Lung Force Walk is personal for Fox Chase Cancer Center researcher and his mom, a 4-time cancer survivor
Johnathan Whetstine's lab at Temple's Fox Chase Cancer Center is working on groundbreaking research on how DNA impacts cancer cells to resist treatment. It's research that he hopes will eventually lead to more effective therapies.
Whetstine's the director of the Cancer Epigenetics Institute at the center, heading up this critical research.
"We're studying a very fundamental process and we're asking, 'how does a cancer cell change their DNA content so that they can become more fit, or handle stressful conditions, or grow like they want to?'" Whetstine said.
A big focus here is lung cancer, a leading cancer killer.
"We've made huge advances. Lung cancer has made enormous advances with novel therapies, novel opportunities," Whetstine said.
He says the lung cancer advances have also expanded to other cancers.
"Discoveries in one cell type, or even in a different organism, can open your eyes to how you target something in different areas," he added.
It's expansive research that's evolved over the years. While on the home front, Whetstine's mom faced her own cancer ordeal.
Stephanie Stahl: "So for you this is personal?"
Dr. Johnathan Whetstine: "Yes, it's very personal. ... So, we ended up discovering that my mother had set two cancers at the time. We took care of it. And then she then developed another one."
Jeane Whetstine, who's 81, has had four different cancers.
"They found a tumor in my right lobe of my lung. I was like, 'you have to be kidding me,'" she said. "I was determined it was not going to keep me down."
It didn't, mainly because all of the cancers were found early.
"And they were Stage 1. All Stage 1. And by being Stage 1 and catching them at that time, no chemo and no radiation," Jeane said.
Now this mother-son team will be walking together in Saturday's American Lung Association Lung Force Walk at the Philadelphia Zoo. The walk supports lung cancer research.
"You realize that that day, that walk, that you're not dealing with this alone. You also realize that no matter who you look at, everybody's got lungs. Anybody can get it," Dr. Whetstine said.
Jeane, who now volunteers at Fox Chase, is living proof that cancer can be cured with early detection, and cancer discoveries that come from labs like this.
Stephanie Stahl: "What's it like for you to see your son in this position doing this work with cancer research?"
Jeane Whetstine: "I'm a very proud mother ... that he's sharing his knowledge and his passion for finding cures in cancer."
Together, stepping into a future that could someday be cancer-free.
Learn more about the Lung Force Walk and get involved at Lungforce.org/CBSPhiladelphia.
