AACI Update | February 2024

Headlines

Simeone Named New Director of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center

Simeone Named New Director of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center

Following an extensive national search, Diane M. Simeone, MD, has been appointed director of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, effective April 1. Dr. Simeone currently serves as the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Professor of Surgery, director of the Pancreatic Cancer Center, and the associate director of translational research at Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone.

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In Memoriam: Dr. Edith P. Mitchell

In Memoriam: Dr. Edith P. Mitchell

Oncologist and researcher, Edith P. Mitchell, MD, MACP, FCCP, FRCP (London), died January 21. Dr. Mitchell was slated to present a keynote at the 2024 AACI Leadership Diversity and Development Workshop. She shared her expertise at meetings of AACI's Clinical Research Innovation and Physician Clinical Leadership Initiative and as a member of the Leadership Diversity and Development Initiative Steering Committee. At the time of her death, Dr. Mitchell was the enterprise vice president for cancer disparities at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health.

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Register Today for the 2024 AACI/AACR Hill Day

Register Today for the 2024 AACI/AACR Hill Day Registration is now open for AACI's joint Hill Day with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), which will take place in Washington, DC, on Thursday, May 16. Your participation in Hill Day is critical to sharing our message with our legislators in Washington: that stable, predictable funds are needed to advance cancer research and care at our nation’s cancer centers.

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Submit an Abstract for the 16th Annual AACI CRI Meeting

Submit an Abstract for the 16th Annual AACI CRI Meeting

Abstract submissions are now being accepted for the 16th Annual AACI CRI Meeting, June 24-26, at the Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, IL. This year’s meeting theme will focus on compassion and collaboration through clinical trials. Please visit the 2024 Call for Abstracts page for important dates, templates, and more information.

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AACI Collaborates on Initiative to Enhance Patient Access to CAR T Therapy

AACI Collaborates on Initiative to Enhance Patient Access to CAR T Therapy

AACI, the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, and the Association of Community Cancer Centers, recently announced the RECUR initiative, a collaboration aimed at revolutionizing the evaluation process for CAR T therapy. Peter Riedell, MD, is the chair of AACI's CAR T Steering Committee.

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LDDW Spotlight: Dr. Ted A. James

LDDW Spotlight: Dr. Ted A. James

Ted A. James, MD, MHCM, FACS, will present the closing keynote, "Inclusive Team Building: Strategies for Cancer Center Leadership Excellence," at 1:15 pm central time on Wednesday, March 13, during the 2024 AACI Leadership Diversity and Development Workshop in Rosemont, IL. Dr. James is a surgical oncologist and cancer center medical director dedicated to transforming health care by promoting patient-centered care and fostering positive workplace culture.

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AACI Award Nominations Due April 1

AACI Award Nominations Due April 1

AACI members are invited to submit nominations for the 2024 Champion for Cures and Cancer Health Equity awards. The submission deadline for both awards is Monday, April 1. The awards will be presented during the 2024 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting, October 20-22, at the Loews Chicago Hotel.

Pictured: 2023 AACI Cancer Health Equity Award recipient Dr. Amelie Ramirez and AACI Executive Director Jennifer W. Pegher

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News from the Centers

Luckenbaugh Elected Chair for Society of Women in Urologic Oncology

Luckenbaugh Elected Chair for Society of Women in Urologic Oncology
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

The Society of Women in Urologic Oncology (WUO) has named Amy Luckenbaugh, MD, to chair its executive board until November 2025. She is the inaugural chair of the WUO, whose core objective is to advance the recruitment, retention, and promotion of women in urologic oncology with the goal of fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Society of Urologic Oncology.

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Radiation Oncologist Receives Emerging Investigator Award

Radiation Oncologist Receives Emerging Investigator Award
Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health

Rebecca Shulman, MD, was recently recognized with the American Society for Radiation Oncology-Breast Cancer Research Foundation Emerging Investigator Award to Build a Diverse Scientific Workforce. Her project, "Combination Therapy with Radiotherapy, Immune Checkpoint Blockade, and Curaxin Enhances Tumor Regression in Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer," is a collaborative undertaking with Siddharth Balachandran, PhD.

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Challen Receives Scholar Achievement Award

Challen Receives Scholar Achievement Award
Siteman Cancer Center

Grant Challen, PhD, a Washington University researcher at Siteman Cancer Center, has received a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Career Development Program Scholar Achievement Award, which will provide funding for two to five years.

