Research Diversity Magazine Clinical Trials COE
In the realm of cancer research, clinical trials can lead to more effective drugs, better treatments, and ways to prevent and detect cancer. They are a key step in the journey from scientific discoveries to helping current and future patients. Clinical trials are a major factor behind a 33% drop in the U.S. cancer death rate and an estimated 3.8 million cancer deaths avoided over the last four decades.
Cancer rates are not the same for everyone – and the fact that they differ by race and ethnicity, among many other categories of people, leads to the realization that health inequity is a factor in those disparities.
Diversity Clinical Research Inclusion Leadership
As lead investigator or sub-investigator on numerous clinical trials at the University of Colorado Cancer Center — many of them investigating new treatments for head and neck cancer — Jessica McDermott, MD, has been instrumental in improving access to cancer clinical trials for patients from medically underserved communities.
Research Education Students Diversity
For Isaiah Richardson, conducting research as an American Cancer Society Diversity in Cancer Research Intern this summer was an important academic and professional experience, but it was also personal.
The past year has illuminated the need for change. In addition to the toll it has taken on lives, health and livelihood, COVID-19 has shed light on health disparities and inequities facing our communities of color.
Pediatric Cancer Brain and Spinal Cancer Diversity
Cancer researchers have known for years that Black and Hispanic patients have worse outcomes than their non-Hispanic White peers. At least when it comes to adults. But few studies have explored these same disparities in pediatric patients, and fewer still have looked for racial/ethnic differences in treatment outcomes in pediatric brain cancer patients.
The use of PET-CT imaging gives doctors the best possible picture of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and this accurate imaging helps to match patients with the best treatments. Unfortunately, not every NSCLC patient gets the recommended PET-CT imaging. Now a University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows an important predictor of PET-CT use: African American patients were only about half as likely as non-Hispanic whites to receive this important imaging; Hispanics received this imaging about 70 percent as frequently as non-Hispanic whites.
Paul Norman, PhD, was born in the Midlands region of Central England in the county town of Shrewsbury, which, coincidentally, is also the birthplace of the naturalist and explorer, Charles Darwin. And like Darwin, Norman set out on a mission to categorize the diversity of life. Only, while Darwin concerned himself with things he could see – the beak shape of Galapagos finches, for example – Norman explores the diversity of cells hidden inside our bodies. Even more specifically, Norman, who recently joined University of Colorado Cancer Center as a mentored member, researches the diversity of tiny proteins that sit on the surface cancer cells. What seems little could be very big: Differences in these proteins across ethnicities could help to explain the differences in cancer rates between human cultures.
Cure Today
July 12, 2024
University of Colorado Cancer Center member Dr. Steven Thorpe emphasizes the collaborative nature of treating soft tissue and bone sarcomas, highlighting the multidisciplinary efforts at CU School of Medicine's Department of Orthopedics and Children’s Hospital Colorado. He underscores the goal of not only curing the disease but also preserving function through advanced surgical techniques and modern therapies, ensuring patients maintain quality of life post-treatment. Thorpe stresses the importance of long-term outcomes, tailoring treatments to support patients’ aspirations beyond their cancer journey, especially for pediatric cases.
OncLive
July 08, 2024
CU Cancer Center member S. Lindsey Davis, MD, highlighted that the combination therapy of sapanisertib and alisertib showed marginal clinical benefit for patients with advanced solid tumors, correlative analyses suggested that apoptotic response and tumor immune cell infiltrate might influence clinical outcomes. The phase 1b study's expansion cohort indicated some positive outlying responses among patients and underscore the need for further research to tailor treatments for standout patients and explore rational combinations to enhance efficacy.
News Medical
June 19, 2024
A new study led by University of Colorado Cancer Center member Marco Del Chiaro, MD, PhD, reveals that nearly 5% of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients achieved a pathological complete response (pCR) after pre-surgical chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. This significant finding indicates that patients with pCR have a 63% five-year survival rate, compared to 30% for those without pCR, suggesting the potential for tailored treatments to improve outcomes.
Cancer Network
June 14, 2024
In a conversation at the 2024 European Hematology Association Congress, CU Cancer Center member Manali Kamdar, MD, discussed potential future research on lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel; Breyanzi) for mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and other lymphoma subgroups. She highlighted findings from the phase 1 TRANSCEND NHL 001 trial, noting improved efficacy and safety in patients with fewer prior therapies and non-refractory disease, suggesting liso-cel's utility in earlier treatment lines and specific lymphoma subgroups.
Mark Harden
