The Ohio State University | Oncology Update

OSUCCC – JAMES RESEARCHERS GAIN LARGE GRANTS FOR NEW CANCER STUDIES

Teams of cancer researchers at the OSUCCC – James recently have received large federal grants of more than $1 million each to further their studies in various malignancies. Here’s a list:

  • The National Cancer Institute has awarded principal investigator (PI) Craig Hofmeister, MD, MPH, associate professor in the Division of Hematology at Ohio State and member of the Leukemia Research Program at the OSUCCC – James, a five-year, $2.3 million grant to study ways for patients to overcome resistance to immune modulatory drugs (IMiDs) in multiple myeloma (MM) therapy. In their project abstract, Hofmeister and colleagues state that MM is an incurable plasma cell cancer for which IMiDs improve survival. They have discovered that a drug called AR-42, which is in a class of agents known as histone deacetylase inhibitors, increases the activity of critical genes involved in IMiD resistance and synergizes with IMiDs to enhance MM tumor cell death. The team will investigate mechanisms of IMID-induced resistance and determine whether they can help patients overcome it by combining AR- 42 with an IMiD in a phase 1 clinical trial.
     
  • PIs Michael Tweedle, PhD, and Michael Knopp, MD, PhD, professors in the Department of Radiology at Ohio State and members of the Translational Therapeutics Program at the OSUCCCC – James, along with PI Thomas Rosol, DVM, PhD, professor in the Department of Veterinary Biosciences at Ohio State and member of the Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program at the OSUCCC – James, have 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. According to their project abstract, this project will demonstrate a new gland-sparing therapeutic approach for patients with early prostate cancer (stage I, or over 80 percent of patients), for whom existing standard treatment and monitoring are rapidly evolving due to growing knowledge that overtreatment results in the removal or disabling of an inordinate number of prostates per lives saved. The researchers will test their hypothesis that image-guided delivery of a drug through a prostatic artery can eradicate prostate cancer that is localized to the gland, sparing normal gland function and avoiding gland removal and its side effects.
     
  • Sujit Basu, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Pathology and in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, at Ohio State, and member of the Translational Therapeutics Program  at  the OSUCCC – James, 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). His project abstract states that, although antiangiogenic drugs have shown promise in treating diseases such as cancer and arthritis, they are expensive and have serious side effects. The goal of this study is to identify non-toxic chebulinic acid, a natural compound found abundantly in myrobalan fruits, as an effective antiangiogenic agent for treating disorders in which angiogenesis plays an important role (such as cancer, in which blood vessel formation sustains tumors).
     
  • Altaf Wani, PhD, an emeritus professor in the Department of Radiology at Ohio State and member of the Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program at the OSUCCC – James, and Qianzheng Zhu, PhD, a research assistant professor in the Department of Radiology, 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). Their project abstract states that DNA-damaging agents of diverse origins continuously challenge the genome of living organisms and impact its normal function, but this process is counteracted by eukaryotic cells that deploy an effective DDR by activating cell-cycle checkpoints, initiating DNA repair and restoring  normal cellular function. The researchers seek to understand key events of DNA damage response, gaining insights that will help develop amenable tools, targets and strategies for managing human health risk.
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James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute
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