July 1, 2016:

Leonidas Platanias, MD, PhD, director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University

Q: How do you think cancer research will change in the next 10 to 20 years?

This is an exciting time in oncology, and we see tremendous opportunities to advance cancer prevention, diagnostics and therapeutics in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Immunotherapy and genomics, two of the most compelling areas of research today, will provide unprecedented opportunities to control – and in some cases cure – treatment-resistant cancers.

The Lurie Cancer Center OncoSET (Sequence, Evaluate, Treat) Program, launched in 2015, combines genomic sequencing and molecular diagnostics to identify new, individually tailored treatments and clinical trials. We recently initiated the Lurie Cancer Center OncoSET Clinic, under the leadership of Massimo Cristofanilli, MD, Associate Director for Precision Medicine and Translational Research. The OncoSET Molecular Tumor Board, a multidisciplinary group of physicians and scientists, reviews the results and recommends a personalized treatment plan. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first site-agnostic, molecular pathway-driven clinic in Chicago.

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June 17, 2016:

Today, cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide.  In his final State of the Union address, President Barack Obama tasked Vice President Joe Biden with heading up a new national effort to end cancer as we know it.

“Fifty-five years ago, President John F. Kennedy stood before a joint session of Congress and said, ‘I believe we should go to the moon.'” Biden said.  “This is our moonshot.”

As part of the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force’s “Moonshot Initiative,” Vice President Biden has called on leaders across the health, academic, private industry, and philanthropic sectors to join together with patients, survivors, and advocates on June 29th for the first national summit of its kind: the 2016 Cancer Moonshot Summit.

The goal of the Moonshot Initiative is to double the rate of progress toward a cure, specifically by forming new alliances to defy the bounds of innovation and accelerate cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Members of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium have a demonstrated commitment to progress through alliance. It is no surprise that many of our member institutions will be actively participating in the Cancer Moonshot by hosting local summits that unite the cancer community and advance the dialogue under this national charge.

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June 19, 2016:

Many people excel in sports, and even amateurs get lucky now and then.  But it is the relentlessly consistent accomplishment of great – and crucial – plays that makes a legend.  In this month’s edition of Across the Consortium, we celebrate such plays by the unyielding Big Ten Cancer Centers.  Pioneering research aims to nail important questions of our time and offer hope to countless many, from the promise of novel, natural cancer-killers to targeted cancer therapies, liquid biopsies, and bio-dynamic imaging.  Meanwhile, many members institutions pull through with varsity fund-raising.  Take a look Across the Consortium!

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May 31, 2016:

As Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium members work every day to defeat cancer, they are constantly aware that behind every office appointment, pathology report, and scan is the story of a survivor. In honor of National Cancer Survivors Day on June 5, we celebrate examples of our members working to improve the lives of all patients with cancer.
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May. 18, 2016:

Big Ten cancer centers continue to make gains in cancer research and treatment. In this edition of Across the Consortium, we highlight research from our member institutions in prostate, neuroendocrine, blood, pancreatic, and other cancers; we celebrate with the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center upon its receiving a SPORE grant for new research projects on neuroendocrine tumors; we congratulate those strategically entering into within the cancer research community; and we root for members advancing in cancer prevention programs.

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May 4, 2016: 

Over the past three decades, more people have had skin cancer than all other cancers combined. This May, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium is bringing awareness to this common – yet highly preventable – form of cancer.

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April 29, 2016: 

Al B. Benson III, MD, associate director for cooperative groups at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, was elected president of the National Patient Advocate Foundation’s (NPAF) Executive Board.  An esteemed oncologist and professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Benson brings insights into the issues and roadblocks patients face as they navigate the healthcare system to this new role.

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Apr. 19, 2016:

The fight against cancer is greatly defined by the sheer multitude of challenges involved, the victory over which requires unique capabilities. In this month’s edition of Across the Consortium, see shining examples of the unique skills, expertise, knowledge, and passion of each member institution, and be reminded why we are stronger together.

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April 5, 2016: 

While advocating for the creation of Philadelphia’s first firefighting organization, Benjamin Franklin offered his now famous advice: “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That adage continues to resonate with us as the fires of cancer continue ravaging the nation nearly 280 years later posing as the second leading cause of death.

In his proclamation for National Cancer Control Month this year, President Obama encouraged citizens, government agencies, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other groups to join together in efforts to “increase awareness of what Americans can do to prevent and control cancer.”

Read on to learn what a few of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium members are doing surrounding these two important awareness topics: cancer prevention and health equity. Read More

April 1, 2016:

A conversation with Theodore Lawrence, MD, PhD, director of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, professor and chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, and a member of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium.

Q: How do you think cancer research will change in the next 10 to 20 years?

There has never been a more exciting time to do cancer research.

Over the next 10-20 years, I expect that immunotherapy will continue to advance. We’ll start to see greater clarity in patient selection and in combining immunotherapies with other therapies.

Metabolomics is another exciting area of research, and I anticipate that the biological discoveries in this area will begin to be translated into new treatments. Likewise, our growing understanding of the interaction of the microbiome with the causes and treatment of cancer will produce new ways of decreasing the toxicity and increasing the efficacy of cancer treatments.

Biostatistics and bioinformatics are already central to much of our research, and the contributions of these fields will continue to grow. We’ll see a greater emphasis and opportunity to use mobile technologies to record patient reported outcomes.

There will be challenges as well. Our increasing understanding of tumor heterogeneity means that almost all diseases are becoming “orphan” diseases. When I was a medical oncology fellow and a radiation oncology resident, lung cancer was either “small cell” or “non-small cell.” Therefore, you could design a single trial that would apply to large group of patients. Now our protocols are, for example, “erlotinib-resistant EGFR mutated lung adenocarcinoma.” That’s so much more specific of a patient population, and we expect to accrue only a few patients a year. But it’s the same effort in protocol writing and start-up. While I am excited that our outcomes continue to improve, it is certainly a challenge to our clinical trial implementation. Read More