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Merad Named Fellow of AACR Academy

Merad Named Fellow of AACR Academy
The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai

Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy, for her contributions in elucidating the roles of myeloid cells in inflammation and tumorigenesis and paving the way for the advancement of targeted therapies focusing on myeloid cells in both cancer and inflammatory diseases.

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Chang Recognized by the American Urological Association

Chang Recognized by the American Urological Association
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

The American Urological Association has announced that Sam S. Chang, MD, MBA, is one of its 2024 award recipients who will be recognized at the organization’s annual meeting in May in San Antonio. He has been chosen for the Hugh Hampton Young Award, which is presented annually to an individual for outstanding contributions to the study of genitourinary tract diseases.

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Hanks Elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation

Hanks Elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation
Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center

Duke Cancer Institute physician scientist Brent Hanks, MD, PhD, has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), one of the nation's oldest medical honor societies. The ASCI supports the scientific efforts, educational needs, and clinical aspirations of physician-scientists to improve health.

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Researchers Join Translational Scholar Ranks

Researchers Join Translational Scholar Ranks
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah

Huntsman Cancer Institute and the University of Utah have named Umang Swami, MD, MS, and Matthew Covington, MD, as members of The Society of Huntsman Translational Scholars. This institutional initiative recognizes excellence in translational science and allows researchers to apply fundamental scientific findings to address clinical challenges in patient care.

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Pierce Elected AACR Academy Fellow

Pierce Elected AACR Academy Fellow
University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center

Lori J. Pierce, MD, was one of 30 cancer scientists elected to the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) class of Fellows of the AACR Academy. Dr. Pierce is professor of radiation oncology at Michigan Medicine and vice provost for academic and faculty affairs at the University of Michigan.

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Thoracic Chair Earns National, Local Accolades

Thoracic Chair Earns National, Local Accolades
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

In recognition of his dedication toward advancements in lung cancer care as well as his contributions as a valued mentor, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center chair of thoracic surgery, Sai Yendamuri, MD, MBA, FACS, has recently been honored with prestigious leadership roles, awards, and grant funding from both local and national organizations.

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Jagsi Receives AAWR 2023 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award

Jagsi Receives AAWR 2023 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University

The American Association for Women in Radiology (AAWR) awarded the 2023 AAWR Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award to Winship Cancer Institute researcher Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, Lawrence W. Davis professor and chair of radiation oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine.

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WVU Making Investments in Cancer Care, Research With $50 Million Commitment From State

WVU Cancer Institute

The WVU Cancer Institute continues to work toward National Cancer Institute designation as it begins making investments in cancer care and research utilizing the $50 million commitment from the State of West Virginia announced last summer. Two new School of Medicine departments—the Department of Hematology and Oncology and the Department of Cancer Prevention and Control—will have a unique mission and focus that leaders say will set WVU apart from peer institutions.

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Martin Receives $4.6 Million CIRM Grant

Martin Receives $4.6 Million CIRM Grant
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

UC San Francisco’s Thomas G. Martin, MD, a leading expert in blood cancers, has received a grant of nearly $4.6 million from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to produce a CAR T-cell therapy for multiple myeloma, the second most common malignancy among blood cancers.

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$3 Million Grant for Breast Cancer Surgery Technology

$3 Million Grant for Breast Cancer Surgery Technology
Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine

Researchers in the Eberlin Lab for Medical Mass Spectrometry at Baylor College of Medicine will receive $3 million in funding from The Marcus Foundation to further develop MasSpec Pen technology in breast cancer surgeries. The MasSpec Pen is a breakthrough device, developed by Livia Eberlin, PhD, and colleagues, for intraoperative use and surgical guidance.

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Markey Researcher Awarded $2.6 Million to Study New Metastatic Lung Cancer Target

Markey Researcher Awarded $2.6 Million to Study New Metastatic Lung Cancer Target
UK Markey Cancer Center

A UK Markey Cancer Center researcher has received a $2.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study LH2b, a newly discovered enzyme linked to lung cancer progression. Houfu Guo, PhD, an assistant professor in the UK College of Medicine’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, aims to understand how LH2b contributes to metastasis.

