GI cancer clinical trials receive boost
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center has received a $125,000 research grant to support clinical trials in gastrointestinal (GI) cancer research.
The two-year grant from the Aptium Oncology GI Consortium (AGIC) will be used to expand and supplement ongoing clinical translational programs in GI cancer. Jordan Berlin, M.D., associate professor of Medicine, is the principal investigator.
“We are excited about this grant, as well as our membership in this new research consortium,” said Berlin. “The purpose of this consortium is to speed up the process of bringing new products into translational research protocols for patients with GI cancer. We have already made important discoveries about the molecular biology of many GI cancers, but we need to find new drugs that take advantage of that knowledge.”
The AGIC consortium is a select group of eight cancer centers chosen on the basis of their excellence and expertise in the translational aspects of GI cancers and their track records as clinical research investigators.
Vanderbilt-Ingram was selected along with the University of Southern California, Colorado University, Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, New York University, Swedish Cancer Center in Seattle, Helen F. Graham Cancer Center in Newark, Del., and the University of North Carolina.
The first treatment protocol will test the drug agent known as AstraZeneca PARP inhibitor, 2281 with irinotecan for patients whose stage IV colorectal cancer is resistant to the drug irinotecan.