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 in 1965 and his M.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Medical School in 1971. During medical school, he conducted research on cellular immunology with Harold Dvorak at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Career

Following his internship in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Bast joined the U.S. Public Health Service and became a research associate at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he studied BCG immunotherapy and carcinogen metabolism. He completed medical residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital and fellowship in medical oncology at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, 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 as Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of Hematology-Oncology. He led the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center as Director from 1987 to 1994 and was named the Wellcome Clinical Professor of Medicine in 1992. Since joining MD Anderson Cancer Center, 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 CA125 (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 Monoclonality, monoclonal antibodies directed against human ovarian cancer and the 125th promising Hybridoma technology, hybridoma recognized CA125. Initially introduced for monitoring disease persistence, progression and recurrence, CA125 is also used to distinguish malignant from benign Pelvis, pelvic 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 (gene), 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 drugs and PARP inhibitor, PARP inhibitors used to treat ovarian cancer. Bast has authored over 750 Peer review, peer-reviewed 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 Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He is an elected member of the Association of American Physicians and the American Society for Clinical Investigation. 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 (identifier), doi:10.1016/j.ccr.2010.06.018. ISSN (identifier), ISSN:1878-3686. PMC (identifier), PMC:3954541. PMID (identifier), 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 (identifier), doi:10.1200/JCO.23.00141. ISSN (identifier), ISSN:1527-7755. PMC (identifier), PMC:11003507. PMID (identifier), 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