The care of cancer patients has changed dramatically
over the last 10 years.
We've got one of the world's most renowned oncologists
here now to talk about the newest developments.
Dr. Louis Weiner is the
new Director of Georgetown's Lombardi Comprehensive
Cancer Center.
And I said it that way because it's a tough name.
Some people pronounce it one way or another, and
we're just delighted to have you sitting here with
us.
Only been in town for 5 weeks, ah, have you found
your way around?
Are you getting settled? I've figured things out
so far.
Yeah. Let me ask you about, ah,
what's happened?
Because you've devoted life to research.
What are some of the areas, or what are some of the
areas where you see significant improvements
and advances that you're excited about?
Well, I think the most important change that I've
witnessed in my career has been the application
of science to medicine.
And the explosion of understanding that there
is now about what causes cancer, what keeps cancers
going, and what we need to do in order to treat
them more effectively.
And that's led to the development of a new era
of targeted therapies where instead of using nonspecific
poisons to try and attack cancer cells; we now can
target specifically the mechanisms that make cancers
develop.
And when would you say that turning point occurred
because you've been there in the trenches for a long
time.
Well, I think when you're in the trenches you don't
always see the turning points, do you?
I would say that, ah, in the late 1970s and early
1980s, ah, we began developing some traction
and understanding about what might cause cancer
and it's really been in the last decade or so that
there's really been the consolidation of information
that was needed in order for us to really understand
how to go out and attack cancer cells more
effectively.
Now, during the commercial break, we had a chance
to visit, (coughing), excuse me.
What about stem cell research?
We're hearing so much about it.
Do you see that as a pathway that is promising?
Well, I think you have define what kind of stem
cells you're talking about.
In the public mind there's a lot of discussion about
the embryonic stem cells.
In my field, we don't talk about that so much.
We talk about cancer stem cells and the debate and
controversy that exists is whether or not there
are really such things as cancer stem cells and
if there are, how can we understand them more
completely so that we can target those specific
attributes that make a cancer stem cell survive
so we can obviously attack the cancer more effectively.
You say attack, and, and you've committed your life
to this fight.
How frustrating is it to move along, I image the
milestones along the way.
You said, you can't even spot the turning points
when they occur because you're too busy working
on it.
Ah, how tough is it doing what you do for a living?
I can't imagine doing anything else.
I love what I do.
The opportunity to, ah, give people hope, to offer
them new treatments for their diseases, to allow
them to achieve important milestones in their life,
to offer the possibility of cure, and to always
live in the future because of the excitement of
research.
At Lombardi Cancer Center, we have, ah, mastered the
art of merging cancer research with cancer care,
and it's really important that everyone understand
that research cures cancer.
That by applying what we've learned about cancer most
effectively, we can treat our patients most
effectively, and give people the tomorrows that they
need.
Andrea Roane had a piece on this morning talking
about, ah, you know, families.
Looking at their family history and when you start
to look at all these pictures, and all these
people touched by cancer, it's remarkable,
isn't it?
Ah, cancer is a disease that affects almost
everybody I know in one way or another.
Everyone has been touched by the disease somewhere
and somehow.
And in fact, ah, one of the things that we've
learned is that there's good news and bad news.
The good news is that in the past decade the rate
of cancer death, and the actual number of people
dying from cancer in this country has actually
declined.
And that's the first time in recorded human history
that that's happened.
And I am convinced that's occurred because of the
exciting changes in understanding what causes
cancer that have led to important new treatments.
Having said that, we are all touched by cancer in
one way or another.
We have a long way to go. And, ah, it's necessary
that we develop new treatments and new
strategies for delivering those treatments so that
we can give tomorrow's treatments in tomorrow's
facilities.
All right, Dr. Weiner thanks for coming in and welcome
to town.
Glad to have you here. For more information about
breast cancer, go to WUSA9.
COM and click on Buddy Check9.
There you'll find Andrea's latest reports on efforts
to fight the disease plus her blog.