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CU Cancer Center News and Stories

Research

Research    Community    Philanthropy    Magazine

Endowed Chairs Fund Vital Research at the University of Colorado Cancer Center 

Philanthropy is critical to the mission of the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Donors who are able to make gifts of any amount help CU Cancer Center members contribute to breakthrough research and improved patient outcomes. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date May 31, 2023
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Research    Pediatric Cancer    Brain and Spinal Cancer

Finding New Ways to Treat Diffuse Midline Gliomas 

Cancer is a sneaky disease. Find one method of treating it successfully, and it finds another way to survive. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date May 22, 2023
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Research    Pancreatic Cancer    Surgical Oncology    Transplant Surgery

Data Analysis Offers Promising News for Transplant Patients with Previous Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms Diagnosis

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) are cystic lesions that can form by the ducts of the pancreas. They generally are asymptomatic and discovered in the course of testing for other conditions.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date May 10, 2023
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Research    Community    Colorectal Cancer

NCI National Cancer Plan: Eliminating Inequities  

Thanks to the Colorado Cancer Screening Program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, more than 4,000 people from medically underserved populations received colorectal cancer screening over the past two years — individuals who likely would not have sought the screening out on their own.  


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date April 28, 2023
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Research    Community    Health equity

Lower-Income, Working Cancer Caregivers Experience Harder Financial Impacts

Cancer is a disease of ripples – from symptoms that precede a diagnosis to treatment, side effects, and goals for long-term survival. It can impact every facet of life, for the person who receives the diagnosis as well as the person who is their caregiver.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date April 27, 2023
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Research    Press Releases    Pancreatic Cancer    Clinical Trials

New Pancreatic Cancer Research Could Boost Survival Rates

A unique treatment combining radiation and immunotherapy can eradicate pancreatic tumors while stopping the cancer from spreading, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.


Author Julia Milzer | Publish Date April 27, 2023
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Research    Pediatric Cancer    Kidney Cancer    Urology

Research Shows that Lymph Node Sampling During Kidney Tumor Surgery Is Safe

A longstanding approach to surgeries for children with kidney tumors has been an abundance of caution.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date April 26, 2023
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Research    Blood Cancer    Immunotherapy    lymphoma

What is the Best Lymphoma Treatment After CAR T Therapy Fails? 

For 30% to 40% of lymphoma patients who receive CAR T therapy, the treatment is a godsend. Typically given to lymphoma patients for whom other treatments have proven ineffective, CAR T therapy involves removing immune cells from the body via a blood draw, reengineering them to become better cancer fighters, then reintroducing them to the bloodstream, where they seek out and destroy cancer cells. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date April 25, 2023
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Research    Community    Cancer   

Where Advanced Cancer Patients Are Discharged After Hospitalization Affects Outcomes

Cancer patients younger than 65 who are discharged to a skilled nursing facility following hospitalization are less likely to receive cancer treatment and hospice care before death, new University of Colorado Cancer Center research shows.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date April 12, 2023
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Research    Pediatric Cancer    Sarcoma    Radiation

Study Shows that Equivocal Scan Results Don’t Predict Higher Risk of Pediatric Cancer Relapse

For many pediatric cancer patients and their families, “scanxiety” is a very real and very scary feeling – the worry that can precede scans before treatment, and the uncertainty stemming from scans after treatment is completed.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date April 05, 2023
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Research    Lung Cancer    Radiation   

Research Shows Targeted Therapy Allows Certain Lung Cancer Patients to Avoid Whole-Brain Radiation

Whole-brain radiation therapy used to treat brain metastases is a significant cancer treatment that, while generally well-tolerated, can have serious long-term side effects, including dementia. Neither clinicians nor patients undertake it lightly.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date March 29, 2023
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Research    Community    Cancer

Growing Health and Wellness in the Community Garden

There’s a growing body of research supporting the satisfactions of gardening, from its positive impact as a mental health intervention to its association with improvement in cognitive function and reduction in stress, anger, and fatigue.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date March 28, 2023
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Research    Surgical Oncology    Awards

CU Cancer Center Member Named to National Cancer Institute Early-Stage Surgeon Scientist Program 

For her innovative research on how cannabinoids affect the tumor immune microenvironment in melanomaUniversity of Colorado Cancer Center member Camille Stewart, MD, has been named to the 2023 cohort of the National Cancer Institute’s Early-Stage Surgeon Scientist Program (ESSP). The National Cancer Institute coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date March 24, 2023
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Research    Head and Neck Cancer

Studying the Oral Cancer Immune Landscape in Dogs 

Squamous cell head and neck cancers — cancers that develop in the outer layers of tissue in the oral cavity, throat, larynx, and sinonasal cavity — are the sixth most prevalent cancer worldwide. The five-year survival rate for this type of cancer is 40% to 50%, with a worse prognosis for patients with advanced disease. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date March 21, 2023
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Research    Pediatric Cancer    Bone Cancer    Data analysis

Socioeconomic Status and Ethnicity Shown to Impact Pediatric Bone Cancer Outcomes

Pediatric osteosarcoma patients who are Hispanic or live in areas of high language isolation are more likely to have metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis, recently publish research shows.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date March 17, 2023
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Research    Awards

Sojourns Scholar Award Will Support Hospice Research in Communities of Color

Channing E. Tate, PhD, MPH, University of Colorado Cancer Center Rising Star, has seen through her personal and professional experiences how aging populations and communities of color often fall through the cracks of health care, especially at the end of life.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date March 07, 2023
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Research    Philanthropy    Esophageal Cancer

Gift From Patient’s Family Funds Exploration of New Treatment for Esophageal Cancer 

Funding from the Paul R. O’Hara Seed Grant Fund at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus will allow CU Cancer Center member Akshay Chauhan, MD, to explore new methods of detecting and treating esophageal cancer


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date March 06, 2023
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Research    Head and Neck Cancer    Clinical Trials

Innovative Technology Shows Great Promise Against Certain Head and Neck Cancers

Over the past decade, human papillomavirus (HPV) has increasingly been identified as a significant cause of certain head and neck cancers – for example, evidence suggests it causes 70% of oropharyngeal cancers in the United States.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date March 03, 2023
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Research    Blood Cancer   

Eric Kohler, MD, PhD, Receives Award to Improve CAR T-Cell Therapy 

Already regarded as one of the country’s leaders in CAR T-cell therapy, University of Colorado Cancer Center member M. Eric Kohler, MD, PhD, has received a $150,000 Scholar Award from the American Society of Hematology (ASH) to investigate a method to make CAR T cells function even better. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date February 24, 2023
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Research    Bone Cancer

V Foundation Funds CU Cancer Center Research on Pediatric Osteosarcoma That Spreads to the Lungs 

University of Colorado Cancer Center members Michael Leibowitz, MD, PhD, and Dan Regan, DVM, PhD, have received an $800,000 grant from the V Foundation for Cancer Research, co-founded by ESPN and legendary basketball coach Jim Valvano, to study a new potential treatment for pediatric osteosarcoma that spreads to the lungs. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date February 23, 2023
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Research   

Junior Faculty at CU Cancer Center Selected for 2023 American Cancer Society Grants 

Four early career researchers from the University of Colorado Cancer Center have received Institutional Research Grants (IRGs) from the American Cancer Society (ACS) for 2023 through the parent grant awarded to the CU Cancer Center. IRGs are intended to support junior faculty members to obtain preliminary results that will enable them to compete successfully for federal research grants.  


