Q and A with Cancer Epigenetics Expert Dr. David Lombard
The Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher explores the interconnectedness of aging, metabolism and cancer.
Each human cell contains about 20,000 genes. Those genes are the same in nearly every cell, yet cells differ wildly across the body. Brain cells are very different than skin cells, for example, yet share the same DNA.
Epigenetics turns genes on and off, guiding one cell to develop differently from another, explains David Lombard, M.D., Ph.D., co-leader of the Cancer Epigenetics Program at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
“Understanding epigenetics is crucial to understanding the basic biology of cancer and potentially can drive development of new therapies,” Dr. Lombard said.
He discusses his work in the following interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Please give an overview of your research and role at Sylvester.
I’m a professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, where I serve as vice chair for clinical and translational research. I have the honor of co-leading the Cancer Epigenetics Program, and I serve as the translational lead for Sylvester’s sarcoma program.
My lab is interested in connections between cell metabolism and epigenetics, and how those play out in the context of aging and cancer. Those topics may seem very different, but we know that metabolism “talks” in important ways to the genome, and that’s epigenetics. We know these processes go awry in many different pathologies, particularly in aging and cancer. We pursue many projects related to those core themes.
Why is studying epigenetics important to understanding cancer?
We all know that mutations in certain genes can drive cancer. Another really important piece of the cancer puzzle is how genes get turned on and off, even in the absence of mutations. And that has to do with epigenetic changes.
As we get older, we suffer from more cancer, heart disease, neurodegeneration, diabetes and other common diseases. If we could really understand aging at a fundamental level, we could potentially prevent or treat many of these diseases.
Dr. David Lombard
For example, there’s a protein called menin, which is an epigenetic regulator. It actually can be targeted using new medicines that were recently FDA-approved for blood cancers, and these have induced remarkable responses in some patients with aggressive, severe blood cancer. Clinical trials of these medicines are underway at Sylvester and other institutions, and my lab is also studying this topic.
What was your path to focusing on aging, metabolism and cancer?
Aging was always my first love, intellectually. As we get older, we suffer from more cancer, heart disease, neurodegeneration, diabetes and other common diseases. It’s fair to say that aging itself is a major driver of these conditions. If we could really understand aging at a fundamental level, we could potentially prevent or treat many of these diseases all at once.
When I was a postdoctoral fellow, I was involved in some of the early work on a family of proteins called sirtuins. Work in model organisms had linked these to aging. In my first independent lab, we and others realized these proteins play less of a role in aging in mammals than we’d hoped for. But it became clear that these proteins play major roles in cancer and, importantly, could be targeted with new small molecules that we and others are developing.
Moreover, many sirtuin proteins regulate cell metabolism. We’ve done a lot of work in that area, and over time, we expanded our focus beyond sirtuins. When I was recruited to the Miller School, Sylvester generously purchased advanced new equipment that allows us to probe metabolism at a very in-depth level. That’s been transformative for our research. We try to pay that forward by collaborating with many other labs to help boost metabolism research across the university.
Your lab recently moved into the Kenneth Griffin Cancer Research Building. How will this new space benefit researchers and patients?
It’s an incredibly exciting and beautiful space. We’re on the 10th floor of the GCRB, with other researchers focused on cancer metabolism. We can exchange ideas daily with our neighbors, share common equipment and be stimulated by the exciting work that’s going on all around us. I’m certain this will promote new ideas and collaborations to ultimately help Sylvester’s patients, which is what we all care about.
What do you enjoy outside of work?
I have a 15-year-old son, Alex, and we often play soccer in our front yard. (He usually beats me.) During the pandemic, I had a project to teach him the flute. I was a pretty serious musician in a former life. He ran with it, and he’s now better than I am. We often play duets at home. Outside parenting, I get to enjoy our beautiful Miami weather year-round by running outside. I also enjoy reading and my guilty pleasure is vampire fiction.
Tags: aging, Aging Research, cancer epigenetics, cancer research, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Dr. David Lombard, epigenetics, metabolics, Pathogenic mutations, pathology, Sylverster Comprehensive Cancer Center