Big Ten CRC News & Events
June 2021
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Parkes appointed co-chair of AYA, sarcoma groups |
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Amanda Parkes, MD, a medical oncologist specializing in sarcoma and breast cancer at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, has been named co-chair of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium’s Adolescent and Young Adult Clinical Trial Working Group and the Sarcoma Clinical Trial Working Group. Dr. Parkes has been a member of the consortium’s Breast Cancer and Sarcoma working groups since 2018. She has participated in several Big Ten CRC breast cancer trials and is leading a new study, BTCRC-BRE19-409, for patients with HR positive, HER2 negative, PIK3CA mutant metastatic breast cancer.
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Investigators report combination shows promise in urothelial carcinoma |
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Analysis from the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium's metastatic urothelial carcinoma phase 1b study, BTCRC-GU16-051, shows the combination of eribulin mesylate and avelumab is safe and demonstrates efficacy signals that warrant further evaluation in adults with cisplatin-ineligible disease. In a report published in European Urology Focus, Big Ten CRC researchers led by Monika Joshi, MD, MRCP (left), of Penn State Cancer Institute, and Yousef Zakharia, MD, of the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center also noted that the treatment combination was better tolerated and efficacious at lower doses of eribulin mesylate.
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Big Ten CRC researchers present six posters during ASCO |
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Big Ten cancer researchers presented six abstracts during the ASCO 2021 Annual Meeting. Presenters included (top, from left) Oana C. Danciu, MD, of the University of Illinois Cancer Center; Nikhil Shukla, MD, MS, of the Indiana University School of Medicine; Jyoti Malhotra, MD, MPH, of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey; Fatemah Ardeshir-Larijani, MD (bottom left), of Indiana University School of Medicine; Greg A. Durm, MD, of the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center; and Xiuyuan Ma, PhD (not pictured), of the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
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RWJBarnabas Health, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey break ground on state's first freestanding cancer hospital |
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RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, in partnership with the New Brunswick Development Corporation, broke ground June 24 on the state’s first freestanding cancer hospital. The 12-story, 510,000-square-foot facility will house inpatient, outpatient and ancillary services, as well as state-of-the-art laboratories where research faculty can provide hands-on educational opportunities for students, and enable physician-scientists to translate scientific findings directly to patients. The Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center will enable ease of access for imaging and other diagnostic tests, treatment and follow-up exams all in one space. It will also have the capacity to offer wellness and education resources including offerings catered specifically to the needs of cancer survivors. The estimated project cost is $750 million.
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Study tests atezolizumab + bevacizumab in adults with advanced HCC and mild liver dysfunction |
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Kristen Spencer, DO, MPH, of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, is leading a single-arm, phase II study for adults with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma and mild liver impairment. Spencer is collaborating with her mentor, Howard Hochster, MD, FACP, and other investigators to evaluate the safety of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in patients with advanced liver cancer and Child-Pugh B7 liver dysfunction. They also plan to estimate the overall response rate, disease control rate, duration of response, progression-free survival, and overall survival using this combined therapy.
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Yixing Jiang, MD, PhD
Dr. Jiang is an associate professor of medicine and director of GI medical oncology at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her clinical expertise includes gastroesophageal, pancreatic, hepatobiliary and colorectal cancers. University of Maryland has the largest liver transplant center in the Baltimore-DC area. Dr. Jiang is part of the multidisciplinary team managing patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who are referred to the center.
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Channabasavaiah B. Gurumurthy, BVSC (DVM), PhD, MBA
Dr. Gurumurthy is a professor of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience and director of the Mouse Genome Engineering Core Facility at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. His research interest is in enhancing technologies for biomedical research. He develops genome-editing technologies and custom mouse models useful to research ranging from cancer to neuroscience to COVID-19. "I am fortunate to work in the interface of two Nobel awarded technologies: mouse genome engineering and CRISPR-Cas systems," he said. Dr. Gurumurthy has co-authored more than 25 papers on mouse genome engineering technologies, ultimately developing Easi-CRISPR.
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Monika Joshi, MD, MRCP
Dr. Joshi is an associate professor of medicine at the Penn State College of Medicine and a member of the Penn State Cancer Institute. Her research focus is in the field of genitourinary tumors and the use of immunotherapy and targeted therapy for their treatment. She has a keen interest in developing clinical trials with novel immunotherapeutic combinations and identifying predictive and prognostic biomarkers. Dr. Joshi currently serves as an associate professor of medicine at Penn State College of Medicine and is a medical oncologist at Penn State Cancer Institute. She has been involved with the Big Ten CRC since 2014 and has served as the consortium's chief scientific officer since January 2021.
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Research spotlight: University of Maryland |
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The team that was first to offer a clinical trial in the United States opening the blood-brain barrier with MRI-guided, focused ultrasound is now using the approach to direct chemotherapy into high-grade glioma tumors such as glioblastoma and recurrent glioblastoma. The University of Maryland Medical Center’s Brain Tumor Treatment and Research Center at the UM Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, led by Graeme F. Woodworth, MD, FACS, is currently conducting studies that combine the strategy of using low-frequency (220 kHz) focused ultrasound and lipid-encased, gas-filled microbubbles to disrupt the blood-brain barrier, allowing for the penetration of chemotherapeutic agents into tumor-infiltrated brain tissues.
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Cancer center faculty postings |
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Malignant Hematology Faculty |
The Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation is seeking a full-time physician trained in malignant hematology and interested in pursuing an academic career as a clinical investigator. Applicants should have experience in malignant hematology in outpatient and inpatient settings with a broad focus on plasma cell disorders, lymphoma, and myeloid malignancies.
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