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date February 17, 2023
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Research    Cancer    Surgical Oncology

Most People Diagnosed with Cancer Seek Information Even Before Their Appointments

For many people who receive a cancer diagnosis, one of the first things they want is information – about the cancer itself, about treatment options, about side effects they may experience, about what it all means.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date February 13, 2023
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Research    Cancer    Genetics

Research Illuminates a Therapeutic Strategy to Induce Cancer Cell Death

Cancer is a disease driven by gene mutations. These mutated genes in cancer fall into two major categories: tumor suppressors and oncogenes. Mutations in tumor suppressor genes can allow tumors to grow unchecked – a case of no brakes – while mutations in oncogenes can activate cell proliferation, pushing the gas pedal all the way to the floor.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date February 10, 2023
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Research    Lung Cancer   

Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation Funds Efforts to Increase Lung Cancer Screening 

A project co-created by University of Colorado Cancer Center leader Jamie Studts, PhD, to boost lung cancer screening rates in Kentucky has proven so successful that Studts has received a grant from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMSF) to create an enhanced version of the program that will roll out in two more states in the coming years.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date January 23, 2023
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Research    Community   

CU Cancer Center Member Leads Conference on Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancers 

In addition to the research and clinical work she performs as a member of the University of Colorado Cancer CenterSwati Patel, MD, also just completed a one-year term as president of the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancer (CGA-IGC), an international professional medical organization dedicated to taking care of patients who may be at increased risk of GI cancer based on family history and genetics.  


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date January 17, 2023
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Research    Faculty    Lung Cancer   

Balancing Science and Medicine to Benefit Lung Cancer Patient Care

When his mom fell off a ladder on New Year’s Eve a number of years ago, after deciding that was as good a night as any to clean the leaves from her gutters, one of the first things Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, did after she got home from the hospital was take her pulse.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date January 12, 2023
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Research    Community    Immunotherapy   

What is Immunotherapy? 

When it comes to treating cancer, doctors have many tools in their arsenal. For decades, cancer was treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation — broad tools that affect healthy cells along with the cancer cells they are meant to eradicate. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date January 11, 2023
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Research    Prostate Cancer    Cancer   

Using Big Data to Help Understand when a Treatment is Right for Prostate Cancer Patients

As growing numbers of people diagnosed with cancer receive testing to have their cancer genetically sequenced, researchers and clinicians are learning volumes more about specific mutations and genetic alterations that can occur in each type of cancer.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date January 09, 2023
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Research    Blood Cancer    Funding   

New Grant Funding Supports Researcher in Understanding Early Factors in Blood Cancer

A necessary part of the scientific process is sometimes being wrong, and Eric Pietras, PhD, was wrong. He’s the first to admit it.

When Pietras, a University of Colorado Cancer Center member and associate professor of hematology, joined the CU School of Medicine in 2015, a significant body of research suggested that inflammation activated blood-forming stem cells, which normally are dormant in bone marrow.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date January 06, 2023
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Research    Cancer

CU Cancer Center Top Stories of 2022

2022 was an impressive year for the University of Colorado Cancer Center, and we were able to share more than 125 stories highlighting our research, patient care, education, and community partnerships.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date December 19, 2022
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Research    Patient Care    Head and Neck Cancer    Clinical Trials    Immunotherapy

Clinical Trial Participation Helps Woman Diagnosed with Laryngeal Cancer Enjoy Every Day Without the Disease

Jane Hart is a lot of things: extremely proud mom of Shelby, daughter extraordinaire and apple of Jane’s eye. Dog mom to (deservedly spoiled) Maizy, Taco, Winnie, and Walter. Collector of Talavera pottery. Unabashed “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” fan. A surprising 71, because she looks at least 10 years younger.

Cancer survivor – stage 4 laryngeal cancer that necessitated a tracheostomy and laryngectomy, that forced her to relearn how to breathe and talk.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date December 16, 2022
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Research    Melanoma

Drug Combination for Stage 4 Melanoma Shows Success in CU Cancer Center Trial

A new multidrug treatment for patients with stage 4 melanoma has proven effective after a three-year clinical trial at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date December 15, 2022
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Research    Press Releases    Pancreatic Cancer   

Largest Study of its Kind Reveals Adjuvant Chemotherapy Improves Overall Survival for Pancreatic Cancer Patients

Today, the University of Colorado Cancer Center released new research that showcases chemotherapy treatment before and after surgery for pancreatic cancer as the most effective combination for patients.


Author Julia Milzer | Publish Date December 08, 2022
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Research    Lung Cancer    Women's Health   

New Research from the University of Colorado Cancer Center Explores Options for Motherhood in Lung Cancer Patients

New research from the University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center highlights the need for additional data collection for women hoping to have successful pregnancies while undergoing treatment for lung cancer. Specifically, they focus on the diagnosis of advanced oncogene-driven non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that disproportionately affects women of reproductive age.


Author Laura Kelley | Publish Date December 02, 2022
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Research    Community    Cancer

Focusing on Cancer, Work, and Employment

In the course of her research studying employment and cancer, Cathy J. Bradley, PhD, MPA, deputy director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, has heard from people diagnosed with cancer who would skip a chemotherapy treatment rather than skip work and risk losing their job.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date November 16, 2022
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Research    Education    Community    Equity Diversity and Inclusion

PIKE-PREP Supports Scholars from Underrepresented Backgrounds in Pursuing Top-Tier Education

Xander Bradeen began his undergraduate studies at the University of Colorado Boulder planning to major in neuroscience as a pre-med student, the first in his family to pursue a college education. Then he learned about prairie voles.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date November 14, 2022
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Research    Leukemia

CU Cancer Center Research Finds the Pathway AML Cells Use to Avoid Therapeutic Elimination

New research conducted in the lab of University of Colorado Cancer Center co-deputy director James DeGregori, PhD, may explain why acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells that reside in the bone marrow are more resistant to medication than AML cells found in the blood and elsewhere in the body.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date November 11, 2022
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Research    Lung Cancer    Funding   

Translational Research Scholar Grant Supports Further Study of Immune Cell Changes During Lung Cancer Treatment

University of Colorado Cancer Center member Erin Schenk, MD, PhD, has been named one of the CU School of Medicine 2022 Translational Research Scholars and received four-year grant support to facilitate exploration and new lines of research.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date November 07, 2022
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Research    Community   

Michaela Montour Celebrated as Research Administrator of the Year 

Corralling four research programs, 12 shared resources, a 28-member leadership team, and a $23 million grant is a huge job — but it’s one that Michaela Montour has performed at the University of Colorado Center with ease for more than 20 years.  


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date October 31, 2022
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Research    Patient Care    Breast Cancer    Plastic Surgery

Multi-Faceted Treatment Helps Young Breast Cancer Patient Through Her Cancer Journey

Amanda Vegter did not have time for whatever it was that she felt on the side of her left breast.

She was six weeks into her fourth year of veterinary school, she had backpacking trips to go on with her boyfriend, walks to go on with her two dogs, plus plans for a summer externship in South Africa. She was busy and happy and it was probably nothing.

But that firm spot she first felt on her breast in January 2021 while working out at her boyfriend’s house didn’t just go away. Now she can look back and shake her head – of course it was breast cancer.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date October 21, 2022
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Research    Lung Cancer    Funding

CU ASPIRE Grant Supports Multi-Investigator Research Focusing on Lung Cancer Pre-Malignancy

A team of scientists and University of Colorado Cancer Center members are collaborating to understand pre-malignancy in lung cancer and decrease the risk of developing the disease, supported by a grant to promote such multi-investigator research.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date October 14, 2022
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Research

Colorado Researchers Gather in Aurora for Genome Regulation Symposium 

More than 85 researchers from five different institutions around Colorado, including the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Colorado State University, and CU Boulder, gathered in the newly opened Anschutz Health Sciences Building on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus on August 19 for the 2022 Genome Regulation Summer Symposium.  


