the Patierno/George/Freedman Lab for Cancer Research, is an internationally recognized clinical oncologist, researcher and thought leader in genitourinary malignancies — specializing in kidney cancer and prostate cancer. His areas of research include improved treatment modalities, the development of new drugs, and the identification of biomarkers in GU cancers with an emphasis on the biological drivers of cancer disparities. He’s the author of more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, including several reviews and position papers on GU cancer disparities.George is a tenured professor (since 2015) in the Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, at the Duke University School of Medicine. He received both his BS (1988) and his MD (1992) at Duke and did his residency and fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. George joined the DCI faculty in 2003 from Harvard University Medical School's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he was an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine.George has been a member of ASCO since 2003. His roles with ASCO have included serving on the Scientific Committee for the Genitourinary Cancer Symposium for three years; serving twice on the ASCO Scientific Program Committee (two three-year terms); serving one three-year term as leader of the Scientific Program Committee GU (Non-prostate) Cancer Track; and serving two three-year terms on the Conquer Cancer Foundation grants review committee, including one as chair. He has also, as a volunteer, led GU fellows on poster walks and has volunteered at mentorship luncheons.Most recently (since 2019), George has been serving as a member of the ASCO Research Priorities Decision Group.In addition to ASCO, George has served in a leadership or membership capacity in various other cancer-focused national committees and organizations, including serving on the NCI (National Cancer Institute) Renal Task Force (2012) and the NCI Genitourinary Cancers Steering Committee (2014).George is currently the scientific leader for kidney cancer in the Alliance Cooperative Group (since 2011) and serves on Alliance’s GU scientific committee. He’s been a member of the Advisory Board of the Kidney Cancer Association since 2005, a member of the Scientific Oversight Committee of the Prostate Cancer Clinical Consortium since 2007, a member of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Program RCC Cancer Immunotherapy Guideline Committee (SITC RCC CIG) since 2018, and a member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Cancer Health Disparities Research Scientific Review Committee since 2019.In addition, he currently serves as senior editor for AACR’s journal, Clinical Cancer Research, and as co-editor in chief of Clinical Advances in Hematology and Oncology.

Duke Cancer Institute Blog

9/11 First Responder Kicks Off Prostate Cancer FUNdraiser

man in backwards baseball cap gets his mustache shaved by woman holding razor to his face
Retired New York City Police Department detective Bill Young gets his shave-down.
Community Join Us for the Big Shave Off
Andrew Armstrong Daniel George Michael Harrison

by D'Ann George, program development coordinator, Duke Cancer Institute Development (Dec. 8, 2023)

A group of 14 men standing together in front of six glass windows and a picture of a water tower
THE "BEFORE" PHOTO Fifteen men volunteered to shear their whiskers for the cause, including five firemen from Morrisville, several Duke clinicians, a bartender from Fullsteam, and a retired police detective from New York City.
Man in a backwards baseball cap and lit up reindeer antlers holds up a sparkly red dress
FESTIVE Bob Young, in the holiday spirit, at Beer and Beards for Bros

This year’s Beer and Beards for Bros, held for the first time since 2019, raised nearly $10,000 for research at the Duke Cancer Institute Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers. By all appearances, the event, held at Fullsteam Brewery on Dec. 1, raised even more fun than funds.

The 15 men who volunteered to shear their whiskers for the cause included five firemen from Morrisville, several Duke employees, a bartender from Fullsteam, dads with adorable children clinging to them, and a retired detective from the New York City Police Department, who was the first to part with his mustache.

Even the auctioneer, Sam Poley, got into the action and bid off his own beard. Poley said he volunteered his time and talent in memory of his late father, who was treated for prostate cancer at Duke.

Mohawks, Leopard Skins, and Pink Flamingos

Auction winners directed a team of stylists from the Arrow “guaranteed shorter hair” barbershop on how they wanted the men shaved. Their crowning achievement came when one of the firemen incentivized the audience to bid higher by agreeing to “go full mohawk.”

