“Cleveland Clinic, as a high-volume clinical entity and established research institute, is uniquely positioned to conduct these types of studies and potentially implement change,” says Roberto Vargas, MD. “I feel I can take great care of my patients in the operating room and in the clinic, but I can also do great science alongside that care.”
Co-Investigator
Over the last 30 years, cervical cancer remains one of only two disease sites without significant improvements to patient outcomes. In oncology, providing care has been more reactive, like after a cancer comes back or doesn’t respond to treatment. We have not been able to move into a truly proactive (or predictive) approach when it comes to therapy. Roberto Vargas, MD, with Cleveland Clinic’s Obstetrics and Gynecology Institute, is leading a study that he hopes will change the approach to the current treatment of cervical cancer.
Dr. Vargas’s study aims to understand how tumors change throughout treatment, specifically chemotherapy and radiation. He hopes to identify particular markers that signal whether (and when) tumors are adapting to therapy or being pushed down a path where the tumor will go away.
“By understanding these events, then we can track a tumor and its response in real time with the goal of being able to be proactive with our treatments, instead of waiting until after the tumor fails to respond,” says Dr. Vargas.
Dr. Vargas will analyze data using next-generation sequencing, such as single-cell RNA analysis. By looking at the genes in cancer cells, we may be able to find out which cancers are likely to come back after treatment and prevent it from happening. This effort is moving toward more personalized cancer therapies and could have a resounding impact on other cancer types.
“What we learn about these tumors may not be unique to cervical cancers,” says Dr. Vargas. “It’s going to also allow us to develop techniques, technologies and approaches that then we can use in other disease sites that are understudied and underfunded, like endometrial cancer.”
100% For The Cure