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date October 07, 2022
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Research    Lung Cancer   

American Lung Association Award Funds CU Research on Epithelial Progenitor Cells 

University of Colorado Cancer Center members Moumita Ghosh, PhD, and Eric Clambey, PhD, have received a grant from the American Lung Association (ALA) to study how epithelial progenitor cells and immune cells may impact each other to shape the outcome of lung cancer


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date October 03, 2022
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Research    Colorectal Cancer    Cancer    Funding

R01 Grant Supports Deep Dive into Protein Associated with Cachexia in Late-Stage Colorectal Cancer

When a person has lived with colorectal cancer for a long time, and gotten to the point of not responding to therapies as much or at all, it’s common to develop cachexia. This debilitating condition is a multi-systemic wasting syndrome that can cause weight loss, a loss of muscle and bone mass, fatigue, and frailty.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date September 30, 2022
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Research    Lung Cancer   

CU Anschutz Researchers Create New Method to More Accurately Measure Cancer Lesions’ Response to Treatment

Researchers from the University of Colorado Cancer Center on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have created a new way of measuring cancer lesions’ response to treatment that could better inform the development of new cancer drugs.


Author Kelsea Pieters | Publish Date September 29, 2022
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Research    Prostate Cancer    Cancer   

Ongoing Research Studying Effect of High-Dose Testosterone in Treating Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and, when caught and treated early, is considered curable. But when prostate cancer becomes metastatic, meaning it spreads to distant organs, it is no longer considered curable and novel treatment strategies are needed.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date September 28, 2022
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Research    Patient Care    Brain and Spinal Cancer

A Wearable Device to Treat Brain Tumors

Thanks in part to clinical trials overseen by researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, a wearable, portable electrical device called Optune is proving successful at treating a type of brain tumor called a glioblastoma.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date September 19, 2022
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Research    Pediatric Cancer    Blood Cancer    Leukemia    Clinical Trials

St. Baldrick’s Funds CU Study of New Pediatric Leukemia Drug 

As part of its ongoing efforts to eradicate childhood cancers, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation has awarded University of Colorado Cancer Center member Kelly Faulk, MD, a St. Baldrick’s Scholar grant to investigate a new method for treating infant leukemia


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date September 08, 2022
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Research    Colorectal Cancer    Clinical Trials    DOM Newsletter

CU Cancer Center Leading Clinical Trial of New Drug to Treat Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

A new phase 2 clinical trial led by University of Colorado Cancer Center member Robert Lentz, MD, may offer hope for patients with metastatic colon cancer for whom standard therapy is no longer effective. Lentz is mentored by Wells Messersmith, MD, associate director of clinical services at the CU Cancer Center.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date September 07, 2022
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Research    Pediatric Cancer    Brain and Spinal Cancer

CU Cancer Center Is Home to One of the Largest Groups of Pediatric Brain Tumor Researchers in the Country

Initially, the big picture looks severe: Pediatric brain tumors are now the number one cause of death for children diagnosed with cancer.

Though leukemia is four times more common in pediatric patients than brain tumors, about 90% of children diagnosed with leukemia will experience a cure “because we’ve done such a good job of researching leukemia, and treatments have come so far that cure rates have improved significantly,” says Rajeev Vibhakar, MD, PhD, MPH, a professor of pediatric hematology and oncology in the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “We need to see that same level of support and advancement in finding cures for pediatric brain tumors.”


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date September 01, 2022
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Research    Blood Cancer    Leukemia

New Research Grant Underscores the CU Cancer Center’s Long Relationship With the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 

In research that reinforces the University of Colorado Cancer Center’s longstanding relationship with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), CU Cancer Center member Lauren Nicholas, PhD, MPP, is co-principal investigator on a new LLS-funded study to examine the role of Medicare plan selection in dealing with a blood cancer diagnosis.  


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date August 30, 2022
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Research    Breast Cancer    DNA   

Researchers Find Less Risky Way to Monitor Breast Cancer Progression

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered how to extract critical information about breast cancer tumors and disease progression by analyzing blood plasma rather than using more invasive tissue biopsies.

“This is simply a blood draw,” said the study’s senior co-author Peter Kabos, MD, associate professor of medicine in the medical oncology division at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and CU Cancer Center member. “This allows us to look under the surface to see the defining characteristics of the disease. The advantage is that we don’t need to do repeated tissue biopsies.”


Author David Kelly | Publish Date August 25, 2022
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Research    Education    Students    Diversity   

Diversity in Cancer Research Program Hosts Undergraduate Students for Hands-On Experience at CU Cancer Center

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.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date August 18, 2022
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Research    Patient Care    Awareness    Esophageal Cancer

Esophageal Cancer Patient Thriving and Optimistic after Multidisciplinary Care

Less than a year ago, Ken Herfert got a puppy and named her Bailey after the Colorado town where she was born.

This was a big deal for several reasons, including the responsibility of adopting a new family member, but perhaps the biggest was this: About six months after receiving a diagnosis of esophageal cancer in early 2018, Herfert’s oncologist in California told him he had maybe a year to live, maybe less.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date August 16, 2022
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Research    Cancer    Clinical Trials

Studying Psychedelics to Treat Psychiatric Distress in Late-Stage Cancer

The effects of cancer are not just physical, especially in advanced stages of the disease. People living with a cancer diagnosis may experience depression, anxiety, and fear, or feel demoralized by the weight of new and unanticipated burdens.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date August 15, 2022
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Research    Community    Faculty   

First In-Person Nuclear Receptors IMPACT Meeting Focuses on Support and Collaboration

For many researchers, the end of a post-doctoral fellowship and entry into a junior faculty position can be a time without a map.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date August 12, 2022
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Research    Brain and Spinal Cancer   

Lipid Nanoparticles Show Significant Promise in Carrying Cancer Drugs to Tumors

Among the biggest obstacles in studying and treating brain tumors are the blood-brain and blood-tumor barriers (BBTB). Generally, just a small amount of drug that is injected into the blood to treat brain tumors is able to penetrate blood vessel walls and accumulate in the brain.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date August 10, 2022
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Research    Community   

Emphasizing The Importance of Patient Navigation 

A cancer diagnosis can be difficult to work through in the best of circumstances, but factor in barriers related to language, insurance status, educational achievement, geographic location, income level, and more, and the cancer journey — everything from prevention and screening to diagnosis and treatment — can become nearly impossible to traverse. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date August 05, 2022
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Research    Breast Cancer

Research Shows Low Patient Comprehension of Terms Commonly Found in Electronic Health Information

When the 21st Century Cures Act went into effect in April 2021, health care organizations began releasing electronic health information (EHI) to patients immediately.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date August 04, 2022
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Research    Breast Cancer   

Study Could Lead to Better Education and Treatment of Sexual Health for Breast Cancer Patients

A new study released by the University of Colorado Cancer Center shows that more than 70 percent of breast cancer patients have reported changes that affect their sexual health during and beyond treatment.


