Chief Information Security Officer Named to Federal Advisory Committee
Moffitt Cancer Center
Dave Summitt, chief information security officer at Moffitt Cancer Center, has been selected for the Federal Communication Commission’s newly formed federal advisory committee, the Hospital Robocall Protection Group. Summitt will also serve as chairperson for the committee.
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Chen Elected Co-Chair of NCI's Prostate Cancer Task Force
The University of Kansas Cancer Center
Ronald Chen, MD, MPH, has been elected radiation oncology co-chair of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) National Clinical Trials Network Prostate Cancer Task Force. It is overseen by the Genitourinary Cancers Steering Committee, which meets monthly to address the design, prioritization and evaluation of concepts for Phase II and Phase III clinical trials in genitourinary cancers.
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Radiation Oncology Residency Program Receives Accreditation
UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute
The radiation oncology residency program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. When efforts to launch the program began in 2017, there was no residency training for radiation oncology in the state, and Arkansas was one of the few states that didn’t offer specialty training in radiation oncology.
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Muss Receives ASCO Award for Improving Cancer Care in Older Adults
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The American Society of Clinical Oncology honored Hyman B. Muss, MD, FASCO, with the 2020 Allen S. Lichter Visionary Leader Award for his career-long dedication to improving the care of older patients with cancer.
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Fox Chase Radiation Oncology Residency Program Accredited by ACGME
Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health
The Radiation Oncology Residency Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center has received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Stephanie E. Weiss, MD, FASTRO, directs the program.
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Wiggins Honored With NAACCR Muir Award
University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center
Chuck Wiggins, PhD, director of the New Mexico Tumor Registry, was recently honored by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries with its Calum S. Muir Memorial Award. The award recognizes substantive and outstanding contributions to the field of cancer surveillance.
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Radiation Oncologists Named ASTRO Fellows
UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
Two UPMC Hillman Cancer Center radiation oncologists have been designated Fellows of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (FASTRO), the world’s largest society for radiation oncology professionals. Felicia Snead, MD, and Sushil Beriwal, MD, MBA, will receive their FASTRO designation at a virtual awards ceremony on October 27, during ASTRO’s 62nd annual meeting.
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Huntsman Receives NCI Designation Renewal
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has renewed the designation of Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. This grant awards HCI more than $29 million over seven years, an increase of 84 percent in annual funding from the previous award cycle.
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NIH SPORE Renewal Awarded for Lung Cancer Research
Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine
Yale Cancer Center researchers were awarded an $11 million grant renewal from the National institutes of Health (NIH) for the Yale Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Lung Cancer. The program aims to reduce mortality by quickly bringing research advances from the laboratory to patients with lung cancer.
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$6.9 Million Grant Awarded From NIEHS RIVER Program
University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center
Dana Dolinoy, PhD, received a $6.9 million R35 award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The award is granted from the NIEHS Revolutionizing Innovative, Visionary Environmental Health Research (RIVER) program.
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USC Norris Receives $5 Million for Cancer Drug Discoveries
USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
A $5 million gift from the Rosalie and Harold Rae Brown Charitable Foundation will create and support the Rosalie and Harold Rae Brown Center for Cancer Drug Discovery at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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$3.7 Million NCI Grant to Support Research Exploring Mysterious Link Between Cancer, HIV/AIDS
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
Ge Jin, PhD, and Bingcheng Wang, PhD, were recently awarded a five-year, $3.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to explore why those living with HIV have a higher risk for certain kinds of cancers, such as lung cancer.
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Overby Named Director of Clinical Trials Office
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Amy Overby has been named director of the clinical trials office at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. Joining Winship from the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Overby will lead a team of more than 180 clinical research professionals and manage a portfolio of more than 300 ongoing trials.
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Figlin Named Deputy Director
Cedars-Sinai Cancer
Renal cancer specialist Robert A. Figlin, MD, has been named deputy director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer. The Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology will oversee all research planning and the administration and development of Cedars-Sinai Cancer.
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Chair of New Machine Learning Department Announced
Moffitt Cancer Center
Issam El Naqa, PhD, joins Moffitt Cancer Center as the founding chair of its new Machine Learning Department. The new department is focused on accelerating scientific discovery in cancer research through the design, development, and clinical translation of state-of-the-art patient-centered machine and deep learning algorithms.
