Page 45 - Rappaport Institute Magazine 2024

CELL BIOLOGY AND CANCER SCIENCE
42-43
Host response to anti-cancer drugs
My research focuses in characterizing mechanisms of treatment-related vascular toxicity as well as studying the unique biology and clinical behavior of young cancer patients. As an oncologist that practices a major population of young patients, I consider studying late-term toxicities of common anti-cancer treatments (as gonadal and vascular adverse effects) as a major concern of cancer survivors. Most of my research is dedicated to studying the mechanisms and potential measures to minimize these toxicities, which may be considered as the “seed of evil” for the development of future morbidity among cancer survivors. In the past 16 years I have been studying the effect of chemotherapy on the gonads in both animal models and in the clinical setting. We have established an innovative state-of the art live mice imaging to follow the acute effect of chemotherapy on vasculature and the longitudinal impact on the gonads and systemic vasculature. The current research emphasizes on the role of vascular toxicity as underlying mechanism in the setting of chemotherapy during pregnancy and its impact on the placenta and fetus. The results may allow superior adequate care for the chemotherapy-exposed offspring in terms of surveillance and long-term management. The research is translational by its nature – the phenomena studies in the pre-clinical model in the lab are validated in a cohort of young cancer patients treated with chemotherapyt.
Selected Publications
ˆ Hasky, N., Uri-Belapolsky S., Goldberg, K., Miller, I., Grossman, H., Stemmer, S.M. Ben-Aharon, I*. and Shalgi, R*. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists for fertility preservation – unraveling the enigma? Hum. Reprod. 30 (5): 1089–1101, 2015
ˆ Levi, M., Hasky, N., Shalgi, R and Ben-Aharon, I. Anti Müllerian hormone is a marker for chemotherapy-induced testicular toxicity. Endocrinology. Oct;156(10):3818-27. 2015,
ˆ Levi, M., Shalgi, R., Brenner, B., Perl, G., Purim, O., Amit, L., Stemmer, S.M. and Ben- Aharon, I. The impact of oxaliplatin on the gonads – from bedside to the bench. Mol Hum Reprod Dec;21(12):885-93 2015
ˆ Ben-Aharon I, Granot T, Meizner I, Hasky N, Tobar A, Rizel S, Yerushalmi R, Ben- Haroush A, Fisch B, Stemmer SM. “Long term follow-up of Chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure in young breast cancer patients - the role of vascular toxicity” Oncologist. 20:985- 9, 2015.
ˆ Alfasi A, Ben-Aharon I. Breast Cancer during Pregnancy-Current Paradigms, Paths to Explore. Cancers (Basel). 2019 Oct 28;11(11):1669.
ˆ Bar-Joseph H, Peccatori FA, Goshen-Lago T, Cribiù FM, Scarfone G, Miller I, Nemerovsky L, Levi M, Shalgi R, Ben-Aharon I. Cancer During Pregnancy: The Role of Vascular Toxicity in Chemotherapy-Induced Placental Toxicity. Cancers (Basel). 2020 May 18;12(5):1277. ˆ Elitzur S, Frank S, Goshen-Lago T, Barzilai-Birenboim S, Gilad G, Avrahami G, Goldberg T, Litichever N, Masarwa A, Oron G, Yaniv I, Izraeli S, Ben-Aharon I. Long-term ovarian reserve and fertility outcomes in female survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leuk Lymphoma. 2021 Sep;62(9):2211-2218.
Grants and Awards
Fulbright (2014-5)
ISF Physician-Scientist grant
ICRF – 2008, 2011, 2016, 2019, 2023
iritbenaharon@gmail.com
Irit Ben-Aharon Lab
Irit Ben-Aharon MD, PhD Professor of Oncology
PhD, 2004 – Tel-Aviv University MD, 2006 – Tel-Aviv University
Fluorescent immunostaining of chemotherapy- treated ovaries