[BIC-announce] FW: Killam-TODAY - Dr. James Herman

[Jennifer Chew, Ms.]

Jennifer Chew
McConnell Brain Imaging Centre
Montreal Neurological Institute
Room WB317
3801 University Street
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
H3A 2B4
Tel:  (514) 398-8554
Fax:  (514) 398-2975


-----Original Message-----
From: MNISTAFF - Montreal Neurological Institute Staff [mailto:MNISTAFF at LISTS.MCGILL.CA] On Behalf Of Enza Ferracane, Ms.
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 10:06 AM
To: MNISTAFF at LISTS.MCGILL.CA
Subject: Killam-TODAY

 
Dear all,

	Please come to hear Dr. James Herman give the Killam seminar on Tuesday Oct. 11 at 4:00.  Dr. James G. Herman is an Associate Professor of Oncology - Cancer Biology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. His area of special interest is gene silencing and he helped develop methylation-specific PCR: a novel PCR assay for methylation status of CpG islands. Aberrant DNA methylation is the most common molecular lesion of the cancer cells. Neither gene mutations (nucleotide changes, deletions, recombinations) nor cytogenetic abnormalities are as common in human tumors as DNA methylation alterations. Dr Herman showed that the MGMT (O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase) promoter is frequently methylated  in gliomas (40 percent) and those with methylated promoter respond to the carmustine in terms of tumor regression and disease-free survival. Dr Herman's finding has been recently confirmed by Hegi, et al. ( N Engl J Med. 2005;352(10):997) in a clinical trial on the Radiotherapy plus Concomitant and Adjuvant Temozolomide for Glioblastoma. In this trial, only patients with methylated MGMT status significantly benefited from temozolomide, whereas those with methylated MGMT promoter did not have such a benefit. 

Ronald Del Maestro


Dr. Rolando Del Maestro, MD,PhD,FRCS(C),FACS,DABNS William Feindel Chair in Neuro-Oncology Killam Scholar Director, Brain Tumour Research Centre Professor, Division of Neurosurgery and Oncology Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital
3801 University St., Suite 109
Montreal,Quebec
Canada H3A 2B4
telephone:514 398 5791
fax:514 398 2811
web site www.mni.mcgill.ca/btrc/delmaestro
-- 

Wayne Sossin 

Associate Professor, McGill University 

Dept. Neurology and Neurosurgery 

Dept. Anatomy and Cell Biology 

3801 University St. 

Montreal Neurological Institute 

Montreal, Quebec 

Canada H3A-2B4 

Phone: 1-514-398-1486 

Fax: 1-514-398-8106 

e-mail wayne.sossin at mcgill.ca 

web-page http://www.mcgill.ca/mni/cbet/waynes/index.html