Robert Clinton Bast Jr., (born December 8, 1943) is an American physician-scientist who is the Director of Translational Research Career Development at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and holder of the Harry Carrothers Wiess Distinguished University Chair. Bast is best known for the discovery of

CA125 CA1, CA-1, CA 1, or Ca.1 may refer to: Aircraft and other vehicles * Buhl CA-1 Airster, an American sports airplane * Caproni Ca.1 (1910), an experimental biplane of 1910 * Caproni Ca.1 (1914), a World War I bomber * Schneider CA1, the first ...

, a serum

biomarker In biomedical contexts, a biomarker, or biological marker, is a measurable indicator of some biological state or condition. Biomarkers are often measured and evaluated using blood, urine, or soft tissues to examine normal biological processes, ...

for

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

that has contributed to the care of ovarian cancer patients worldwide. His research spans early detection, enhancing

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and understanding regulation of dormancy and the role of

autophagy Autophagy (or autophagocytosis; from the Greek language, Greek , , meaning "self-devouring" and , , meaning "hollow") is the natural, conserved degradation of the cell that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components through a lysosome-depe ...

in breast and ovarian cancer.

Early life and education

Bast was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He received his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

, cum laude, from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

in 1965 and his M.D., magna cum laude, from

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

in 1971. During medical school, he conducted research on cellular immunology with Harold Dvorak at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

Career

Following his internship in internal medicine at

Johns Hopkins Hospital Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1889, Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the foundin ...

, Bast joined the

U.S. Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services which manages public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The assistant se ...

and became a research associate at the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

(NCI), where he studied BCG immunotherapy and

carcinogen A carcinogen () is any agent that promotes the development of cancer. Carcinogens can include synthetic chemicals, naturally occurring substances, physical agents such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and biologic agents such as viruse ...

metabolism. He completed medical residency at

Brigham and Women's Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH or The Brigham) is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two ...

and fellowship in medical oncology at the

Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Dana–Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research center in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana-Farber is the founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated ...

, joining the faculty of Harvard Medical School in 1977 and becoming an Associate Professor in 1983. In 1984, Bast moved to

Duke University Medical Center Duke University Hospital is a 1062 -bed acute care facility and an academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1930, it is the flagship teaching hospital for the Duke University Health Sy ...

as Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of Hematology-Oncology. He led the

Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center The Duke Cancer Institute (DCI) is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, research facility, and hospital. Founded in 1971, the center is part of the Duke University School of Medicine and Duke University Health Syste ...

as Director from 1987 to 1994 and was named the Wellcome Clinical Professor of Medicine in 1992. Since joining

MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (colloquially MD Anderson Cancer Center) is a comprehensive cancer center and autonomous university of the University of Texas System in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the wo ...

, Bast has held several leadership roles, including Head of the Division of Medicine (1994-2000) and Vice President for Translational Research (2000–2022). He continues to serve as Professor in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics.

Research

Bast’s most widely recognized contribution is the discovery of

(MUC16), a tumor-associated antigen used as a biomarker for

. Collaborating with Robert Knapp at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Bast had developed the first

monoclonal In biology, monoclonality refers to the state of a line of cells that have been derived from a single clonal origin. Thus, "monoclonal cells" can be said to form a single clone. The term ''monoclonal'' comes . The process of replication can occ ...

antibodies directed against human ovarian cancer and the 125th promising

hybridoma Hybridoma technology is a method for producing large quantities of monoclonal antibodies by fusing antibody producing B cells with myeloma cells (cancerous B cells). This creates hybrid cells, ''hybridomas,'' that produce the antibody from their ...

recognized CA125. Initially introduced for monitoring disease persistence, progression and recurrence, CA125 is also used to distinguish malignant from benign

pelvic The pelvis (: pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of an anatomical trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis or pelvic skeleton). ...