Before the night was over, all of the men shamelessly shed their street clothes to don frippery chosen by auction winners from a table of costumes.

The bartender, who sported the thickest, blackest beard of them all, looked jarring in his blonde curly wig and white bedazzled frock.

Travis Henry, MD, a Duke radiologist, dressed as a fluffy bear. Medical oncologist Mike Harrison, MD, wore a shirt emblazoned with giant pink flamingos and a red headband attached to a messy blonde wig.

But the highest bid — almost $2,000 — went to Raj Gupta, MD, a DCI radiologist who sported a leopard coat and a white mink scarf. His dashing ensemble was chosen by his two young daughters, who placed the winning bid.

Police Officer Wins “Most Hilarious” Contest

The NYPD detective, Bob Young, struggled to squeeze into a strapless, red sparkly dress with a blue-and-white starred petticoat, which he topped off with reindeer antlers embellished with multi-colored Christmas lights.

Young easily won the prize for “most hilarious.” But the sequins did not stop him from kicking off the event with a moving speech about why prostate cancer research and excellent clinical care mean so much to him.

First Responders and Genitourinary Cancers

"People usually get prostate cancer in their 60s, but the 9/11 responders were getting it in their 30s and 40s,” said Young.

As president of the 50135 club, a benevolent association for retired police officers in Raleigh, Young said that "Beer and Beards for Bros" was the first charitable event that he has attended since the pandemic.

Likewise, the five firemen who attended said that the shave-off was their first post-pandemic philanthropic event. Nick Young, president of the association, heard about the event from his fiancé, Sarah Omwenga, RN, an oncology nurse at Duke.

Young said that testicular, thyroid, and throat cancer are prevalent among firefighters due to the chemical exposures they face on the job.

“We’re coming back next year,” said the elder Young. “And we’re bringing friends. There are 120 retired policemen in my club. And 20 of them have cancer. I want the ones with prostate cancer to be seen at Duke.”

 

From the Archives

A woman uses a raiser to shave a man's face that's covered in shaving cream, and whose had iss wrapped in a white towel
Daniel George, MD, visits Pedro Williams barbershop for a complimentary shave down before growing out his facial hair in November. (photo from 2015)
Four men in white lab coats stand together
FLASHBACK: In 2012, Michael Harrison, MD, Andrew Armstong, MD, MSc, Dan George, MD, and Judd Moul, MD, pose following their November grow out.
  • Genitourinary Cancer
  • Bladder Cancer
  • Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers
  • Kidney Cancer
  • Penile Cancer
  • Prostate Cancer
  • Testicular Cancer
  • Giving
  • Fundraising Events
  • Give to Duke Cancer Institute
  • Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers
    • Off
    gift purple logo
    duke health logo

    Read more about our patient care services, including treatments and locations of care, on DukeHealth.org

    DukeHealth
    Off

    Fullsteam Brewery
    726 Rigsbee Ave
    Durham, NC
    United States

    CE Training: Strategies for Talking to Patients About Tobacco Use

    cigarette being put out, standing up in ash
    Professional Register & Learn More

    In observance of national lung cancer awareness month, the Duke Cancer Institute Smoking Cessation Program (Quit at Duke) presents "Ask, Advise, Refer and Prescribe: Strategies for Talking to Cancer Patients About Tobacco Use" — a DCI COEE -hosted "Conversations with Our Community" event held in partnership with the North Carolina Oncology Navigator Association, the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services, the North Carolina Advisory Committee on Cancer Coordination and Control, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Eshelman School of Pharmacy. 

    This virtual training course (for CE credit) is available to members of the North Carolina Oncology Navigator Association (NCONA), healthcare professionals, and community health workers and will take place on November 28, 2023 from noon to 1:30 PM.

