Sept. 21, 2016:

Studies show that patients with low income, the elderly, racial and ethnic minorities, women and those who live in rural areas represent the smallest percentage of clinical trial participants. Unfortunately, these groups also represent a disproportionate burden of disease. A diverse coalition of health care partners today announce the #BeAGift campaign aimed at changing perceptions of and encourage participation in clinical trials across the region and nationwide. Read More

Sept. 20, 2016:

Every month, we huddle for another edition of Across the Consortium to recap the progress of our member institutions.  This month, we celebrate new advancements that challenge traditional precepts of imaging, point to new modes of suppressing tumor growth, and identify side effects of current treatments.  You will see members procuring serious funding to answer serious questions and meeting the urgent needs of patients head on with brand new clinical trials.  Circle up!

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Sept. 15, 2016:

Investigator spotlight

Jean Grem, MD, is professor of medicine and joined the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in 2003. Prior to joining UNMC, Dr. Grem was senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute, in Bethesda, Maryland since 1986. She became the gead of the Gastrointestinal Malignancies Division, Cancer Therapeutics Branch at the National Cancer Institute in 2001. Dr. Grem is known nationally as an expert in gastrointestinal malignancies and is currently exploring several novel therapeutic approaches in both colon and pancreatic cancer at UNMC including targeting metabolic alternations to improve survival in pancreatic cancer as project four in UNMC’s pancreatic SPORE.
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September 8, 2016:

Mohammed Milhem, MBBS, has joined the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium Steering Committee, representing the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa. The committee, composed of one representative from each member institution, meets on a regular basis to review activities of the consortium and decide matters of policy. The committee determines the criteria for approving concepts for development within the Big Ten CRC. Read More

September 7, 2016:

Researchers and leaders of Big Ten cancer centers will meet in Indianapolis Friday and Saturday for a first-ever cancer research summit among the institutions.

Representatives from 12 of the Big Ten cancer centers will meet for the inaugural Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium Summit, hosted by the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, at the JW Marriott Indianapolis.

In addition to the consortium institutions, the meeting will bring together biotech and pharmaceutical leaders to strengthen the academic and industry collaboration and explore opportunities for novel therapeutic advances in cancer research. Read More

September 5, 2016:

The fight against cancer is ramping up like never before, and raising awareness is a key part of the strategy to defeat cancer. September is an action-packed month of awareness for the following cancers: thyroid, ovarian, prostate, gynecologic, childhood, and leukemia/lymphoma. There is much to be done, and member institutions of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium are leading the charge, from a first-of-its-kind clinical trial, to a unique survivorship program, to securing a prestigious grant.
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Aug. 17, 2016:

Barriers: to win this war against cancer, they all must come down.  In this month’s edition of Across the Consortium, discover how members of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium are bringing down barriers.  Interdisciplinary partnerships are overcoming obstacles to inoperable cancers; laser-imaging and creative tests are being leveraged to break down barriers to early diagnosis; immunotherapies are breaking down barriers to once-and-for-all remission; new predictive screening models and population-specific cancer programs are breaking down barriers to treatment of certain populations; volunteers and grants are breaking down barriers to research.  All this and more, in this month’s edition of Across the Consortium! 

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July 22, 2016:

The Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium (Big Ten CRC) announces the opening of a Phase I/II clinical trial for advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.

The study, known as BTCRC-GI13-002, will be conducted in two phases. In Phase I, researchers will determine the maximum safe dose of a drug called MLN0128. In Phase II, study participants will be randomized to one of two groups. One group will receive MLN0128 and the other will receive sorafenib, the standard therapy for patients with advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.

MLN0128 is an investigational drug. This means it has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat any disease.

The Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis is currently enrolling participants in this study. Additional member sites within the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium will open the trial in the coming months.

Bert H. O’Neil, MD, Joseph W. and Jackie J. Cusick Professor of Oncology at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a researcher at the IU Simon Cancer Center, is the sponsor investigator of the study. Read More

July 17, 2016:

Initiative: the proactive power of progress.  This key trait of leadership is exhibited by each of the Big Ten Cancer Centers.  Exciting displays of initiative in the fight against cancer fill this month’s edition of Across the Consortium.  Engagement in national enrollment-boosting programs; patient-centered precision medicine initiatives; hosting a research summit and publishing studies in nationwide research initiatives; a nationally-recognized fundraising event; novel discoveries; and the development of game-changing diagnostic technology and immunotherapy treatments.  Don’t miss this action-packed edition of Across the Consortium!

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July 1, 2016:

A new Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium study is testing whether adding palbociclib to tamoxifen might improve response rates in patients with newly diagnosed advanced hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative (HR+/HER2-) breast cancer.

The single-arm phase II study, known as BTCRC-BRE15-016, is currently open for accrual at the University of Illinois Cancer Center, with additional Big Ten CRC member sites expected to open the trial in the coming months.

The study is open to both pre- and post-menopausal women with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer who have not received prior systemic anti-cancer therapies for their advanced disease. Additional eligibility requirements must be met to enroll in the study. Read More