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Community Science and Health Outcomes Associate Director Named
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center
Debra Friedman, MD, MS, is expanding her leadership role in improving cancer outcomes both within and beyond the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center catchment area. She has been named associate director of Community Science and Health Outcomes.
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Clevenger Named Associate Director for Precision Oncology
VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center
Charles Clevenger, MD, PhD, has been named associate director for precision oncology at VCU Massey Cancer Center. His lab has made fundamental insights into novel mechanisms of prolactin receptor signal transduction and is translating these findings into clinical trials.
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Director Named for Center for Community Engagement and Health Equity
Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine
Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS, has been appointed director of the Center for Community Engagement and Health Equity for Yale Cancer Center (YCC) and Smilow Cancer Hospital (SCH), as well as chief health equity officer and deputy chief medical officer at SCH, and associate cancer center director for community outreach and engagement at YCC.
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Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Professor Appointed
Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center of The Wistar Institute
Chengyu Liang, MD, PhD, has been appointed as professor in the Molecular & Cellular Oncogenesis Program of The Wistar Institute Cancer Center. The Liang laboratory is focused on the mechanisms that regulate fundamental cellular processes such as autophagy, cell death, DNA damage repair, and membrane trafficking in the context of cancer and infectious disease.
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Hoimes Joins Duke Genitourinary Oncology
Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center
Christopher Hoimes, DO, PhD, has joined the genitourinary (GU) oncology program at Duke Cancer Institute where he will serve as clinical investigator with a focus on GU cancers, experimental therapeutics, and early phase trials. He was previously director of GU malignancies at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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UAMS Expands With Addition of 12 Oncologists
UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute
The addition of 12 oncologists will expand services and increase access for patients at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Six of these doctors will treat outpatients at clinics; the remaining six will serve as hospitalists for cancer patients.
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Non-Invasive Blood Test Can Detect Cancer Four Years Before Conventional Diagnosis Methods
UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center
An international team of researchers has developed a non-invasive blood test that can detect whether an individual has one of five common types of cancers, four years before the condition can be diagnosed with current methods. The test detects stomach, esophageal, colorectal, lung, and liver cancer. Kun Zhang, PhD, is a corresponding author on the study.
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Racial Disparities in Surgery Rates for Esophageal Cancer
Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health
Black patients with esophageal cancer are at a higher risk of death compared to white patients. Although many reasons have been suggested, a new study from SKCC at Jefferson Health finds that Black patients were less likely to receive surgery for treatable diseases, which could contribute to higher rates of death. Nathaniel Evans, MD, is senior author on the study.
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Study Shows Opioid, Sedative, and Antidepressant Use Pre-Surgery Leads to Worse Outcomes
UK Markey Cancer Center
A study led by UK Markey Cancer Center researchers showed that patients who already used opioids, sedatives, or antidepressants prior to colorectal surgery experience significantly more complications post-surgery. Patients showed an increase in infections, prolonged intubation, longer length of stay, readmissions, respiratory failure, and even mortality.
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Engineered Immune Cells Recognize, Attack Human and Mouse Solid-Tumor Cancer Cells
Cancer Center at Illinois
In a new study, researchers report that they have dramatically broadened the potential targets of CAR T therapy — their engineered T-cells attack a variety of solid-tumor cancer cells from humans and mice.
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Big Data Studies Uncover Disparities in Access, Improve Patient Outcomes
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
A new study by a team of investigators from the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center indicates the expansion of Medicaid led to earlier detection of cancer in individuals with low incomes. The findings suggest Medicaid expansion will have widespread meaningful health impact.
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Largest-Ever Study of Prostate Cancer Genomics in Black Men IDs Potential Therapy Targets
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine, UC San Francisco, and Northwestern University have identified genes that are more frequently altered in prostate tumors from men of African ancestry compared to other racial groups, though the reasons for these differences are not known, the authors say.
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Researchers Identify Mechanism for Treating Cancer Cells
University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center
In a new study, investigators have determined that a chemotherapy drug called Azacytidine can cause certain cancer cells that do not have a BRCA mutation to respond very well to therapies that specifically target cells with these gene mutations.
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Study Sheds Light on How Cancer Spreads in Blood
Cedars-Sinai Cancer
A new study sheds light on proteins in particles called extracellular vesicles, which are released by tumor cells into the bloodstream and promote the spread of cancer. The findings suggest how a blood test involving these vesicles might be used to diagnose cancer in the future, avoiding the need for invasive surgical biopsies.