    Speakers

    • Sarah Arthur, MBA, Comprehensive Cancer Control Program Manager, Cancer Prevention and Control Branch, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
    • Ronny A. Bell, PhD, MS, Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor and Chair, Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
    • Megan Keith, MSW, LCSW, Tobacco Treatment Specialist, Duke Smoking Cessation Program
    • Joyce Swetlick, MPH, Director of Tobacco Cessation, QuitlineNC, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
    • Jean Sellers, RN, MSN, Executive Director, North Carolina Oncology Navigator Association
    • (Moderator) Kearston L. Ingraham, MPH, Assistant Director, Duke Cancer Institute's Community Outreach, Engagement, and Equity program

    Objectives

    1. Describe tobacco use rates in North Carolina and cancer population;
    2. Identify causal relationship between continued tobacco use and cancer risk recurrence and worsened cancer treatment outcomes;
    3. Describe effective methods of tobacco use treatment; and
    4. Summarize Ask, Advise, Refer model to engage patients in tobacco use treatment, including using a validated question to assess tobacco use.

    REGISTER

    Registration is free and required. This event is open to all community members, so please share with others. Virtual seats are limited, so please register by November 27, 2023 at 5:00 pm EST.

    After registration is completed, a Zoom link for the webinar will be provided the day of the event.

    For questions email kearston.ingraham@duke.edu.

     

  • Center for Supportive Care and Survivorship
  • Cancer Screening
  • Health Equity
  • Education and Training
  • Gastrointestinal Cancer
  • Colorectal Cancer
  • Liver Cancer
  • Pancreatic Cancer
  • Stomach Cancer
  • Bladder Cancer
  • Kidney Cancer
  • Leukemia
  • Lung Cancer
  • Thoracic Cancer
  • Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination
  • Supportive Care and Survivorship Center
  • Gastrointestinal Cancer
  • Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers
  • Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy
    • Off
    gift purple logo
    duke health logo

    Read more about our patient care services, including treatments and locations of care, on DukeHealth.org

    DukeHealth
    Off

    NC
    United States

    GU Public Symposium Includes Celebration of Berry's Retirement

    Duke Cancer Institute-labeled light blue binder
    Community REGISTER
    Daniel George Andrew Armstrong Michael Harrison Michael Abern
    Two men in suits pose in a conference hall
    Andrew Armstrong, MD, and William Berry, MD

    Update

    On September 29, community members, including cancer survivors and caregivers, learned about the latest clinical advances in the treatment of kidney, prostate, and bladder cancers during a live discussion among faculty/oncologists from the Duke Cancer Institute Center for Prostate & Urologic Cancers.

    Speakers included: William Berry, MD; Daniel George, MD; Michael Harrison, MD; Zach Reitman, MD, PhD; Ankeet Shah, MD; Michael Abern, MD; Andrew Armstrong, MD, MSc; Ryan Fecteau, MD, PhD; Christopher Hoimes, DO; Shahla Bari, MBBS; and Hannah McManus, MD.

    In a special session of the symposium William Berry, MD, was celebrated for his five-decade career in Medicine — beginning and ending at Duke — and interviewed by George. Berry, a DCI medical oncologist specializing in treating bladder, kidney, prostate, and testicular cancer, joined Duke on January 1, 1974, and will officially retire on Dec. 31, 2023. He earned his MD at Duke in 1973.

    Together, the 2023 Duke Cancer Institute Center for Prostate & Urologic Cancers Symposium (9/29/23) and Tackle Cancer Tailgate (9/30/23) raised $64,000 for prostate and urologic cancer research.

    Duke in the 1970s black and white slide of five young men in front of a stone building
    This slide was shown as part of a tribute to William Berry, MD, to illustrate Duke in the 1970s when he began his medical career.
  • Genitourinary Cancer
  • Bladder Cancer
  • Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers
  • Kidney Cancer
  • Prostate Cancer
  • Giving
  • Fundraising Events
  • Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers
  • Give to Duke Cancer Institute
    • On
    gift purple logo

    Support Prostate & Urologic Cancers Research

    Donate Now
    duke health logo

    Read more about our patient care services, including treatments and locations of care, on DukeHealth.org