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Researchers Awarded $2.23 Million for Myeloma Precursor Study

UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute

Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) recently received two awards totaling $2.23 million for the continuing examination of therapies to treat multiple myeloma. The projects are funded by a $1.73 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) U54 grant and a $500,000 Myeloma Solutions Fund award. Baylor College of Medicine and Duke University are collaborating on the NIH grant. The Myeloma Solutions Fund award includes a collaboration between UAMS, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and the Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center.

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Researchers Receive $1.5 Million Grant for Melanoma Clinical Trial

Researchers Receive $1.5 Million Grant for Melanoma Clinical Trial
Siteman Cancer Center

Four Washington University physician-scientists at Siteman Cancer Center, including Todd A. Fehniger, MD, PhD, have received $1.5 million from the Rising Tide Foundation for Cancer Research and the Melanoma Research Alliance. The funding will support a Phase I clinical trial of a novel cell-based immunotherapy developed at Washington University against melanoma.

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$1.2 Million Grant Awarded to Help Break Down Barriers to Cervical Cancer Prevention

LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center

A research team from LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center has been awarded more than $1.5 million to eliminate barriers from cervical cancer prevention. The five-year program combines a $1.2 million grant from the American Cancer Society and an investment of $75,000 a year for five years from LSU Health New Orleans.

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Pediatric Cancer Researcher Awarded Grant to Understand Medulloblastoma Relapse

Pediatric Cancer Researcher Awarded Grant to Understand Medulloblastoma Relapse
Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina

Jezabel Rodriguez Blanco, PhD, who has a dual appointment at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center and the Darby Children’s Research Institute at MUSC, will receive $800,000 over four years from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer to continue her pursuit of the causes of medulloblastoma relapse.

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New Leadership Roles for Werner, Agarwal

New Leadership Roles for Werner, Agarwal
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah rang in the new year with new leadership roles for Theresa L. Werner, MD, and Neeraj Agarwal, MD, FASCO. Dr. Werner is the new deputy director of Huntsman Cancer Institute and Dr. Agarwal is the new senior director for clinical research.

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Surgical Oncologist Named CEO of University of Rochester Medical Center

Surgical Oncologist Named CEO of University of Rochester Medical Center
Wilmot Cancer Institute, UR Medicine

David Linehan, MD, is the new CEO of the University Rochester Medical Center (URMC), dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry, and senior vice president for health sciences. Prior to this appointment, the surgical oncologist, internationally renowned for his clinical innovation and research into new treatments for pancreatic cancer, guided URMC’s Department of Surgery through a period of tremendous growth.

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Gillette Named Associate Director for Training and Education

Gillette Named Associate Director for Training and Education
University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center

Jennifer Gillette, PhD, has been named the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center associate director for training and education. Dr. Gillette is a professor and senior director for research for the UNM Department of Pathology. Angela Wandinger-Ness, PhD, formerly held this role through the most recent Cancer Center Support Grant competitive renewal.

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Karmanos Cancer Network Appoints New VP

Karmanos Cancer Network Appoints New VP
Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University

Karmanos Cancer Institute has appointed Doris Ranski-Zazula, RN, MSA, as the vice president of the Karmanos Cancer Network, part of McLaren Health Care. The network has 15 locations anchored by the Karmanos freestanding cancer hospital headquartered in Detroit.

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Mehrotra Named Co-Leader of Cancer Biology and Immunology Research Program

Mehrotra Named Co-Leader of Cancer Biology and Immunology Research Program
Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina

Shikhar Mehrotra, PhD, will take on the role of co-leader of the cancer biology and immunology research program at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center alongside Philip Howe, PhD. As co-leader, Dr. Mehrotra anticipates seeing more collaborative projects that take a holistic view of the mechanisms of cancer growth.

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Roswell Park Welcomes New Chief Digital & Information Officer

Roswell Park Welcomes New Chief Digital & Information Officer
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Following a national search, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has selected George T. "Buddy" Hickman as its new chief digital & information officer. Hickman succeeds Tom Furlani, PhD, who retires this month. Hickman comes to Roswell Park with 30 years of experience in health care senior leadership. He was most recently with First Health Advisory, where he served as chief strategy officer.

