A phase I Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium study for adult patients with relapsed or refractory Classical Hodgkin lymphoma is open for accrual at Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota; the University of Illinois Cancer Center; the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center; and the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. The study, BTCRC-HEM15-027, led by Veronika Bachanova, MD, PhD, of the Masonic Cancer Center, will help determine the safety and efficacy of ruxolitinib, which blocks the main pathway dysregulated in Hodgkin lymphoma, when combined with the immunotherapy drug nivolumab.

Big Ten investigators led by  Hirva Mamdani, MD (left), and Shadia Jalal, MD, of Indiana University, presented early efficacy results of the BTCRC-ESO14-012 study during the 2019 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, Jan. 17-19 in San Francisco. The multi-center phase II study is testing durvalumab following trimodality therapy for locally advanced esophageal and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.

Heiko Konig, MD, PhD, of the Indiana University School of Medicine and Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, highlights acute myeloid leukemia research at Indiana University and within the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium. Dr. Konig is co-chair of the Big Ten CRC's Myeloid Malignancies Clinical Trial Working Group.

A new program at the University of Michigan, funded by the National Cancer Institute, aims to improve the safety of cancer care delivery. The Multi-professional Oncology Safety Simulation and Training (MOSST) program is a free, one-day workshop for nurses and pharmacists with subsequent resources. Topics include safer hazardous drug handling, supporting patients on oral cancer drugs, hypersensitivity reactions, sepsis, complications of newer cancer therapies, and extravasation management.

The Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium will host meetings for Clinical Trial Working Groups (CTWGs) during ASCO 2019.

CTWG meetings will be at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza River North, 350 West Mart Center Drive, Chicago, Ill ( See map). Refreshments will be served at all meetings. For more information, contact Abigail Proctor at [email protected].