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Siteman Cancer Center Scottrade brokerage founder Rodger Riney and his wife, Paula, have donated $20 million to Washington University researchers at Siteman Cancer Center, establishing the Paula C. and Rodger O. Riney Blood Cancer Research Initiative Fund. To date, the Rineys have given $25 million to Washington University scientists with broad expertise in multiple myeloma, genomics, immunology and immunotherapy, imaging, and pharmacogenomics to develop promising new treatments for the …

Siteman Cancer Center Washington University researchers at Siteman Cancer Center have received an $11.5 million Specialized Program in Research Excellence (SPORE) grant to further high-level investigations into leukemia and related blood cancers. The goal is to develop biomarkers and treatments for leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes and to develop and promote innovative translational leukemia research. Daniel C. Link, MD, is the principal investigator. Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center The National Cancer Institute awarded $10.8 million to Duke Cancer Institute researchers as part of the Human Tumor Atlas Network, which will work to build a visual model of cancer tumors. The Duke team, led by Shelley Hwang, MD, and Jeffrey R. Marks, PhD, will develop a three-dimensional molecular characterization of pre-cancerous growths in the breast to better understand how breast cancers develop. Co-principal investigators are fr…

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Roswell Park's president and CEO, Candace S. Johnson, PhD, has been named to a new list of the most powerful female leaders in New York. City & State, a media company covering government and politics in New York, included Dr. Johnson on its New York Women Power 100 list, which honors the 100 most influential women in government, public affairs, business, culture, and social services.   Read More

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah was recently awarded a prestigious team science grant through the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Moonshot initiative to study genetic counseling, genetic communication and genetic services to patients. The grant is expected to provide more than $5 million in research project support over the next five years.   Read More

City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center Women with HER2-positive breast cancer that has spread to the brain need more treatment options, and City of Hope and Mustang Bio Inc. are meeting that challenge. A new City of Hope chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell trial—the first to focus on HER2-postive breast cancer patients with brain metastases—is now enrolling potential participants. Read More

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Researchers from the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center received a $3.5 million, five-year grant from the NIH to create a center dedicated to developing an effective and affordable blood-based cancer-screening test to help detect liver cancer early.   Read More

Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center Jill Fehrenbacher, PhD, and Mark Kelley, PhD, are recipients of a five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute, which will enable them to continue their studies on chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). They will test the effectiveness of a small, targeted molecule called APX3330 to prevent or reverse CIPN caused by cancer drugs in tumor-bearing mice.   Read More

Stanford Cancer Institute A novel immunotherapy appears safe for use in patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to a Phase I multicenter clinical trial led by a researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Although some patients showed signs of a transitory anemia or reactions at the injection site, the treatment posed few significant side effects. Ranjana Advani, MD, is lead author of the study.   Read More

VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center With the help of a $2.1 million grant, Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and VCU School of Nursing researchers will study how a gene that regulates estrogen and neurotransmitter levels could be tied to cognitive decline in patients undergoing chemotherapy for breast and endometrial cancers. Theresa Swift-Scanlan, PhD, is the primary investigator.    Read More

Livestrong Cancer Institutes, The University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School In December, The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School will launch an innovative cancer care model called the CaLM (cancer life re-imagined) Clinic as part of its new cancer center, the Livestrong Cancer Institutes. The goal of the Livestrong Cancer Institutes and the CaLM Clinic is to provide a holistic approach to caring for patients with cancer from their initial cancer diagnosis and treat…

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center In newly published work, Hutch researchers show that skin stem cells in mice respond to what ought to have been a cancer-causing mutation by opting to differentiate, or specialize, instead of renewing themselves. Because differentiated skin cells eventually slough off, the strategy appears to allow skin to jettison dangerous mutations without disrupting its function. Read More

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University Experimenting with lab-grown brain cancer cells, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have added to evidence that a shortage of specific, tiny molecules that silence certain genes is linked to the development and growth of pediatric brain tumors known as low-grade gliomas. Read More

