This month, Hoosier Cancer Research Network highlights the work of University of Arizona Cancer Center at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s as a featured member of Hoosier Cancer Research Network. Jue Wang, MD, FACP, professor of medicine and interdisciplinary oncology and section leader of the Genitourinary Oncology Division at the University of Arizona, shares his research and educational background.
Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have discovered how to predict whether triple negative breast cancer will recur, and which women are likely to remain disease-free. They presented their findings on December 13, 2019, at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, the most influential gathering of breast cancer researchers and physicians in the world.
Milan Radovich, PhD (pictured left), and Bryan Schneider, MD, discovered that women whose plasma contained genetic material from a tumor – referred to as circulating tumor DNA – had only a 56 percent chance of being cancer-free two years following chemotherapy and surgery. Patients who did not have circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA, in their plasma had an 81 percent chance that the cancer would not return after the same amount of time.
Hoosier Cancer Research Network investigators highlighted an HCRN melanoma study as a poster presentation during the Society for Melanoma Research 16th International Congress, Nov. 20-23, 2019, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The authors, led by sponsor-investigator Suthee Rapisuwon, MD (pictured left), and co-investigator Michael B. Atkins, MD, both of Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, presented the MEL17-309 study, in a poster titled “Phase II single-arm multi-center study of adjuvant ipilimumab in combination with nivolumab in subjects with high-risk ocular melanoma.” (See abstract.)
The primary endpoint of the MEL17-309 study is 3-year relapse-free survival rate. Secondary endpoints are median relapse-free survival, median overall survival, 3-year overall survival rate, and safety.
This month, Hoosier Cancer Research Network highlights the Providence Cancer Institute in Portland, Ore., as a featured member of our network.
Rachel E. Sanborn, MD, is a medical oncologist at Portland Cancer Institute and is a member and co-chair of the HCRN Thoracic Clinical Trial Working Group.
A single arm, phase II clinical trial for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common type of kidney cancer, is testing the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor entinostat in combination with ipilimumab and nivolumab in patients previously treated with nivolumab and ipilimumab or nivolumab alone. The study is open to accrual at Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center in Indianapolis, Ind., and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
The study, HCRN-GU17-326, will test the safety and efficacy of this combination. Researchers will estimate the percentage of patients whose tumors shrink during the study, and how long it takes before their tumors start growing again.
Roberto Pili, MD, a professor of oncology at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a researcher at the IU Simon Cancer Center, is sponsor-investigator of the study. Dr. Pili said the combination of entinostat with nivolumab and ipilimumab has demonstrated significant activity for patients with RCC in early studies.
This month, Hoosier Cancer Research Network highlights the University of Kansas Medical Center as a featured member of our network. Anup Kasi, MD, MPH, assistant professor of oncology at the medical center and a member of the HCRN Gastrointestinal Clinical Trial Working Group, shares his research interests and educational background in this investigator spotlight.
Investigators reported results from two HCRN studies during poster sessions at the 2019 World Conference on Lung Cancer, September 7-9 in Barcelona, Spain.
Study authors, led by Greg Durm, MD (pictured left), of the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, reported results of the LUN14-179 study, in a poster titled “ChemoXRT w/ Consolidation Pembrolizumab in Unresectable Stage III NSCLC: Long-Term Survival Update and Analysis of Post-Progression Therapy.” (See abstract.)
LUN13-175 study authors, led by Ryan Gentzler, MD, of the University of Virginia, presented a poster titled “Ph I/II Carboplatin, Nab-Paclitaxel and Pembrolizumab for Advanced NSCLC (HCRN LUN13-175): Outcomes by Nab-Paclitaxel Dose.” (See abstract.)
A phase II, open label study for patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common type of kidney cancer, is currently enrolling subjects at selected Hoosier Cancer Research Network sites. The HCRN GU17-289 study, led by researchers at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis, Ind., compares the positive and negative effects of using high-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) and entinostat to using IL-2 alone. The study also assesses the safety and tolerability of IL-2 and entinostat.
IL-2, also known as aldesleukin, is a biological response modifier that boosts the immune system in cancer treatment and is made in a laboratory setting. The human body also produces IL-2, which is a protein that enhances the growth of cells to build the body’s immune system.
Entinostat is an investigational Class I selective histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor that plays a vital role in regulating gene expression and inducing cell death, known as apoptosis, in cancer cells.
Shadia Jalal, MD, chief scientific officer for Hoosier Cancer Research Network and a thoracic medical oncologist and researcher at Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, understands the importance of process in directing research priorities and getting studies off the ground in a timely fashion.
Since succeeding Bert O’Neil, MD, as CSO in April 2019, Dr. Jalal has focused on ensuring HCRN and member sites can open clinical trials as quickly and efficiently as possible, so eligible patients can gain access to studies when they need them most.
“One of our goals should be to keep clinical research simple,” Dr. Jalal said. “Aside from our regulatory and internal review, it’s good to take a step back and reevaluate and ask, ‘is this step really needed’? From the day we think of an idea to the day we enroll the first patient we should make that process as quick and efficient as possible.”
