June 1, 2020:

As New Jersey’s only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey’s team of internationally recognized physicians and researchers is driven by a singular focus and mission, to help individuals fight cancer. Through the transformation of laboratory discoveries into clinical practice, we target cancer with precision medicine, immunotherapy and clinical trials and provide the most advanced, comprehensive, and compassionate world-class cancer care to adults and children. This mission is being accomplished in partnership with RWJBarnabas Health. Rutgers Cancer Institute physicians and scientists work side by side to make sure the most sophisticated treatments are delivered to our patients quickly and safely – the future of cancer treatments today. Read More

May 29, 2020:

The American Society of Clinical Oncology’s ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program will feature abstracts from four Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium studies. The program, taking place May 29-31, will feature more than 250 oral abstract presentations and 2,500 poster presentations from 24 disease-based and specialty tracks.

The abstracts featuring Big Ten CRC studies include poster discussions for BTCRC-GYN15-013 and BTCRC-LUN16-081 and posters for BTCRC-AML17-113 and BTCRC-ESO14-012. Read More

May 1, 2020:

Since 1978, the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research has been a National Cancer Institute-designated basic research cancer center. Only seven institutions in the United States have earned this title. Being a basic research center means we don’t treat cancer patients directly. Our work focuses on investigating cancers where they begin — at the cellular level — to investigate the cause of and cure for one of the most devastating diseases of our time.

Doctors and scientists throughout the world use our discoveries to develop methods, medicines, and medical devices to save and enhance patients’ lives.

Learn more at: https://www.purdue.edu/cancer-research/.

Investigator Spotlight

Humaira Gowher, PhD, Purdue University Center for Cancer Research

Educational background

• PhD in Biochemistry: Justus Leibeg University, Germany
• MSc in Biochemistry: Aligarh Muslim University, India

Research interests

The overarching goal of our research is to elucidate epigenetic mechanisms that control cell identity and determine how these mechanisms are disrupted in cancer. Using embryonic stem cells and embryonal carcinoma cells as model systems, our research specifically focuses on the activity of distal regulatory elements of developmental genes, called enhancers, and insulators. We also study the effect of somatic mutations of DNA and histone methyltransferases commonly found in cancer and other developmental disorders on the biochemical activity of these enzymes. Read More

April 13, 2020:

The Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium recently appointed Kari B. Wisinski, MD, associate professor of hematology/oncology, Department of Medicine at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, as chair of the consortium’s Steering Committee. She succeeds Al B. Benson III, MD, professor of medicine-hematology/oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who completed his one-year term.

Peter G. Shields, MD, deputy director, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James), will serve as vice chair of the Steering Committee for one year and as chair the following year. Read More

March 17, 2020:

Christopher Lao, MD, was recently appointed to represent the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center on the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium Steering Committee. Dr. Lao is clinical professor of internal medicine – hematology/oncology, and medical director of clinical trials for oncology at the University of Michigan.

The Steering Committee is composed of one researcher from each Big Ten CRC member institution and meets on a regular basis to review activities of the consortium and decide matters of policy. The Steering Committee determines the criteria for approving concepts for development with the Big Ten CRC. Read More

March 1, 2020:

Investigator Spotlight

Anita Turk, MD, Indiana University School of Medicine

Educational background

• MD: Indiana University School of Medicine
• Residency: University of Chicago
• Fellowship: University of Wisconsin

Research interests

I am a medical oncologist who treats gastrointestinal malignancies with a special focus on hepatobiliary cancers. My research focus is to develop targeted and immune-based therapies for my patients. Through Indiana University’s Precision Genomics Clinic, we have been able to sequence tumors to help us understand the biology and identify the best clinical trials within the Big Ten CRC for our patients. Read More

Feb. 26, 2020:

Results of a Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium study found that the combination of pembrolizumab and bevacizumab is safe and active in patients with metastatic kidney cancer and was published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology on Feb. 25.

The multi-site phase Ib/II study of pembrolizumab with bevacizumab for metastatic renal cell carcinoma: Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium BTCRC-GU14-003, was led by Arkadiusz Z. Dudek, MD (pictured), a professor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and medical oncologist at HealthPartners Regions Cancer Care Center in St. Paul, Minn.

“Our study demonstrated that pembrolizumab and bevacizumab can control metastatic kidney cancer for more than 20 months in the majority of patients treated,” Dr. Dudek said. “We think that pembrolizumab and bevacizumab could be an attractive alternative to the current standard combination of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor. This will be especially important for patients who are elderly, have significant comorbidities, or do not tolerate front-line treatment using immune checkpoint inhibitors or tyrosine kinase inhibitors.” Read More

Feb. 14, 2020:

Monika Joshi, MD, MRCP, associate professor of medicine at Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, will present a poster that highlights early safety and efficacy data from the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium’s BTCRC-GU15-023 study during the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s 2020 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium on Feb. 14 in San Francisco, Calif.

The poster, titled, “Concurrent durvalumab and radiation therapy followed by adjuvant durvalumab in patients with locally advanced urothelial cancer of the bladder (DUART),” will be presented during Poster Session B: Prostate Cancer; Urothelial Carcinoma; Penile, Urethral, Testicular, and Adrenal Cancers, from 12:15-1:45 p.m. PT in the Moscone West Building at Poster J14 (Abstract 513). Read More

Jan. 27, 2020:

A new Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium phase II study will test the combination of gedatolisib and talazoparib in advanced triple-negative or BRCA 1/2-mutated HER2-negative breast cancer in men and women.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, with more than 266,000 new cases in 2018. Breast cancer in men is less common, with more than 2,400 new cases annually. About 15 percent of all invasive breast cancers diagnosed in the United States each year are triple-negative. Triple-negative breast cancers don’t express the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2). Inherited gene mutations in BRCA1 or 2 are responsible for about 5 to 10 percent of breast cancers in the United States.

People with advanced triple-negative breast cancer have fewer treatment options and the primary treatment for triple-negative breast cancer is chemotherapy. Exploring non-chemotherapy options for treatment may uncover new ways to treat this disease.

The goal of the study, BTCRC-BRE18-337, “Phase 2 Trial with Safety Run-In of Gedatolisib Plus Talazoparib in Advanced Triple Negative or BRCA1/2 Positive, HER2 Negative Breast Cancers,” is to identify the safe doses for combining gedatolisib and talazoparib, and to assess the efficacy of the combination. Read More

Jan. 24, 2020:

Nataliya Uboha, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, presented a poster highlighting the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium’s BTCRC-GI18-149 study during the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.

The poster, titled “Phase II study of the combination of abemaciclib and pembrolizumab in locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma” was presented during Trials in Progress Poster Session A on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. See abstract. Read More