The fight against cancer persists.
Novel drug treatments are being tested at Ohio State with the help of a grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) that supports the use of new compounds that have shown promise in early testing. Dr. William Carson III, MD, professor of Surgical Oncology at the OSU College of Medicine and associate director for Clinical Research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been awarded $2,510,943 to fund the project entitled“UM1 supplement for early therapeutic trials with phase 2 intent.”
“This grant allows us to conduct clinical trials in cancer patients using novel drugs provided by the NCI,” says Carson. “We will participate and cooperate with other institutions as we conduct these studies in human volunteers.” The drugs have already been tested for toxicity in animals and healthy volunteers. The best dose for future studies was then tested in so-called phase I studies. In phase II studies, we use this dose of drug in a test of whether the new compound can actually shrink tumors in cancer patients.
Dr. Carson re-competed for the grant against other researchers across the nation. He will be the principal investigator of this grant for the next five years.
One of the ways Dr. Carson has been able to obtain funding of this nature is though his training here at Ohio State. He credits his mentors with helping him to understand the ins and outs of the grant-writing process and advises new investigators to take advantage of the mentorship available here at Ohio State. “That’s how I got started in my research career. Dr. Mike Grever and Dr. Mike Caligiuri provided me with invaluable advice and that and that’s one of the reasons were able to obtain this funding,” explains Carson. “I also make a point of mentoring new investigators because I like to see them succeed.”
The implementation of research funded by the UM1 grant will take a large team effort. Dr. Carson’s expert lineup includes detail-oriented administrative personnel like Craig Schultz and Jennifer Sexton and expert grants managers like Li Zheng.
With $2,510,943 in new funding, Carson and his team will progress one step further in personalizing cancer care, one trial and one patient at a time. The pioneering work of developing of new therapies will hopefully facilitate breakthrough discoveries.
There have already been several breakthroughs with regards to cancer drug therapies by Ohio State researchers. One avenue of research is the quest to find the best combination of treatments that hit the cancer cell with a one-two punch. Also, there are now exciting advances with respect to drugs that boost the human immune system and help the patient’s white blood cells to eradicate the cancer.
The future of cancer research beholds high-impact findings that will hopefully lead to a cancer-free world.
Remember, there is no routine cancer.