Projects
P1: Mechanisms Linking Nutrient Supply & Cell Cycle/Survival
Project Leader: David Hockenbery, MD
- Analyzes those cellular effects of hyperglycemia on growth, proliferation and survival pathways relevant to oncogenesis.
- Investigates the mechanisms of glucose activation of proliferative (c-myc) and survival/pro-inflammatory (NF-kB) pathways in endothelial cells, and extend these studies to cancer-susceptible epithelial cells, immortalized and cancer cell lines.
- Examines whether glucose-regulated pathways have tumor promoting effects on initiated human mammary epithelial cells.
- Includes basic science researchers from cancer, obesity/endocrinology, and cardiology fields, and will speed developments in basic cancer research, while increasing knowledge in the effects of obesity on different cell lineages.
Project Leader: Henry Thompson, PhD
- Seeks to determine, in a 1-methyl-1-nitrosourea (MNU) -carcinogen mammary tumor rat model, the effects of caloric restriction alone and exercise alone and in combination on the carcinogenic response in the mammary gland.
- Parallels P3 & P4 to extend the methods of those studies to the spectrum of carcinogenesis in an animal model, including caloric restriction and exercise effects on cancer biomarkers (serum hormones, peptides, cytokines, plasma proteomics), cancer intermediates (tissue proliferation and apoptosis), and mammary tumorigenesis (number and latency of tumors).
- Cross-talk between animal and human researchers will help us understand the value of these types of model systems in predicting responses to similar interventions in humans. It will also allow us to investigate both biomarkers and cancer endpoints in one system.
Project co-Leaders: Marian Neuhouser, PhD& Johanna Lampe, PhD
- Builds on observational studies that indicate a role of high glycemic index diets in the etiology of several cancers, by employing an experiment where individual food intake is controlled for a defined period of time.
- Examines the metabolic response to experimental diets that have a low- or high- glycemic load in normal-weight and overweight/obese young adults (ages 18-45) in a crossover clinical trial design.
- Tests and compares the effect of these diets in lean and overweight/obese persons on various biomarkers in the glucose and insulin pathways, adipokines, and proteomics.
- P3 closely parallels the work conducted in P2 and will provide nutritional expertise to Projects 2, 4, and 5.
Project co-Leaders: Cornelia Ulrich, PhD.& Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD
- Investigates which intermediate biomarkers in key pathways are affected by exercise and by weight loss achieved through a reduced-calorie diet.
- Is an ancillary study to an NCI-funded randomized controlled clinical trial testing the effects of 1-year moderate intensity exercise and reduced calorie diet, individually and combined, on several hormonal biomarkers of breast cancer in postmenopausal women (NCI R01 CA105204, PI: A. McTiernan)
- Focuses on biomarkers of inflammation, DNA damage and repair, and insulin pathways, and will examine the effect modification of several common gene polymorphisms related to these biomarkers.
- Identifies biomarkers useful to test in stored specimens in Project 5, a public-health oriented intervention.
Project Leader: Shirley Beresford, PhD
- Expands a worksite obesity prevention intervention conducted in large worksites in Western Washington State (NIH R01 HL79491, PI: S. Beresford) into a geographic area with large representation of low income and minority individuals.
- The diet component of the intervention teaches employees about caloric content of foods by using a system of identifying foods in 100-calorie portions.
- The exercise program encourages and provides incentives to increase employees’ moderate physical activity to 30+ min./day, 5 x per week.
- Extends researchers experience with exercise and diet interventions in controlled experiments into a public health setting.
- Involves collection of biology samples to help validate candidate biomarkers in the future.
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1100 Fairview Ave. N. PO Box 19024 Seattle, WA 98109
©2009 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, a nonprofit organization.
Terms of Use & Privacy Policy.
