Ki Hong Speaks on Cancer Prevention
NCI's Office of Preventive Oncology in the Division of Cancer Prevention hosted the 2004 Annual Advances in Cancer Prevention Lecture, "Convergence of Molecular Targets for Cancer Prevention and Therapy" on July 29. Dr. Waun Ki Hong, American Cancer Society professor and chair of the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, is recognized as one of the founders of the field of chemoprevention. Dr. Hong addressed four key issues during his speech: molecular-based prevention, phenotypic reversion, oral cancer prevention, and lung cancer prevention. Dr. Hong noted the importance of multidisciplinary team approaches to translational cancer prevention research.

Dr. Hong also discussed molecular targeting agents and how they can influence cancer prevention and treatment, allowing for a more precise and tailored intervention. For example, molecular targeting agents can be used alone or with other agents in individuals at high risk for cancer to possibly delay or prevent cancer development.

Lipscomb Joins Emory
Dr. Joseph Lipscomb, chief of NCI's Outcomes Research Branch, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, will leave NCI in August to join the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Dr. Lipscomb will be a professor of public health in the Department of Health Policy and Management, with additional faculty appointments at Emory's Winship Cancer Institute and School of Medicine. He also will serve as director for Cancer Economics and Outcomes Research in the Emory Center for Health Outcomes and Quality. He was named Distinguished Cancer Scientist by the Georgia Cancer Coalition.

Dr. Steven Clauser will serve as acting branch chief for the Outcomes Research Branch, and Dr. Molla S. Donaldson will assume a leadership role as a key member of the NCI-wide committee on the potential research uses for medical records data available from clinical practice information systems.

Symposium Honors Distinguished NIH Researcher
On July 30, the Laboratory of Genetics in NCI's Center for Cancer Research (CCR) held a symposium to celebrate Dr. Michael Potter's 50th year at NIH. Dr. Beverly Mock, chief of the Laboratory of Genetics, and Dr. Michael Gottesman, deputy director of Intramural Research, NIH, gave introductory and closing remarks, respectively, complementing Potter on "his first 50 years of research at the NIH." Symposium speakers discussed current research in B cell neoplasia in addition to highlighting Dr. Potter's many contributions to the field. Speakers included Potter's longtime collaborators: Drs. Fritz Melchers; Martin Weigert; Herbert C. Morse, III; Selina Chen-Kiang; and Michael Cancro.

Dr. Potter is a pivotal figure in the development of B cell immunology. He obtained his M.D. from the University of Virginia in 1949 and in 1954, after serving as a U.S. Army Medical Officer, joined the Leukemia Studies Section at NCI under Dr. Lloyd Law. From 1982 through 2003 he served as chief of the Laboratory of Genetics. Dr. Potter is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and recipient of numerous distinguished awards, including the 1984 Albert Lasker Medical Research Award and 1983 Paul-Ehrlich and Ludwig-Darmstaedter Prize. He is currently the co-chair of NCI's B Cell Lymphoma Working Group. In addition, he has served as a mentor and friend to numerous students and colleagues who traveled from the United States, Canada, and Europe to attend.

Dr. Potter spoke about his early years at NCI, relating to a standing-room-only group of colleagues, collaborators, and former students that when he came to the NCI he "felt like a kid in a candy store." His enthusiasm remains undiminished 50 years later.

STAR Enrolls 19,000th Woman
The Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR) reached its enrollment goal of 19,000 postmenopausal women at increased risk of breast cancer on June 23. Women already being evaluated to join may do so until October 2004. STAR, coordinated by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) and funded primarily by NCI, will determine whether the osteoporosis drug raloxifene is as effective in reducing a woman's chance of developing breast cancer as tamoxifen.

"It's a remarkable achievement," said NSABP Chairman Dr. Norman Wolmark. "Women at increased risk for developing breast cancer chose to be proactive about finding options to prevent the disease. We owe a debt of gratitude to these women who are leading the charge in preventing breast cancer."

STAR participants are randomly assigned to daily tamoxifen or raloxifene for 5 years, and will obtain close follow-up care. STAR began in 1999 and some women have already completed their 5 years of study treatment; results are expected in the summer of 2006.