This is where data reproducibility becomes incredibly important. It may be incredibly difficult to find the causation mechanism that links the two. In this case, a mountain of evidence contradicts the WHO announcement and, therefore, the release should be treated with great skepticism. Indeed, with regard to medical studies, such cases have occurred before, notably with research that linked estrogen with heart disease prevention in women and also with the study that linked vaccination to an increased chance of autism. In the first example, estrogen was later found by the National Institutes of Health not to decrease the risk of heart disease but instead to increase the risk of stroke and deep vein thrombosis.

Perhaps a better-known example of a medical study being overturned upon closer examination is the link between vaccinations and autism. First published in 1998 in The Lancet, British researcher Dr. Andrew Wakefield reportedly found evidence for a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and an increased risk of autism in children. Over the next decade, repeated studies failed to find any additional evidence to support this connection. Evidence was discovered that suggested Dr. Wakefield, who worked at University College London and for the pharmaceutical companies Immunospecifics Biotechnologies Ltd. and Carmel Healthcare Ltd., falsified some of the data for the study. The case of Dr. Wakefield, who has since been discredited and decertified, is a reminder not only of the importance of academic honesty, but also about the importance that others be able to find similar results when conducting the same experiment.

Almost no one will deny the medical benefits of vaccination, just as very few would willingly give up their cellular phones. In order to encourage such drastic changes, scientific data must be certain. Therefore, as consumers, we should be doubtful of such studies that seem to contradict the larger body of known evidence, rather than believe everything that is printed, even in supposedly reputable sources.

Instead of attempting to live without cellphones because they may cause cancer, it is much better that we remain wary and skeptical, remembering that the vast body of scientific evidence refutes this claim.

Renee C. Byer | Sacramento Bee | MCT

Brandon Gonzales, 12, has been using a cell phone since he was 10. Almost all of his friends have cell phones, too. His mom, Elizabeth Gonzales, likes knowing that he can call home at any time. “It gives me peace of mind,” she said. Kids ages 9 to 12 are the fastest-growing cell phone market.

While the World Health Organization announced five months ago that cellphones are a possible cause of cancer, a recent study of more than 300,000 people in Denmark found no correlation between cellphone use and risk of tumor formation in subjects.

Many students said that recent findings have not affected their daily lives or cellphone use.

Students, many of whom use their cell phones on a daily basis, say that they cannot imagine giving them up.

“It isn’t a huge issue simply because I don’t think I can live without my cellphone. It is a risk I am willing to accept,” sophomore Eric Ji said.

The Danish study, the most expansive of its kind to date, investigated tumor formation in people who had used cellphones for 10 years or more. The results echoed those of a 2002 study performed at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis that found no relationship between cellphone radiation and cancer in rats. The University’s study examined 480 rats over two years.

While the inconsistency of studies has left most students unfazed, some said they have already taken proactive precautions.

“I never put my phone in my pocket because I am afraid of getting testicular cancer,” sophomore Adam Sokolowski said. “I remember reading about a study done in Sweden where they found that sperm count decreased when males kept cell phones in their pockets,” he said.

Other students noted that retailers should be required to release information regarding the safety of their devices.

“I read a [New York] Times article on it and it sounded pretty legitimate—they found no evidence regarding cellphones and cancer, so I am not worrying about it right now,” sophomore Ali Haroon said. “[But] they are such a big part of our lives, if something is wrong we should definitely know about it.”

Directed by

Jonathan Levine

Starring

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick

Ed Araquel | Courtesy Summit Entertainment | MCT

Anna Kendrick, from left, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen star in "50/50."

At this point, most of us have a relative, friend or friend of a friend who’s battled with some form of cancer. Failing that, we’ve gone to Relay for Life, listened to an inspirational speech at a high school graduation or watched a sappy movie on Lifetime about a kid with leukemia.

The point is, the story is familiar. Someone gets sick. It’s unexpected and unfair. He’s scared. His friends are scared. No one really knows how to deal with it. He goes through the chemotherapy, which is awful. He’s faced with overall survival odds of 50/50 and the possibility of a surgery that may or may not work. He starts to realize that he might actually die.

