Title:

Assistant Professor

Coker Life Sciences Building
Room 513C

Education
Simon Fraser University, Canada, Doctor of Philosophy,  1996 

Description of Research Program
Research in the Hofseth group focuses on identifying and inhibiting the key players involved in inflammation and the inflammation-to-cancer sequence.  We use cell culture studies, animal models, and clinical trials to do this.  In particular, we are interested in complementary and alternative treatment strategies for high cancer risk, chronic inflammatory diseases, such as ulcerative colitis.  Using animal models, we have shown that American ginseng and ginkgo biloba can prevent and treat ulcerative colitis and colon cancer associated with ulcerative colitis.  Clinical trials based on these results are planned.  We are also carrying out clinical trials that examine the ability of a juice concentrate to decrease systemic body inflammation in healthy people.  Because chronic systemic body inflammation is linked to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, these studies have wide-spread implications on the health of humans.

Selected Publications
Hofseth, LJ, Saito, S, Hussain, SP, Espey, MG, Miranda, KM, Araki, Y, Jhappan, C, Higashimoto, Y, He, P, Linke, SP, Quezado, MM, Zurer, I, Rotter, V, Wink, DA, Appella, E and Harris, CC.  Nitric oxide-induced cellular stress and p53 activation in chronic inflammation.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100: 143-148, 2003.

Hofseth, LJ, Khan, MA, Ambrose, M, Nikolayeva, O, Xu-Welliver, M, Kartalou, M, Hussain, SP, Roth, RB, Zhou, X, Mechanic, LE, Zurer, I, Rotter, V, Samson, LD, Harris, CC.  The adaptive imbalance in base excision repair enzymes generates microsatellite instability in chronic inflammation.  Journal of Clinical Investigation 112: 1887-1894, 2003.

Hussain SP, Hofseth LJ, Harris CC.  Radical causes of cancer. Nature - Cancer Reviews 3: 276-285, 2003.

Hofseth, LJ, Hussain, SP, Wogan, GN, and Harris, CC.  Nitric oxide in cancer and chemoprevention.  Free Radical Biology and Medicine 34: 955-968, 2003.

Hofseth LJ, Hussain SP, Harris CC.  p53.  25 years after its discovery.  Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 25: 177-181, 2004.

Hofseth LJ. The adaptive imbalance to genotoxic stress: genome guardians rear their ugly heads. Carcinogenesis 25: 1787-93, 2004.

Ying, L, Marino, J, Hussain, SP, Khan, MA, You, S, Hofseth, AB, Trivers, GE, Dixon, DA, Harris, CC, Hofseth, LJ. Chronic inflammation promotes retinoblastoma protein hyperphosphorylation and E2F1 activation. Cancer Research 65: 9132-9136, 2005.

Hofseth LJ and Ying L.  Identifying and defusing weapons of mass inflammation in carcinogenesis.  Biochimica et Biophysica Acta – Reviews on Cancer 1765: 74-84, 2006. 

Hofseth LJ.  Can ginseng defuse weapons of mass inflammation?  Healthy Aging, December Issue, 2006.

Hofseth LJ and Wargovich MJ.  Inflammation, Cancer, and Targets of Ginseng.  J. Nutrition, 137:183S-5S, 2007.

Ying L and Hofseth LJ.  An emerging role for endothelial nitric oxide synthase in inflammation and cancer.  Cancer Research, 67:1407-10, 2007.