Author Laura Kelley | Publish Date August 02, 2022
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Research    Community    Lung Cancer

ALK Positive Summit Focuses on Community and Survivorship

Until 2007, about 1 in 20 lung cancer patients all had the same thing in common but did not know it.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date August 01, 2022
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Research    Community    Cancer

Newly Developed Reference Chart Helps Monitor Cancer-Related Fatigue Improvements Through Exercise Program

For people living with and beyond cancer, one of the most common and limiting side effects is cancer-related fatigue (CRF).


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date July 29, 2022
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Research    Press Releases    Lung Cancer   

CU Cancer Center Study Aims to Predict Critical Markers for Lung Cancer Treatments

A new study from the University of Colorado Cancer Center explores which lung cancer patients are the best candidates for novel therapies that directly target a gene identified as driving certain cancers.


Author Julia Milzer | Publish Date July 27, 2022
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Research    Sarcoma

CU Cancer Center Hosts Conference on Kaposi Sarcoma Herpesvirus 

Some 100 researchers from around the world were in Aurora last week to discuss the latest findings and news around Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), the virus that causes a type of cancer known as Kaposi sarcoma.  


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date July 21, 2022
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Research    Endometrial Cancer   

Access to National Patient Data Aids CU Cancer Research  

The bad news about endometrial cancer — cancer that begins in the lining of the uterus — is that it is one of the few cancers that is increasing in incidence even as most other cancers are on the decline, thanks to advances in treatment and prevention.  


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date July 18, 2022
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Research    Immunotherapy    lymphoma

Research Shows CAR T Cell Therapy Is Effective Second-Line Treatment for Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) is one of the most aggressive lymphomas and accounts for about 30% of all lymphoma diagnoses.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date July 14, 2022
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Research    Patient Care    Sarcoma    Clinical Trials   

Beating a Deadly Sarcoma 

Ward McNeilly thought he was a goner.  

It was summer 2021, and the sarcoma that had started in the Denver resident’s left thigh seemed to be under control, subdued by radiation and chemotherapy following a surgery in 2018 to remove the initial tumor and another surgery in 2019 to remove cancerous tumors in his groin. McNeilly was doing so well, in fact, that his doctors at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital authorized a “chemo vacation” to give his body a break from some of the side effects of the treatment.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date July 11, 2022
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Research    Thyroid Cancer   

AI Can Recognize Thyroid Nodules That Are Very Unlikely To Be Cancerous 

Artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to reduce the number of biopsies of benign thyroid nodules, according to new research from University of Colorado Cancer Center member Nikita Pozdeyev, MD. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date July 08, 2022
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Research    Lung Cancer    Immunotherapy

CU Cancer Center Researcher Focusing on Multiple Avenues of Immunoprevention for Lung Cancer

An exciting and innovative area of cancer research is immunoprevention, in which studies focus on preventing cancer before its onset by using vaccines, antibodies, and other immune mechanisms.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date July 06, 2022
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Research    Cancer    Funding

American Cancer Society Supports CU Cancer Center Researchers with Almost $2 Million in Grant Funding

Three University of Colorado Cancer Center scientists have received a combined total of almost $2 million in grant funding from the American Cancer Society (ACS) to support research addressing a broad spectrum of cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date July 01, 2022
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Research    Breast Cancer

Using Big Data to Better Understand Cancerous Mutations

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are among the latest tools being used by cancer researchers to aid in detection and treatment of the disease.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date June 29, 2022
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Research    Support    Cancer    Funding

CU Cancer Center Researchers Receive AB Nexus Grant Support for Intercampus Collaboration

University of Colorado Cancer Center researchers from the Anschutz and Boulder campuses are collaborating on a broad range of research that recently received AB Nexus support.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date June 24, 2022
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Research    Breast Cancer    Genetics

Commonly Mutated Gene Shown to Drive Therapeutic Resistance in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

PIK3CA is a gene that makes an enzyme called PI3K, which is involved in many important cell functions. When PIK3CA mutates, however, it can make the PI3K enzyme become overactive and cause cancer cells to grow.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date June 22, 2022
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Research    Community    Pediatric Cancer

Wheels of Justice Cycling Team Raises Money for Cancer Research and Treatment Provided by CU Cancer Center Members 

The cancer journey can be a solitary one, whether you’re a patient, a survivor, or a friend or family member of someone who died from the disease. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date June 06, 2022
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Research    Patient Care

National Cancer Survivors Day 2022

In recognition of National Cancer Survivors Day on June 5, we wanted to share how far cancer survivorship has come, our efforts at the University of Colorado Cancer Center to further the research that results in survivorship, and some of our survivor stories from the past year.


Author Shelly Lange | Publish Date June 03, 2022
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Research    Bladder Cancer   

Older Adults with Advanced Bladder Cancer Prioritize Honest Information about What to Expect

The median age for receiving a bladder cancer diagnosis is 73, and a significant number of those living with the disease are in their 70s and 80s.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date June 01, 2022
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Research    Cancer    Funding    Animal

Four Collaborative Human/Canine Cancer Research Projects Receive Pilot Grant Funding

Four research projects conducted by University of Colorado Cancer Center members from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Colorado State University recently each received $50,000 pilot grant funding from the Joint Pilot Program of the CU Cancer Center and CSU Flint Animal Cancer Center.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date May 26, 2022
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Research    Community    Magazine    Clinical Trials

Growing Evidence Shows Increasing Overlaps Between Human and Companion Animal Cancer Research

Molly the golden retriever was a fan of cookies. Whenever there was a plate of them nearby, she kept her eye on it, waiting for her chance to sneak one or five. She was a fan of water, too, even after she had surgery to remove her left front leg following an osteosarcoma, or bone cancer, diagnosis in April 2017.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date May 19, 2022
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Research    Community    COVID-19    Cancer

Early Days of COVID-19 Pandemic Brought Increased Anxiety for Some Cancer Survivors

Among the many lessons collectively learned during the initial months of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic was this: The experience was uncharted psychological and emotional terrain. It wasn’t uncommon for people across the globe to express uncertainty about how to navigate new stresses and new emotions.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date May 16, 2022
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Research

Natalie Serkova, MSc, PhD, Named Deputy Associate Director of Shared Resources at CU Cancer Center 

She was recognized by her peers in 2021 for her leadership at the University of Colorado Cancer Center’s Animal Imaging Shared Resource. Now Natalie Serkova, MSc, PhD, is bringing her expertise to a new role: deputy associate director of all shared resources at the CU Cancer Center.  


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date May 11, 2022
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Research    Prostate Cancer

How Tumor Cells Use Mitochondria to Keep Growing 

Hormone therapy is often used to treat prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, but many patients develop resistance to hormone therapy, causing their disease to become more aggressive and potentially more deadly. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date May 10, 2022
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Research    Community    Support    Magazine    Multiple Myeloma

A Woman Who Lived in the Light Inspires Research of the Cancer She Wouldn’t Let Defeat Her

Michael Joseph Roark – Mike to his friends – met Mary Jo Dougherty in a ski fitness class taught by Anne Kashiwa at the former International Athletic Club in downtown Denver.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date May 05, 2022
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Research   

National Cancer Research Month 2022

There are four broad categories of cancer research. The University of Colorado Cancer Center has researchers working in each of these four areas, collaborating to prevent and conquer cancer.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date May 02, 2022
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Research    Community    Lung Cancer   

New TORI Director Looking Forward to Supporting Multidisciplinary Research and Building Relationships

This year, lung cancer will account for an estimated 130,000 deaths in the United States – approximately 25% of all cancer deaths. Among those deaths, people who are Black will be disproportionately represented.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date April 29, 2022
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Research    Pediatric Cancer