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Studies Highlight Emerging Treatment Options for Neuroendocrine Tumors
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Two new studies led by Renuka Iyer, MD, section chief for gastrointestinal oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, highlight possible new treatment options for patients with neuroendocrine tumors.
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A New Way to Target Cancers Using 'Synthetic Lethality'
UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center
With advances in genome sequencing, cancer treatments have increasingly sought to leverage the idea of "synthetic lethality," exploiting cancer-specific genetic defects to identify targets that are uniquely essential to the survival of cancer cells. Synthetic lethality results when non-lethal mutations in different genes become deadly when combined in cells.
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Breast Cancer Cells Can Reprogram Immune Cells to Assist in Metastasis
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigators report they have uncovered a new mechanism by which invasive breast cancer cells evade the immune system to metastasize to other areas of the body. They propose that therapies targeting this process could be developed to halt or prevent metastasis and reduce breast cancer deaths.
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Excellent Research Results for CAR T Therapy Against Hodgkin Lymphoma
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
CAR T immunotherapy has been used to treat Hodgkin lymphoma with remarkable success for the first time, according to the results of an early phase clinical trial led by researchers at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
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IU Physicians, Purdue Scientists Collaborate to Develop Test to Detect Kidney Cancer
Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center
Ronald S. Boris, MD, and cancer physician colleagues at Indiana University are working with scientists at Purdue University to develop a urine test that would enable patients to avoid an invasive, painful biopsy to detect a type of kidney cancer.
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Skin Cancer Growth Driven by Subset of Cellular Masterminds
Stanford Cancer Institute
An elite population of cancer cells marshal at the leading edges of a growing skin tumor to guide its metastasis and help it evade the body’s immune system, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, led by Paul Khavari, MD, PhD, have found.
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Microbiome Might Reveal Whether Immune Therapy Can Benefit a Patient
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute
The intestinal microbiome might offer a window into whether cancer patients can benefit from immune therapy, according to a new study by researchers at OSUCCC – James.
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Probe Developed to Assess Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness
Cancer Center at Illinois
Current prostate cancer diagnostics, such as the serum test and physical exam, work well for detection, but don’t accurately identify the stage or grade of the disease. To improve precision, Illinois researchers are developing a solution using an imaging probe that determines the aggressiveness of cancer cells.
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Study of Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer in Young Men Reveals Hotspots of Death in U.S.
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah
A study led by Charles R. Rogers, PhD, MPH, MS, and his colleagues, found that many new colorectal cancer diagnoses are occurring in counties in the lower Mississippi Delta, west-central Appalachia, and eastern Virginia/North Carolina.
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Study Provides New Insight on Colorectal Cancer Growth
UK Markey Cancer Center
A new study by researchers at the University of Kentucky identifies a novel function of the enzyme spermine synthase (SMS) to facilitate colorectal cancer growth. SMS produces spermine from spermidine, which has been shown to be important for cell growth. However, excessive accumulation of spermidine can have harmful effects on cell viability.
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Boosting Immune Memory Improves Immunotherapy, Lowers Cancer Recurrence in Mice
UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
Blocking a newly identified "immune memory checkpoint" in immune cells could improve immunotherapy and help prevent cancers from recurring, according to new findings in mice and human samples by researchers at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
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Phosphoprotein Biomarkers to Guide Cancer Therapy Identified
O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham
Researchers led by James Bibb, PhD, suggest using a broader lens of post-translational modification analysis to identify new biomarkers of cancer drivers that may allow a much more precise prediction of patient responses to treatments.
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Portable Device May Change Standard of Care for Skin Cancer
The University of Arizona Cancer Center
Researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences have developed—and are continuing to improve—a handheld device to bring the next generation of skin cancer prevention and treatment options to more patients. Described as a "portable confocal microscope," the device is a modernized and more practical use of reflective confocal microscopy — technology that provides non-invasive imaging of the skin.
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Study Suggests Method to Starve Pancreatic Cancer Cells
University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center
A University of Michigan-led study is shedding new light on the way pancreatic cancer cells turn nearby connective tissue cells into co-conspirators in their deadly growth. The findings also suggest a new potential strategy against pancreatic cancer by identifying critical components of metabolic cross-talk between cells that might be attacked with new therapies, starving the cancer cells of vital nutrients.
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Gene Responsible for Deadly Glioblastoma Identified
University of Virginia Cancer Center
Scientists have identified an oncogene responsible for glioblastoma. Researchers say the oncogene is essential to the survival of the cancer cells — without it, the cancer cells die. Scientists have already developed many targeted therapies for other cancers with a similar "oncogene addiction."