masses and has contributed to trials for early detection. Combining rising CA125 and ultrasound has achieved adequate specificity and detected 70% of cases in early stage. Beyond CA125, Bast’s lab has identified 3 additional biomarkers from >130 candidates that detect cases missed by CA125 and that are being evaluated in the first 4-biomarker screening trial for ovarian cancer. Bast’s group has also made key discoveries in tumor biology. Having first demonstrated that epithelial ovarian cancer is clonal in origin, they discovered DIRAS3 (ARHI), an imprinted tumor suppressor gene downregulated in many cancers whose re-expression induces dormancy as well as autophagy which sustains dormant cancer cells in a nutrient poor environment. DIRAS3 is also an endogenous pan-suppressor of RAS that binds directly to the oncogene, disrupting dimers, clusters and downstream signaling. Salt induced kinase 2 (SIK2) was found to be required for several cancer cell functions and its inhibition enhances the activity of the

chemotherapeutic Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard regimen. Chemotherapy may be given with a curat ...

drugs and

PARP inhibitors PARP inhibitors are a class of drugs that are a group of pharmacological inhibitors of the enzyme poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP), which plays a role in repairing DNA in damaged cells. Medical uses of these drugs include the treatment of heri ...

used to treat ovarian cancer. Bast has authored over 750

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

publications, chapters, editorials and commentaries and served as editor-in-chief of major oncology texts, including Holland-Frei Cancer Medicine.

Honors and recognition

Bast is a Fellow of the

American College of Physicians The American College of Physicians (ACP) is a Philadelphia-based national organization of internal medicine physicians, who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults. With 161,000 members, ACP is the largest medical-specialty or ...

, the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

, and the

American Society of Clinical Oncology The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is a professional organization representing physicians of all oncology sub-specialties who care for people with cancer. Founded in 1964 by Fred Ansfield, Harry Bisel, Herman Freckman, Arnoldus G ...

. He is an elected member of the

Association of American Physicians The Association of American Physicians (AAP) is an honorary medical society founded in 1885 by the Canadian physician Sir William Osler and six other distinguished physicians of his era for "the advancement of scientific and practical medicine ...

and the

American Society for Clinical Investigation The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the oldest and most respected medical honor societies in the United States. Organization and purpose The ASCI is an honorary society to which more than 2,800 p ...

. His recognitions include: * AACR Daniel von Hoff Award * Giants of Cancer Care Award * Champion and Changemaker of Cancer Prevention, Early Detection and Symptom Science, NCI 50th Anniversary of the National Cancer Act * Ovarcome Pioneer Award * Society of Gynecologic Oncology Innovator Award * Claudia Cohen Award (Gynecologic Cancer Foundation) * Rosalind Franklin Award (Ovarian Cancer National Alliance) * Award for Excellence (International Gynecologic Cancer Society) * Lemaistre Outstanding Achievement Award (M.D. Anderson) * Henry Asbury Christian Award (Harvard Medical School) Bast has also been consistently recognized in Best Doctors in America and America’s Top Doctors.

Selected publications

* * * *Ahmed, Ahmed Ashour; Lu, Zhen; Jennings, Nicholas B.; Etemadmoghadam, Dariush; Capalbo, Luisa; Jacamo, Rodrigo O.; Barbosa-Morais, Nuno; Le, Xiao-Feng; Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group; Vivas-Mejia, Pablo; Lopez-Berestein, Gabriel; Grandjean, Geoffrey; Bartholomeusz, Geoffrey; Liao, Warren; Andreeff, Michael (2010-08-09). "SIK2 is a centrosome kinase required for bipolar mitotic spindle formation that provides a potential target for therapy in ovarian cancer". ''Cancer Cell''. 18 (2): 109–121. doi:10.1016/j.ccr.2010.06.018. ISSN:1878-3686. PMC:3954541. PMID:20708153. *Han, Chae Young; Lu, Karen H.; Corrigan, Gwen; Perez, Alexandra; Kohring, Sharlene D.; Celestino, Joseph; Bedi, Deepak; Bedia, Enrique; Bevers, Therese; Boruta, David; Carlson, Matthew; Holman, Laura; Leeds, Leroy; Mathews, Cara; McCann, Georgia (2024-04-01). "Normal Risk Ovarian Screening Study: 21-Year Update". ''Journal of Clinical Oncology: Official Journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology''. 42 (10): 1102–1109. doi:10.1200/JCO.23.00141. ISSN:1527-7755. PMC:11003507. PMID:38194613.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bast, Robert C. 1943 births Wesleyan University alumni University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center faculty Harvard Medical School alumni Living people