August 17, 2021:

Patrick C. Ma, MD, MSc, a professor at Penn State College of Medicine and a medical oncologist specializing in thoracic oncology at Penn State Cancer Institute, has been appointed to represent Penn State Cancer Institute on the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee is composed of one researcher from each Big Ten CRC member institution and meets regularly 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.

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August 6, 2021:
by Vijaya Bhatt, MBBS, MS

With the aging US population, we face the challenge of rising incidence of cancer in older adults. Older adults are at a higher risk of developing and dying from cancers. Several factors contribute to poor outcomes including cancer biology, multimorbidity, frailty, and social isolation, which has become worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Older adults are also frequently not well represented in clinical trials; this poses additional challenges by creating a knowledge gap in understanding how to optimally treat older adults with comorbidities. Improving outcomes in older adults with cancer requires multidisciplinary care, research collaboration and innovative trial designs. Read More

August 3, 2021:

Purdue Center for Cancer Research (PCCR) scientist Philip Low, PhD, Presidential Scholar for Drug Discovery and Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry – Biochemistry (Department of Chemistry) at Purdue University.

The latest research update from Dr. Low is the design, synthesis, and patenting of PSMA-617, an investigational PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. It began with a PCCR collaboration including Dr. Low, Timothy Ratliff, PhD, and Tom Gardner, MD, from Indiana University School of Medicine, who ran the first clinical imaging trial, funded by PCCR, to show the targeting agent was highly prostate cancer specific.

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July 22, 2021:

In this month’s Across the Consortium, get to know some the cancer investigators in the Big Ten, what doctoral candidates and graduate students are researching, what publications and accolades have been shared with Big Ten researchers, and more.

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July 21, 2021:

The Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium recently appointed Nancy Chan, MD (pictured right), a medical oncologist from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and Sneha Phadke, DO, MPH, (pictured left), a medical oncologist from University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, as co-chairs of Big Ten CRC’s Breast Cancer Clinical Trial Working Group (CTWG).

Their leadership supports collaboration and mentorship within the working group, as well as development of Big Ten CRC breast cancer clinical trials from conception to completion. CTWG co-chairs serve two-year terms that are renewable. Co-chairs are responsible to develop agendas and facilitate for the working group.

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July 8, 2021:

Murali Janakiram, MD, MS, a medical oncologist at the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, and Attaya Suvannasankha, MD, a medical oncologist at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, have been named co-chairs of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium’s Multiple Myeloma Clinical Trial Working Group.

Dr. Janakiram is a graduate of Madras Medical College in Chennai, India. He completed his residency at Case Western University and MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and his fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. His research interests include disparities in multiple myeloma, genomics of adult T-cell leukemia lymphoma, and immune checkpoints PD-L1, B7-H3, B7x, and HHLA2. His clinical expertise includes cellular therapy and bone marrow transplant for multiple myeloma and lymphoma.

Dr. Suvannasankha is a graduate of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. She completed her residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia and a fellowship at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York. She joined the Indiana University School of Medicine in 2003 and currently serves as an associate professor at the IU School of Medicine and researcher at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Suvannasankha’s research interests are in the molecular mechanism of drug resistance in hematologic malignancy and precision medicine. Her clinical expertise includes hematology-oncology and bone marrow transplant. Read More

July 8, 2021:

Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium investigators are determined to give adolescents and young adults (AYA) a fair shot in overcoming cancer by addressing the systemic challenges that are often roadblocks to the best care, including access to cancer clinical trials.

AYAs range in age between 15 to 39. According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 88,260 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed among AYAs and about 85% of AYAs diagnosed with cancer will survive their cancer beyond five years after their diagnosis, some left with chronic side effects and fertility issues.

Incidence of cancer occurs significantly more often in AYAs than younger children. Between 2011-2015, according to data reported by the NCI Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, there were:
 

• 16 cancer diagnoses per 100,000 children ages 0 to 14 years
• 72 cancer diagnoses per 100,000 adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 39 years
• 953 cancer diagnoses per 100,000 adults ages 40 and older

Some of the most common cancers among AYAs are breast cancer, testicular cancer, melanoma, and thyroid cancer.

David Dickens, MD, FAAP, a hematologist-oncologist at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, is working alongside Amanda Parkes, MD, a medical oncologist specializing in sarcoma and breast cancer at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, to address barriers often faced by this age group as co-chairs of Big Ten CRC’s newly formed Adolescent and Young Adult Clinical Trial Working Group.

“When patients enter a lot of these big health systems, if you’re older than 18, you’d automatically go to the adult side,” said Dr. Dickens, the UI Dance Marathon Chair in Pediatric Oncology at the Carver College of Medicine. “The question is, when you present in this age group, how do you get them the best treatment possible?” Read More

July 7, 2021:

Within the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium, disease-specific Clinical Trial Working Groups are largely focused on developing novel therapeutics to treat and ultimately cure disease. The Big Ten CRC’s Population Science Working Group, led by co-chairs Sharon Manne, PhD, of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Electra Paskett, PhD, of The Ohio State University, has a different goal: To develop and implement population-based research within the Big Ten CRC.

“The ultimate goal of our working group is to develop and implement research that reduces the cancer burden in the Big Ten,” said Dr. Manne (pictured left), Chief of Behavioral Sciences and co-Director of the Center of Excellence in Cancer Survivorship at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. “In addition to implementing multi-site behavioral and epidemiological research collaborations that will evaluate and reduce cancer burden, we will foster collaboration between junior and senior investigators in population research.” Read More

July 6, 2021:

Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium investigators presented a poster highlighting the BTCRC-AML17-113 study during the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021. Led by John Quigley, MD, of the University of Illinois Cancer Center, the single-arm, open-label, multi-center phase Ib, dose-escalation study examines the safety and efficacy of gemtuzumab ozogamicin and venetoclax in patients with relapsed or refractory CD33+ acute myeloid leukemia.

At the time the abstract was presented in April, researchers reported the study was open to the second dosing cohort and no dose-limiting toxicities had been encountered to date. Researchers reported that enrollment had been negatively impacted by COVID-19 but was expected to improve as vaccinations expand. Read More

June 29, 2021:

During the month of July, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium highlights the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, and cancer center member Paul Christian Mayor, MD, MS, FACOG.

Paul Christian Mayor, MD, MS, FACOG
Assistant Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology
Indiana University School of Medicine

Educational Background

• Medical Degree: Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University
• Residency: Indiana University School of Medicine
• Fellowship: Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

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