How Creative Arts Therapy Helps Young Cancer Patients Through Their Treatment Journey

 As a former dancer and dance instructor, CU Cancer Center member Jennifer Raybin, PhD, knows the power the creative arts hold to help people through challenging times. As a nurse practitioner who led the Palliative Care Program at Children’s Hospital Colorado, she knows the creative arts can be especially helpful for children and young adults with cancer. Creative activities help patients deal with symptoms, improve their mood, and even ease disease and treatment symptoms like pain, nausea, and fatigue.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date April 28, 2022
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Research    Melanoma

A Potential Way Around Immunotherapy Resistance 

The development of the anti-cancer immunotherapy drugs called immune checkpoint inhibitors has improved treatment for many cancer patients, but patients with mucosal melanomas — melanomas that occur not on the skin but in the mucous membranes in the head, neck, eyes, respiratory tract, and genitourinary region — are particularly resistant to immune checkpoint inhibitors for reasons researchers don’t fully understand. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date April 25, 2022
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Research    Cancer    Genetics

Drug Developed in CU Lab Shows Promise Against a Novel Oncogene that Supports Cancer Progression

An enzyme that has been identified as instrumental in the progression of many types of cancer is meeting its match in inhibitors synthesized and evaluated by University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center researchers.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date April 04, 2022
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Research    Community    Faculty   

Rising Star Position Will Support Health Disparities and Shared Decision-Making Research

While conducting research for her doctoral dissertation, Channing Tate, PhD, MPH, spoke with 144 older Black adults about hospice care – what they knew about it, whether they’d consider it, what their experiences with hospice had been.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date March 25, 2022
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Research    Community    Awareness    Colorectal Cancer   

Younger Patients Increasingly Being Diagnosed with Late-Stage Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer, the third most commonly-diagnosed cancer in the United States (excluding skin cancers) and second leading cause of cancer-related mortality, is increasingly affecting people in their 20s and 30s, recently published research shows.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date March 23, 2022
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Research    Lung Cancer

Studying the Role of Different Signaling Pathways in RET-Positive Lung Cancer Treatment Resistance 

University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center member Tejas Patil, MD, is one of three researchers to receive a combined $1 million grant from the Hamoui Foundation and LUNGevity Foundation to study RET-positive lung cancer


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date March 21, 2022
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Research    Awareness    Pediatric Cancer    Brain and Spinal Cancer

Youngest Brain Tumor Patients Have Significantly Poorer Outcomes than Older Pediatric Patients

A University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center researcher has found, through extensive data analysis, that the youngest patients with brain tumors – those ages birth to 3 months – have about half the five-year survival rate as children ages 1 to 19.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date March 18, 2022
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Research    Melanoma    Surgical Oncology   

Changing the Standard of Care for Stage III Melanoma Surgery 

For years, surgery for patients with stage III melanoma — melanoma that has spread to the lymph nodes — involved removing those lymph nodes along with the primary tumor. Known as completion lymph node dissection (CLND), the surgery was meant to ensure that no cancer remained after surgery.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date March 04, 2022
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Research    Community    Pediatric Cancer    Sarcoma

Research Finds a Specific Gene Is Critical for the Progression of Pediatric Rhabdomyosarcoma Tumors

In normal human development, the SIX1 gene is critical for embryonic muscle development. After a person is born and as they mature, SIX1 is downregulated, or becomes less prevalent in cells.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date March 02, 2022
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Research    Community    Kidney Cancer   

5 Things to Know About Kidney Cancer 

March is Kidney Cancer Awareness Month, and to get the latest information on the disease, we spoke with University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center member Elaine Lam, MD, FACP, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date March 02, 2022
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Research    Community    Awareness    Gynecologic Cancer    Vaccinations

HPV Education and Patient Navigation Project Seeks to Raise Awareness of Need for HPV Vaccine

Even as exciting developments are happening in cervical cancer research, an estimated 14,100 new cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date February 16, 2022
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Research    Community    Cancer

Cancer Clinical Trials Office Welcomes New Medical Director

The University of Colorado Cancer Center is pleased to announce that Marie Wood, MD, has been named the medical director of the Cancer Clinical Trials Office (CCTO).


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date February 11, 2022
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Research    Breast Cancer    Pediatric Cancer    Melanoma    Funding

CU Cancer Center Members Receive Grants to Conduct High-Tech Research 

The Tumor-Host Interactions Program (THI) at the University of Colorado Cancer Center has awarded four CU Cancer Center researchers $30,000 each to gain preliminary data using the Multiplex Ion Beam Imager (MIBI) housed in the cancer center’s Human Immune Monitoring Shared Resource (HIMSR) to support a competitive national grant proposal. The selected researchers are expected to submit a national competitive grant proposal within six months of completing their THI-MIBI pilot studies.  


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date February 10, 2022
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Research    Breast Cancer

Dietary Strategies for Preventing Breast Cancer Recurrence

Can dietary strategies like intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating help breast cancer survivors prevent their tumors from recurring? It’s a question researchers at the University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center are looking to answer with a new study funded by a $3 million R01 grant from the National Cancer Institute.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date February 09, 2022
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Research    Esophageal Cancer

Improving Detection of Esophageal Cancer in Patients with Barrett’s Esophagus

On a mission to increase early detection of esophageal cancer, University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center member Sachin Wani, MD, is leading a study to see if a novel diagnostic platform can help endoscopists better identify the disease in patients with a condition called Barrett’s esophagus.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date February 07, 2022
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Research    Community   

CU Cancer Center Research Highlights Objectives of Biden's Moonshot Initiative

On this World Cancer Day, the University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center looks back to earlier this week when President Biden reignited his Cancer Moonshot initiative, setting ambitious goals to “reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years and improve the experience of people and their families living with and surviving cancer — and by doing this and more, end cancer as we know it today.” 


Author Shelly Lange | Publish Date February 04, 2022
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Research    Faculty    Magazine    Oncology

Wells Messersmith, MD, Named CMO of Oncology Services at UCHealth

University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center leader Wells Messersmith, MD, has been named chief medical officer of oncology services at UCHealth. In this new role, Messersmith will oversee cancer care at all UCHealth locations with a focus on expanding advanced treatments and the clinical trials UCHealth offers in partnership with the CU Cancer Center.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date January 27, 2022
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Research    Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Louie Anderson’s Death Brings Attention to Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma

 Comedian Louie Anderson — known for his stand-up routines, as well as a hosting stint on “Family Feud,” his animated series “Life With Louie,” and a more recent role on the FX comedy series “Baskets” — died January 21of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. He was 68.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date January 25, 2022
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Research    Faculty    Pilot Award

Five CU Cancer Center Members Receive Grants From Golfers Against Cancer

Three research teams at the University of Colorado Cancer Center have received $50,000 grants from the Denver Chapter of Golfers Against Cancer to support their research in fighting the disease.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date January 13, 2022
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Research    Patient Care    Prostate Cancer    Clinical Trials

New Testosterone Treatment Options for Prostate Cancer Patients

Carlos J. Castro transferred his care to Elizabeth Kessler, MD, University of Colorado Cancer Center member, after learning about a clinical trial that gave him a new treatment option for his stage 4 prostate cancer.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date January 12, 2022
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Research    Community    Awareness    Cancer   

Molecular and Cellular Oncology Program Co-Leaders Focus on Growing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Research

In the past, molecular and cellular oncology research often began with the idea that cells are cells and proteins are proteins, and it didn’t especially matter who provided the sample.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date December 22, 2021
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Research    Education    Community