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Teshome Named Chief of Breast Surgery

Teshome Named Chief of Breast Surgery
UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center

UCLA Health has appointed leading breast surgical oncologist Mediget Teshome, MD, as the new chief of breast surgery and director of breast health. Before joining UCLA, Dr. Teshome was an associate professor at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in the department of breast surgical oncology.

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High-Dose Radiotherapy With Chemotherapy Effective in Treating People With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center

A new study led by researchers from the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center shows that using high doses of radiation while integrating an ablative radiotherapy technique called stereotactic ablative radiotherapy concurrently with chemotherapy is safe and effective in treating people with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer that is not suitable for surgery.

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Natural Compounds From Soy, Other Plants Reduce Breast Cancer Recurrence and Improve Survival, Research Shows

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University

Soy compounds called isoflavones are among the plant-derived compounds that may significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence or death, according to a new meta-analysis co-directed by investigators from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

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Survey Finds Link Between Drug/Cannabis Use During Pregnancy and Certain Childhood Cancers

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center

While the risks of drug use, smoking, and drinking during pregnancy are widely accepted, a new survey of parents has identified clear associations between certain types of childhood cancers and gestational substance use, notably cannabis. The study, which appears in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention, was led by Duke Cancer Institute member Kyle Walsh, PhD, associate professor in the departments of Neurosurgery, Pathology, Pediatrics and Population Health Sciences at Duke.

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Could Two Drugs Be Better Than One for Treating Prostate Cancer?

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

A UCSF-led clinical trial shows improved benefit of combination drug therapy without worse side effects. Combining testosterone-blocking drugs in patients with prostate cancer relapse prevents the spread of cancer better than treatment with a single drug, a multi-institution, Phase III clinical trial has found.

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Study Shows Some Postmenopausal Patients May Safely Omit Radiotherapy for HR+ Breast Cancer

Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University

Results of the IDEA clinical trial suggest that omitting radiation may be safe in certain postmenopausal patients aged 50-69 years with stage I hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer. The five-year follow-up of the IDEA clinical trial, presented at the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and simultaneously published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, reveals that almost all patients who opted out of adjuvant radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery were disease-free five years post-surgery.

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A Report From the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium

Stanford Cancer Institute

Stanford Cancer Institute member Michelle Monje, MD, PhD, is the lead author on a study finding that the maximum tolerated dose of panobinostat in children is 10 mg/m2/dose 3 times a week for 3 weeks on/3 weeks off in children with progressive DIPG/DMG and 22 mg/m2/dose administered 3 times per week for 1 week on/1 week off when administered in a similar population preprogression.

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Researchers Identify Why Cancer Immunotherapy Can Cause Colitis

University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center

Researchers at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center have identified a mechanism that causes severe gastrointestinal problems with immune-based cancer treatment. They also found a way to deliver immunotherapy’s cancer-killing impact without the unwelcome side effect.

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Two Common Biomarkers Predict Heart Risk in Asymptomatic Childhood Cancer Survivors

Comprehensive Cancer Center St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

A recent study revealed two common biomarkers of cardiac function and damage that could better predict cardiomyopathy within five years compared to routine clinical exams in certain childhood cancer survivors. Utilizing these two biomarkers may lead to earlier treatment to prevent and protect against further heart damage.

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A Type of Allergy Medicine Might Help Treat Lung Cancer, Research Suggests

The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai

Researchers have identified an allergy pathway that, when blocked, unleashes antitumor immunity in mouse models of non-small cell lung cancer. And in an early parallel study in humans, combining immunotherapy with dupilumab—an Interleukin-4 (IL-4) receptor-blocking antibody widely used for treating allergies and asthma—boosted patients' immune systems, with one out of the six experiencing significant tumor reduction.

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Research Reveals an Immune Cell That Can Attack Cancer

City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center

According to preclinical research, scientists have discovered that a type of immune cell in the human body known to be important for allergy and other immune responses can also attack cancer. Furthermore, these cells, called human type 2 innate lymphoid cells, can be expanded outside of the body and applied in larger numbers to overpower a tumor’s defenses and eliminate malignant cells in mouse models with cancer.

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Genetic Score Advances Personalized Treatment Strategies With Promising AML Drug

University of Florida Health Cancer Center

In the latest development in precision medicine approaches to treating pediatric leukemia, UF Health researchers have developed a genetic score to predict patient outcomes with a promising targeted drug treatment.