University of Virginia Cancer Center The NIH has awarded a husband-and-wife team at UVA Cancer Center more than $1.8 million to improve radiation therapy and breast surgery for patients with early-stage breast cancer. Radiation oncologist Dr. Timothy Showalter and breast cancer surgeon Dr. Shayna L. Showalter are leading an interdisciplinary effort to evaluate a technique they developed at UVA called Precision Breast intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT).   Read More

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center New research suggests that doctors may have had an incorrect understanding of how a standard treatment for an incurable blood cancer works to prolong lives. The therapy, based around high doses of chemotherapy or radiation, looks like it may actually be an immunotherapy — that is, a treatment that stimulates the patients’ own immune systems to help fight their cancers. Read More

The University of Arizona Cancer Center In partnership with Spirita Oncology, LLC, Hani Babiker, MD, and the Early Phase Clinical Trials Program have opened a clinical trial for patients with brain metastases from BRAF- or MEK-mutated melanoma. Participants will receive an investigational MEK inhibitor called E6201, a "targeted" drug. Read More

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center When comparing standard-of-care surgical options for women with early-stage cervical cancer, two studies led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center discovered that minimally-invasive radical hysterectomy is associated with higher recurrence rates and worse overall survival, compared to abdominal radical hysterectomy.   Read More

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Roswell Park has formed an academic cooperation agreement with the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. The collaboration will see the two centers exchanging staff, students, and scientific resources to jointly undertake basic, translational, and clinical research to develop cancer therapies.    Read More

The University of Arizona Cancer Center The most comprehensive assessment of rhabdomyosarcoma drug targets was published. Justina McEvoy, PhD, a first author, joined the study when she was a postdoctoral fellow at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and continued to contribute after joining the the University of Arizona Cancer Center in 2014. Read More

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health According to a new study, individuals living in rural areas are at greater risk of developing laryngeal cancer compared to those living in urban areas, though overall survival did not differ significantly between the two groups. Miriam N. Lango, MD, FACS, led the study.    Read More

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University By comparing genetic sequences in the eye tumors of children whose cancers spread with tumors that didn’t, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report new evidence that a domino effect in cells is responsible for the cancer spreading. Their experiments suggest that blocking part of the chain of events—which they successfully accomplished in zebra fish and human cells—stops the growth and spread of the eye tumor cells. …

GW Cancer Center Researchers at the George Washington University (GW) have found that cooling therapies such as cold caps, scalp cooling systems, frozen gloves, and frozen socks may offer the best protection against the adverse effects of taxane-based chemotherapy. Adam Friedman, MD, is senior author on the study.  Read More

Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine Antonio Omuro, MD, has been appointed the new chief of neuro-oncology and a leader for the Brain Tumor Program at Smilow Cancer Hospital. Dr. Omuro started his new position December 1, 2018. Read More

VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center In the Cellular Immunotherapy and Transplantation Program at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, scientists are pursuing a cross-collaborative effort that could potentially change the way cellular immunotherapies such as stem-cell transplantation and CAR T-cell therapies are performed. This grassroots research is funded primarily through VCU Massey pilot grants, and it is culminating in a first-of-its-kind body of work that provid…

Stanford Cancer Institute Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and their collaborators at other institutions have identified a link between how proteins bind to our DNA and how cancer develops. This finding may allow researchers to predict cancer pathways and long-term patient outcomes. Read More

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center For the first time, gut bacteria transplanted from healthy donors was used to successfully treat patients suffering from colitis caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors. A study from MD Anderson Cancer Center, led by Yinghong Wang, MD, PhD, suggests fecal microbiota transplantation is worth investigating in clinical trials to address this common immunotherapy side effect.  Read More

Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center A comprehensive analysis examining the relationship between vaping and smoking among youth and young adults finds that cigarette smoking dramatically decreased between 2013 and 2017, just as e-cigarette use became more popular. Read More

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health Epigenetics researcher Johnathan Whetstine, PhD, joined Fox Chase as program leader of the Cancer Epigenetics Program. Previously, Dr. Whetstine served as vice chair of the Epigenetics Program at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston. Read More

Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center A leading pediatrician will be the inaugural Chuck and Tina Pagano Scholar at Indiana University School of Medicine. Rachel Katzenellenbogen, MD, will hold that title as well as associate professor of pediatrics. She is also a member of the Cancer Prevention and Control research program at the Indiana University Melvin & Bren Simon Cancer Center and a member of the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research.   Read More

