This spring, Hoosier Cancer Research Network Chairman Christopher A. Fausel, PharmD, offered a unique challenge to friends and supporters of HCRN. Combining his interest in strength training and his passion for investigator-initiated research, Fausel invited pledges for every bench-press “rep” he could complete at the Arnold Sports Festival’s 5K Pump and Run event in Columbus, Ohio.

Twenty individuals responded with pledges of support for the Reps for Research challenge. Fausel reached his goal of 30 reps during the event (see video), and HCRN received donations totaling more than $1,800 for investigator-initiated research.

HCRN will direct the donations received through Reps for Research to a study of circulating tumor cells in lung cancer, led by Shadia Jalal, MD, a thoracic oncologist and researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, whose research in recent years has focused on better understanding why lung cancer metastasizes, or spreads, to other organs. Until recently, it was not clear whether circulating tumor cells might play a role in cancer spread. But studies in mouse models have shown that circulating tumor cells are capable of forming tumors and metastasizing.

“I would like to combine our ability to isolate circulating tumor cells with my focus on understanding the role of DNA repair specifically in lung cancer metastases,” said Dr. Jalal. “DNA repair is a process that is going on in our bodies every day, correcting mutations that occur for multiple reasons, from smoking to exposure to ultraviolet light, to normal processes in our body. My data shows that DNA repair is abnormal in lung cancer metastases.”

Dr. Jalal is hopeful that her research using human circulating tumor cells in mouse models will be a better reflector of what happens in patients, as compared to studying purely animal models.

HCRN continues to invite donations toward Dr. Jalal’s study. To learn more or to make a contribution, see Circulating Tumor Cells in Lung Cancer on the HCRN website.

About Hoosier Cancer Research Network:

Hoosier Cancer Research Network (formerly known as Hoosier Oncology Group) conducts innovative cancer research in collaboration with academic and community physicians and scientists across the United States. The organization provides comprehensive clinical trial management and support, from conception through publication. Created in 1984 as a program of the Walther Cancer Institute, Hoosier Cancer Research Network became an independent nonprofit clinical research organization in 2007. Since its founding, Hoosier Cancer Research Network has initiated more than 150 trials in a variety of cancer types and supportive care, resulting in more than 300 publications. More than 4,600 subjects have participated in Hoosier Cancer Research Network clinical trials.