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Molecular Imaging Pioneer Dies at 57
Stanford Cancer Institute
Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD, professor and chair of radiology at Stanford School of Medicine and an internationally recognized pioneer in molecular imaging, died July 18 of cancer. He was 57.
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'Scientifically Fearless' Cancer Researcher Dies at 75
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Colleagues are mourning the passing of Zena Werb, PhD, a giant in the field of cancer biology whose four decades of research at UC San Francisco informed the rise of immunotherapy and other modern approaches to cancer treatment.
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Massey, Wright Center Developing Next-Generation Model for Cancer Research Training Program
VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center
Faculty members at VCU Massey Cancer Center and the VCU C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research are expanding the curriculum for the Cancer and Molecular Medicine PhD program at VCU to better meet the nation’s needs for the next generation of cancer scientists.
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Ohio State, IntraOp Announce FLASH Radiotherapy Collaboration
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute
IntraOp Medical Corporation has announced delivery of its pre-clinical high dose rate electron beam linear accelerator to OSUCCC – James for the study of FLASH radiotherapy.
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University of Haifa Launches Collaboration With Roswell Park
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
The Tauber Bioinformatics Research Center at University of Haifa and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center have launched a collaboration that will couple the expertise in cancer, genomics, and biomedical research at Roswell Park and in bioinformatics at University of Haifa.
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Wistar, Cheyney University Forge Strategic Collaboration
Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center of The Wistar Institute
The Wistar Institute and Cheyney University of Pennsylvania have launched a strategic collaboration uniting the nation’s first independent biomedical research institute and the nation’s first historically Black college and university in order to expand life science research education, training, and business development opportunities in Pennsylvania.
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Illinois Governor Signs Proposal to Cover Cancer Clinical Trials for Medicaid Beneficiaries
University of Illinois Cancer Center
Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker has enacted a health care package that includes a proposal requiring the state’s Medicaid program to cover routine care costs incurred for an approved clinical trial involving the prevention, detection, or treatment of cancer or any other life-threatening disease, as long as Medicaid would normally cover those same routine care costs for a non-clinical procedure.
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MD Anderson, Sanofi Announce Collaboration
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Sanofi have announced a five-year strategic collaboration to accelerate the development of investigational treatments, including targeted and immune therapies, for patients with cancer.
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City of Hope, TGen Look to Create Personalized Roadmaps for Kidney Cancer Treatment
City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center
Experts at City of Hope and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) are using one of the world’s most comprehensive genomic analysis tools to map out personalized treatment plans for metastatic kidney cancer patients.
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New Data Offer Insights on COVID Treatments for People With Cancer
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center
Newly released data on treatment outcomes of people with cancer diagnosed with COVID-19 reveal a racial disparity in access to Remdesivir, an antiviral drug that has been shown to shorten hospital stays, and increased mortality associated with dexamethasone, a steroid that has had the opposite effect in the general patient population.
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Nationwide Trends Show Fewer Cancer Patients Seeking Care Since Start of Pandemic
Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health
Research from the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health found significant decreases nationwide in the number of patients being seen for cancer-related care as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed during the few first months of 2020. The most significant decline was seen in encounters related to new cancer incidences, which included screening, initial diagnosis, second opinion, and treatment initiation appointments.
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ABMT House Calls
Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center
Stem cell transplant patients are highly immune-compromised, so they are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19. That’s why, in early March 2020, as the COVID-19 epidemic ramped up, the Duke Adult Blood and Marrow Transplant program leadership team made home care the standard of care for all active hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients.
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Researchers Help Identify Best Practices for Cancer Patient Care During COVID-19
Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health
Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers were part of a national team that published a paper identifying best practices for protecting vulnerable cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. "We’re dealing with lung cancer and our lung cancer patients may be more at risk for severe disease due to COVID-19. A lot of the management we do puts them at greater risk after that," said Sameera Kumar, MD, one of the authors on the paper.
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Researchers Look to Cancer Studies to Understand Health Care Racial Disparities
Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University
At Karmanos Cancer Institute, clinical and scientific researchers are examining factors that have led to the African-American population shouldering the heavy burden of cancer. The COVID-19 pandemic is providing a new lens through which cancer researchers can examine disparities in care. Hayley Thompson, PhD, is associate center director for community outreach and engagement.
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