Steven Frank
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Many people now survive throat cancer, but the radiation that cures them can damage swallowing for years afterward. In oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), a cancer of the back of the throat, about 15% of long-term survivors develop late radiation-associated dysphagia (L-RAD).
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Biomedical Engineering
Physics
- Topics
oropharyngeal cancer
oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma
head and neck cancer
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2029
What they work on
- Characterize late radiation-associated dysphagia (L-RAD) and identify its subtypes by extending follow-up of a 440-patient randomized trial of proton therapy (IMPT) versus X-ray therapy (IMRT) to 10 years.
- Determine mechanisms of L-RAD and model each patient's risk after IMPT versus IMRT, using radiation dose patterns, biological markers, imaging, swallowing function tests and patient-reported outcomes.
- Test whether pentoxifylline plus tocopherol (vitamin E), anti-scarring drugs given soon after radiation in the STOP4LATE-FIBROSE trial, prevent or reduce L-RAD in head and neck cancer patients.
More about the research
This is a slowly worsening, permanent swallowing problem. It can cause weight loss, dependence on a feeding tube, poor quality of life, and pneumonia from food entering the lungs, which can be fatal. Doctors do not yet know how to predict who will develop it or how to prevent it.
Why it matters
Head and neck cancer survivors can face lifelong swallowing problems, feeding tubes and fatal pneumonia after radiation. This work could help doctors decide which patients should receive proton therapy to spare healthy tissue. It could also guide the design of safer radiation plans, and show whether an inexpensive drug combination of pentoxifylline and vitamin E can prevent or lessen late swallowing damage.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Stephen Lai
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Track when osteoradionecrosis develops, how symptoms change, and how DCE-MRI Ktrans values change in HPV-related throat cancer survivors. Use this data to validate risk models based on radiation dose and clinical factors.
Bonnie Martin-Harris
Northwestern University, IL·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test in a randomized, sham-controlled trial of 88 oropharyngeal head and neck cancer survivors whether respiratory-swallow phase training increases the share of swallows started while breathing out.
Mackenzie Wehner
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Test whether a 4-day course of 5-fluorouracil plus calcipotriene, a vitamin D analog, is non-inferior to 2–4 weeks of 5-fluorouracil alone, in a two-site randomized trial of patients with multiple actinic keratoses.
The school
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: 23 labs on PI Pages, $1.4B a year on research.
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