Focus: Cancer Center Featured Story 2

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The Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium at the University of Colorado Cancer Center reports this week in the journal Cancer that 24 of 920 patients (3 percent) with advanced-stage lung cancer had mutations in the gene HER2. Seventy-one percent of these patients were never-smokers, with a median age of 62. The gene HER2 has been known as a breast cancer driver, with therapies approved to target HER2 mutations in this setting.

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Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey investigators have received $450,000 in funding to support research projects in immunotherapy and basic science research that could impact pancreatic, breast and other cancers. The Pre- and Post-Doctoral Fellowship Grants were awarded by the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research.

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University of Colorado Cancer Center study published online ahead of print in the journal Oncogene offers compelling evidence explaining failure of retinoic acid trials against breast cancer and offers a possible strategy for their use.

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The University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center has received designation as a Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation Center of Excellence. The designation puts UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center on the MDS Foundation’s list of international sites to which people with blood disorders may go to receive treatment. Myelodysplastic syndromes result from failure of the bone marrow to produce blood cells.

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The Lobo Cancer Challenge is a new bike ride fundraising event. Event proceeds will help to ensure that all New Mexicans have access to outstanding cancer care and benefit from the latest cancer research. The ride will take place September 23, 2017.

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For patients with advanced, inoperable stage 3 lung cancer, concurrent chemotherapy and the specialized radiation treatment, proton therapy, offers improved survival compared to historical data for standard of care, according to a new study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

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Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) investigators have received a $17 million program project grant renewal from the National Cancer Institute to study the effectiveness of different breast cancer screening and surveillance strategies using digital mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis (3D mammography), and breast MRI. Co-led by UC Davis researcher Diana Miglioretti, the consortium seeks to ensure that women get personalized care based on their individual risk and preferences.

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Integration of NCCN clinical recommendations into ION Solutions’ IntelliDoseTxM system will provide oncologists access to evidence-based treatment decision support based on the NCCN Guidelines®.

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Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center showed about 70 percent of patients with the most common adult leukemia had their tumors shrink or disappear following an experimental chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy. The researchers also found that measuring genetic traces of cancer cells taken from bone marrow biopsies might be a better indicator of prognosis than the standard lymph node scan.

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Ludwig researchers show how a method that physically expands tissues can improve early breast cancer diagnostics and extend the capabilities of ordinary pathology labs

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A key committee for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a first-of-its-kind recommendation this week, unanimously signing off on an experimental cancer treatment

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Moffitt researchers launched a first of its kind study comparing the long-term benefits of radiation therapy in women with breast cancer either before surgery or after surgery. Their study found that patients who have neoadjuvant radiation therapy have a significantly lower risk of developing a second primary tumor at any site.

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A research team led by scientists at UC San Francisco has developed a computational method to systematically probe massive amounts of open-access data to discover new ways to use drugs, including some that have already been approved for other uses.

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Janet Gordils-Perez, DNP, RN, ANP-BC, AOCNP, from Plainsboro Township, has been named Chief Nursing Officer at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. She was recently promoted from her position as Director of Oncology Nursing. Dr. Gordils-Perez came to Rutgers Cancer Institute in 2004 from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where she was an adult nurse practitioner and a clinical research nurse.

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As published in JNCCN, a University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center study found that adherence to distress screening protocols set by the Commission on Cancer could lead to 18% fewer ER visits and 19% fewer hospitalizations.

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Ursa Brown-Glaberman, MD, received the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award. The NCI award is given to outstanding cancer clinical investigators. Cancer clinical investigators conduct clinical trials to discover new or better ways to find, prevent and treat cancer.

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Immune cells with a general knack for recognizing and killing many types of infected or abnormal cells also can be engineered to hunt down cells with specific targets on them to treat cancer, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in the journal Leukemia

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The treatment of osteosarcoma, the most common tumor of bone, is challenging. A study led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found a drug known as bone metastasis-targeting peptidomimetic (BMTP-11) has potential as a new therapeutic strategy for this devastating illness.

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University of Colorado Cancer Center's Thomas Flaig, MD, has been named chair of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology Panel for Bladder Cancer, a group of 34 multidisciplinary bladder experts from NCCN Member Institutions that will influence the future direction of care for the disease.

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Three case reports published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrate the promise of cancer immunotherapy in gray zone lymphoma, potentially paving the way for clinical trials utilizing this strategy in this and related conditions.

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With its internationally renowned school of veterinary medicine and its NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, UC Davis is uniquely positioned to harness the power of each to tackle one of life’s greatest challenges: cancer.

