{"667209":{"#nid":"667209","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Founding Director of Integrated Cancer Research at Tech Publishes \u2018A Patient\u2019s Guide to Cancer: Understanding the Causes and Treatments of a Complex Disease\u2019","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThere are times when John McDonald, emeritus professor in the School of Biological Sciences and founding director of Georgia Tech\u2019s\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/icrc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E Integrated Cancer Research Center\u003C\/a\u003E, is asked to share his special insight into cancer.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOver the years, I\u2019ve gotten calls from non-scientist friends and others who have been diagnosed with cancer, and they call me to get more details on what\u2019s going on, and what options are available,\u201d said McDonald, also a former chief scientific officer with the Atlanta-based Ovarian Cancer Institute.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s the primary motivation why McDonald wrote \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Patients-Guide-Cancer-Understanding-Treatments\/dp\/B0BXNJLYM4\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=\u0026amp;sr=\u0022\u003EA Patient\u0027s Guide to Cancer: Understanding the Causes and Treatments of a Complex Disease\u003C\/a\u003E, which was published by Raven Press LLC (Atlanta) and is now available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble in paperback and ebook editions. The book describes in non-technical language the processes that cause cancer, and details on how recent advances and experimental treatments are offering hope for patients and their families.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA book for the proactive patient\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMcDonald said he couldn\u2019t go into detail for every type of cancer, but provides a generally applicable background for the disease. For those who want more information, he provides links to other resources, including videos, that provide more detail on specific types of cancer. \u201cThere\u2019s not much out there in one place for patients who want to understand the underlying causes of cancer, and the spectrum of therapies currently available,\u201d he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMcDonald, who was honored in January by the Georgia Center for Oncology Research and Education (CORE) as one of \u201cToday\u2019s Innovators,\u201d also didn\u2019t want A Patient\u2019s Guide to Cancer to be a lengthy book, and it checks in at only 86 pages.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMcDonald believes that when patients talk to their physicians about cancer treatments, \u0026nbsp;they should ideally have a basic understanding of the underlying cause of their cancer, as well as a general awareness of the range of therapies currently available, and what may be coming down the road in the future.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMy book is specifically designed to provide newly diagnosed cancer patients who are not scientists with this kind of background information, empowering them to play a more informed role in the selection of appropriate treatments for their disease\u201d.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe current experimental treatment landscape; McDonald\u2019s 2023 research goals\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMcDonald\u2019s own cancer research has led to two related startup companies, co-founded with School of Biological Sciences colleagues.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMcDonald is working with postdoctoral researcher Nick Housley on using nanoparticles to deliver powerful drugs to cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. The other company, founded in collaboration with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Patients-Guide-Cancer-Understanding-Treatments\/dp\/B0BXNJLYM4\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=\u0026amp;sr=\u0022\u003EJeffrey Skolnick\u003C\/a\u003E, Regents\u0027 Professor, Mary and Maisie Gibson Chair \u0026amp; Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Computational Systems Biology, uses machine learning to create personalized diagnostic tools for ovarian cancer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe and his lab team are also preparing to submit a research paper that builds off their 2021 study on gene network interactions that could provide new chemotherapy targets for breast cancer. That paper focuses on the three major subtypes of breast cancer. McDonald and his colleagues will also soon submit another study detailing genetic changes that happen with the onset and progression of ovarian cancer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen it comes to current experimental treatments, McDonald says he\u2019s especially excited about \u0026nbsp;the potential of cancer immunotherapy, which uses the body\u2019s own immune system to fight cancer cells. But he writes in A Patient\u2019s Guide to Cancer that because these drugs are also delivered systemically, healthy tissues can also be affected, potentially leading to autoimmunity or the self-destruction of our normal cells.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn the future, I believe many of the negative side-effects currently associated with the system-wide delivery of cancer drugs will be averted by the use of nanoparticles designed to target therapies specifically to tumors\u201d.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EProviding newly diagnosed cancer patients with basic understanding of the underlying cause of their cancer, a general awareness of the range of therapies currently available, and what may be coming down the road in the future.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Providing newly diagnosed cancer patients with basic understanding of the underlying cause of their cancer, a general awareness of the range of therapies currently available, and what may be coming down the road in the future.\u00a0"}],"uid":"27195","created_gmt":"2023-04-10 16:48:24","changed_gmt":"2023-04-11 16:49:38","author":"Colly Mitchell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-04-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-04-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"670488":{"id":"670488","type":"image","title":"John McDonald, Emeritus Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Tech","body":null,"created":"1681145806","gmt_created":"2023-04-10 16:56:46","changed":"1681145862","gmt_changed":"2023-04-10 16:57:42","alt":"John McDonald, Emeritus Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Tech","file":{"fid":"253352","name":"john_mcdonald_0.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/10\/john_mcdonald_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/10\/john_mcdonald_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1099148,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/04\/10\/john_mcdonald_0.png?itok=7-W0Xyon"}}},"media_ids":["670488"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:renay.san@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ERenay San Miguel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer II\/Science Writer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}