Nor should it be astonishing that, in the absence of a 2020 Pelotonia mass cycling event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the two jointly focused their personal My Pelotonia experience this year on long-distance cycling in support of cancer research at Ohio State.
“Our Pelotonia experience in 2020 was to explore the Rails-to-Trails bike paths in Ohio, with a goal of riding at least 10 of them,” Dr. Kisseberth says, referring to a nationwide network of public all-purpose paths established along former railroad corridors through a movement led by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC), a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C.
The RTC’s mission is to create these connecting corridors “to build healthier places for healthier people.” The RTC website states there are 23,000 miles of rail-trails around the country, including 105 rail-trails covering 1,028 miles in Ohio, and more than 8,000 miles of rail-trails are ready to be built nationwide.
“How much we cycle together has varied a lot over the years,” says Dr. Kisseberth, a professor in Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences. “This year, we are cycling most weekends.”
In past Pelotonias, Dr. Kendra — an associate professor and melanoma specialist in Ohio State’s College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, where she chairs the Melanoma Disease-Specific Committee — has served as captain of the Team Buckeye – Melanoma Team, and her husband has been on the Team Buckeye – College of Veterinary Medicine Team. But the couple, who came to Ohio State in 2001, typically ride together, and they wholeheartedly support the Pelotonia goal to end cancer.
“Life is precious,” Dr. Kendra states in her profile on the Pelotonia website.
Her clinical and research focus is on patients with melanoma, the deadliest of skin cancers, and other skin malignancies. Under her leadership, the melanoma program at the OSUCCC – James uses a multidisciplinary, science-based approach to patient care that involves targeted therapies, immunotherapeutic techniques and agents with novel mechanisms of action.
More and more patients are benefiting from this. In the past few years, the melanoma program has seen increases in patient volume, clinical trials and patients enrolled in these studies, which are paving the way to better therapies. “Everyone’s cancer is biologically unique, so our approach is to look at the individual patients and the genetic mutations within their tumors,” Dr. Kendra says. “We then determine the best therapy for the optimal long-term benefit.”
She points out that scientists at Ohio State have strongly contributed to advancements in treating melanoma. “Tumors can become resistant to the drugs we have, so there are studies on how to prevent the development of this resistance,” she explains. “And we have studies on how to overcome the resistance in patients who have already taken the drug successfully but have since become resistant.
“Before, patients with stage IV melanoma typically had a six- to nine-month survival rate after diagnosis,” she adds. “With new drugs and clinical trials, we have extended that. I feel privileged to be part of the Ohio State medical community, and I’m proud to contribute to the mission of the OSUCCC – James: to provide cutting-edge research that translates to innovative patient care.”
Dr. Kisseberth’s research interests are in comparative and translational oncology, with a focus on clinical trials of novel cancer therapies, especially for lymphoma and osteosarcoma (bone cancer). He works within the CVM’s Comparative and Translational Oncology Signature Program, which integrates nearly 40 investigators from Ohio State’s colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing and Veterinary Medicine, along with researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH), to investigate cancers that occur in both humans and animals in an effort to improve outcomes for veterinary and human patients.
Part of Dr. Kisseberth’s research has directly benefited from Pelotonia. He and Dean Lee, MD, PhD, a professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Ohio State and NCH, and a member of the Leukemia Research Program at the OSUCCC – James, received a Pelotonia-funded Idea Grant to study adoptive natural killer cell therapy in dogs with bone cancer. Idea Grants provide pilot funding that enables teams of scientists to pursue promising new cancer research concepts.
“Bone cancer is 10 times more common in dogs than humans,” Dr. Kisseberth says, “so they are excellent models for this disease.”
Also, the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a drug called acalabrutinib, a potent and selective oral Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor that is very effective in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and other blood cancers, was aided by collaborative clinical trials at Ohio State involving the Division of Hematology, the CVM and the Comparative and Translational Oncology Signature Program. Dr. Kisseberth directed the studies of acalabrutinib in dogs with lymphoma.
“This is particularly felt cycling through the towns and seeing and hearing the support given the riders,” says Dr. Kisseberth, who adds that he is devoting his Pelotonia experience this year to the memory of former faculty colleague and CVM peloton member Laurie Cook, DVM, who died after a battle with metastatic breast cancer. “Laurie was a fabulous clinician and teacher, and a strong supporter of Pelotonia.”
He says he and Dr. Kendra are inspired by a quote from the 1994 movie "The Shawshank Redemption," which is based on a Stephen King novella: “Remember that hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
Research funded by Pelotonia, Dr. Kisseberth adds, provides hope for all.