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Community Cancer Care Linked With Poorer Outcomes for Some Head and Neck Cancers

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University

Care for patients with human papillomavirus-related squamous cell cancers of the oropharynx is shifting toward community cancer centers, but patients treated in this setting may be less likely to survive, according to new research by investigators from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Head and Neck Cancer Center.

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Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatments Have Aided Decline in Deaths

Stanford Cancer Institute

Stanford Cancer Institute members Jennifer Caswell-Jin, MD, Sylvia Plevritis, PhD, and Allison Kurian, MD, MSc, are senior authors on an analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finding that treatment of metastatic disease is responsible for nearly one-third of the decrease in annual deaths from breast cancer from 1975 to 2019.

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Study Finds Novel Mechanism for Making Small Cell Lung Cancer Tumors Vulnerable to Attack by Immune System

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have identified a genetic mechanism that can make small cell lung cancer tumors vulnerable to attack by the immune system. The discovery could be used to develop drugs that would make immunotherapy effective in small cell lung cancer for the first time.

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AI Tools See Beyond the Human Eye to Better Diagnose Cancer

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute

Digital pathology has both sped up and increased the accuracy of cancer diagnosis over the past 10 years, and now artificial intelligence (AI) could improve these tools even more. Most people think of AI as someone teaching a computer to recognize and respond to perform a specific task automatically (known as "supervised learning"); "unsupervised learning" involves teaching the computer to recognize and respond to certain things but then allowing it to evolve to learn beyond what it was taught.

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SKCC Researchers Investigate Tumor-Immune Cell Crosstalk in Aggressive Form of Prostate Cancer

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Jefferson

Researchers at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health (SKCC) are working to better understand neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC), a particularly aggressive form of the disease that arises after the initial treatment of prostate cancer. The team was led by Lucia R. Languino, PhD, professor of cancer biology, director of the Genetics, Genomics, and Cancer Biology PhD program at Thomas Jefferson University, and member of SKCC’s Translational and Cellular Oncology (TaCO) Program. The study was published in Matrix Biology.

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Study Provides Clinician Guidance on Follow-up for Ovarian Cysts

UK Markey Cancer Center

About 15 to 20 percent of women will develop an ovarian cyst during their lifetime. They are usually non-cancerous and about 85 percent resolve within five years. Recent UK Markey Cancer Center research reveals patient characteristics associated with cysts that resolve on their own and suggests that the time it takes can vary depending on several variables. The findings, published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, provide valuable guidance for doctors regarding how long and how often to monitor ovarian cysts.

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Method Improves Detection of Potential Therapeutic Tumor Targets in Human Biopsies

Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine

In a new study, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and collaborating institutions report the development of a kinase inhibitor pulldown assay (KiP) that can optimally enrich and quantify the small amounts of kinases present in biopsy samples in combination with mass-spectrometry techniques.

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Chronic Inflammation Combined With Poverty Significantly Raises Risk of Dying From Cancer

University of Florida Health Cancer Center

A new study led by a University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions researcher finds that people with chronic inflammation living in poverty have more than double the risk of dying from heart disease and nearly triple the risk of dying from cancer within the next 15 years. The findings are based on data representing 95 million Americans ages 40 and over.

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Simple Blood Protein Tests Predict Which Lymphoma Patients Are Most Likely to Have Poor CAR T Outcomes

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

In work newly published in Blood Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, a team of collaborators from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Moffitt Cancer Center report the first strategy for identifying before treatment which patients are at risk for poor outcomes from CAR T-cell therapy, pointing to opportunities to improve the safety and efficacy of this fast-growing class of cancer immunotherapies.

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New in 2024: CARDS Webinar Series

Association of American Cancer Institutes

AACI and the Catchment Area Research Data Science (CARDS) listserv community announce a series of webinars dedicated to discussions around cancer center data collection, analysis, and utilization. The CARDS listserv and webinars are aimed at individuals at AACI cancer centers working in community outreach, biostatistics, and cancer informatics. The first CARDS webinar, "Unveiling Insights: Using Data to Guide Catchment Area Strategy," will be held Wednesday, February 21 at 1:00 pm eastern time.

