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Andrea Butler
albutler@vcu.edu
(804) 628-2111

VCU Massey Cancer Center to partner in $11.5 million National Cancer Institute study on lymphoma

Richmond, Va. (Sept. 8, 2008) – Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center will partner with two other leading cancer centers in a prestigious, $11.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to advance research and treatment in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Within the larger Specialized Programs of Research Excellence grant, which is led by investigators at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, the NCI awarded a five-year component SPORE grant to Steven Grant, M.D., Massey’s associate director for translational research. Grant is internationally recognized for his work in hematologic cancers including leukemias, lymphomas and multiple myeloma.

“Through this grant, the NCI recognizes the leadership capabilities of the three partner institutions in lymphoma research and entrusts us to investigate critical scientific mechanisms of lymphoma,” said Gordon D. Ginder, M.D., director of VCU Massey Cancer Center. “It further validates our focus on translational research — the important area of bringing discoveries safely from laboratories to patients in the form of clinical trials,” he adds. “By collaborating with other cancer centers around the country, we have the opportunity to speed the development of better treatments for cancer.”

Grant is the principal investigator of a project designed to improve the effectiveness of the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib, known as Velcade — an established lymphoma drug — with other targeted therapies to improve its effectiveness in patients with diffuse lymphocytic B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Previous studies have shown that certain types of lymphoma, such as mantle cell lymphoma, often regress in patients treated with bortezomib, but that other forms of lymphoma, such as DLBCL, tend to be resistant to this agent.

Grant and his colleagues will work with Jonathan Friedberg, M.D., director of hematological malignancies clinical research at the Wilmot Cancer Center, in these studies. Each of the three collaborating centers anticipates participating in future clinical trials emanating from this project.

The Wilmot Cancer Center is the lead institution of the $11.5 million grant, under the leadership of Richard I. Fisher, M.D., director of the center, and the Arizona Cancer Center at the University of Arizona is also a key partner. These institutions will participate in three other projects within the SPORE that will:

Focus on manipulating mitochondrial function to enhance lymphoma cell death.
Verify the existence of lymphoma stem cells — the initiating cells responsible for the initiation and maintenance of lymphomas. Identification of such lymphoma stem cells could give rise to new therapies specifically directed against those cells.
Target aurora kinase, a cell-cycle regulatory protein critical to lymphoma growth. Investigators will partner with a pharmaceutical firm to study a new investigational agent that inhibits aurora kinase activity in preclinical and, ultimately, clinical studies in lymphoma.

Only four other cancer research centers have been awarded SPORE grants for lymphoma: Johns Hopkins University, University of Iowa, City of Hope and Baylor College of Medicine.

Other Massey Cancer Center collaborators with Grant include Paul Dent, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Yun Dai, Ph.D., Girija Dasmahapatra, Ph.D., and Mohamed Rahmani, Ph.D., all of the Department of Internal Medicine.

About lymphoma

Nearly 75,000 new cases of various forms of lymphoma are diagnosed in the United States each year, resulting in nearly 20,000 deaths.

Lymphoma represents a group of cancers that originate in the lymphatic system, which helps the body fight infection and disease. The NCI has a strong interest in exploring the causes of and treatments for lymphomas, as their incidence has grown by nearly 80 percent in the last 30 years.

About the VCU Massey Cancer Center

The VCU Massey Cancer Center is one of 63 National Cancer Institute-designated institutions that leads and shapes America’s cancer research efforts. Working with all kinds of cancers, the Center conducts basic, translational and clinical cancer research, provides state-of-the-art treatments and clinical trials and promotes cancer prevention and education. Since 1974, Massey has served as an internationally recognized center of excellence. It offers more clinical trials than any other institution in Virginia, serving patients in Richmond and in four satellite locations. Its 1,000 researchers, clinicians and staff members are dedicated to improving the quality of human life by developing and delivering effective means to prevent, control and ultimately to cure cancer. Visit Massey online at www.massey.vcu.edu or call 1-877-4-MASSEY.