UK Markey Cancer Center A new University of Kentucky study shows that annual ultrasound screening of at-risk, asymptomatic women increases the survival rates of women with type I and type II epithelial ovarian cancer. The results come from the UK Markey Cancer Center’s Ovarian Cancer Screening Program, a 30-year study initiated in 1987 by gynecologic oncologist John van Nagell, Jr., MD, and the UK College of Medicine.    Read More

University of Colorado Cancer Center A University of Colorado Cancer Center study describes a genetic change common to 80 percent of human melanomas, the most deadly form of skin cancer, and also describes a molecule that seeks out cells marked by this genetic change.    Read More

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center UC San Francisco researchers have devised a CRISPR-based system called SLICE, which will allow scientists to rapidly assess the function of each and every gene in “primary” immune cells — those drawn directly from patients. The new method provides researchers with a powerful tool that will guide their decision-making when determining how best to engineer immune cells to fight cancer and a host of other diseases.    Read More

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health A commonly used targeted therapy for metastatic melanomas works by attacking melanomas with mutations in the BRAF gene that make them susceptible to RAF-inhibiting drugs. However, many cancers quickly become resistant to the treatment. Now researchers at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center – Jefferson Health have discovered how one of the mechanisms of that resistance works, a finding that could lead to designing more effective combination therapie…

Cedars-Sinai Cancer A new study has identified a novel molecular driver of lethal prostate cancer, along with a molecule that could be used to attack it. The findings were made in laboratory mice. Researchers analyzed genetic and molecular data from cancer patients in a large database. They found evidence of elevated activity of the molecule Onecut2 in tumors of patients whose prostate cancer resisted hormone therapy.   Read More

UK Markey Cancer Center University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center researcher Daret St. Clair, PhD, has been named the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient from the Society for Redox Biology and Medicine (SfRBM). St. Clair received the award and gave a feature lecture at the SfRBM’s 25th Annual Conference in Chicago in November.   Read More

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health Grace Lu-Yao, PhD, associate director of population science at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center – Jefferson Health, has been honored with the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) 2018 Nursing and Allied Health (NAH) Investigator Award at the SIOG 2018 Annual Conference.   Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center Kelly Lisenbee, DNP, ANP-C, AOCN, adult nurse practitioner, Department of Urologic Surgery, was recently elected to the board of directors for the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO).   Read More

University of Colorado Cancer Center A University of Colorado Cancer Center study shows the promise of an innovative new strategy against HER2-driven lung cancers (with EGFR involvement, which is also a well-known driver of lung cancer). Tarloxotinib, a potent HER2/EGFR inhibitor, is unique in that the drug only becomes active in low-oxygen conditions, such as those commonly found in tumor tissue.  Read more ...

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center UC San Francisco scientists have figured out why some lung cancers become drug-resistant after initially responding to targeted therapies. In the process, they devised a new two-pronged approach that yields an effective treatment for these cancers in the laboratory and holds tremendous promise for the future of precision medicine, they said. Sourav Bandyopadhyay, PhD, is senior author of the new study. Read more ...

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah Martin McMahon, PhD, has received a grant from the Pancreatic Cancer Collective, the strategic partnership of the Lustgarten Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer. The funding will be used to test combined blockade of intracellular signaling via the RAS pathway, and autophagic recycling of the cells’ interior contents.   Read More

UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center EXPLORER, the world’s first medical imaging scanner that can capture a 3-D picture of the whole human body at once, has produced its first scans. The brainchild of UC Davis scientists Simon Cherry, PhD, and Ramsey Badawi, PhD, EXPLORER is a combined positron emission tomography and x-ray computed tomography scanner that can image the entire body at the same time. Because the machine captures radiation far more efficiently than other scanners, EXPLORER…

Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Kathleen Moore, MD, a physician-scientist at Stephenson Cancer Center at OU Medicine, co-directed an international clinical trial that yielded findings considered unprecedented in the field of gynecological cancer. The research is groundbreaking because it showed that a targeted cancer therapy helped a subset of women with ovarian cancer live three years longer without a cancer recurrence than those who did not receive the therapy.  …

The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center By combining the experimental anti-cancer antibody known as 5F9 (Hu5F9-G4) with the established anti-cancer antibody rituximab, researchers managing a small phase-1b clinical trial were able to induce a positive response in 11 out of 22 people with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Read more ...

