HCRN Annual Report 2018

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. Read More

HCRN Annual Report 2018

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. Read More

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. Read More

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. Read More

A single arm phase II study, LUN15-299, for patients who have been previously treated for mesothelioma is being conducted by the Hoosier Cancer Research Network and led by HealthPartners Regions Cancer Care in St. Paul, Minn.

The clinical trial will test how the addition of an antiangiogenic therapy drug, ramucirumab, will work with nivolumab, an immunotherapy drug. Researchers hope the combined therapy will help keep the cancer under control. Read More

Ensuring the timely execution of multiple clinical trials at a major university is no small task. Nana Peprah, MPH, clinical research coordinator at the University of Chicago, may see herself as only a coordinator, but her efforts in keeping clinical research trials on schedule through compassion and service to cancer patients and clinical staff have made her an exemplary member of her team.

When she first received an email announcing that she was the winner of this year’s 2018 Sandra Turner Excellence in Clinical Research Award from Hoosier Cancer Research Network, she didn’t believe it. Read More

Hoosier Cancer Research Network (HCRN) has opened a study for patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer who were previously treated with the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine. The randomized phase I/II clinical trial will test standard re-treatment with BCG against the immunotherapeutic agent durvalumab combined with BCG, or durvalumab combined with radiation therapy. Read More

Families who fight cancer along with their ailing loved one grapple with many issues, from health decisions and a myriad of emotions to logistical and financial concerns. The range of concerns is something Becky Armbruster, this year’s Terry Hoeppner Patient Advocacy Award winner, recalls very poignantly.

From the time her late husband, Doug, underwent treatment at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center for myelofibrosis, a bone marrow disorder that interrupts a body’s production of blood cells, she learned how other families were coping and spending time.

“You start finding out that people are sleeping at the hospital because they don’t have the money to stay at a hotel and families are piled into waiting rooms because there’s no place to stay,” says Armbruster. Read More

Hoosier Cancer Research Network honored four individuals for their outstanding contributions to clinical research and advocacy during its annual holiday and awards dinner Nov. 29 in Indianapolis. Read More

Christopher J. Hoimes, DO, presented the Hoosier Cancer Research Network study GU14-188 at a poster discussion session October 20 during the 2018 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Munich, Germany. Dr. Hoimes is sponsor-investigator of the study of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab and chemotherapy for locally advanced urothelial cancer.

See the HCRN GU14-188 poster and read the abstract here.

See coverage in UroToday:

• Article by Thenappan Chandrasekar, MD, Clinical Instructor, Thomas Jefferson University.
• Article by Jason Zhu, MD, Fellow, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Duke University.

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Hoosier Cancer Research Network (HCRN) Executive Director Cyndi Burkhardt, RN, will speak during the Onsemble Conference, September 18-21 in Madison, Wis., and Assistant Director for Clinical Systems Adelai Neal will be recognized with an award for her contributions to the Onsemble community.

Onsemble is a semi-annual customer-exclusive conference hosted by Forte, a company that specializes in providing research solutions to cancer centers, academic medical centers, and health systems. HCRN uses the Forte product OnCore to manage clinical trial data. Read More

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey is offering a Hoosier Cancer Research Network clinical trial (HCRN GI16-288) targeting an advanced form of colorectal cancer with a combination vaccine/immunotherapy treatment.

The standard way of treating colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver or has recurred is with a combination of chemotherapy and removal of the cancer through surgery. This approach, however, is not always effective, as the majority of patients suffer a recurrence of their cancer following standard treatment, emphasizing the need for new therapies that can prevent the cancer from coming back. Researchers at Rutgers Cancer Institute are exploring the combination of a new anti-cancer vaccine with an immunotherapy, nivolumab, to determine if the combined treatment can prompt a patient’s natural defenses (the immune system) to attack their cancer. Investigators also will determine if the vaccine/immunotherapy combination works better than immunotherapy plus chemotherapy and surgery.
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A new Hoosier Cancer Research Network study may help researchers determine whether the choice of chemotherapy regimens used in combination with the immunotherapy drug nivolumab could make a difference in outcomes for patients with metastatic bladder cancer.

