Feed a Fever, Starve a Tumor
Feed a Fever ….Starve a Tumor
Anyone who believes that science and scientists border on the dull, hasn’t met up with Dr. Ted Lampidis, professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy and a member of the Molecular Oncology Program at Sylvester. He is known for his informative and entertaining speaking style.
Dr. Lampidis was born and raised in Brooklyn, and could just as easily have become a songwriter as the accomplished researcher he turned out to be. But early on he found himself contemplating the wonders of life: What is it that makes people who they are and nature what it is? Starting at about age 14 he kept vacillating between music and science, finally deciding he really liked the idea of being an investigator. That led him to a B.S. in Chemistry from Brooklyn College, a Master’s degree from NYU in Microbiology, and a Ph.D. from the University of Miami in Immunology & Microbiology. He then completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology.
Dr. Lampidis says that a teaching environment (like Sylvester’s) expands a scientist’s thinking beyond his or her specific area of expertise. And he states unequivocally that all research success is a result of collaboration. Nonetheless, there is such a phenomenon as a “eureka moment.” His was when the idea came to him of “starving to death” slow-growing tumors. Here is some background information to help you grasp the importance – and beauty – of this insight.
Cancer tumors consist of slow-growing and fast-growing cells. Although standard chemotherapy attacks all fast-dividing cells, it does not, unfortunately, distinguish between normal and cancerous cells. Nor does it effectively attack the slow-growing, solid tumors that are hard to treat and contribute to metastasis. Fortunately, however, slow-growing tumor cells have inadequate blood supplies and thus low oxygen, so they do not metabolize sugar efficiently. This means they must use much more sugar than normal cells to provide the energy they need to survive, a process known as glycolysis. Eureka!
Dr. Lampidis hypothesized he could “trick” these low-oxygen tumor cells by feeding them “false” sugars, such as 2-DG (2-deoxyglucose), to keep them from metabolizing the actual sugar they need to survive. Because they do not have the necessary oxygen to use fats and proteins as alternative sources of energy, they would literally “starve to death.” Meanwhile, the normal cells would survive because they do metabolize these alternate sources (think Atkins Diet, where when you lower your intake of carbohydrates – sugars – you instead burn fats and proteins)!
His eureka moment led, in 2001, to a five-year award from the National Cancer Institute, which stated at the time that “Dr. Lampidis’s work could eventually lead to cures in certain cancers.” Subsequently, there has been a Phase I clinical trial, led by Luis Raez, M.D., an oncologist at Sylvester, to determine the tolerable dose level of 2-DG. Based on both the trial’s encouraging results and his ongoing research during this period, Dr. Lampidis has been awarded another 5-year NCI grant.
He is now working with Bascom Palmer Eye Institute’s Dr. Timothy Murray (a world leader in the treatment of children with retinoblastoma) and with three other researchers who are experts in different types of cancer. Their work is supported by a Pap Corps developmental grant, and in each case “it is focused on exploiting inherent differences between cancer- and normal-cell sugar metabolism as a new way to treat this disease.” Dr. Lampidis says he hopes “the Pap Corps’ support will allow us to generate enough preliminary data to act as a springboard to design better cancer treatments, and will be an impetus for an NCI Program Project National Grant Application.”
Although science won out for Dr. Lampidis, music has remained a major force in his life. He has written and published a number of songs. Probably the most characteristic of his enthusiastic, motivational and philanthropic nature is “Yes We Can,” (written pre-President Obama), which has been recorded by the Oxford Choir and the New World
Symphony Choral Group and, as described in a Miami Herald article, has been “used to promote harmony and the human spirit through the Dade Public Schools MAGNET Programs.”
Dr. Lampidis stresses that while everyone at Sylvester is doing the job they have been trained to do as part of a team effort, he admires and respects Pap Corps members because they haven’t just hoped for a cure; they have taken an active role in fighting cancer and have become an important – truly essential – part of the team!
Dr. Lampidis has much to be proud of, and so do Pap Corps members!
