The Daniel G. Aldrich, Jr., Endowed Chair
Professor of Medicine and Biological Chemistry
Director, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Associate Vice Chancellor of Health Sciences
College of Health Sciences
University of California, Irvine
If prevention has in recent years found its place at the forefront of the war against cancer, then Dr. Frank L. Meyskens, Jr. has surely helped put it there. Few have worked so tirelessly, and with such sense of purpose, to better determine the roots of carcinogenesis and target exciting new agents to fight it.
The son of a San Francisco plumber, Dr. Meyskens obtained his M.D. degree from UCSF and underwent internal medicine training there. He completed his medical oncology and molecular virology training at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and from 1977 to 1989 worked at the Arizona Cancer Center (Tucson), becoming its Associate Director of Cancer Prevention and Control (1984-1989).
While in Tucson, Dr. Meyskens established a world-renowned Cancer Prevention Research Program. His work on the chemopreventive effects of retinoids brought him international attention. Indeed, this and other work put Frank among those pioneers who helped establish "proof of principle" for the validity of clinical chemoprevention.
After moving to the University of California Irvine in 1989, Frank established a major chemoprevention effort that in 2004 was awarded NCI designation as a "Center of Excellence for Chemopreventive Drug Development." The major research efforts conducted at the Center have always had a strong translational, bench-to-bedside component.
Aside from a number of clinical trials in progress to test various promising chemopreventive agents, Dr. Meyskens has conducted clinical and laboratory research to define the molecular mechanisms of melanomagenesis for over 25 years, and is one of the premier researchers in the field. He has organized a large group of investigators at UCI, creating a new paradigm for melanoma prevention and treatment that includes redox metabolism and combinations of targeted therapies.
But perhaps Dr. Meyskens' major contribution has been the development (along with Gene Gerner, University of Arizona) of the polyamine synthesis inhibitor difluoromethylornithine (DFMO).
Over 20 years Meyskens and Gerner conducted a series of translational pilot, phase IIa and phase IIb trials in patients with prior colorectal adenomas leading to a randomized placebo-controlled phase IIb/III trial of the combination of DFMO plus sulindac. The results were recently reported (1) and a decrease in adenomas— overall (by 70%), advanced (92%), and multiplicity (95%)—was demonstrated. In their commentary, (2) Drs. Michael Sporn and Waun Ki Hong said that, "The spectacular clinical results... represent a landmark advance in efforts to stop the current worldwide epidemic of cancer deaths."
Of course, Dr. Meyskens' achievements extend well beyond UCI. In 1986, he established a Cancer Prevention Research Program at the Southwestern Oncology Group (SWOG) and served as the group’s Chair from 1986 to 1996. In 2007, he was selected as the Associate Director of Cancer Control and Prevention at SWOG.
In 1986, Dr. Meyskens established a landmark cancer prevention and control emphasis within the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), of which he was Founding Chair from 1987 to 1990. Under his tutelage, cancer prevention and control issues began to be addressed within this therapeutically oriented society.
In 1991, Dr. Meyskens served on a President's committee of the AACR that focused on the future direction of cancer chemoprevention research. Dr. Meyskens chaired the Prevention Committee for the 1994 AACR Program and was a member of the International Affairs Committee (1993-96). He recently served as a member of the Special Events Committee (1996-1999) and was also on the Intraepithelial Task Force (2000-2004). He was President of the International Society for Cancer Prevention from 1998-2004. Dr. Meyskens served on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (NCI) from 1986 to 1990 (Chair 1989-1990). He also served on the Oversight Committee of CCOP from 1989 to 1992, and on the Prevention Subcommittee for PDQ (1992-1995).
Dr. Meyskens has been widely recognized for his many important contributions. In 1990, he received the Grace A. Goldsmith Award from the American College of Nutrition as well as the extremely prestigious Year 2000 Award from the NCI. In 2006, he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from ASPO and in 2008 the AACR-Prevent Cancer Foundation Award.
Dr. Meyskens is married to the former Linda Davidson and has three adult children. He enjoys swimming, hiking, and traveling to new cultures. In the past five years, he has rediscovered his love of poetry, working in a personal genre he described as “what really happens between people – frequently patients and their doctors.” He published his first book of poetry, Aching for Tomorrow (Fithian Press) in 2007. All royalties go to a fund to underwrite the non-medical expenses of patients in the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCI.
References
- Meyskens FL Jr, McLaren CE, Pelot D, Fujikawa-Brooks S, Carpenter PM, Hawk E, Kelloff G, Lawson MJ, Kidao J, McCracken J, Albers CG, Ahnen DF, Turgeon DK, Goldschmid S, Lance P, Hagedorn CH, Gillen DL, Gerner EW. 2008. Difluoromethylornithine plus sulindac for the prevention of sporadic colorectal adenomas: a randomized placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. Cancer Prev Res. 1(1): 32-8.
- Sporn MB, Hong WK. 2008. Clinical prevention of reoccurrence of colorectal adenomas by the combination of difluoromethylornithine and sulindac: an important milestone. Cancer Prev. Res 1:9-11.
