Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center

DCCC Announces Three New Members

Fri, 09 May 2008 08:40:22 -0400

The Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center has announced three new members: Farshid Guilak, PhD, and Scott Soderling, PhD, in the Cell Regulation and Transmembrane Signaling Research Program, and Sally York, PhD, in Nucleic Acid Biology Research Program. The Cancer Center also announced two new associate members: Chay Kuo, MD, in the Neuro-Oncology Research Program, and Lee Wilke, MD, in the Breast and Ovarian Oncology Research Program.

Wei Wins Research Scholar Grant

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:47:57 -0400

Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center Member Wei Chen, PhD has received a research scholar grant in the amount of $720,000 from the American Cancer Society for his project "Probing the State of Smoothened Activity Using Novel Small Molecules."

A Potential Sugar Fix for Tumors

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:28:32 -0400

Researchers at the Duke School of Medicine apparently have solved the riddle of why cancer cells like sugar so much, and it may be a mechanism that could lead to better cancer treatments.

Exercise May Lead to Faster Prostate Tumor Growth

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:22:37 -0400

Prostate tumors grew more quickly in mice who exercised than in those who did not, leading to speculation that exercise may increase blood flow to tumors, according to a new study by researchers in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center (DCCC) and the Duke Prostate Center.

Chemotherapy Combinations Might be Beneficial

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:27:33 -0400

A study of a new drug for leukemia and lymphoma, designed to determine how well it works in combination with existing drugs, underscores the theory that dosing for chemotherapy drugs should be aimed at achieving the greatest effect with the lowest toxicity, instead of simply giving each drug in its "maximum tolerated dose," a method that is routinely used in clinical practice.

Chen Receives Komen Grant

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:18:10 -0400

Wei Chen, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, recently received a $600,000 grant from Susan G. Komen for the Cure for his project "Therapeutic Targeting Smoothened Receptors in Breast Cancer."

Lyman and Potti to Serve as Mentors

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:12:06 -0400

Gary Lyman, MD, MPH, director of Dukes Health Services and Outcomes Research Program in Oncology, and Anil Potti, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine Oncology, have been selected by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) to serve as mentors in its International Development and Education Award (IDEA) program. The two will work with Nataliya Kitsera, MD, PhD, a cancer researcher from Ukraine. IDEA provides a unique opportunity for junior-level oncologists in developing countries to further their knowledge and careers.

Genomic Profiling of Breast Tumors Might Determine Prognosis, Treatment

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:33:18 -0400

Combining a breast cancer patient's clinical characteristics with a genomic profile of her tumor may provide important information for predicting an individual patient's prognosis and accurately guiding treatment options, according to a new study led by researchers in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center (DCCC) and Duke's Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP).

Duke Researchers Awarded $3.8 for Cancer Research from the Department of Defense

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:16:15 -0400

Fifteen Duke researchersfrom tenured faculty members to pre-doctoral studentswere selected for awards totaling $3.8 million from the U.S. Department of Defenses prestigious Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs in 2007. The grants are chosen in a competitive, peer-reviewed process and recognize innovative cancer research projects. Since the program started, fewer than 18 percent of the proposals received funding.

Principal investigators of DOD Awards:

Katherine Aird
Theresa Barberi
Marisa Buchakjian
Bennett Chin, MD
Dominic Crotty
Nicholas DAmato
Daniel George, MD
Michael Morse, MD
Judd Moul, MD
Alexander Ney
Julie Ostrander, PhD
Kristy Perez
Justin Roper
Liang Zhai
Jun Zhu, PhD

Duke Bioinformatics Group Receives Grant

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:57:05 -0400

A. Jamie Cuticchia, PhD, director of the Duke Bioinformatics Group, was recently awarded approximately $1.8 million over a period of approximately one year from the National Cancer Institute to produce a new and enhanced version of the Cancer Centralized Clinical Patient Registry (C3PR) software, which is part of the cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG). The software will provide cancer researchers with a valuable registration and tracking tool to facilitate the conduct of clinical research. Cuticchia, the principal investigator for the grant, is working with Bob Annechiarico, co-investigator and director of the Cancer Center Information Systems, and Kim Johnson, director of Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) Information Systems on this project. Other participating groups include Wake Forest Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, SemanticBits, Inc. and Westat, Inc. caBIG is a program of the National Cancer Institute's Center for Bioinformatics and Information Technology (CBIIT), and is an information network enabling all constituencies in the cancer community researchers, physicians, and patients to share data and knowledge. The mission of caBIG is to develop a truly collaborative information network that accelerates the discovery of new approaches for the detection, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer, ultimately improving patient outcomes. The components of caBIG are widely applicable beyond cancer as well.