May 30, 2019:

The Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) has joined the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium (Big Ten CRC).

Located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the CCIL develops new insights, tools, and technologies to fight cancer and moves those advances into clinical practice. The CCIL unites historic campus strengths in basic science and engineering to develop new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer, enabling people to live cancer-free lives. Read More

May 30, 2019:

Two Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium studies, BTCRC-LUN16-081 and BTCRC-ESO14-012, will be presented during the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, May 31 – June 4, in Chicago.

BTCRC-LUN16-081, a phase II study of consolidation immunotherapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab or nivolumab alone following concurrent chemoradiotherapy for unresectable stage IIIA/IIIB non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), will be featured during a poster session on Sunday, June 2. The study is led by Greg Durm, MD, of the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. Read More

May 29, 2019:

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) has joined the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium (Big Ten CRC).

Through membership in the consortium, cancer researchers from The Ohio State University may participate in the Big Ten CRC’s Clinical Trial Working Groups, submit letters of intent (LOIs) to the working groups for consideration as Big Ten studies, and collaborate with researchers from other Big Ten cancer centers on clinical trials.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, the OSUCCC – James is the only cancer program in the United States that features a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center aligned with a nationally ranked academic medical center and a freestanding cancer hospital on the campus of one of the nation’s largest public universities. Read More

May 28, 2019:

In this month’s Across the Consortium, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium (Big Ten CRC) highlights new treatments, early cancer detection methods, and research that is revealing more about the science of cancer and how it spreads. We also welcome two new members to the Big Ten CRC: The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, and the Cancer Center at Illinois (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). We look forward to their contributions to the Big Ten CRC!

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May 7, 2019:

The University of Michigan is leading a Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium study that will test the immunotherapy drug nivolumab combined with the anti-CSF-1R monoclonal antibody cabiralizumab in patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL). The study is now open for accrual at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center.

The study, BTCRC-HEM16-085, “Phase II study of nivolumab and the antagonistic CSF-1R monoclonal antibody cabiralizumab (BMS-986227) in patients with relapsed/refractory peripheral T cell lymphoma,” will help researchers determine the number of patients whose tumors shrank after receiving this therapy, and how long this response lasts before the tumors start to grow again. Researchers also hope to learn more about the safety of this combination.

PTCL is a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that develops from T-cells, a type of white blood cell that plays a central role in the body’s immune response. More than 74,000 new cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma were estimated for 2018, 10 to 15 percent of which are PTCL. Because of the heterogeneity of these lymphomas and lack of understanding regarding their pathogenesis, classifying PTCL and developing new therapeutic strategies is slow and challenging.

“While there are a number of novel agents that are FDA approved, the response rates with those agents are low, on the order of about one third, so one in three patients may anticipate a response with those agents,” said Ryan A. Wilcox, MD, PhD, sponsor-investigator of the study and a medical oncologist at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center. Read More

May 3, 2019:

The Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium will host meetings for the Big Ten CRC Foundation, Cancer Center Directors, Steering Committee, and Clinical Trial Working Groups during ASCO 2019. Read More

May 1, 2019:

Investigator Spotlight:

Ardaman Shergill, MD, University of Illinois

Research interests:

Dr. Shergill has a broad clinical practice where she treats patients with a variety of cancers. Her mission: Bring high quality, evidence-based, state-of-the-art care to all her patients, and deliver it in the most compassionate way possible. Her interest in cancer is due to having lost loved ones to the disease, giving her a unique and humbling insight into a patient’s experience with the illness. Dr. Shergill is interested in helping develop and improve access to novel promising therapeutic advances for her patients so they may benefit from the latest research that is occurring in the rapidly changing field of oncology. She has extensive experience in clinical trials and quality improvement in oncology. Dr. Shergill has co-authored numerous manuscripts and has presented her research at national and international meetings. Read More

April 29, 2019:

A Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium phase I/II study is testing the safety and efficacy of combining ixazomib and romidepsin in patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). The study is now open for accrual at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the University of Illinois Cancer Center in Chicago, and Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa. Read More

 
April 16, 2019:

In this month’s Across the Consortium, the Big Ten CRC highlights a variety of initiatives, including treatment for children with leukemia, research for future vaccines against cancer, and research to prolong the lives of those fighting some of the most deadly cancers; and we honor cancer advocates who have lost their own battles with cancer.

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April 1, 2019:

Investigator Spotlight

Salma Jabbour, MD, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey

Educational background

• BA, University of Virginia
• MD, University of Maryland School of Medicine
• Internship, University of Maryland Medical Center
• Residency in Radiation Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Research interests

I am interested in developing novel therapies for the treatment of lung cancers and gastrointestinal cancers in combination with radiation therapy. Many of these diseases still require significant improvements in outcomes, and breakthroughs such as immunotherapy may help patients live longer and control their cancers when combined with radiation therapy. Read More