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ACS Offers New Navigation Training and Credentialing Program

American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society Leadership in Oncology Navigation (ACS LION) is a standardized training and credentialing program that helps patient navigators deliver essential nonclinical support to individuals, caregivers, and families facing cancer. The goal of the program is to help build a standardized professional knowledge base and positively impact oncology patients by expanding access to high-quality navigation programs and services. Standardized training will also help reduce barriers and health disparities among various patient groups.

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ASCO Issues Call to Expand Access to Clinical Trials

American Society of Clinical Oncology

A new call-to-action published in the journal Cancer details practical steps for the oncology research and clinical care communities to expand access to clinical trials and enable patients to participate closer to their homes. The paper, authored by members of an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Task Force, illuminates the importance of enabling patients to receive trial related testing and care near their homes, rather than requiring patients to travel to major research institutions hours from where they live.

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Innovative Treatment Uses Radio Frequency to Target and Reduce Cancerous Tumors

Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University

Karmanos Cancer Institute has announced that it will be the first provider in the country to offer patients the new FDA-approved TheraBionic P1 device for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. The TheraBionic P1 emits low levels of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields that block the growth of tumor cells without affecting healthy tissue.

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A Game Changer for Blood Cancer Treatment in New Mexico

University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center

The UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center completed the first allogeneic stem cell transplant in the state. The team also recently completed a haploidentical transplant. Such transplants make treatment possible for many New Mexican patients, who may not find matched donors in the registries of unrelated donors. Matthew Fero, MD, leads the stem cell transplantation team.

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Central Ohio's First Proton Therapy Center Opens to Treat Children and Adults

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute

The OSUCCC – James, in collaboration with Nationwide Children’s Hospital, recently celebrated the opening of a $100 million, 55,000-square-foot Proton Therapy Center, the first treatment facility in central Ohio to offer this highly targeted radiation therapy for treating complex tumors.

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Place an Ad in the AACI Newsletter

Association of American Cancer Institutes

AACI invites you to promote your cancer center or business by purchasing an ad in the AACI Update. Your newsletter ad may highlight a conference or a new initiative. Supporters may include links to their website and any upcoming events. Ads can be purchased monthly or in one of several packages.

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Meeting Announcements

CARDS Webinar | Unveiling Insights: Using Data to Guide Catchment Area Strategy

February 21, 2024
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Webinar

In 2024, AACI and the Catchment Area Research Data Science (CARDS) listserv community are hosting a series of webinars dedicated to discussions around cancer center data collection, analysis, and utilization. The first CARDS webinar, "Unveiling Insights: Using Data to Guide Catchment Area Strategy," will be held Wednesday, February 21 at 1:00 pm eastern time.

The webinar will be moderated by Todd Burus, MAS, UK Markey Cancer Center. Presenters are Este Geraghty, MD, MS, MPH, GISP, and Caitlin Marin, Esri; Christopher McNair, PhD, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health; and Nathanael Stanley, PhD, Moffitt Cancer Center.

Register Today

2024 AACI Leadership Diversity and Development Workshop

March 12, 2024
Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, IL

The 2024 AACI Leadership Diversity and Development Workshop will be held March 12-13 at Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, IL.

Registration for the workshop is now closed. Please contact AACI Director of Operations and Events Jaime Anderson or Events Manager Dawn Gobble with any questions about registration.

View the Program

2024 AACI/AACR Hill Day

May 16, 2024
Washington, DC

Register today for the 2024 AACI/AACR Hill Day, Thursday, May 16, in Washington, DC. Registration closes at 5:00 pm eastern time on Tuesday, May 7.

Register Today

16th Annual AACI CRI Meeting

June 24, 2024
Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, IL

The 16th Annual AACI CRI Meeting will be held June 24-26 at Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, IL. 

Register Today

2024 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting

October 20, 2024
Loews Chicago Downtown Hotel, Chicago, IL

The 2024 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting will be held October 20-22 at Loews Chicago Downtown Hotel in Chicago, IL. A virtual registration option is also available to those who cannot attend in person.

Register Today

17th Annual AACI CRI Meeting

June 23, 2025
Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel, Rosemont, IL

Save the date for the 17th Annual AACI CRI Meeting, June 23-25, 2025, at Loews Chicago O'Hare Hotel in Rosemont, IL.

Learn More

2025 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting

October 19, 2025
Salamander Washington DC, Washington, DC

Save the date for the 2025 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting, October 19-21, at Salamander Washington DC.

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