CU Cancer Center Top Stories of 2021

This was another exciting year for the University of Colorado Cancer Center, and we were able to share more than 80 stories spotlighting our members and their research. We also shared the cancer journeys of some of our patients.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date December 16, 2021
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Research    Faculty    Pancreatic Cancer    Funding

Cancer Immunotherapy Research Receives Significant Support from R01 Grant

Some battles begin before a shot is even fired, with an army building bridges and grading roads, clearing and smoothing the path to make the invading force stronger and more effective.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date December 14, 2021
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Research    Blood Cancer

New Hope for Patients With Relapsed Large B-cell Lymphoma

Of the 18,000 people diagnosed with large B-cell lymphoma each year, only half will be successfully treated with chemotherapy. The 9,000 remaining patients typically have poor outcomes, with only 25% responding to additional, higher-intensity chemotherapy, followed by a stem cell transplant.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date December 13, 2021
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Research    Community    Faculty    Cancer

New Program Leadership at the CU Cancer Center

The University of Colorado Cancer Center is pleased to announce several leadership transitions that will support the center in its mission to overcome cancer through innovation, discovery, prevention, early detection, multidisciplinary care, and education.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date December 10, 2021
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Research    Faculty    Cancer

Research Demonstrates that Cells with Cancer-Associated Mutations Overtake Human Tissue with Age

It’s worth noting, in light of recently published research, that a majority of people won’t be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. According to the National Cancer Institute, about 40% of people will, which means 60% won’t.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date December 03, 2021
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Research    Community    Magazine    Child & Adolescent

Addressing the International Childhood Cancer Crisis

Sandra Luna-Fineman, MD, treats children and adolescents with cancer from around the U.S. in her role as a pediatric oncologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, but she knows that children in low- and middle-income countries around the world need her help the most.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date December 01, 2021
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Research    Melanoma    Surgical Oncology

AB Nexus Funds Intercampus Research on Sepsis

Looking to improve methods to treat patients with sepsis, Richard Tobin, PhD, an assistant research professor of surgical oncology in the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and Laurel Hind, PhD, an assistant professor in the biomedical engineering program at the University of Colorado Boulder, are teaming up to study the role of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in sepsis.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date November 29, 2021
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Research    Faculty    Pancreatic Cancer    Surgical Oncology

Two CU Cancer Center Members Recognized as World Experts in Pancreatic Neoplasms

Two University of Colorado Cancer Center physicians have been recognized as world experts in in pancreatic neoplasms by the 2021 Expertscape rankings.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date November 19, 2021
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Research    Pediatric Cancer

Using PET Scans to Better Treat Cancer Patients

One of the primary tools that oncologists use to stage cancers is the PET (positron emission tomography) scan, an imaging test that uses a small amount of radioactive sugar to detect metabolically active areas within the body.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date November 18, 2021
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Research    Community    Lung Cancer

Lung Cancer Screening Rates Increase With Access to Medicare

Lung cancer screening is recommended only for those who are at high risk for the disease — adults ages 50­–80 who smoke at least 20 packs a year — but even among members of that high-risk group, screening rates remain low, ranging from 5% to 20% of those eligible for the screening CT scan.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date November 15, 2021
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Research    Patient Care    Magazine   

Driving Revolutionary Advances in Cancer Treatment

“When you lose hope, you lose everything,” says Ron Randolph. “It’s like you’re in the bottom of a hole and you see this light at the top of the hole. It’s a very small light, but there’s no way to escape.”


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date November 11, 2021
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Research    Community    Lung Cancer    Magazine

Improving Survivorship for Individuals Diagnosed With Lung Cancer

There are two things most people believe about lung cancer, says Jamie Studts, PhD, co-leader of the Cancer Prevention & Control Program at the CU Cancer Center: Those who suffer from it most likely caused it by using tobacco, and the prognosis for surviving the disease is poor.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date November 02, 2021
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Research    Patient Care    Community    Breast Cancer    Magazine    Surgical Oncology

Breast Cancer Research Gathers Data to Help Women Understand Well-Being Outcomes After Surgery

When a woman receives a breast cancer diagnosis, she may have many questions about her immediate future – the stage of the disease, what treatment she’ll receive, where it will happen.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date October 22, 2021
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Research    Thyroid Cancer    Clinical Research    Clinical Trials

Clinical Trial Experience Motivates Participant to Become Advocate

Tommy Stewart was already a prostate cancer survivor when, during his annual physical in 2004, his physician felt a nodule on his neck.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date October 04, 2021
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Research    Community

Keeping Up Exercise Levels for Cancer Survivors

The cancer survivorship journey can have many components, but one of the most important is regular exercise. Physical activity for individuals who have completed cancer treatment can build stamina, reduce anxiety, improve quality of life and physical fitness, and even improve survival outcomes.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date October 01, 2021
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Research    Faculty    Lung Cancer

LUNGevity Award Supports Ongoing Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Research

One of the reasons why cancer continues developing and growing is not just because cancer cells exist, but because they can recruit help from the body’s own blood vessels, stromal cells, and immune cells.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date September 30, 2021
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Research    Pediatric Cancer

Targeting a Rare Secondary Cancer in Children

 It’s one of the most heartbreaking things Adam Green, MD, sees as a pediatric oncologist: children who beat their cancer, only to see an incurable brain tumor arise five years later.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date September 28, 2021
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Research    Melanoma

Why Don’t Adrenal Gland Metastases Respond to Immunotherapy?

Recent advances in immunotherapy have allowed doctors at the University of Colorado Cancer Center to more effectively treat melanomas that spread to other parts of the body. Immunotherapy drugs such as checkpoint inhibitors, which are commonly used to treat melanomas, work to strengthen a patient’s immune system so that it can prevent a tumor from “turning off” the ability of the immune system to fight it.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date September 23, 2021
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Research    Head and Neck Cancer    Clinical Trials

Research Leading to Clinical Trial Testing Two-Armed Approach to Treating Head and Neck Cancer

A crucial challenge in cancer research is figuring out how to make immunotherapies more effective, channeling, and selectively guiding the body’s own immune responses in targeting and killing tumors.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date September 21, 2021
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Research    Breast Cancer

Putting a Target on Breast Cancer That Spreads to the Brain

Breast cancer patients whose cancer spreads to the brain may soon have new treatment options, thanks to research led by CU Cancer Center member Diana Cittelly, PhD.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date September 20, 2021
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Research    Pediatric Cancer    Leukemia

CU Cancer Center Member M. Eric Kohler, MD, PhD, Receives Award to Develop Immunotherapy Treatment for Pediatric Leukemia

University of Colorado Cancer Center member M. Eric Kohler, MD, PhD, was awarded a three-year, $270,650 Young Investigator Grant from CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, in partnership with the SebastianStrong Foundation, to develop a new treatment approach for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a rare blood cancer in children.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date September 17, 2021
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Research    Brain and Spinal Cancer

Studying Resistance to Therapy in BRAF-Mutated Brain Tumors

Looking to understand why some brain tumors with a specific mutation can start to reject drugs commonly used to treat them, CU Cancer Center member Jean Mulcahy Levy, MD, led researchers from institutions around the country — including several from the University of Colorado School of Medicine — to study samples of brain tumors before and after being treated with the drug.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date September 15, 2021
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Research    Cancer    Ovarian Cancer

Innovative Ovarian Cancer Research Newly Supported by R37 MERIT Award

One of the most impactful advancements during the past decade in treating ovarian cancer is the use of PARP inhibitors (short for poly adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase). PARP inhibitors are a type of cancer drug that blocks the PARP enzyme from helping to repair DNA damage in cancer cells.


