Breast Biorepository
We are pleased to announce that the protocol to recruit UH breast patients for a blood and tissue biorepository is up and running and we have recruited our first patients! This protocol, CASE 3116, has truly been a collaboration between basic scientists, translational scientists and many clinicians from across the breast team, and could not have happened without this broad-based commitment. I especially want to recognize Megan Kilbane for organizing this effort as well as Joy Knight and Steve Maximuk for being the front line to patient recruitment.
The biorepository was launched from the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC) breast working group and was designed to be a resource to the full membership of the Case CCC. We will be collecting blood and/or tissue from different types of patients, ranging from patients having a biopsy not yet diagnosed with breast cancer to patients with metastatic disease. We have started in one location, collecting blood and tissue from patients with suspicious mammograms or known cancers undergoing image-guided breast biopsies in the Breen Breast Health Pavilion at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. Collecting surgical tissue specimens and metastatic samples are in our future plans.
We have planned the recruitment, sample collection and data collection to be flexible, and can include serial blood samples. We want to recruit patients and collect samples that will be used. We will be banking extra biopsy cores as well as plasma and DNA. If you have specific needs for samples or patients, I strongly encourage you to reach out to me (
[email protected]) early on. If we don't know you want it, we don't know to collect it! I look forward to hearing from the Case CCC community as we move this initiative forward.
Cheryl Thompson, PhD
PI, Breast Biorepository
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UH Seidman Cancer Center Performs New Image-Guided Prostate Biopsy
University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center
physicians are among the first in the country to offer a promising new screening tool to detect prostate cancer - MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) - guided prostate biopsy. Using sophisticated MRI imaging, the technology enables physicians to better visualize and biopsy cancerous cells within the prostate.
Performed inside the MRI gantry, this technology enables physicians to distinguish tumors from healthy tissue. Using the advanced MRI images, they are able to then perform a targeted prostate biopsy.
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Vikas Gulani
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"The in-gantry MRI guided biopsy has the potential to revolutionize prostate cancer detection," says
Vikas Gulani, MD, PhD, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Director of Magnetic Resonance Imaging at UH Cleveland Medical Center. "The MRI reveals the specific characteristics that distinguish between normal and diseased tissue. Visualizing the tumor's location within the prostate enables physicians to more accurately target and biopsy the lesion."
Currently, transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided biopsy is still the standard test to diagnose prostate cancer. Ultrasound can show the size and shape of the prostate gland but not the exact shape and location of a tumor. Thus physicians are "blindly" biopsying tissue in the gland without foreknowledge of the tumor. Fusing an MRI to the ultrasound is possible, and this is done at UH as well, but is an imperfect solution.
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Lee Ponsky
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"The prostate is truly the last organ in the body that we are biopsying without hitting a visualized target," says
Lee Ponsky, MD,
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chief of Urologic Oncology at UH Seidman Cancer Center and UH Urology Institute and Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. "There have been some advances in how we treat certain cases, but prostate cancer has been relatively stagnant over the past 20 years."
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Case-Coulter Translational Research Partnership awards $1 million for promising university-based biomedical engineering technologies
The
Case-Coulter Translational Research Partnership (CCTRP)
announced more than $1 million in funding and support for the 2016 cycle. Four projects were selected for full program funding. Projects range from diagnostic and screening technologies to cancer therapeutics. Six pilot grants also were awarded for earlier-stage projects.