    DukeHealth
    Off

    Trent Semans Center - Great Hall (on Duke campus)
    8 Searle Center Dr.
    Durham, NC
    United States

    WATCH: OHE, Nuestras Voces Cervical Cancer Community Forum

    Community

     

    On January 25, the Duke Cancer Institute Office of Health Equity and community partner Nuestras Voces convened a virtual community forum — "Cervical Cancer: Early Detection Saves Lives" — as part of their "Conversations with the Community" series.
    A panel of experts, including DCI gynecologic oncologists Angeles Alvarez Secord, MD, MHS, and Rafael Gonzalez, MD, together with patient navigator Nadia Aguilera-Funez (DCI Office of Health Equity), discussed cervical cancer screening and diagnosis & the role of patient navigation as a way to help reduce cancer disparities among the medically underserved.

    Attendees also heard from Teri L. Larkins, PhD (CDC Division of Cancer Prevention and Control) about the Centers for Disease Control's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.

    When cervical cancer is found early, it is highly treatable and associated with long-term survival and good quality of life. Unfortunately, the U.S. has lower up-to-date HPV vaccination rates than other high-income countries.

  • Cancer Genetics
  • Conversations with Our Community
  • Health Equity
  • Liver Cancer
  • Genitourinary Cancer
  • Kidney Cancer
  • Prostate Cancer
  • Gynecologic Cancer
  • Cervical Cancer
  • Gynecologic Cancer
  • Community Outreach, Engagement, and Equity
    • Off
    gift purple logo
    duke health logo

    Read more about our patient care services, including treatments and locations of care, on DukeHealth.org

    DukeHealth
    Off

    NC
    United States

    Genetics graphic
    Article

    WATCH RECORDING: How Studying Genes Can Lead to More Personalized Cancer Care

    The February installment of the DCI Office of Health Equity's "Conversations with Our Community" — How Studying Genes Can Lead to More Personalized Cancer Care (recorded on 2.24.21) — featured co-director of the Patierno/George/ Freedman Lab for Cancer Research Jennifer Freedman, PhD, and postdocs in the lab Tyler Allen, PhD, and Sean Piwarski, PhD — all of whom shared their research into identifying genes in cells that drive cancer disparities and developing treatments that block those genes. The community forum was moderated by Angelo Moore, PhD, RN, who leads the Office of Health Equity (OHE). “We welcome any input we can get from the community. We really want to work with the community side by side to address the questions we are trying to address and do all the work that we do," Freedman said, leading off her presentation. “We have a lot of evidence in cancer and other diseases that it really needs to be personalized, that members of different population groups get cancer at very different rates.They have cancers that vary in risk, in aggressiveness and in response to treatment.” Freedman referenced some of these striking disparities: African American women are nearly twice as likely as white women to be diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer and are much more likely than white women to die from breast cancer. The highest rates of kidney cancer cases in thee U.S. occur among American Indians/Alaska Natives. Rates of liver cancer are higher among American Indians/Alaska Natives and Asian and Pacific Islanders than other racial/ethnic groups African American men are more than twice as likely as white men to die from prostate cancer. Women in rural areas are twice as likely to die from cervical cancer as women in more urban areas. African Americans are twice as likely as Whites to be diagnosed with and die from multiple myeloma. White people are much more likely to get glioblastoma and to die from it than members of other racial and ethnic groups. While this particular set of talks focused on genetic drivers of cancer, Freedman emphasized that there are other factors, including society-level factors such as racism and discrimination; neighborhood-level factors such as diet, lifestyle, the environment, pollution; and institutional-level factors such as access to getting care. "All of these factors — genetics, what’s happening at the society level, what’s happening in our neighborhoods and what’s happening with our access to institutions all influence our risk of getting cancer, how bad our cancer is, how it progresses and if we have cancer how we respond to treatment," said Freedman. "We really need to think about these factors together, how they interact, when we’re doing the work we are doing." Allen described his work in the lab studying cancer metastasis and how it’s different in different racial or ethnic groups and how the lab is using CRISPR gene editing to control RNA splicing. Splicing dysfunction underlies many conditions and diseases, including cancer. "The information gained from studying these genes allows us to then develop drugs to target the identified changes in genes and RNA splicing," Allen explained. "These therapies can be tested in the lab and clinical trials and, if safe and effective, can then be used to treat cancer patients." Piwarski zeroed in on prostate cancer disparities among racial and ethnic groups, including incidence rates and death rates. He also spoke about the group’s ABI-Race clinical trial in which they trialed a particular treatment for advanced prostate cancer in African American patients and in White patients — both equally represented — and what they learned about the differences in response to treatment. (Data presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting suggested that African-American patients responded better to the treatment, per study PI Dan George, MD, who co-directs the Patierno/George/Freedman Lab.)

