The nationally renowned experts of the OSUCCC – James Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancer Research Program are dedicated to developing and conducting meaningful research that advances innovative breakthroughs and treatments for patients with GI cancers.
Working collaboratively, the OSUCCC – James GI cancer research team reaches across many disciplines — medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, researchers and more — to share knowledge, expertise and world-class skills that move research and discoveries from the bench to the bedside.
Areas of research specialty include:
- Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary or HPB (liver, pancreas, gallbladder and bile ducts)
- Lower GI (colorectal and anal)
- Upper GI (esophagus and stomach)
- Neuroendocrine (cancers that begin in the neuroendocrine cells within the digestive system)
These specialists, sub-specialists and super sub-specialists are leading research in high-tech, state-of-the-art laboratories not available anywhere else in central Ohio (and one of only a handful in the country), transforming the way GI cancers are prevented, detected, treated and, yes, cured.
Achieving Results Through Research Collaboration
To achieve the highest levels of research accomplishment, the OSUCCC – James GI cancer research team works collaboratively to create and conduct impactful, groundbreaking clinical research that, when combined with innovative translational science, leads to advanced treatment strategies that are tailored to each patient’s individual cancer and, ultimately, even further improved outcomes.
This multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional approach to cancer research enables the GI cancer research team to extend beyond the lab to promote collaboration and cooperation across a network of research programs, centers and institutions at the OSUCCC – James, The Ohio State University and beyond, including:
- Cancer Biology (CB) Program
- Center for Cancer Engineering
- Oncology Research Information Exchange Network (ORIEN)
- Drug Development Institute (DDI)
- The Ohio State University Colleges of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy, Public Health and Engineering (to name a few).
- Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Additionally, many of our physician-scientists serve as advisors and expert leaders for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of 30 leading cancer centers that establishes national standards of care for patients across the country.
The OSUCCC – James research experts also develop clinical trials in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute and other organizations. Almost every area and stage of GI cancer is covered with a research protocol providing patients with sound options for treating these cancers.
Clinical Trials
The OSUCCC – James GI Cancer Research Program clinical trials provide a broad spectrum of opportunities for patients, regardless of the specific type of cancer or even 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, the OSUCCC – James patients have access to more of this nation’s leading-edge, targeted treatments and drugs than anywhere else in the area.
A recent study led by research scientists at the OSUCCC - James noted how patients with a rare, lethal cancer of the bile duct (called cholangiocarcinoma) acquired a secondary gene mutation that caused resistance to a promising targeted drug used to treat the cancer, called an FGFR inhibitor.
The study, reported in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, also suggests that combining the FGFR inhibitor with another drug at the time of progression might re-sensitize tumor cells and enable patients to overcome the resistance.
The study is an important step in understanding drug resistance and improving the treatment of this and other cancers caused by abnormal FGFR gene mutations.
This is just one example of the ongoing research led by the research experts of the OSUCCC – James Gastrointestinal Research Program. There are hundreds of open clinical trials at any given time, supporting groundbreaking research made available to GI cancer patients right here in Columbus, Ohio. To learn more about these clinical trials, click on the disease name below:
- Anal Cancer
- Colon Cancer
- Esophageal Cancer
- Gallbladder Cancer
- Liver Cancer
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Peritoneal Cancer
- Rectal Cancer
- Small Intestine Cancer
- Stomach Cancer
The Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Program also benefits from 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, Scientific Presentations and Publications
Experts from the OSUCCC – James GI Cancer Research Program often present their findings and accomplishments to medical experts from around the world through presentations, publications, and the numerous national and international meetings and conferences that they attend each year.
This includes giving hundreds of scientific presentations annually, as well as earning coverage in medical journal publications.