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University of Pennsylvania study reveals narrow network insurance plans cut out access to NCCN Member Institutions and other top comprehensive cancer centers throughout the United States

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Feeding pregnant female mice a diet high in fat derived from common corn oil resulted in genetic changes that substantially increased breast cancer susceptibility in three generations of female offspring, reports a team of researchers led by scientists at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s board of trustees yesterday elected three new members, adding expertise in information technology, media and global health as it works to accelerate efforts to develop cures for cancer and other diseases.

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$400k grant to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine investigator Cynthia Sears will carry out research aimed at improving effectiveness of immunotherapy in patients with colorectal cancer.

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Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) announced today that the American Academy of Nursing has selected Kathleen Shannon Dorcy, PhD, RN, Director, Clinical Nursing Research, Education and Practice, as an Academy Fellow.

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Dr. Amanda Paulovich of Fred Hutch will lead a multi-institution effort to develop a biological test to predict which treatments will work for patients with ovarian cancer. Photos, video available: http://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/media-relations/bios-photos/paulovich-amanda/photos-graphics-video.html

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Two challenges in treating patients with estrogen-positive breast cancer (ER+) have been an inability to predict who will respond to standard therapies and adverse events leading to therapy discontinuation. A study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center revealed new information about how the biomarkers retinoblastoma protein (Rb) and cytoplasmic cyclin E could indicate which patients will respond best to current first-line therapies.

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A Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study, led by epidemiologist Dr. Parveen Bhatti, found that night shift work is associated with reduced ability to repair DNA lesions. Over time, DNA damage that is not repaired will cause mutations that can lead to cancer.

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$1 million CRI Technology Impact Award will support UPENN investigator's development of microchip-based research models that mimic human cancer and immune cell interactions

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Until recently, melanomas that had spread to the brain could only be treated with surgery and radiation therapy. And even with treatment, patients typically lived only a median of four months. However, patients like Kathy Roberts now have alternatives. After having surgery to repair the damage from the tumors in her ankle, her doctors encouraged her to enroll in a clinical trial of immunotherapy for patients with melanoma brain tumors at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, which she did.

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Just as he has changed the lives of people suffering from a devastating genetic disease, molecular endocrinologist John J. Kopchick, Ph.D., and his wife, Charlene, of Athens, Ohio, are paving the way for future scientists to do the same with a transformative $10.5 million gift to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

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Nation's largest Powwow and health screening

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New Division Director of Medical Oncology Announced

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Women who receive human papillomavirus (HPV) testing, in addition to a pap smear, receive a faster, more complete diagnosis of possible cervical precancer, according to a study of over 450,000 women by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and the University of New Mexico (UNM) Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have developed an algorithm that predicts T cell recognition of antigens and sets the stage to more effectively harness the immune system

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CRI's 2017 Immunotherapy Patient Summit Series will travel to five U.S. cities to provide free educational programming designed for cancer patients and caregivers who are seeking to learn more about cancer immunotherapy and clinical trials.

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As published in JNCCN, a Siteman Cancer Center study uncovered potential to significantly improve NCCN Guidelines-concordant care in patients with early-stage breast cancer.

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A new study from Roswell Park Cancer Institute reporting the findings of the first clinical trial to evaluate the immune effects of high-dose radiation therapy followed by surgery in patients with advanced kidney cancer may also set the stage for combination treatments with immunotherapy.

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Despite legislation prohibiting the use of ultraviolet (UV) indoor tanning facilities by minors, one in every five tanning salons in United States where such bans are in place stated over the phone that they would allow an underage caller to do so.

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A $2.24 million competing renewal grant from the National Cancer Institute will support the work of investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Princeton University to learn more about the fuel required for tumor growth. The collaborative research will focus on melanomas and lung cancers caused by mutations in genes known as K-ras and Braf.

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Among long-term colorectal cancer survivors, use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, is associated with about a 25 percent reduction in all-cause mortality, according to new research from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

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Researchers studying a DNA-cutting enzyme with a crucial role in regulating the structure of genes have discovered a broad role for its cutting activity in driving abnormal genetic rearrangements called translocations that cause cancer, including leukemias and solid tumors. The findings open possibilities for new clinical approaches.

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Ongoing clinical trial by University of Colorado Cancer Center investigators is evaluating the ability of an inhaled form of the pulmonary hypertension drug iloprost to prevent lung cancer.

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New research could make treatment for gastrointestinal cancers safer.

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The investigation found that the drug, geranylgeranyltransferase inhibitor GGTI-2418 suppresses a new defective PTEN cancer pathway discovered by Pagano’s group.

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Can use of hair products have an impact on breast cancer risk for women? That is a question explored by investigators from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers School of Public Health and other colleagues who examined use of hair dyes, hair relaxers and cholesterol-based hair products in African-American and Caucasian women.

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The Association of American Cancer Institutes applauds the appointment of Norman “Ned” Sharpless, MD, as the next director of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Sharpless is an AACI board member and director of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, an AACI member.