Okay, so take that basic story, and add the actors I mentioned. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does the same thing he did in “(500) Days of Summer” as the fresh-faced nice guy who keeps getting more and more broken down until you just want to give him a hug and tell him it will be all right. In fact, a lot of the characters in the movie try to do just that, and Adam is understandably a bit weirded out.

Anna Kendrick repeats her character from “Up in the Air” as the sweet young thing who’s completely inexperienced at her job but tries really hard. The romance between her and Adam is nice but expected and a bit beside the point.

Seth Rogen is…well, Seth Rogen. He plays the same character in every movie—an overgrown frat boy who’s basically a good guy, just a bit preoccupied with beer and chicks. The character, Kyle, is obviously introduced as the comic relief, but surprisingly, he might be the best part of the movie. Because what would happen if that guy had to help his friend through a battle with cancer? Kyle spends a lot of time trying to get Adam to play the sympathy card to get laid and smoke his medical marijuana, but he’s honestly scared for his friend and willing to do whatever Adam asks of him.

There’s nothing wrong with the portrayal of cancer in “50/50;” it feels realistic. It’s also occasionally kind of funny and often kind of heart wrenching, but always just kind of. Cancer sucks. We all know that. If we’re supposed to spend our free time going through this journey with a fictional character, we need to get something out of it—some fresh perspective—and “50/50” just doesn’t quite manage to deliver.

These findings are critical within the medical community because they offer doctors new insight into choosing cancer treatment methods.

David Piwnica-Worms and Raphael Kopan, professors of developmental biology at the medical school, co-authored a study investigating the safety of anti-Notch therapy. They concluded that the therapy could have potentially fatal side effects.

Anti-Notch therapy is used to treat some forms of cancer. It targets the Notch pathway, which is composed of a gene and gene product whose proteins produce receptors that are expressed on the surface of cells.

While expression of Notch1, a key protein in the pathway, is essential for the normal development of many cellular types, Notch1 also has cancer and anti-cancer properties.

Depending on the cell type, Notch1 can either enhance or inhibit tumor growth. When its tumor-suppressant effects are destroyed, there can be medical implications for cancer patients.

Piwnica-Worms and Kopan sought to understand the biology of the Notch1 receptor using a mouse model.

In human patients with two copies of the Notch1 gene, both copies, in most cases, must be knocked out, or destroyed, to allow cancer cells to grow. This is known in the medical field as the two-hit hypothesis. Following this principle, Piwnica-Worms and Kopan introduced a mutation that affected both Notch1 genes in mice.

One of these genes—the null—was intentionally knocked out. The researchers monitored the mice over time to determine what would happen when the second gene was eventually inhibited.

“We had an unbiased genetic approach to look at a loss of heterozygosity, meaning the loss of that one gene—a second hit,” said Piwnica-Worms. “And in an unbiased way, we could survey the animals over their lifetime to find out what was going to happen, and it ended up that these vascular tumors formed.”

In mice, the dominant effect of the second hit was in blood vessels in the liver. Tumor growth was not suppressed, which instigated the proliferation of vascular-based tumors.

“Even though it could’ve happened anywhere, the most common place for that second gene to be knocked out was in the vascular cells,” added Piwnica-Worms. “Which given the role that Notch has in the growth of blood vessels maybe wasn’t a surprise.”

Although some of these tumors were benign, mice bled to death when tumors popped.

The outcome of this study raises issues with the long-term use of anti-Notch therapy. Doctors use drugs to inhibit the function of these genes in humans. If patients have chronic exposure to these Notch inhibitors, the study predicts that they will develop vascular problems and other potentially serious side effects. In grave cases, tumors can form, rupture and cause patients to suffer internal hemorrhage.

“There might be measured short-term use that might be able to avoid those side effects,” Piwnica-Worms said, “but it certainly raises a flag of caution for chronic use of Notch inhibitors.”