University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center The University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center has named Andrzej Dlugosz, MD, associate director for basic science research. Dr. Dlugosz currently co-leads the Rogel Cancer Center’s cancer biology program.   Read More

Please let us know what you think about the new format of the December 2018 AACI Update!  AACI Update will take a holiday break in January, but we will be working to improve the February 1, 2019 issue based on your feedback. Read More

The AACI Physician Clinical Leadership Initiative (PCLI) will present a webinar on minority recruitment to clinical trials on Thursday, December 13 at 12:00 pm eastern. Facilitated by Ruben A. Mesa, MD, FACP, director of UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, the webinar will address topics including barriers to trial enrollment that may disproportionately impact Latino patients and strategies to facilitate clinical trial participation among diverse populations. Read More

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2019 Champion for Cures Award. AACI created the Champion for Cures Award to recognize an individual or individuals who, through direct financial support of an AACI cancer center, demonstrate exceptional leadership in advancing cancer research and care and in inspiring others to do the same. Read More

The 116th Congress will convene on January 3, 2019 with nine new members of the United States Senate and 92 new members of the House of Representatives. The incoming Congress is the most demographically diverse in history and trends historically younger with an average age of 49 years old. With new faces in Washington, AACI cancer centers have a great opportunity to set the stage for a positive relationship with these leaders. Now is the time for your cancer center to invite newly-elected offi…

While most AACI cancer centers have in place a regulatory file system—either paper or an electronic system for the filing and version control of a trial’s required regulatory information—many utilize non-standard file-naming conventions. AACI Clinical Research Innovation (CRI) has established an eRegulatory working group to address the challenges that non-standard file names create. Read More

Entering its eleventh year, AACI's Clinical Research Initiative (CRI) has been renamed Clinical Research Innovation, to mark its popularity and success. Earlier this year, AACI sought recommendations from its members and board of directors for renaming CRI. The decision was rooted in a desire to reflect the program’s longevity: with over a decade of consistent growth, CRI has expanded beyond its status as an “initiative.” Read More

AACI recently launched a redesigned website, which will serve as a powerful tool to support communication between AACI and our 98 cancer center members.  The responsive, mobile-friendly interface offers enhanced viewing across devices, and real-time updates allow AACI to showcase its full range of events, programs, and initiatives. The website will also provide a platform for Dr. Roy Jensen’s presidential initiative: a library of sample legislation for AACI members.   Read More

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center The most comprehensive genome-wide association study, or GWAS, of colorectal cancer risk to date, has discovered 40 new genetic variants and validated 55 previously identified variants that signal an increased risk of colon cancer. The study, led by a team of investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, also has identified the first rare protective variant for sporadic colorectal cancer.  Read more ...

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health While renal cell cancer treatments have improved as researchers gained a deeper understanding of the disease’s genetics and genomics, there is an opportunity to make a greater difference by identifying biomarkers and mutations that will help oncologists select the most effective treatments for individual patients, according to a recent paper by Daniel M. Geynisman, MD.   Read More

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center John Mendelsohn, MD, president emeritus of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and an internationally acclaimed scientist whose research helped pioneer a new type of cancer therapy, died January 7 at his home in Houston. He was 82. The cause of death was glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer with which he was diagnosed 15 months ago.   Read More

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute Pelotonia riders and volunteers raised a record-breaking $27.4 million through the 2018 event to benefit cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital & Solove Research Institute. This brings the 10-year total to more than $184 million.   Read More

Stanford Cancer Institute New accelerator-based technology being developed by the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University aims to reduce the side effects of cancer radiation therapy by shrinking its duration from minutes to under a second. Researchers at SLAC and Stanford received funding to develop two possible treatments for tumors — one using X-rays, the other using protons.    Read More

VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center In pre-clinical studies, VCU Massey Cancer Center scientists, led by Hu Yang, PhD, have developed a novel drug delivery system using nanoparticles that significantly outperformed the tumor-targeting abilities of its predecessors. The researchers are hopeful their findings could lead to improved outcomes and reduced side effects for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.   Read More

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University Otis W. Brawley, MD, former chief medical and scientific officer for the American Cancer Society, has been named a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University. He will lead interdisciplinary research on cancer health disparities and outreach programs as Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center’s associate director for community outreach and engagement.   Read More

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center UC San Francisco Professor Thea Tlsty, PhD, is a winner of the “Grand Challenge” competition sponsored by Cancer Research UK, an ambitious funding initiative that aims to answer some of the biggest  questions in cancer. Tlsty’s international team will receive $26 million to uncover how chronic inflammation drives some of the most aggressive forms of cancer.  Read More

Case Comprehensive Cancer Center AACI Immediate Past President Stanton L. Gerson, MD, director, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been named to the Biden Cancer Initiative Data Sharing Working Group. The group's goal is to gather evidence to show that standardized collection of a new minimum set of cancer-specific data elements can inform better clinical decision making and alignment within the cancer community.   Read More

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah An international team of researchers led by Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah has developed, calibrated, and validated a novel tool for identifying the genetic changes in Lynch syndrome genes that are likely to be responsible for causing symptoms of the disease.    Read More

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Research from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey shows improved overall survival at five years for pediatric patients with early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma when treated with chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy versus chemotherapy alone. The work is believed to be the largest retrospective study to date involving this population.   Read More

University of Virginia Cancer Center Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have made a discovery about human papillomavirus (HPV) that could lead to new treatments for cervical cancer and other cancers caused by the virus. Anindya Dutta, PhD, and his colleagues have determined that an enzyme called USP46 is essential for HPV-induced tumor formation and growth. The enzyme promises to be very susceptible to drugs. Read More

Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has named Louis M. Weiner, MD, director of Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, to its 2018 class of fellows. An internationally recognized medical oncologist specializing in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers, Dr. Weiner is also an accomplished immunotherapy researcher.   Read More

VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center For nearly a decade, VCU Massey Cancer Center researcher Devanand Sarkar, PhD, has uncovered new insights into the development and progression of liver cancer, identifying key genetic drivers and shedding light on unknown associations with obesity and inflammation. He and his colleagues have set their sights on immune cells found in the liver called macrophages, and their findings could lead to novel treatment approaches. Read More

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute Researchers at the OSUCCC - James, led by Purnima Kumar, DDS, PhD, have landed a five-year, $3.12 million grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research for the first comprehensive examination of biological responses to electronic nicotine delivery systems, or e-cigs. Read More

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Linda Liau, MD, PhD, MBA, has been awarded the Abhijit Guha Award for her pioneering work on treating brain tumors. Established in memory of the late Dr. Abhijit Guha, the award is jointly sponsored by the Society for Neuro-Oncology and the Joint Section on Tumors of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.    Read More

Stanford Cancer Institute Immune cells engineered to attack childhood cancers were able to eradicate different types of pediatric tumors in mice, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The study provides evidence that these engineered cells can target many types of pediatric solid tumors, including brain tumors. Robbie Majzner, MD, is lead author of the study.   Read More

Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center Jeongwu Lee, PhD, was awarded a five-year, $2.4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, to study an FDA-approved drug to enhance treatment of glioblastoma, the most common and lethal form of brain cancer.   Read More

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Steven Soper, PhD, was elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows. The AIMBE College of Fellows represents the top 2 percent of the medical and biological engineering community. Dr. Soper is a leading researcher in the generation of novel biomedical devices, concentrating on in vitro cancer diagnostics based on lab-on-a-chip technologies.    Read More

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Eleven patients had already received numerous treatments for their cancers, some as many as 20 different courses of therapy. Yet their myelomas, almost all classified as “high risk,” kept coming back. These patients were part of a clinical trial led by Damian Green, MD, for a new experimental, immune-harnessing therapy, whose design includes features based on research at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.  Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center Cancer drugs are able to halt life-threatening bacterial lung infections in mouse models by promoting lung repair, researchers at Duke Health have found. If the findings are confirmed in human studies, the drugs could point to a new weapon against bacterial pneumonia, which afflicts 50,000 people in the U.S. each year. Ann Marie Pendergast, PhD, is the study's senior author.   Read More

UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute Yann Gibert, PhD, has joined the University of Mississippi Medical Center Cancer Institute as an associate professor in the CI Cancer Molecular Biology Program and as an associate professor in the UMMC Department of Cell and Molecular Biology.   Read More

GW Cancer Center A GW Cancer Center team has engineered a nanoimmunotherapy combining the advantages of nanotechnology and immunotherapy to treat cancer. The goal of this combination is to increase the potency of immune checkpoint inhibitors to a significantly larger proportion of patients. Rohan Fernandes, PhD, received more than $1.6 million from the National Institutes of Health for the study. Read More

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Igor Puzanov, MD, MSci, FACP, was honored for his “outstanding and lifelong contributions to melanoma research” during the just-concluded Melanoma and Immunotherapy Bridge research meeting in Naples, Italy. Dr. Puzanov, who is chief of melanoma and director of the Early Phase Clinical Trials Program at Roswell Park, received the award from Italy’s Fondazione Melanoma, or Melanoma Foundation.   Read More

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Many people who are diagnosed with cancer will undergo some type of surgery to treat their disease. But despite improvements in surgical techniques over the past decade, the cancer often comes back after the procedure. Now, a UCLA-led research team has developed a spray gel embedded with immune-boosting drugs that could help. In a peer-reviewed study, the substance was successful half of the time in awakening lab animals’ immune systems to stop th…

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Complication rates following invasive diagnostic procedures for lung abnormalities were twice as high in the community setting compared to those reported in lung cancer screening trials, and associated downstream costs ranged from $6,320 to $56,845 on average, according to a new study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.   Read More

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health Researchers at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai have found that a compound extracted from the Christmas berry primrose plant stops the growth of uveal melanoma—a cancer of the eye—in preliminary tests. With further testing, the discovery could lead to new therapeutic options for patients with the cancer. Read More

Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center A $1.2 million Department of Defense grant has been awarded to Theresa Guise, MD, whose research explores a cascade of events that decreases quality of life and treatment responses for patients with metastatic bone cancer. Her work aims to understand the role of the tumor-bone microenvironment on glucose metabolism and the role of a high-fat diet  in the process.   Read More

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health Elizabeth Handorf, PhD, has developed a new method that makes analysis of data collected online more reliable by eliminating repeat responders. Her method identifies clusters of non-independent enrollments that administrators of a study could not otherwise detect. When these low quality participants are omitted from a study, its efficacy can be measured with greater accuracy.   Read More

GW Cancer Center The George Washington University (GW) Cancer Center has announced that Vishal A. Patel, MD, FAAD, FADMC, has joined the cancer center. He will serve as the director of the  recently established Cutaneous Oncology Program. Dr. Patel most recently led the Division of Dermatologic Surgery and directed the High Risk Skin Cancer Clinic at Columbia University in New York City. Read More

UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute John Ruckdeschel, MD, University of Mississippi Medical Center Cancer Institute director, has been named to the National Lung Cancer Roundtable. Established by the American Cancer Society in 2017, the roundtable gathers experts dedicated to reducing the incidence of and deaths from lung cancer through appropriate screening, treatment, and prevention services.   Read More

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Dineo Khabele, MD, director of The University of Kansas Cancer Center’s gynecologic oncology division, has been elected a new member to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) for 2019. Dr. Khabele is one of five physician-scientists in the history of KU Medical Center to be elected to ASCI, and she is one of only three gynecologic oncologists to ever receive it.   Read More

O’Neal Industries, Inc., a family-owned global business based in Birmingham, and its shareholders have given the largest single gift in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s history—a $30 million donation to the comprehensive cancer center—which will allow the center to change the lives of more patients and families through transformational cancer research, patient care, education, and prevention. Michael J. Birrer, MD, PhD, is director of the cancer center, now known as the O’Neal Comprehe…