Plant virus-like particle-based cancer immunotherapy
Nicole Steinmetz, PhD,
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, CWRU
Julian Kim, MD,
Professor, Surgery, CWRU; Chief, Division of Surgical Oncology, UH Cleveland Medical Center
Screening system for Barrett's esophagus
Amitabh Chak, MD: Principal Investigator, BETRNet; Professor, Division of
Gastroenterology and Liver Disease, CWRU and UH Cleveland Medical Center
Sanford Markowitz, MD, PhD: Principal Investigator, Case GI SPORE; Professor, Division of Hematology and Oncology, CWRU
Joseph Willis, MD: Professor, Pathology, CWRU; Chief, Clinical Pathology, UH Cleveland Medical Center
CorCalDx: dual energy X-ray coronary calcium scoring
David Wilson, PhD: Professor, Biomedical Engineering, CWRU
Robert Gilkeson, MD: Professor, Radiology, CWRU; Vice Chairman, Research, UH Cleveland Medical Center
Point-of-care device for diagnosis of cystic fibrosis
Miklos Gratzl, PhD: Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, CWRU
James Chmiel, MD, MPH:
Professor, Pediatrics, CWRU; Physician, Pediatric Pulmonology, UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital
Christine Schmotzer, MD:
Assistant Professor, Clinical Pathology, CWRU;
Director, Clinical Chemistry, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
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NCCN 22nd Annual Conference: Improving the Quality, Effectiveness, and Efficiency of Cancer Care™
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Annual Conference: Improving the Quality, Effectiveness, and Efficiency of Cancer Care attracts more than 1,500 registrants from across the United States and the globe including oncologists (in both community and academic settings), oncology fellows, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care professionals involved in the care of patients with cancer. Respected opinion leaders present the latest cancer therapies and provide updates on selected NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), the data upon which the NCCN Guidelines® are based, and quality initiatives in oncology. Topics change annually but focus on the major cancers and
supportive care areas.
The Annual Conference General Session begins on Thursday, March 23 at 8:00 AM and concludes on Saturday evening, March 25. This year's agenda will include more than 25 educational sessions featuring the latest advances in oncology care, plus interactive patient case studies & roundtable discussions.
This conference (with the exception of the NCCN Roundtable Discussions) will be designated for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for physicians and certified for credit for nurses and pharmacists.
Registration Waiver/Discounts for NCCN Member Institutions
Registration fee is waived for NCCN Member Institution junior faculty (with a title of Assistant Professor or below). NCCN also extends a 50% discount off the registration fee to staff employed at NCCN Member Institutions. Interested individuals should e-mail Liz Rieder at [email protected] to learn more about how to apply for these discounts.
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In 1992, the government established a federal drug discount program that required the pharmaceutical industry to provide discounted drugs for public and non-profit hospitals and clinics that serve high numbers of the poor. It's called 340B and MetroHealth relies on it to give lifesaving medicine to patients for little or no cost.
"Such as cancer therapy for cancer patients, it can provide a diabetic patient with insulin, it can provide blood pressure medication to high blood pressure patients, whatever medication that is needed," says Dr. Benjamin Li, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Director of
MetroHealth
's Cancer Center.
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Fox News - Nov 14, 2016
Felix's faith in humans was tested in May 2015, when he suffered a life-threatening bike crash in his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, that led doctors to detect then use video-assisted surgery to remove his stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer. Felix smoked as a teen but hadn't taken a puff in nearly 40 years, and he hadn't been presenting any symptoms of his cancer.
The father of two and grandfather of five doesn't chalk up his post-treatment survival to karma, but he does think good fortune had something to do with it. So do his doctors. "
Unfortunately, for the majority of patients, when [lung cancer] is found curable, it's found by luck," Felix's oncologist Nathan Pennell, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, director of the lung cancer medical oncology program at the Cleveland Clinic, told FoxNews.com. "By the time patients present with symptoms, such as pain and weight loss, it's often spread and is not curable, so it was really lucky that we had picked this up."
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Hopes for Precision Medicine Initiative, Cancer Moonshot rest with lame-duck Congress
Modern Healthcare - Nov 11, 2016
Dr. Stan Gerson, president of the Association of American Cancer Institutes and director of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and UH Seidman Cancer Center, expressed hope that congressional support for the NIH would continue, calling it "bipartisan in its respect" for the institutes. Still, "whether Congress can approve funding for the Moonshot during the lame duck session...is a complete unknown," Gerson said.
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Limited Submission Opportunities for Pilot Projects for Childhood Brain Tumors
DEADLINES: Letter of Intent: Nov 30
Requests for Full Applications: Dec 14
Submission of Full Applications: Jan 16, 2017
With support from the Prayers from Maria Children's Glioma Foundation, the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center is
providing seed funding for the support of projects focused on developing cures for pediatric and adolescent/young adult gliomas within the Center. Brain tumors are the second most common cancer in children, with an estimated 4,620 cases being diagnosed in children and adolescents in the US in 2015. Gliomas are the most aggressive of these tumors, are associated with poor outcomes, and have limited treatment options. The goal of this RFA is to support pilot projects that will impact outcomes for pediatric and adolescent/young adult patients with gliomas.