2. Where are you from, and where is your favorite place to go when you are there?
Traverse City, Michigan; my favorite place to go is the beach on Lake Michigan.

3. What are you majoring in?
Anthropology and German; with a minor in public health.

4. What’s your favorite German expression?
Niedlich: cute; it’s just a fun word to say.

5. What do you want to do with your life?
I want to work in the social aspect of medicine in Third World countries.

6. What is your favorite activity you have done your freshman year?
Going to Farm Aid, a benefit concert in St. Louis.

7. What is your freshman roommate like?
She is so patient and can put up with my loudness.

8. Describe your floor in fewer than 10 words.
Lots of crazy, unpredictable and free-spirited people.

9. What kind of cancer did you have?
I had rhabdomyosarcoma; it’s a soft-tissue sarcoma. They diagnosed me when I was 6 months old, and it came back when I was a year and a half.

10. What does your scar mean to you?
My scar is a source of pride because it shows that I beat cancer.

11. What does the word cancer mean to you?
It’s an obstacle, not a death sentence; just another obstacle I had to overcome in life.

12. Do a lot of people know you had cancer?
Everyone at home knows, but here most people don’t. It is not brought up, and people don’t look at me and assume I had cancer.

13. What song do you want played at Relay For Life?
Anything by Lady Gaga.

14. What are you most looking forward to at Relay For Life?
Bonding with my floor and the luminaries ceremony.

15. What is something that no one at Wash. U. knows about you?
I lived in Germany for six weeks during a summer in high school. I did a foreign exchange between sophomore and junior year in Mainz. It was an eye-opening experience because I was exposed to such a different way of life.

16. What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?
Coming to Wash. U., because I knew no one coming into it and I could have easily gone to a state school.

17. If you could meet any famous person, who would it be and why?
Grace Kelly, because she was such a classy lady and her life story is very interesting.

18. What do you miss most about being a kid?
Not having any responsibility.

19. What are your three most-cherished objects?
The Tiffany ring that my sister saved up to buy me for my birthday. A purple blanket I had when I was a little baby. A graduation present my parents designed for me in the shape of a cancer ribbon with my birthstone.

20. What TV character best imitates your life?
Blair Waldorf with a lot less drama and a hell of a lot more class.

21. If you could live inside a novel’s fictional world what would it be?
“The Catcher in the Rye.” I would love to be Holden Caulfield for a day.

Richard Wilson and the Genomics Sequencing Center at the University are handling the sequencing of all 600 tumor samples that will be studied during the three-year project. The first few tumors are already being analyzed. The first 50 tumors will be sequenced and analyzed within the first year of the study.

“There have been all kinds of studies that call themselves cancer genomics studies,” Wilson said. “Most of them have looked at small numbers of genes that are genes we know are involved in various types of cancer, and the idea is simply to look at those cancer patients and see if you can find mutations and say you know what caused this person’s cancer.”

What sets the study apart from previous projects is its scale. Samples from 600 patients will have their entire genomes sequenced in three years.

“To actually look at whole genomes for 600 patients is really unprecedented,” Wilson said. “You can look at a few genes in a lot of patients, or you can look at a lot of genes in a smaller number of patients. Those two extremes have been what’s been done so far.”

Wilson said that the study is taking a broad look at the genome without preconceived ideas about what genes might be more likely to play a role.

“Every type of cancer is different,” he said. “If you know of some genes that are mutated in lung cancer and then you go study breast cancer and you only look at those genes, you probably won’t find much. There may be some overlap, but for the most part, different cancers are caused by different gene mutations. We learned that we really needed to look at all genes, so this is really a science that’s been pioneered here at Washington University. Throw a rope around the entire genome and determine what mutations may have occurred.”

Since the study is so over-arching, there are unique challenges that Wilson said the team is prepared for.

“It’s like taking two haystacks and trying to find the bits of hay that are different in the second one,” Wilson said. “It’s an enormous computational problem. The human genome is 3 billion bits of information. Most of the software we utilize for the analysis is stuff we’ve developed over the last few years.”