Author Rachel Sauer | Publish Date September 13, 2021
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Research    Innovation

GOAL Consortium Facilitates Group Purchases and Knowledge Sharing for Academic Pathology Testing Labs

When Dara Aisner, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, was approached by a colleague at another university about splitting the cost of a bulk purchase of new clinical testing products, she initially declined. Although it would be a valuable resource — and might even save her lab money in the long-term — the short-term cost was prohibitive.


Author Valerie Gleaton | Publish Date September 07, 2021
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Research    Breast Cancer

Seeking a Unique Treatment for Lobular Breast Cancer

Though the two main histological types of breast cancer — lobular and ductal — are treated with the same hormonal therapies, women with lobular breast cancer often have recurrence or metastasis of the disease several years after their initial treatment.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date July 28, 2021
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Research    Education    Magazine

Educational Pipelines Ensure Future Interest in Cancer Research

When you ask a classroom full of middle schoolers what they want to be when they grow up, you’re likely to get a range of answers, from “pro athletes” and “astronauts” to “musicians” and “movie stars.”


Author Valerie Gleaton | Publish Date July 26, 2021
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Research    COVID-19    Clinical Trials

Adjusting to the Virus Has Long-Term Advantages for Clinical Trials

The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic were an adjustment period for medical professionals across the board, but they brought up particular challenges for the Cancer Clinical Trial Office (CCTO) at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. A number of procedures that used to take place in person or in the office — collecting signatures from patients and doctors, delivering medications, submitting data to trial sponsors — suddenly had to be done in a whole new way.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date July 22, 2021
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Research    Lung Cancer

Study Identifies MET Amplification as Driver for Some Non-Small Cell Lung Cancers

A study led by D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, director of thoracic oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and CU Cancer Center member, has helped to define MET amplification as a rare but potentially actionable driver for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).


Author Valerie Gleaton | Publish Date July 19, 2021
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Research   

Helping Working Cancer Caregivers Manage Stress

It’s difficult enough when a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, but employed spouses of those who receive the diagnosis also are confronted with an array of practical problems. It’s now up to them to untangle issues around medical leave, health insurance, caregiving benefits, and more.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date July 14, 2021
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Research    Brain and Spinal Cancer   

Study Sheds Light on Mechanism of Liposome Accumulation in Tumors

Dmitri Simberg, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and a CU Cancer Center member, has released the results of a new study of the effectiveness of different types of fluorescent labels used to monitor the accumulation of liposomes in tumors.


Author Valerie Gleaton | Publish Date July 08, 2021
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Research    Honors    Magazine

Director of CU Cancer Center’s Animal Imaging Shared Resource Honored for Contributions to the Field

As director of the Animal Imaging Shared Resource at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, Natalie Serkova, PhD, has played an integral part in many groundbreaking projects on the Anschutz Medical Campus.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date July 07, 2021
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Research

CU Cancer Center Researchers Showcase Their Work at Virtual Event

Nearly 30 researchers and physicians from the University of Colorado Cancer Center shared the results of their work at a June 15 online event titled “Collaborating to Conquer Cancer: A virtual conversation benefiting the CU Cancer Center.”


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date July 06, 2021
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Research    Magazine

Metabolism is a Key Research Area at the CU Cancer Center

All cells use the process of metabolism to turn nutrients into energy — including cancer cells. Metabolism is a fundamental function whose role in cancer is being explored by researchers across the CU Cancer Center.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date June 30, 2021
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Research    Blood Cancer

Two Studies by CU Cancer Center Researchers Explore Link Between Inflammation and Leukemia

Two recent collaborative publications by CU Cancer Center members provide insights into how chronic inflammation can serve as a key factor in the development of leukemia and other blood cancers.


Author Valerie Gleaton | Publish Date June 28, 2021
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Research    Breast Cancer

Promising New Research for Metastatic Breast Cancer

A discovery by CU Cancer Center member Traci Lyons, PhD, is providing new hope for women with metastatic breast cancer.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date June 25, 2021
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Research    Honors    Blood Cancer

Effect of Oil and Gas Exposure on Childhood Leukemia Risk Studied by CU Cancer Center Researcher

A pilot study of childhood leukemia patients living near Colorado’s oil and gas drilling sites recently led to an American Cancer Society (ACS) grant award for CU Cancer Center member Lisa McKenzie PhD, MPH.  


Author Valerie Gleaton | Publish Date June 09, 2021
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Research    Honors    Head and Neck Cancer    Magazine    Funding

CU Cancer Center Receives Highly Competitive SPORE Grant for Head and Neck Cancer

Research and treatment of head and neck cancers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center reached a new level this month with a highly competitive Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The SPORE was approved by NCI Scientific Program leadership for FY2021 funding; the projected starting date is July 1.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date June 07, 2021
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Research    Pediatric Cancer    Magazine

CU Cancer Members Recognized for Contributions to Immunotherapy in Pediatric Cancer

Three members of the University of Colorado Cancer Center and a longstanding supporter of the campus are part of a group of more than 200 researchers nationwide who were recognized in April with the Team Science Award from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date May 28, 2021
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Research    Patient Care    Esophageal Cancer    Surgical Oncology    Clinical Trials

Investigating a Better Treatment Sequence for Esophageal Cancer

Looking for better ways to treat patients with esophageal cancer, University of Colorado Cancer Center member Martin McCarter, MD, is investigating whether a new treatment sequence will result in better outcomes.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date May 25, 2021
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Research    Patient Care    Community    Lung Cancer

From Debilitating Chemo to One Pill a Day for Lung Cancer

One of the most difficult nights of Hank Baskett Sr.’s life was the night he told his wife he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date May 24, 2021
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Research    COVID-19   

Are the COVID-19 Vaccines Good News for Cancer Care?

Long before RNA and mRNA became important parts of the COVID-19 vaccine conversation, researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine were studying how RNA biology can improve diagnostics and therapeutics for a range of diseases.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date May 18, 2021
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Research    Cancer

May Is National Cancer Research Month

May is National Cancer Research Month, during this time we aim to raise awareness of the high-quality, innovative cancer research happening at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. This research continues to help the more than 16.9 million people in the United States who are living with, through, and beyond their cancer diagnoses. 


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date May 06, 2021
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Research    Patient Care    Blood Cancer

From Start-Up to Established: Lymphoma Program Celebrates Six Years

When Manali Kamdar, MD, joined the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Division of Hematology as clinical director of lymphoma services in January 2015, she was fresh off her third fellowship (a bone marrow transplant and lymphoma fellowship at Stanford) and ready for a new challenge.  


Author Valerie Gleaton | Publish Date May 05, 2021
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Research    Prostate Cancer

Department of Defense Grants Help CU Cancer Center Researchers Investigate Metastasis

Two members of the University of Colorado Cancer Center have received prestigious Idea Awards from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP).


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date April 27, 2021
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Research    Head and Neck Cancer

A New Method For Fighting ‘Cold’ Tumors

Not all cancerous tumors are created equal. Some tumors, known as “hot” tumors, show signs of inflammation, which means they are infiltrated with T cells working to fight the cancer. Those tumors are easier to treat, as immunotherapy drugs can then amp up the immune response.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date April 22, 2021
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Research    Head and Neck Cancer

Inter-campus Collaboration Receives R01 Award to Study Salivary Gland Cancer

Two University of Colorado Cancer Center researchers have received a five-year R01 Award for $497,893 per year from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study a potential new drug treatment for salivary gland cancer. The award is part of an inter-campus collaboration between Antonio Jimeno, MD, PhD, co-leader of the Developmental Therapeutics Program, and Tin Tin Su, PhD, co-leader of the Molecular and Cellular Oncology Program.


