Faculty Profile
Dr. CaveneeWebster Cavenee, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine and Cell & Molecular Medicine
Cancer Biology Program
Director, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, San Diego
Office Address:
Department of Cellular & Moecular Medicine
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive, MC-0660
La Jolla, CA 92093
wcavenee@ucsd.edu
Office:(858) 534-7805
FAX: (858) 534-7750
| Education/Training | Research Interests | Publications | Laboratory |
Education and Training
| B.Sc | Department of Biology, Kansas State University | 1969-1973 |
Ph.D. NIH Predoctoral Fellow |
Department of Microbiology, University of Kansas Medical School | 1973-1977 |
Research Interests
Dr. Cavenee and his team have been investigating the action of mutations in genes that lead to the heritability, development, and malignant progression of tumors. With NFCR’s support, Dr. Cavenee is currently working on identifying the regulatory mechanisms of a type of chromosome translocator, the FKHR gene family. Genes in this family code for molecules that play critical roles in the early stage of cell division. The abnormal fusion of FKHR with another gene (PAX3) is likely to have carcinogenic effects on the developing precursor cells. Moreover, Dr. Cavenee’s data demonstrated that in addition to being a regulator of multiple “worker” genes, FKHR is also essential to the formation of the vascular system (angiogenesis) around tumor cells. Dr. Cavenee’s focus at this stage is to understand how FKHR influences angiogenesis, the targets and regulators of FKHR genes, as well as how other genes within the family affect the cellular transformation process. Hopefully, by mapping out how developing cells acquire genetic defects, we will be able to devise therapeutic measures that can prevent or inhibit these events from taking place.
Curing cancer has always been the ultimate goal for NFCR supported scientists, and Dr. Cavenee and his team choose to accomplish this goal through basic science cancer research. In order to develop effective treatments, we must first figure out the initial genetic errors that lead a cell to become cancerous, and Dr. Cavenee’s work is bringing us one more step closer to finding the answer to this seminal question. By understanding the fundamental issue of how genes influence cellular maturation and division, better strategies can be developed to prevent the onset of cancer.
Publications
Louis DN, Ohgaki H, Wiestler OD, Cavenee WK, eds. Pathology and Genetics of Tumours of the Nervous System, 3rd Edition. IARC Press, Lyon, France, 2007.
Huang PH, Mukasa A, Bonavia R, Flynn RA, Brewer ZE, Cavenee WK, Furnari FB, White FM. Quantitative analysis of EGFRvIII cellular signaling networks reveals a novel combinatorial therapeutic strategy for glioblastoma. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 104:12867-12872, 2007.
Li D, Ji H, Zaghlul S, McNamara K, Liang MC, Shimamura T, Kubo S, Takahashi M, Chirieac LR, Padera RF, Scott AM, Jungbluth AA, Cavenee WK, Old LJ, Demetri GD, Wong KK. Therapeutic Anti-EGFR antibody 806 generates responses in murine de novo EGFR mutant-dependent lung carcinomas. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 117:346-352, 2007.
Roeb W, Boyer A, Cavenee WK, Arden KC. PAX3-FOX01 controls expression of the p57Kip2 cell-cycle regulator through degradation of EGR1. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA. 46:18085-18090, 2007.
Funari FB, Fenton T, Bachoo RM, Mukasa A, Stommel JM, Stegh A, Hahn WC, Ligon KL, Louis DN, Brennan C, Chin L, DePinho RA, Cavenee WK. Malignant astrocytic Glioma: genetics, biology and paths to treatment. Genes and Development, 21:2683-2710, 2007.
Wiedemeyer R, Brennan C, Heffernan TP, Xiao Y, Mahoney J, Protopopov A, Zheng H, Bignel G. Furnari F, Cavenee WK, Hahn WC, Ichimura K, Collins VP, Chu GC, Stratton MR, Ligon KL, Futreal PA, Lynda-Chin L. Feedback circuit amount INK4 constrains glioblastoma development. Cancer Cell, 13:355-364, 2008.
James CD, Louis DN, Cavenee WK. Molecular biology of central nervous system tumors. In: Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology, 8th Edition. VT DeVita, S Hellman, SA Rosenberg, eds. 2009.
Read RD, Canenee WK, Furnari FB, Thomas JB. A drosophilia model for EGFR-Ras and Pi3K-dependent human glioma. PLoS Genetics, 5:31000374, 2009.
