General News

NYU Receives Grant to Investigate Oral Cancer Pain Treatment

Seiichi Yamano Brian Schmidt

NYU COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY clinician-scientists Seiichi Yamano and Brian Schmidt have set out to develop a new class of medicines using gene therapy to effectively and safely treat oral cancer pain. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded the researchers a five-year, $2.9-million grant to test whether nonviral co-delivery of DNA and RNA will safely alleviate oral cancer pain.

Patients with oral cancer often suffer from severe pain. These patients may find it difficult to eat, drink, or even talk. The opioid medications used to treat oral cancer pain become less effective as patients develop drug tolerance, and cause numerous debilitating side effects.

Gene therapy offers an alternative to opioids for the treatment of cancer pain by reversing cancer-induced epigenetic changes. This approach selectively disrupts pain signaling without the side effects of opioids.

“Complete elimination of cancer pain in a patient is exceptionally challenging because there are multiple and redundant pain-signaling mechanisms and pathways,” explained Dr. Schmidt, who is a professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the College of Dentistry, as well as director of NYU’s Bluestone Center for Clinical Research and the NYU Oral Cancer Center.

As a strategy to obstruct these multiple and varied pathways, Dr. Yamano and Dr. Schmidt created two nonviral vectors that can efficiently deliver DNA and RNA to cells (transfection) with no toxicity: a cell-permeable peptide combined with a cationic lipid for DNA, and a lipopolymer for RNA. They hypothesize that the combination of OPRM1 (mu opioid receptor gene) re-expression and F2RL1 (gene for protease-activated receptor-2, or PAR2) downregulation in the cancer could eliminate cancer pain. Seiichi Yamano Brian Schmidt

In preliminary studies, the researchers demonstrated that nonviral transfection with OPRM1 DNA led to re-expression of the mu opioid receptor and partial reduction of pain in preclinical cancer models. PAR was found to be elevated in certain neurons that supply the cancer with nerves and drive pain. Knockdown of the F2RL1 gene partially attenuated pain.

In their newly funded NIH grant, the researchers will test whether the combination of OPRM1 re-expression and F2RL1 downregulation in the cancer can go beyond reducing cancer pain to eliminate it.

“Our approach is innovative because delivering DNA and RNA into a cancer with nonviral vectors for the management of pain has not been done before,” said Dr. Yamano, an associate professor of prosthodontics at the College of Dentistry. “If we are successful, the knowledge generated through this research could set the stage for a clinical trial and, ultimately, lead to the development of novel non-opioid medicines for cancer pain.”

New York Dental Students Chosen for ASDA Posts

TWO MEMBERS OF THE Columbia University College of Dental Medicine Class of 2022 have been elected to offices with the American Student Dental Association. They are Michelle Skelton, named an ASDA vice president, and Sebastian Celis Cifuentes, elected speaker of the house. The elections were held during a virtual Annual Session in February.

Ms. Skelton recently served as ASDA District 2 Trustee and is a board liaison to the ASDA Council on Membership and ASDA consultant to the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs. Mr. Celis Cifuentes previously served as chair of the ASDA Council on Advocacy and president of the Columbia ASDA chapter. He is involved as well with the Hispanic Student Dental Association.

UB Receives $780,000 Grant for New 40-foot Mobile Dental Clinic

THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO SCHOOL OF DENTAL MEDICINE has received a $780,000 grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation to expand its successful S-Miles to Go dental program through the addition of a second drivable mobile dental clinic.

Anticipated to begin operation in early 2022, second mobile dental clinic is expected to expand school’s outreach by more than 1,000patients annually.

The new mobile dental van—a 40-foot-long, two-chair clinic outfitted with a state-of-the-art panoramic X-ray unit, digital radiography, a sterilization center, wheelchair lift and electronic health record system—will meet the oral healthcare needs of Erie County’s underserved populations, including older adults and people with disabilities.

Anticipated to begin operation in early 2022, the second mobile dental clinic is expected to expand the school’s outreach by more than 1,000 patients annually. The new dental unit will also be staffed by UB dental faculty, staff and students, and provide students with experiential learning opportunities caring for the most vulnerable populations in the region. The funding will also support the operations of the School of Dental Medicine’s existing mobile dental van, which provides access to oral healthcare for veterans and underserved children and families, primarily in Chautauqua County.

The grant marks the second award provided to the UB S-Miles to Go program by the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, an organization that provides funding to enhance access to affordable, quality healthcare and to address the unmet healthcare needs of communities across New York State. In 2020, the foundation provided UB with a $200,000 grant to expand mobile dental services in underserved rural areas.

S-Miles to Go offers a full range of educational and oral healthcare services, including exams, cleanings, fillings, sealants, fluoride treatments and extractions. The program has served Western New York communities for over 20 years, providing more than 45,000 patient visits.

State Board Appointments Announced

KERRY M. MCENTEE, D.M.D., of Bronxville has received a five-year appointment to the State Board for Dentistry. Dr. McEntee specializes in general dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery and oral surgery. In addition to her private practice, she holds an appointment with Jacobi Medical Center, Bronx. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and Stony Brook University Medical Center.

Also receiving five-year appointments to the Board of Dentistry were hygienists Tera Bell, R.D.H., Irondequoit, and Karen Palleschi, R.D.H., of Mechanicville.