Interview with Dana-Farber physician and researcher Charles M. Roberts, MD, PhD

Q. Jimmy Fund Golf tournament volunteers spend countless hours planning and executing golf tournaments and thousands of golfers participate in events every year to raise money for Dana-Farber.  From your perspective, what does this philanthropy mean to you and the Institute?
A. The organizers and volunteers often seem thrilled to have me join them for a day and speak to them. But I’m thrilled to meet them and hear their stories. These people put forth enormous effort, often for many years in a row. We share a common bond – we’re both doing our best to beat cancer and we couldn’t do it without them. The money they raise is central to our efforts.

Q. Why did you come to Dana-Farber?
A. Since my undergraduate days at the University of Wisconsin I wanted to pursue a career in cancer research and care. I wanted to come to Boston because, quite simply, the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Department at Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Boston is hands-down the best in the world.

Q. Can you briefly explain your research and your ultimate goals?  
A. The term ‘Chromatin’ refers to the combination of DNA and its supporting protein structures. Protein complexes that regulate chromatin structure are critically important for regulating the growth of cells. Recent data demonstrate that disruption of the best studied of these complexes, the Swi/Snf complex, are found in both aggressive pediatric cancers and adult cancers. In fact, we have shown turning a single gene from this complex leads to 100% of mice developing cancer in an average of only 11 weeks. Therefore, this complex serves a critical role in the genesis of cancer. We are pursuing studies that will provide insight into this newly recognized mechanism of cancer development and will have the potential to identify new targets for treatment of these cancers.

Charles Roberts, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, received his MD and PhD degrees in 1995 from Washington University, St. Louis and then completed an internship and residency in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Boston. Following a fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at Children’s Hospital and DFCI, he joined the laboratory of Stuart Orkin, MD, for postdoctoral training. In 2003, he launched his own laboratory at DFCI where his research focuses on the role of aberrant chromatin remodeling in cancer development. Roberts lives with his wife and four children in Newton, Mass.

Q. How is your time split between the research lab and patient care?
A. I spend 80% of my time running my research laboratory and 20% of my time seeing patients either in the outpatient Jimmy Fund Clinic at DFCI or on the inpatient pediatric oncology floor at Children’s Hospital.

Q. What do you see as the most significant recent advance in cancer research?
A. Without question, the most significant advance in the last few years was the introduction of the drug Imatinib (Gleevec) four years ago for the treatment of CML, a type of leukemia that occurs mainly in adults. Up until that point, virtually all cancer therapy was based upon the old style of highly toxic drugs that had been randomly identified. Imatinib, on the other hand, was entirely designed and developed in a basic science research laboratory based upon exact knowledge of genetic mutations in this type of cancer. In its first trial, Imatinib was given to the first 54 patients, all of whom had failed standard chemotherapy and many had even failed bone marrow transplantation. 53 of these patients went into complete remission and 52 of them remained there a year later. Thus, Imatinib represented a true miracle drug and for the first time demonstrated that laboratory based cancer research could indeed lead to markedly improved cancer therapy. A downside to Imatinib is that it works very well against the cancer it was designed to treat but, as expected, does nothing against other cancers that do not carry the CML genetic mutation. Many labs at DFCI are now trying to take a similar approach for other types of cancer.
 
Q. Between your work at the Institute and spending time with your wife and four young sons, how often are you able to squeeze in a nice relaxing round of golf?
A. I generally get in about five to six rounds a year, about half of them associated with the Jimmy Fund Golf program. Now that my kids are getting old enough, I took three of them out for the first time this summer so maybe I can get a couple of rounds in with them this year. However, when I retire in 30 years, watch out…..