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center A group of colorectal cancer researchers are using the word “milestone” to describe their new genomic research. The product of more than five years’ work by scientists at 130 institutions, the paper presents results from the most comprehensive genome-wide association study (GWAS) of colorectal cancer risk done to date. Among their findings: 40 new inherited mutations that put people at risk for colorectal cancer, or CRC, the second-deadliest cancer in the wo…

UK Markey Cancer Center Thoracic surgeon and educator Shari Meyerson, MD, MEd, has joined UK HealthCare as the new chief of thoracic surgery. Meyerson will direct the section of thoracic surgery as well as provide surgical leadership to the thoracic oncology team at the UK Markey Cancer Center. She comes to UK after nearly a decade at Northwestern University.   Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center Medical oncologist Carey Anders, MD, has been appointed medical director for the DCI Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis and has joined the Breast Medical Oncology group. Previously, Dr. Anders was leader of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Breast Section.   Read More

WVU Cancer Institute Lori Hazlehurst, PhD, has been named as the associate director for basic research at the WVU Cancer Institute. In this role, she will work closely with the leadership team of the institute to implement strategic goals to increase the impact of basic and translational cancer research at WVU. The primary strategy is to increase the number of NIH-funded investigators focused on cancer research at WVU. Read More

Moffitt Cancer Center J. Ross Mitchell, PhD, has joined Moffitt Cancer Center as the artificial intelligence officer. The new role will lead the development of digital tools that utilize computer science to improve cancer care. A senior member of Moffitt's Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Mitchell will collaborate with fellow research faculty to optimize projects with artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Read More

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center A two-year study by a multidisciplinary team of surgeons and other cancer specialists found that the amount of opioid medications prescribed after surgery can be drastically reduced without negatively affecting pain scores, postoperative complications, or patient requests for additional opioids. Emese Zsiros, MD, PhD, FACOG, is senior author of the study. Read More

AACI and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will co-host the 2019 Hill Day in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, April 30. AACI is encouraging its U.S. members to send at least one representative to Washington to advocate on your center’s behalf—and this year, for the first time, AACI will offer scholarships to support the participation of patient advocates at Hill Day, giving them an opportunity to share their impactful stories with legislators.  Read More

Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University Jing Chen, PhD, professor and director of the Division of Basic & Translational Science in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology in the Emory University School of Medicine, has been named the R. Randall Rollins Chair in Oncology.    Read More

AACI has launched a CAR T listserv to allow for greater engagement among members who want to share best practices, challenges, and solutions related to CAR T-cell therapy implementation. The listserv was created as part of the larger CAR T Initiative, which aims to help guide AACI members in implementing CAR T-cell therapy programs at cancer centers across North America. The CAR T listserv is open only to AACI members. Read More

University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center Mary Ann Osley, PhD, has been appointed to a four-year term on the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors for Basic Sciences, which advises on scientific program policy and the direction of basic science research programs. Dr. Osley leads the Cancer Genetics, Epigenetics and Genomics Research Group at the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center. Read More

AACI kicked off 2019 by welcoming a new sustaining member. The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is the premier radiation oncology society in the world. ASTRO’s membership is comprised of physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, and other health care professionals who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies—a critical tool in the fight against cancer. The society's mission is to advance and elevate the field of radiation oncology. Read …

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey When it comes to stopping a common form of lung cancer, an energy crisis is a good thing. Research from investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey examined a potential approach to cancer therapy that disrupts a cancer cell’s "fuel supply" by targeting a cellular survival mechanism known as autophagy. "Jessie" Yanxiang Guo, PhD, is the senior author of the work.   Read More

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health Newly published research from Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health investigators provides a snapshot of the spectrum of genetic changes that are responsible for inherited prostate cancer, supporting current guidelines for genetic testing of patients with prostate cancer, as well as suggesting expanded testing to encompass additional patients.   Read More

The AACI Clinical Research Innovation (CRI) Steering Committee is currently soliciting abstracts for the 11th Annual AACI CRI Meeting that will be held July 9-11 in Chicago. This year’s meeting theme will focus on strategies to maximize innovation to advance cancer clinical research. The purpose of the abstracts is to inform meeting attendees about clinical trials office challenges and solutions implemented at AACI cancer centers.   Read More