October 2015 Newsletter 
Clinical Trial Working Groups
  • Open trial: Renal cell carcinoma (Illinois)
  • Current concepts:
    • Bladder (Iowa)
    • Bladder (Penn State)
  • Next call: Wednesday, October 7 
    at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT
  • Approved LOI:
    • Esophageal (Indiana) - see also gastrointestinal
    • NSCLC (Illinois)
  • Current concept: Mesothelioma (Illinois)
  • Next call: Thursday, November 5 at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. CT
  • Trial in start-up: Hepatocellular (Indiana)
  • Approved LOI:
    • Esophageal (Indiana) - see also thoracic
    • Gastric/GE junction adenocarcinoma (Northwestern)
  • Current concepts: 
    • Hepatocellular (Wisconsin)
    • Colorectal (Wisconsin) - on hold until Q1 2016
  • Next call: Thursday, October 22 at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT
  • Current concepts:
    • First line triple negative metastatic breast cancer (Penn State)
    • ER+ and/or PR+ and HER2- breast cancer (Illinois)
    • Newly diagnosed ER+, HER2- breast cancer (Minnesota)
    • Triple negative breast cancer (Wisconsin) -
      2 concepts
  • Next call: Wednesday, October 14 at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT
  • Trial in start-up: Endometrial carcinoma (Northwestern)
  • Next call: Thursday, October 29 at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT.
  • Current concept: Squamous cell carcinoma of the skin (Rutgers)
  • Next call: Thursday, November 19 at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. CT
  • Current concepts:
    • Peripheral T-cell lymphoma (Michigan) -
      4 concepts, not yet presented
    • Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (Michigan) -
      2 concepts, not yet presented
    • Lymphoma (Minnesota)
  • Next call: Wednesday, November 11 at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT
  • Next call: Tuesday, November 3 at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. CT
  • Current concept: Multiple myeloma and lymphoma (Indiana)
  • Next call: Friday, October 23 at 10 a.m. ET / 9 a.m. CT 
 
To Discuss Protocols : Contact Jessica Roy at [email protected] or 317-634-5842, ext. 19

To Join a CTWG or Submit an LOI: Contact Donna LaPlaca Sullivan at  [email protected] or 317-634-5842, ext. 40.

Support the BTCRC
Fighting breast cancer. Together.
Member institutions of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium know something about teamwork. Through their unique collaboration, these game-changing leaders are modeling what is possible when competitors on the field become partners in the fight against cancer.

This month, we offer just a few highlights from the fight against breast cancer.  See how UW Carbone Cancer Center is teaming up with advocates to improve research. Learn how student groups at University of Nebraska Medical Center are making a difference for younger women diagnosed with cancer. And get to know   Kriss Fierro (pictured), who at the age of 34 was diagnosed with breast cancer. With the support of her husband and children, extended family and friends, and an incredible team at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, led by Deborah Toppmeyer, MD, Fierro was ready for the fight of her life.
 
Featured Member Profile
"Moving basic discoveries toward clinical application is a major translational process for our center. Members of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research develop new drugs, new instrumentation, and discover new molecules relevant to cancers. All move into the clinical setting quickly to validate applicability." Read more in this conversation with Timothy L. Ratliff, PhD, Robert Wallace Miller director of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research, our featured member for October. 

To see past member features, click here.
Q&A: Contracting 
Our FAQ series for investigators continues with this installment on contracting. Questions addressed in this FAQ include:
  • From a contracts perspective, what does a Big Ten institution need to do to open as a site in a BTCRC study?
  • How does the overall study funding contract work?
  • Do BTCRC studies require any other types of contracts?
  • How can a site help keep the contracting process moving?
     
Across the Consortium
Member institutions of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium consistently lay the foundations for ground-breaking cancer research - in more ways than one! Across the consortium, members are breaking ground for a new research facility and advancing research through new approaches, new business ventures, and new discoveries. This month, we highlight innovation, recognize the receipt of prestigious grants, and celebrate the "ground breaking" being done - Across the Consortium!

Read more. 
Big Ten represented on editorial board of new ASCO journal
The American Society of Clinical Oncology recently published the first issue of the Journal of Global Oncology. Congratulations to ASCO and to the following Big Ten investigators who serve on the journal's editorial board!
  • James F. Cleary, MD, associate professor of medicine, medical oncology section, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
  • William J. Gradishar, MD, professor of medicine in the division of hematology and medical oncology, Feinberg School of Medicine at Northern University
  • Patrick J. Loehrer, Sr., MD, director of the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center