TAMPA, Fla. Moffitt Cancer Center has joined MD Anderson’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) Phase 0/I/II Cancer Prevention Clinical Chemoprevention Trials Consortia. Sponsored by the NCI’s Division of Cancer Prevention, the consortia conducts early clinical development of promising new preventive agents through its Phase 0/I/II Cancer Prevention Clinical Trials Program.

As part of the drug discovery process, researchers will look at a number of new agents that intervene in specific molecular pathways thought to be critical to cancer development.  Since cancer prevention studies focus on high-risk populations that do not necessarily harbor a detectable cancer, these studies require extensive biomarker analysis, investigation of the biologic effects of the cancer preventive agents on their intended molecular targets and correlation with clinically relevant endpoints.

“Our Moffitt team has developed several agents using this systematic approach for the past few years. This is a great opportunity for our faculty to work with some of the premier clinical chemoprevention scientists from around the world to accelerate agent development for cancer prevention,” notes Nagi B. Kumar, Ph.D., R.D., F.A.D.A., consortium principal investigator and director of Cancer Chemoprevention.

Other cancer centers in the MD Anderson consortium include Dana Farber, Columbia, the University of Michigan, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Cornell and an international site in Italy.

About Moffitt Cancer Center
Located in Tampa, Moffitt is one of only 41 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt’s excellence in research, its contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Moffitt is the top-ranked cancer hospital in Florida and has been listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of the “Best Hospitals” for cancer care since 1999. With more than 4,600 team members, Moffitt has an economic impact in the state of $1.9 billion. For more information, visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the Moffitt momentum on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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