Each year in the United States, more than 70,000 patients are diagnosed with bladder cancer, and more than 14,000 will die from their disease. The current standard for treating bladder cancer involves chemotherapy, but this approach is not adequate for many patients, particularly those whose disease has metastasized, or spread to other parts of the body.
A new Hoosier Cancer Research Network study may help researchers determine whether a novel approach involving a combination of immunotherapy drugs might benefit patients with advanced disease who are not eligible to receive cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
[Arjun Balar, MD (pictured), of the New York University Langone Medical Center, is sponsor-investigator of the HCRN GU15-215 study.]
The single-arm phase II study, known as HCRN GU15-215, involves the anti-PD-L1 antibody atezolizumab with bevacizumab, a VEGF-targeting antibody that may help to prevent the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors. Bevacizumab may act in combination with atezolizumab to enhance the anti-tumor immune response.
Two Hoosier Cancer Research Network studies, GU14-182 and MEL17-309, will be presented during the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, May 31 – June 4, in Chicago.
HCRN GU14-182, a randomized, double-blinded, phase II study of maintenance pembrolizumab versus placebo after first-line chemotherapy in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer, will be featured during an oral abstract session on Monday, June 3. The multi-center study is led by Matthew Galsky, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Session Details:
The Hoosier Cancer Research Network study HCRN GU14-188, a multicenter Phase Ib/II study of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab and cisplatin chemotherapy for muscle-invasive urothelial cancer, was featured as a podium session abstract May 5, 2019, during the American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting in Chicago. The multi-center study is led by sponsor-investigator Christopher Hoimes, DO (pictured), of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at University Hospitals-Seidman Cancer Center. The abstract was presented by Hristos Kaimakliotis, MD, of the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Hoosier Cancer Research Network will host meetings for Clinical Trial Working Groups during ASCO 2019.
The following meetings will be at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza River North, 350 West Mart Center Drive, Chicago, Ill. See map. All times are CT. Refreshments will be served at all meetings.
For the fifth consecutive year, supporters of Hoosier Cancer Research Network (HCRN) donated thousands of dollars this spring through the Reps for Research challenge. The annual event, led this year by (pictured, from left) HCRN Chairman Christopher A. Fausel, PharmD; gynecologic oncologist Jeanne Schilder, MD; and nurse practitioner Courtney Cortez, involves donations tied to the number of bench press repetitions the team completes during the Arnold Sports Festival 5K Pump and Run event in Columbus, Ohio.
Thirty-four supporters answered the challenge in 2019, contributing $6,090 to support novel investigator-initiated research conducted by HCRN.
After five years as chief scientific officer for Hoosier Cancer Research Network (HCRN), Bert H. O’Neil, MD, recently stepped down from the role, a move that coincided with his transition from Indiana University to Eli Lilly and Company. Dr. O’Neil continues to serve as a member of the HCRN Board of Directors.
The Hoosier Cancer Research Network study HCRN GI14-198, a Phase II randomized, double-blind, study of mfolfirinox plus ramucirumab versus mfolfirinox plus placebo in advanced pancreatic cancer patients, was featured as a trials in progress poster during the 2019 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, Jan. 18 in San Francisco, CA. The multi-center study is led by sponsor-investigator Walid Shaib, MD, of the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.
For the majority of its 35-year history, Hoosier Cancer Research Network (HCRN) has been one of the best kept secrets in clinical oncology research. Through steady leadership and a responsive organizational structure, HCRN has quietly navigated decades of change in the field of oncology, always keeping the needs of our members at the very heart of our mission and goals. We adapt as nimbly as any organization, yet we remain rooted by our founders’ vision to serve as an unparalleled resource for conducting multi-center investigator-initiated research.
Well, times have changed, and the secret is out. HCRN has become the go-to multi-site collaborator for many of the nation’s top oncology researchers. Just walk the poster aisles or browse the schedule at any of the nation’s top oncology meetings, and we are there.
Hoosier cancer Research Network enjoys a unique synergy with our research collaborators that few others can claim. An Indiana-based nonprofit organization with a nationwide impact, HCRN operates at a crossroads where the interests of academic institutions, health networks, and industry funders merge to create a shared avenue for the development, management, and publication of novel oncology research.
We have done this work for 35 years, and by all measures, we have never done it better than we do now. I want to thank our member investigators, study teams, and the hard-working staff at HCRN for a record-breaking year of activity. Our accomplishments would not be possible without your shared commitment and collaboration.
Anthony Drier, clinical research coordinator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently received the 2018 Sandra Turner Excellence in Clinical Research Award for his effort in coordinating cancer research studies with great attention to detail, service, and timeliness.
The Sandra Turner Excellence in Clinical Research Award is awarded annually by the Hoosier Cancer Research Network (HCRN) to individuals who exemplify the qualities of the late Sandra Turner, HCRN’s first executive director, including a strong professional commitment, contribution to the progress of oncology care, and the constant touch of compassion.
Having good mentors is something that this year’s George and Sarah Jane Fisher Young Investigator Award recipient, Shahid Ahmed, MD, values greatly. Through his personal drive and strong mentors, Dr. Ahmed pursued learning opportunities and research that led him to Indiana University School of Medicine, where he is currently exploring novel oncology research as a third-year hematology/oncology fellow.
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