Update Your ProfileAcademic Title:
Associate Professor
Primary Appointment:
Radiation Oncology
Email:
Location:
BRB 8-031
Education and Training
1970 B.S. Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
1975 M.S. Grad. Sch. Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
1983 Ph.D. Grad. Sch. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Research/Clinical Keywords
Radiation Biology, Tumor Physiology, Tumor Hypoxia, Hyperthermia, Chemotherapy, and Cancer stem cells
Highlighted Publications
Rhee, J.G., Song, C.W., Levitt, S.H., "Changes in thermosensitivity of mouse mammary carcinoma following hyperthermia in vivo," Cancer Res., 1982, 42, 4485-4489
Rhee, J.G., Song, C.W., "Thermosensitivity of bovine aortic endothelial cells in culture: in vitro clonogenicity study," Hyperthermic Oncology, 1984, 1, 157-160
Rhee, J.G., Lee, I., Song, C.W., "Radiosensitivity of clonogenic bovine aortic endothelial cells cultured in vitro," Radiat. Res., 1986, 106, 182-189
Rhee, J.G., Schuman, V.L., Song, C.W., Levitt, S.H., "Differences in the thermotolerance of mouse mammary carcinoma cells in vivo and in vitro," Cancer Res., 1987, 47, 2571-2575
Rhee, J.G., Eddy, H.A., Salazar, O.M., Lyons, J.C., Song, C.W., "Reversible heat sensitivity of mouse mammary carcinoma by a modified microenvironment," Hyperthermic Oncology, 1988, 1, 32-33
Rhee, J.G., Eddy, H.A., Salazar, O.M., Lyons, J.C., Song, C.W., "A differential low pH effect on tumor cells grown in vivo and in vitro when treated with hyperthermia," Int. J. Hyperthermia, 1991, 7(1), 75-84
Rhee, J.G., Eddy, H.A., Hong, J.J., Suntharalingam, M., Vaupel, P.W., “Divergent changes of flow through individual blood vessels upon localized heating,” Int. J. Hyperthermia, 1996, 12(6), 757-769
Rhee J.G., Li D., O’Malley jr. B.W., Suntharalingam M. “Combination radiation and adenovirus-mediated p16INK4A gene therapy in a murine model for head and neck cancer.” ORL 2003, 65:144-154
Rhee J.G., Li D., Suntharalingam M., Guo C., O’Malley B.W. Jr, Carney J.P. “Radiosensitization of head/neck squamous cell carcinoma by adenovirus-mediated expression of the Nbs 1 protein.” Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 2007, 67(1):273-278
Lee D.H., Rhee J.G., Lee Y.J. “Reactive oxygen species up-regulate p53 and Puma; a possible mechanism for apoptosis during combined treatment with TRAIL and wogonin.” Br. J. Phamacol. 2009, 157(7):1189-202
Kim S.Y., Rhee J.G., Song X., Prochownik E.V., Spitz D.R., Lee Y.J., “Breast cancer stem cell-like cells are more sensitive to ionizing radiation than non-stem cells: role of ATM”. PLoS One, 2012, 7: e50423 (PMC3503893)
Research Interests
As a tumor physiology lab, we study the role of tumor microenvironments on the proliferation and adaptation of malignant tumor cells, and we utilize this knowledge to prevent or eliminate the malignancy by employing various therapeutic interventions, such as radio-, chemo-, immuno-, and thermo-therapies.
Our tumor models are comprised of triple-negative human mammary carcinoma stem or non-stem cells. Some tumor models have a >90% stem cell purity ratio, while others are mixtures that were developed in order to represent different stem to non-stem cell ratios. These cells are grown in culture flasks, a multi-cellular spheroid system, or a mouse tumor model.
Our primary goal is to investigate the behavior of cancer stem cells (CSCs) when various therapies are applied, since CSCs are known to be resistant to conventional radiotherapy. Long-term goals include characterizing the fate of CSCs in various micro-environmental conditions (e.g., low glucose, low pH, and/or low oxygen conditions), toward the end of identifying those therapeutic modalities that most effectively inactivate or eliminate CSCs in human breast cancers.