Funds from this RFA will be restricted to research proposals that address pediatric and adolescent/young adult gliomas with the expectation that insights from these awards will lead to new diagnostics, prognostics, and/or therapeutics. It is also expected that the research projects funded by this RFA will lead to nationally competitive grant proposals from multi-investigator teams.
AWARD DESCRIPTION:
- Funding for research teams with a focus on proposals that have the potential for clinical impact in pediatric and adolescent/young adult gliomas.
- 1-3 research projects will be funded with a total of $100,000 committed to this RFA.
- Each research project will be funded for up to two years.
FUNDING CRITERIA:
- Project must focus on pediatric and adolescent/young adult gliomas.
- Strong collaborative investigative team.
- Highly innovative and impactful projects.
- Projects should include patient-derived tissues, cell lines, or xenograft (PDX) models of brain tumors.
- If proposing the use of PDX models, the Cancer Center PDX core (Core Directors: Analisa DiFeo and Dan Lindner) and associated neurosurgical oncologists will work with the research team to develop and/or maintain the models.
- Projects must have a high likelihood of subsequent national-level funding.
- While investigators can be collaborators on multiple applications, only one application will be accepted per PI.
- High potential for improving outcomes of pediatric and adolescent/young adult glioma patients or lead to advances that will impact outcomes.
LETTER OF INTENT:
Letters of Intent limited to
one-page plus NIH biosketches. Materials should be sent to
[email protected]. LOIs be reviewed to identify the most competitive applications prior to being invited to submit a full application.
CONTACT:
Megan Kilbane, Assistant Dean for Oncology, at
[email protected]
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American Society of Breast Surgeons Foundation
Invited Proposal Deadline: Dec 15
The American Society of Breast Surgeons Foundation awards grants related to patient breast care and medical education. The foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to improving the standard of care for breast disease patients by providing support for medical and patient education, advancing breast disease research, diagnosis and treatment technologies, and offering programs and services to medical professionals and their patients.
To that end, the foundation is accepting applications for grants in four priority areas: education, travel, conferences, and research.
- Education Grant: Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded in support of projects that raise awareness of breast cancer and increase the capabilities of effective patient breast health education programs. Grants are intended to support costs associated with a project (e.g., the purchase of educational materials, brochure development, printing, etc.). The grant project must be specific to patient breast health and/or breast cancer education.
- Community Outreach: Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to community-based nonprofit organizations to provide education on breast health and screening to underserved, uninsured, and/or low-income populations. The project must be specific to medically underserved, uninsured, and/or low-income areas. The applicant organization must be a nonprofit with federal tax exemption.
- Conference Grant: Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to support partnerships with other organizations in support of educational meetings, conferences, or symposia, with an emphasis on those which enhance the interaction between the advocate, healthcare, and scientific communities. The content must focus on patient breast health or help further the body of knowledge related to research, diagnosis, treatment, education, and/or other issues related to breast cancer.
- Research Grant: Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to foster the research activities of the grantee. Funds may be used for activities necessary to undertake or complete a research project, for example providing support for ongoing projects, IRB submission fees, clinical research assistance, or statistical support. To be eligible, the project must be specific to patient breast health and/or breast cancer.
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NCCN Oncology Research Program
Deadline: Jan 12, 2017 at 5p
National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) is pleased to announce that it has received a research grant from
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, LP
to support NCCN investigator initiated clinical, preclinical and correlative studies of TAGRISSO
™
(osimertinib) in the treatment of systemic or CNS EGFRm+ non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The Request for Proposals (RFP) clearly outlines the scope and process that will be followed for the submission of proposals. This RFP can be accessed online by signing in as a member at
NCCN.org/clinical_trials/investigators
.