Wilson said that while the University will analyze the tumors, St. Jude’s plays several critical roles.

“It sounds like it’s straightforward, but it’s not so simple,” he said. “There are a lot of careful methods you have to utilize to preserve the tumor sample. There’s an amazing amount of clinical information. We’ll work together on some downstream experiments. It’s going to be a really nice collaboration.”

The project’s goal is to try to identify genes that play a role in cancer so they can be a target for future treatment. Wilson mentioned that there have already been gene mutations that affect responses to certain drugs.

“In the long term it helps you better understand the disease so you can think about new drugs that might be even more effective or even better, are targeted to the patient’s exact mutation, and you’ll be able to dial in exact treatments,” he said. “What we learn in the short term is how to better utilize the drugs we already have.”

The study divides the tumors into three broad areas: leukemia, brain tumors and solid tumors, in other places, known as sarcomas.

Wilson added that holding the study in St. Louis has been advantageous.

“St. Louis is really one of the only places where this could happen,” Wilson said. “We’ve pioneered these methods. People at Wash. U. should be proud that we’re leaders in this field.”

Dean of Arts & Sciences Jim McLeod sits down to negotiate with the Student Worker Alliance during the group’s sit-in at the admissions office in April 2005. (Student Life Archives)

Senior Class President Fernando Cutz announced Wednesday night that the  Class of 2010 would donate all funds raised through the senior class gift drive to the McLeod Scholars Program. The scholarship commemorates dean Jim McLeod, who has taken a leave of absence to undergo cancer treatment.

Eligibility for the scholarship will be based on a combination of qualities McLeod, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, has valued most: leadership, academic achievement, commitment to serving others and integrity. The student must always be striving for excellence, just as McLeod has insisted on excellence in the undergraduate experience.

The scholarship will be available for incoming freshmen in the Class of 2014.

Dean McLeod has long been a strong force on campus and in shaping undergraduate life at Washington University.

“He is the individual who has the vision, the wisdom to paint the picture of what a quality undergraduate experience should look like,” said Jill Carnaghi, associate vice chancellor for students and dean of campus life. “He’s part and parcel of the fabric of this institution.”

McLeod’s enthusiasm for student life has been recognized by students for years.

“Dean McLeod is a very inspirational person, and the values that he demonstrates and embodies daily are ones that we should all strive for,” said Melissa Cochran, a sophomore and Ervin Scholar who attended the announcement at the Student Union senate meeting. “He is one of those people that you feel truly lucky to know, and if anyone deserves this honor it is him,”

McLeod led the Ervin Scholars Program.

The Mcleod Endowed Scholarship fund has already raised $3 million through donations from the University community.

The program is a part of the greater University-wide initiative announced in September called “Open Doors to the Future.” The University hopes to raise $150 million in scholarships and fellowships in this effort.

Traditionally, the Senior Class Council is not affiliated with the senior class gift. Instead, the alumni and development office has spearheaded the effort, sometimes asking students to get involved and give gifts by college as opposed to one from the entire class.

Cutz said the old method of donating a class gift was a flawed effort. The giving rate among the senior class in recent years has been between 16-19 percent, which is significantly less than peer institutions. Yale University traditionally has a participation rate of 88 percent, and the University of Chicago has one of 77 percent. None of Wash. U.’s peers have a lower rate than the upper 70th percentile.

Cutz is hoping to have 70 percent of the senior class participate, which would be a significant increase from last year’s 17 percent. Though he hopes that each student gives $20.10, he said it is not the amount that counts.

“What matters isn’t how much it is, it’s the participation rate,” Cutz said. “I think it would be warming to [McLeod] to see 70 or 80 percent of the class donating in his honor.”

Students can either donate online, as collections have run in the past, or obtain a slip from the Senior Class Council and include the donation in their senior class packet.

This is the first year where there will be one gift, as opposed to a seperate gift from the students in each individual school.

With the consolidation of the class gift, there will be one giant party for seniors who donate, instead of multiple smaller ones.