Standard treatment for metastatic bladder cancer, also known as urothelial carcinoma, usually involves cisplatin-based chemotherapy. However, a large proportion of patients are not eligible for this treatment due to impaired renal function and other physical or age-related limitations. Standard options for these cisplatin-ineligible patients often include carboplatin-based therapies.

Recent studies have shown that single-agent immunotherapy drugs that target the programmed death-1 (PD-1) / programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) pathway as first-line treatment can benefit these patients. However, only about 20 to 25 percent of patients respond to single-agent PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. Researchers are now testing whether adding chemotherapy regimens to PD-1/PD-L1 therapy might lead to improved response rates. Read More

“Cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me. It certainly changed my life for the better.”

This perspective, shared by cancer research advocate and HCRN board member Ted Stansbury, may seem counterintuitive. But to Stansbury, the experience with cancer opened him to a greater awareness of what really mattered.

[Photo: Ted Stansbury with his friend and medical oncologist Patrick J. Loehrer, Sr., MD.]

“It gave me a lot of insight,” he said. “The day before I found out I had a tumor, the things that were important to me were how my golf game was and my work. Those became completely unimportant, and the important things in life became my family, my faith, and my friends. Cancer taught me to appreciate every day. It took nothing away.” Read More

Story provided courtesy of IU Simon Cancer Center.

Less than two years ago, Greg Durm, MD, was finishing up his hematology-oncology fellowship at IU School of Medicine. Now he has delivered an oral presentation at the world’s leading organization for oncology professionals.

Dr. Durm presented an oral abstract about a Phase II lung cancer clinical trial Monday, June 4 in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Nearly 40,000 physicians, researchers, and others from around the world attended the meeting.

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Hoosier Cancer Research Network’s LUN14-179 study was accepted as an oral presentation to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, June 1-5, 2018, at the McCormick Place in Chicago. Read More

Hoosier Cancer Research Network will host meetings for Clinical Trial Working Groups during ASCO 2018.

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.

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For the fourth consecutive year, Christopher A. Fausel, PharmD, challenged his friends, colleagues, and local businesses to support Hoosier Cancer Research Network through his participation in the annual Arnold Sports Festival 5K Pump and Run event. The 2018 event was held March 5 in Columbus, Ohio.

Fausel competes each year in the 5K Pump and Run, which includes bench-pressing and a 5K run. The challenge, organized through Reps for Research, invites supporters to pledge a dollar amount for every bench press “rep” he completes.

As clinical manager of oncology pharmacy at the IU Simon Cancer Center and chairman of the HCRN board of directors, Fausel’s support for cancer research is more than just a job — it is his passion. “These patients are facing their fight with cancer with uncommon strength and courage,” he said. “It’s a privilege to compete in their honor.” Read More

“Oncology is not for the faint of heart. It can be filled with a lot of joy, but there are really sad moments. You must have a way to manage those emotions, acknowledge them, and address them in a way that allows you to be there for a patient or a family. Though you have been an observer for a million times in this work, every time is their first time, and you have to pay attention to that.”

This perspective, shared by Maggie Uhrich, RN, BSN, OCN, during a recent interview, serves as a guiding principle in her work as a thoracic oncology nurse at Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center.

At a recent event, Hoosier Cancer Research Network honored Uhrich with the 2017 Sandra Turner Excellence in Clinical Research Award. The award was established in 2002 by HCRN co-founder William B. Fisher, MD, through the George and Sarah Jane Fisher Fund to honor the memory of Sandra Turner, HCRN’s first executive director. The award is given to those who exemplify the qualities Turner possessed and respected in others, such as sustained professional commitment, contribution to the progress of oncology care, and the unflinching touch of compassion.

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Veterans of clinical research know that we have entered a new era in which clinical trials are more targeted than ever to specific, biomarker-defined patient populations. This shift reflects the greater trend in healthcare toward personalized therapy, and is evidenced in the concepts that come to HCRN.

Investigators understand that clinical trials based on biomarker-selected subgroups are difficult to fully accrue, and can only succeed when conducted via collaboration across multiple institutions. An example of this can be seen in studies that involve immunotherapeutic agents for certain subgroups of patients, such as patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) colorectal cancer, representing just 3 percent of all metastatic colorectal cancers. Read More