In brief, investigators are asked to submit a proposal detailing proposed research studies. The overall aim of this RFP is to develop innovative studies to evaluate the effectiveness of TAGRISSO
™
(osimertinib) in the treatment of systemic or CNS EGFRm+ NSCLC. It is hoped that proposals submitted in response to this RFP will prove useful in guiding further development of TAGRISSO
™
(osimertinib). Studies with correlative endpoints and collaborative studies between NCCN Member Institutions are encouraged. This RFP is open only to investigators at NCCN Member Institutions.
For additional information, please contact Doreen Walker, Administrative Assistant, Oncology Research Program, 215.690.0565 or
[email protected]
.
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NIH BULLETIN- Notices and Funding Opportunities
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FOLLOW US
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Mon, Nov 21
Case CCC DNA Damage and Repair Meeting
12p Wearn 137
Radiation Oncology Grand Rounds
Kristina Demas Woodhouse, MD
Senior Resident (PGY5), Radiation Oncology
University of Pennsylvania
"Excellence is Standard: Creating a Culture of Patient Safety and High Quality Care in Radiation"
12p Lerner B-151
GMI Seminar
Vel Vivekananthan
Ting lab, Genomic Medicine
Cleveland Clinic
"DNA methylation analysis of colon associated fibroblasts"
12:30p NE1-205 Cleveland Clinic
Cancer Center Research Chalk Talk
Clark Distelhorst, MD
Professor, Div. of Hem/Onc
CWRU/UH
1p WRB 3-136
DPB Seminar
Nicholas G. Brown, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Structural Biology
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
"Structural Mechanisms of Cell Cycle Regulation by the Anaphase-Promoting Complex/Cyclosome"
4p SOM / Robbins Building, E-501
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Tues, Nov 22
Pathobiology Seminar Series
John O'Toole, MD
Associate Director, Nephrology Fellowship Training Program, CWRU
Co-Director, Physician-Scientist Training Program, MetroHealth Medical System
Associate Professor of Medicine, CWRU
"APOL1 expression models: variant independent channel activity and cytotoxicity"
11:30a NC1-202 Cleveland Clinic
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Mon, Nov 28
Cancer Center Research Chalk Talk
Kishore Guda, DVM, PhD
Assistant Professor, General Medical Sciences (Oncology)
CWRU/UH
1p WRB 3-136
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Tues, Nov 29
Pathobiology Trainee Seminar Series
Hoi "Queenie" Cheong
Graduate Student, Erzurum Lab and
Yeo Jung Kim, Graduate Student, de la Motte Lab
Cleveland Clinic
11:30a NC1-202 Cleveland Clinic
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Wed, Nov 30
Hem/Onc Div Res Conf
8a Lerner B-151
Department of Neurosciences
John R. Bethea, PhD, Professor and Department Head, Biology, Drexel University
"TNF signaling in CNS injury and repair: mechanistic insight and important new considerations"
10a NE1-205 Cleveland Clinic
Genomic Medicine Institute
Marissa Coleridge, MS & Ryan Noss, MS
Licensed Genetic Counselors, Genomic Medicine Institute
Cleveland Clinic
"Genomic Testing Options"
5p Q1-300 Cleveland Clinic
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Thurs, Dec 1
Neurosciences Seminar
John Bethea, PhD
Drexel University
"The Yin and Yang of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) in CNS Injury and Repair"
12:10p BRB 105
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Fri, Dec 2
Hem/Onc Fellows
8a Breen Conf Rm
TCI Grand Rounds
8a R3/002-003 Cleveland Clinic
Cancer Center Seminar Series
Matthew Vander Heiden, MD, PhD
Eisen and Chang Associate Professor, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
Department of Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Instructor, Medicine
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School
12p BRB 105
Cancer Center Research in Progress Seminar
4p WRB 3-136
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ADDITIONAL UPCOMING SYMPOSIUMS & EVENTS
NCCN 22nd Annual Conference: Improving the Quality, Effectiveness, and Efficiency of Cancer Care™
Mar 23-25, 2017
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PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED OPPORTUNITIES
Deadline:
Dec 1
Deadline: Jan 13, 2017
LOI Deadline: Feb 1, 2017
Invited Full Proposal Deadline: Mar 15, 2017
LOI Deadline:
Feb 1, 2017
Deadline: Open
Deadline: Open
Deadline: Open
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