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12A RESEARCH/SCIENTIST W Dr. Oscar Goodman Jr. Hematologist, Medical Oncologist and PhysicianScientist Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada 20130415_VI01_I.indd 12 hile his father may have been the happiest mayor alive, Dr. Oscar Goodman Jr. could be the most optimistic cancer researcher alive in Las Vegas. No, it doesn't sound as cool as a martinitoting, steakhouse-owning, ever the Las Vegas cheerleader former mayor, but we can't mistake the fact that this quiet son is shaping up to be the catalyst for keeping Las Vegas in the cancer research game. Like other researchers and physicians dealing with uncertainty after the closure of the Nevada Cancer Institute, Goodman, who came to the institute in 2007, eventually found a new home in Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada. The arrangement gives the researcher and physician access to parent company U.S. Oncology's more than 150 clinical trials and also allows for research and investigation through an adjunct faculty appointment at Roseman University of Health Sciences. It's a packed schedule, but all worth it to Goodman. "The future is bright in Las Vegas. There have been some changes over the last decade. But we're better off now than we were 10 years ago despite all those changes," he said. "We have some great physicians and some great research infrastructure being developed here in Las Vegas." Goodman's journey into medicine wasn't without his parents' encouragement. Seeing his grandfather battle pancreatic cancer was another influence too. But Goodman's early instincts were for the laboratory bench, a strict focus on the science, a life made happy by beakers and microscopes. But his father told him to keep his options open. So Goodman didn't go to medical school for one degree, but put in eight years for an M.D. and PhD. instead, the latter of which gave him the skills to navigate research while the former forced him to pair that knowledge with patients who desperately need it. "It's hard to compete with a full-time researcher, but having access to patients is invaluable," he added. "You could treat lab animals all day. … Patients are more informative." Goodman's current push is to put together an 84-patient trial revolving around findings from a Department of Defense grant he had years ago. The research involves looking at blood vessel formation in the development and progression of prostate cancer, more specifically patients whose cancer has metastasized, or progressed beyond the actual prostate. Goodman's research team has narrowed in on a certain pathway known as fibroblast growth factor – 2 (FGS-2) that impacts the progression of prostate cancer. The hope is with the development of a drug that can block the pathway, those with very advanced prostate cancer could have a greater chance of survival. "We think this is a crucial way by which cancer basically roots itself in the process of it spreading in that pathway," he explained. Goodman's team has also worked to analyze circulating tumor cells, or those that have separated from a tumor and gone into the bloodstream. Goodman says the work could lead to applications for personalized medicine where cancer treatments are tailored to one's genetic code. The circulating tumor cell research also discovered a higher than normal lipid count in CTC cells. His team is also evaluating the use of drugs using molecules bound to lipids for the treatment of certain types of cancer. But Goodman also said with the increase in so many new effective cancer treatments coming to the market, there has also been a spike in the price of medical care at a time when everyone seems to be trying to reign costs in. Personalized medicine and further research involving actual patients will help to change that problem, he added, by ultimately not just slowing down cancer but reversing its growth. "We need to take it that one step further and eradicate the cancer," he added. And doing that in Las Vegas surely makes mom and dad proud. —B.S. 4/11/13 3:18:11 PM