Anyone can contribute to the McLeod Scholars Program at http://gifts.wustl.edu.

Freshman Lauren Budde started as setter for the first time in her career, recording a double-double with 39 assists and 10 digs. Junior Erin Albers and senior Nikki Morrison both nailed a team high of 11 kills.

Seniors Alli Alberts and Audra Janak did not play in the team’s first loss to UMSL since 1989. Alberts, Morrison, Janak and senior Ali Crouch will be honored at the Culver-Stockton College match at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 31.

The No. 4 Washington University volleyball team lost to No. 2 Emory for the third time in school history this weekend, falling 1-3 in a tightly fought match at the second University Athletic Association Round Robin.

The Red and Green also edged out the University of Chicago 3-2 and swept Brandeis University and New York University (NYU) to take the No. 2 seed in the UAA championships, hosted by Wash. U. on Nov. 7 and 8.

Wash. U. started off strong against the Eagles, taking the first set 25-21 despite two occasions where Emory closed to within one point. Even with senior Alli Alberts’ career high of 17 kills, the Bears could not overcome the Eagles in the next three sets.

“We really just need to figure out how to get out of ruts,” senior Ali Crouch said. “Be more creative with our shots and tool more.”

The fourth set proved to be the most competitive, as Wash. U. built up two four-point leads, but the Bears could not finish and fell 27-25. “Stats don’t matter, especially when you lose,” Alberts said.

The University of Chicago fought hard to even their match and force a fifth set against Wash. U. after trailing by two sets. “Chicago came out pretty scrappy as well and played a really good game against us,” Alberts said.

Senior Nikki Morrison, junior Erin Albers and freshman Kristen Thomas recorded double-digit kills, finishing with 17, 13 and 11, respectively, as Wash. U. took the first two sets 25-15 and 25-11. The Red and Green were plagued by errors in the third and fourth sets, dropping them 25-21 and 25-22.

The Bears came back in the final set with a 15-7 finish. Freshman Tricia Brandt had a memorable day on defense, recording a personal best of 23 digs.

The Bears swept Brandeis (25-22, 25-13, 25-18) and NYU (25-21, 25-15, 25-17) on Saturday. Freshman Erin Kasson led the way against Brandeis, recording eight kills on a .571 performance, while Morrison had a team high of 11 kills on a .455 showing. Albers and senior Ali Crouch had career days against NYU, with Albers smashing out 15 kills on 18 attempts for a .833 percentage and Crouch hitting .480 for 13 kills.

“[Albers] hit like a monster,” Alberts said. “I was waiting for her to break out. I knew it was going to be soon. When she is on, she cannot be stopped.”

Albers was more nonchalant when asked about her accomplishment. “No one can have a perfect hitting game without good defense and a good setter,” Albers said.

Wash. U. hosts one more tournament before the UAA championships at home. The Red and Green take on Concordia University and Culver-Stockton College on Oct. 31 and compete against Monmouth College and Millikin University on Nov. 1.

Bears dig for a cure

Washington University’s 7 p.m. match against Division II University of Missouri-St. Louis features the Bear’s first Dig for a Cure event.

Private donors have pledged funds for every dig that the Bears record for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. Proceeds from donations at the door, T-shirt sales, a silent auction and a raffle for an iPod will also support breast cancer research. “It’s a cause that’s very near and dear to the team’s heart,” Assistant Coach Louella Lovely-Maxwell said.

The Dig for a Cure program was started in 2003 by former University of North Carolina-Charlotte Volleyball Coach Lisa Marston after her mother survived breast cancer. Since then, more than 220 collegiate and high school programs have joined in the event.

The Bears will be warming up in pink shirts, wearing pink ribbons and playing with a pink volleyball in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for our team to give back and have fun at the same time,” Alberts said. “This is our first year, so I really hope lots of people come out to support such a wonderful cause and also help cheer us on to victory.”

The team has expressed their hopes that community members support the foundation. More information on how to donate can be found by contacting Head Coach Rich Luenemann.