NCI Grant Will Help Researchers Improve Viral Therapy
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded a five-year grant of just over $2 million to help an OSUCCC – James research team further its work to enhance viral therapy against brain tumors. The team, led by principal investigator Balveen Kaur, PhD, will study the impact of an oncolytic (cancer-killing) virus carrying an anticancer protein on brain tumors known as gliomas. Kaur and her team will gauge the effect of using herpes simplex virus-type I (HSV-1) armed with vasculostatin (Vstat120) on antitumor immunity, both as a single agent and in combination with drugs called proteasome inhibitors. Vstat120 is the extracellular fragment of brain angiogenesis inhibitor1, a protein that has potent antitumor effects. Abstract
Researchers Gain NCI Grant for Pancreatic Cancer Study
A team of scientists at the OSUCCC – James landed a five-year grant for $1.97 million from the National Cancer Institute for a study designed to be the first to refine an existing therapy in pancreatic cancer (PC) through targeting a specific molecular pathway. Led by principal investigator Terence Williams, MD, PhD, the scientists identify that there is a pressing need for new therapies for PC and to determine whether existing therapies will be ineffective in certain patients. Abraxane® is a chemotherapy drug that, when paired with gemcitabine, has shown improvement in some PC patients. This team has identified a protein “that is abundant in pancreatic cancer cells, important for their growth and may be important for entry and response of Abraxane® into tumor cells, thus serving as a potential biomarker for personalization of therapy and a target for further research.” Read More
NCI Grant Supplement Supports Early Clinical Trials Research
Novel drug treatments are being tested at Ohio State with the help of a $2.52 million grant supplement from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) that supports the use of new compounds that have shown promise in early testing. William Carson III, MD, professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology at Ohio State and associate director for clinical research at the OSUCCC – James, received the grant for a project titled “UM1 Supplement for Early Therapeutic Trials With Phase 2 Intent.” This grant enables Ohio State researchers to conduct clinical trials in cancer patients using novel drugs provided by the NCI. Read More
James Researchers Gain Large Grants for New Cancer Studies
Cancer researchers at the OSUCCC – James recently received four large federal grants of more than $1 million each to further their studies in various malignancies. Principal investigators (PIs) for the research teams receiving these grants are Craig Hofmeister, MD, MPH; Michael Tweedle, PhD, Michael Knopp, MD, PhD, and Thomas Rosol, DVM, PhD; Sujit Basu, MD, PhD; and Altaf Wani, PhD, and Qianzheng Zhu, PhD.
- Hofmeister received a five-year, $2.3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study ways for patients to overcome resistance to immune modulatory drugs (IMiDs) in multiple myeloma (MM) therapy.
- Tweedle, Knopp and Rosol received a four-year, $2.33 million grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering to study an image-guided transcatheter peptide receptor radiotherapy for prostate cancer.
- Basu is PI on a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to study the role of chebulinic acid in the development of blood vessels (angiogenesis).
- Wani and Zhu are PIs for a five-year, $2.26 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for a study of cross-talking events of eukaryotic DNA damage response (DDR).
Federal Grants Will Support Ohio State Research in Multiple Myeloma and Breast Cancer
OSUCCC – James researchers recently received two grants— one from the Department of Defense and one from the National Cancer Institute—of more than $1 million each for separate studies in breast cancer and multiple myeloma. Co-principal investigators (PIs) for the multiple myeloma grant are Craig Hofmeister, MD, MPH, of the OSUCCC – James, and Flavia Pichiorri, PhD, formerly of Ohio State and now of City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif. (the grant is between both institutions). PI for the breast cancer grant is Ramesh Ganju, PhD, and the partnering investigator is Xue-Feng Bai, MD, PhD, both of the OSUCCC – James.
The grant to Hofmeister and Pichiorri is for a study of “ReolysinBased Combination Therapy in Relapsed Multiple Myeloma.” The grant to Ganju and Bai is for a study titled “CNR2: A Novel Therapeutic Target Against Aggressive and Metastatic Breast Cancer.” Read More