Feb 24, 2020
Dr. Lawrence Kirschner has
over 20 years’ worth of experience as a physician-scientist and
clinical endocrinologist, which has allowed him to see directly how
research impacts patients on an individual level.
On today’s podcast, he shares the details of his work. Tune in to
learn the following:
Dr. Kirschner’s sub-specialty is on diseases of
the pituitary gland, with particular emphasis on the
adrenal glands. Only about one in one million people will
eventually develop malignant adrenal tumors, but it’s an
aggressive and difficult-to-treat type of cancer. In part, the
absence of a good treatment approach for adrenal cancer is due to
the fact that it’s so rare, because this makes it difficult to
conduct clinical trials.
In recent years, however, a national collaborative effort to
address this has been set in motion, which Dr. Kirschner sees as
very promising for those who currently suffer from adrenal cancer
or those who will in the future.
He discusses the details of his
research, which aims to develop a better understanding of the
genetics of endocrine tumors in order to determine how these genes
function, and what particularly allows them to cause cell
proliferation and/or the excess production of hormones.
He talks about the many types of tumors and disease that can affect
the adrenals, and the ways in which they can wreak havoc on the
body. He dives into the science behind what his research has
already discovered and where it’s headed in the near future. Tune
in for all the details.
For general information about ongoing clinical trials,
visit clinicaltrials.gov.