DCTD Programs
Cancer, Aging, and Comorbidities Webinar Series
The NCI, in collaboration with the National Institute on Aging, convened a seven-part webinar series from January — July 2023.
The recordings of the individual webinars are posted below.
Read the workshop proceedings (Chen, 2024).
Workshop Goals
This webinar series aimed to facilitate the understanding of the complex roles that aging and comorbidities play in mechanisms underlying cancer response, cancer treatment, and survivorship. The goal was to stimulate interest in the presented specific topics and encourage the consideration of aging and comorbidities in cancer research.
Workshop Design
In the hour-long webinars, the speakers explored the status, challenges, and opportunities in seven selected areas of high significance to cancer research in the context of aging and comorbidities.
Workshop Highlights
| Session Speaker(s) |
Highlights |
|---|---|
| Session I Supriya Mohile |
Overview of cancer research in the context of comorbidities and current advances in improving treatment outcomes with an increasing emphasis on patient quality of life |
| Session II Edith P. Mitchell Andrea Denicoff, Harvey Jay Cohen Joseph Unger |
Designing clinical trials for older adults with comorbidities, approaches that enhance the accrual of older adults to clinical trials, and the factors to consider in improving treatment outcomes for this population |
| Session III Martine Extermann Marie Flannery Aarti Asnani |
The relationship between cancer treatment and existing comorbidities in older adults, as well as its impact on patient outcomes |
| Session IV Wei Gao Karen Mustian Andrew Laccetti |
The range of objective measures wearable devices can provide in clinical research with a discussion of implementation and obstacles in distinguishing treatment toxicities from underlying comorbidities |
| Session V Ann Klopp Matthew Redinbo Peter Turnbaugh |
The importance of gut microbiome in cancer treatment response and/or toxicities through their regulation of drug metabolism |
| Session VI Lydia Lynch Nicole Simone |
How a patient’s metabolism, immunity, microbiome, and comorbidities relate to the potential of using precision nutrition in cancer therapy |
| Session VII James L. Kirkland Judi Campisi |
The mechanistic roles of senescence in cancer and other diseases, as well as the status, challenges, and opportunities in the translation of these understandings into clinical practice |
Webinar Recordings
| Session Information | Link to Recording |
|---|---|
| Session I; January 27 Keynote Speech |
Recording 
|
| Session II; February 1 Comorbidities and Cancer Clinical Trial Design |
Recording
|
| Session III: March 30 Impact of Comorbidities on Treatment Tolerability and Patient Outcomes |
Recording
|
| Session IV: April 12 Wearable Devices to Measure Comorbidities and Improve Cancer Treatment |
Recording
|
| Session V: May 9 Microbiome as a Comorbidity in Cancer Therapy |
Recording
|
| Session VI: June 15 Food as a Drug |
Recording
|
| Session VII; July 14 Senescence, Cancer Treatment-Associated Accelerated Aging, and Comorbidities |
Recording
|
Contact: Weiwei Chen chen.weiwei@nih.gov