    Duke Cancer Institute Blog
    Kidney Cancer
    Article

    Cracking the Case of a Deadly Type of Kidney Cancer

    In 2016, a global multi-institutional team of investigators led by Duke Cancer Institute member and professor of Medicine, Surgery, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Andrew Armstrong, MD, MSc, reported in The Lancet their finding that a small-molecule drug (sunitinib) they’d trialed in patients with metastatic non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma (NC-RCC) significantly increased the length of progression-free and overall survival over the alternative standard-of-care biologic agent (everolimus). Previous to the trial, called ASPEN, both drugs had shown activity in this relatively uncommon and deadly type of kidney cancer, but the field did not have clear evidence of which approach was better. At the time, there were no optimal treatments for NC-RCC, “Given the rarity of this cancer, we had to conduct the trial at a large number of academic medical centers in the USA, Canada, and the UK in order to be successful,” said Armstrong, the Duke site principal investigator (PI) and the overall PI of the18-site randomized phase 2 clinical trial. “Based on this trial result, sunitinib became the standard of care for NC-RCC under national and international treatment guidelines, including from the NCCN (National Comprehensive Cancer Network).” ASPEN remains the largest treatment trial to be conducted in patients with metastatic NC-RCC.

    Duke Cancer Institute Blog
    Duke Cancer Institute Marching Band Kicks Off the DCI 50th Celebration
    Duke University Marching Band Kicks Off the DCI 50th Celebration (photo by Drawbridge Media)
    Article

    At DCI 50th Celebration, the Sounds of Hope

    On Thursday, April 14, 2022, Duke Cancer Institute clinical providers, researchers, staff, and leadership came together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center (now called Duke Cancer Institute).As the DCI 50th kickoff celebration was gearing up on the grassy circle in front of Duke Cancer Center building in Durham, a few patients stopped by the adjacent Seese-Thornton Garden of Tranquility for some respite.A breast cancer patient of Susan Dent, MD, braced for a long day of chemotherapy infusions. A man with stage 3 melanoma, being treated by Brent Hanks, MD, chatted in the shade of a tree with his wife ahead of his next appointment. A woman on her way to the Duke South clinics, meanwhile, shared her worries over her brother’s recent esophageal cancer diagnosis, their strong family history of cancer, and the importance of keeping up with her mammograms.Joe Moore, MD — who hung up his DCI lab coat in 2019 after a 44-year Hematology /Oncology career — was admiring the newly-installed Sound of Hope bell (a gift of the J. Gordon Wright family in honor of Nancy Wright, a pancreatic cancer survivor) before Jana Wagenseller, RN, escorted him across the grass to a front-row seat, stage right. (Moore had begun his medical career at Duke in 1975 as a fellow and Wagenseller had begun her nursing career at Duke in 1976 and served in multiple leadership roles before retiring in 2004).The Duke University Marching Band made a jubilant entrance onto the green and briefly performed in front of a big-screen slideshow showcasing moments in DCI history before the official program began.

    Duke Cancer Institute Blog
    Michael R Abern
    Michael R Abern

    Michael Abern

    Associate Professor of Urology