Research Projects
Working collaboratively, the OSUCCC – James endocrine cancer research team shares knowledge, expertise and world-class skills to move research and discoveries from the bench to the bedside.
Supported by large, ongoing collaborative or network research grants, the endocrine cancer research program is further bolstered by the OSUCCC – James Cancer Biology (CB) Program, one of five trans-disciplinary, highly collaborative, highly productive research programs with research encompassing basic and translational cancer biology for solid and liquid tumors. Led by internationally recognized cancer researchers Matthew Ringel, MD, and Philip Tsichlis, MD, the program comprises several research teams and more than 80 program members from across numerous medical and research disciplines within the various interdisciplinary research teams.
At any given time, numerous advanced endocrine cancer research projects are in progress within the OUSCCC – James, and all are designed and dedicated to discover, develop and deliver research outcomes leading to the most advanced surgical treatments, refined clinical procedures and highly targeted precision therapies for each patient with endocrine cancer.
Clinical Trials
The OSUCCC – James endocrine cancer clinical trials provide a broad spectrum of opportunities for patients, regardless of type of cancer or stage. Trials range from national, multi-institutional studies that are looking for new standards of care to early clinical trials in which a patient may be one of only a few in the world receiving a certain therapy. In fact, OSUCCC – James patients have access to more of this nation’s leading-edge, targeted treatments and drugs than anywhere else in the area.
One of the many exciting endocrine cancer research studies spearheaded by physician-scientists at the OSUCCC – James offers new hope for patients diagnosed with advanced or radioiodine (RAI)-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).
A multicenter, single-arm, phase 2 clinical trial studied the effect of cabozantinib as a salvage therapy for patients diagnosed with RAI-refractory DTC (NCT01811212). Twenty-five patients were enrolled in this National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored trial.
Study results showed that more than 90 percent of patients experienced beneficial clinical outcomes, with 10 out of 25 patients experiencing good tumor shrinkage and 13 patients experiencing some tumor shrinkage. These positive results proved the drug both effective and safe as a second-line treatment for patients with RAI-refractory DTC, laying the groundwork for testing additional novel combination drug therapies at the OSUCCC – James and setting the stage for a national, multicenter phase 3 study.
Results of this phase 2 study were presented to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and published in the ASCO’s Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The endocrine cancer research program also benefits from National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and National Cancer Institute (NCI) funding to the OSUCCC – James, which supports the cost of conducting phase I and phase II clinical trials and facilitates the movement of promising phase II studies into phase III national trials.
Clinical Research Accomplishments Shaping Current Standards of Care
At the OSUCCC – James, the team of investigators in the endocrine cancer research program has shaped the current standards in the endocrine cancer field through their leadership positions in international clinical trials and many national research organizations, such as the American Thyroid Association, National Academy of Sciences and more.
Manisha H. Shah, MD, endocrine medical oncology section chief and Thyroid Cancer Unit co-director, serves as the chair of apex scientific bodies, including the International Thyroid Oncology Group and the NCCN Neuroendocrine Tumor and Adrenal Tumor Guidelines Panel. Her research has been published in prestigious scientific journals, including New England Journal of Medicine.
These nationally and internationally recognized principal investigators and research scientists use the information from clinical studies to guide them to the most leading-edge standard of care therapies for patients suffering from endocrine malignancies. Large, randomized trials provide the highest levels of data analysis, and this analysis enables investigators to propel the most current medical innovations and information from the bench directly to the bedside.
Equally as important, these pioneering research scientists are consistently at the forefront of discovery, often looking at tumors in innovative and non-traditional ways to determine the unique makeup of each patient’s tumor, the metabolism of the cancer cell and the mechanisms those cells use to escape treatment. By understanding cancer at the biologic and genetic levels, unlocking the molecular code of a patient’s disease and pinpointing what makes each cancer grow, these experts aim to develop better, even more targeted treatments designed to stop that growth.
Recognized for their ongoing dedication to in-depth scientific research and innovative treatments for endocrine cancers, this OSUCCC – James research program team is supported by numerous grants, both private and public, including from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).