Photo available on request
Newswise — LOS ANGELES (April 25, 2011) – Edwin Posadas, M.D., a noted clinician and researcher with expertise in treating advanced prostate cancer and the biology of cancer’s spread, has joined Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as the clinical director of the Genitourinary Medical Oncology Program in the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute.
Posadas, in his research, has focused on mechanisms through which cancer cells in localized tumors spread to other parts of the body. A protein called FYN, which is a member of a cancer-causing gene family, was identified in his laboratory as a possible regulator involved in metastasis, the spread of cancer. In upcoming studies at Cedars-Sinai, Dr. Posadas will work to define comprehensively FYN’s function in prostate cancer cells, with the goal of applying his basic science findings to developing new therapies to benefit men with advanced prostate cancer.
“Dr. Posadas is an innovative researcher focused on finding effective ways to treat cancer and stop it from spreading,” said Steven Piantadosi, M.D., Ph.D., director of Cedars-Sinai’s Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute and Phase One Foundation Chair. “His understanding of the molecular mechanisms of cancer growth may well lead to targeted therapies that stop cancer cells from gaining footholds in other organs, essentially keeping the disease contained and manageable.“
Besides bringing a research laboratory funded by a Department of Defense grant to the medical center, Posadas will lead a group of expert physicians providing specialized and high quality care to patients with prostate and other cancers. “This is an exciting time in prostate cancer research,” Posadas said. “Ten years ago if you had advanced prostate cancer, we could do nothing but treat the pain. Now we have effective chemotherapy and a growing repertoire of agents relatively nontoxic to normal cells that very well may have a greater effect on the disease.”
Posadas, board certified in internal medicine and oncology, joins Cedars-Sinai from the University of Chicago, where he was an assistant professor of medicine and surgery. While at Chicago, he received the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s Stewart Rahr-PFC Young Investigator Award. Before that appointment, Posadas served as an assistant clinical investigator at the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Johns Hopkins University.
Posadas is a member of the American Medical Association and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. He is a reviewer for the journals Cancer and Cancer Research, among others.
Cedars-Sinai’s Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute is known for combining the highest quality patient care and the latest advances in cancer research. Its physicians, scientists and other staff are focused on providing the widest range of options to treat cancer – including many not widely available elsewhere. For more information, visit www.cedars-sinai.edu.
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