Lecture by Dr. Kenneth J. Pienta
On March 12 – 14, 2023, based on the invitation by the Centre for Tumour Ecology (CNE) and National Institute for Cancer Research (NICR), the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, hosted a visit of Dr. Kenneth J. Pienta from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA. Dr. Pienta is Professor of Urology, Oncology, Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. In addition, he acts as Director of Research at the Brady Urological Institute (https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/brady-urologyinstitute/) and co-Director of the Cancer Ecology Center (https://cancerecology.com/). Dr. Pienta is a leading expert in tumour ecology. He is the author/co-author of almost 800 scientific communications, which have been cited 55,000 times. His Hirsch index is 115.
In the small lecture hall of the Institute of Anatomy, he presented the lecture entitled 'The polyaneuploid cancer cell state: an ecologic view of why cancer is resistant to systemic therapies.' In his communication, he demonstrated the molecular mechanisms underlying the occurrence of polyaneuploid cancer cell state and its importance for acquisition of the tumour's resistance to therapy and formation of metastases, including delayed metastases occurring after the apparent patient's cure. The lecture by Dr. Pienta was attended in person by almost 50 experts from both university and academic institutions from the entire Czech Republic, and a further 100 spectators were connected on-line.
In the discussion, Dr. Pienta appreciated the results obtained within the framework of CNE and NICR in studying the tumour ecosystems, namely the skin melanoma and glioblastoma, which could potentially lead to mutually beneficial collaboration with his laboratory, and in further perspective, to joint projects and exchange of students of doctoral study programmes and postdocs.
K. Smetana
A. Šedo