Author Valerie Gleaton | Publish Date April 16, 2021
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Research    Surgical Oncology

Tackling Unconscious Bias in Surgical Oncology

Over the past few years, Camille Stewart, MD, assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology, has conducted research for the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) to examine unconscious bias within the organization. In her studies, Stewart examines unconscious bias and microaggressions by focusing on the subtle differences in introductions of speakers at professional meetings and conferences.


Author Siyab Khan | Publish Date April 15, 2021
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Research

How transcription factors work together in cancer formation

A new study co-authored by University of Colorado Cancer Center researcher Srinivas Ramachandran, PhD, shows how DNA segments known as enhancers function in cells.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date April 13, 2021
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Research    Prostate Cancer

Better treatment for aggressive prostate cancer

New research from CU Cancer Center member Scott Cramer, PhD, and his colleagues could help in the treatment of men with certain aggressive types of prostate cancer.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date April 12, 2021
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Research    Patient Care    Awareness    Pediatric Cancer    Kidney Cancer

Research supports the practice of personalized treatment to improve fertility outcomes for pediatric kidney cancer patients

Although rare, kidney cancer is the third most common type of solid tumor affecting children. Thankfully, pediatric kidney tumors are generally treatable and most have high cure rates. Treatment outcomes depend on several factors including age, tumor type, staging, genetics, the overall health of the patient, and the risk of treatment side effects.  


Author Noelle Musgrave | Publish Date April 09, 2021
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Research    Lung Cancer

A New Treatment for Brain Metastases from Small-Cell Lung Cancer

A new phase 3 randomized clinical trial overseen by CU Cancer Center member Chad Rusthoven, MD, and Vinai Gondi, MD, from Northwestern University, is testing whether a new treatment approach could result in improved outcomes for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) that has spread to the brain. 


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date April 08, 2021
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Research    Melanoma

A Drug That Can Stop Tumors From Growing

Cancer doctors may soon have a new tool for treating melanoma and other types of cancer, thanks to work being done by researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date April 06, 2021
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Research   

CU Cancer Center Researcher Reveals New Effects of Oxygen Deprivation in Cancer Cells

A team of University of Colorado School of Medicine researchers recently published a paper offering new insight into the role that oxygen deprivation, or hypoxia, plays in cancer development. CU Cancer Center member Joaquin Espinosa, PhD, is the senior researcher on the paper, which he hopes will help lead to more targeted treatments for cancer. 


Author Valerie Gleaton | Publish Date March 31, 2021
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Research    Patient Care    Pediatric Cancer    Blood Cancer    Leukemia    Magazine

CU Cancer Center Researcher and Physician Poses Double Threat to Pediatric Cancer

M. Eric Kohler’s commitment to both cancer research — particularly CAR T-cell therapy — and clinical care make him a double threat when it comes to battling pediatric blood cancer.   


Author Valerie Gleaton | Publish Date March 26, 2021
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Research    Patient Care    Breast Cancer    Surgical Oncology

Improving Quality of Life for Breast Cancer Patients

Though breast cancer patients are now living longer than ever before, treatments for the disease can have wide-ranging effects on their long-term quality of life. Physical, social, and sexual wellbeing all can be impacted by radiation, chemotherapy, surgery, antiendocrine therapy and other challenges that go along with a breast cancer battle.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date March 23, 2021
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Research    Magazine

CU Cancer Researcher Wins Two Awards to Study Drug-Resistant Cancer Cells

Sabrina L. Spencer, PhD, is a CU Boulder researcher and a CU Cancer Center member. Spencer recently won two awards: the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award (from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation) and the Emerging Leader Award (from The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research). The preliminary research she used to apply for the grants, "Melanoma subpopulations that rapidly escape MAPK pathway inhibition incur DNA damage and rely on stress signalling," was published in Nature Communications on March 19, 2021.

We spoke to Spencer about the awards and how she plans to use them to further her research.


Author Valerie Gleaton | Publish Date March 22, 2021
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Research

How RNA Editing Affects the Immune System

Three University of Colorado Cancer Center researchers are part of a team that recently published a paper offering new insight into how the immune system relates to cancer. Quentin Vicens, PhD, Jeffrey Kieft, PhD, and Beat Vögeli, PhD, are authors on the paper, which looks at how an enzyme called ADAR1 operates in pathways associated with cancer.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date March 19, 2021
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Research    Pancreatic Cancer

$500,000 Grant Supports Pancreatic Cancer Multidisciplinary Care

A multiyear grant totaling $500,000 is aimed at making the University of Colorado Cancer Center even better at providing multidisciplinary care for patients with pancreatic cancer.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date March 17, 2021
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Research    Pediatric Cancer    Brain and Spinal Cancer

Five CU Cancer Center Researchers Receive Grants to Study Brain Tumors

Three projects from University of Colorado Cancer Center researchers have received grants from the Denver-based Michele Plachy-Rubin Fund for Pilot Grants in Brain Cancer Research. Receiving $40,000 each to fund their work around brain cancer are Sujatha Venkataraman, PhD; and the teams of Philip Reigan, PhD, and Michael Graner, PhD; and Natalie Serkova, PhD, and Nicholas Foreman, MD, MBChB.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date March 04, 2021
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Research    Community    Magazine

The Impacts of Aging on Cancer

For more than a year, a working group at the University of Colorado Cancer Center has been studying the many ways the aging process impacts cancer — including incidence, progression, and prognosis of the disease, therapeutic options and outcomes, and the psychosocial aspects of living with cancer.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date February 18, 2021
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Research    Philanthropy    Awareness    Lung Cancer    Pediatric Cancer

Golfers Against Cancer Funds Three CU Cancer Center Researchers

The Denver chapter of Golfers Against Cancer this week named University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center researchers Matthew Sikora, PhD, Jamie Studts, PhD, and Jenna Sopfe, MD, as the beneficiaries of three $50,000 grants for cancer research and clinical trials.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date February 12, 2021
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Research

New Insight Into How Cancer Spreads

Breast cancer is harmful enough on its own, but when cancer cells start to metastasize — or spread into the body from their original location — the disease becomes even more fatal and difficult to treat.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date January 28, 2021
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Research    Breast Cancer

The Role of T Cells in Fighting Cancer

New research from CU Cancer Center member Jing Hong Wang, MD, PhD, and recent University of Colorado Immunology program graduate Rachel Woolaver, PhD, may help researchers develop more effective personalized immunotherapy for cancer patients.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date January 14, 2021
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Research    Innovation

Sean Davis to Lead Health Data Science and AI Efforts for CU Cancer Center

A 13-year veteran of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is coming to the University of Colorado Cancer Center to help lead efforts to develop and apply data science and artificial intelligence and methods to advance research and improve clinical practice.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date December 30, 2020
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Research    Patient Care    Community

10 Most-Read CU Cancer Center Stories of 2020

The global pandemic of 2020 has been a pivotal year for the health care industry. This year lead some CU Cancer Center members to shift their focus to learning more about COVID-19 while others continued their research on cancer. Whether the focus was on COVID-19 or Cancer this year showed how coming together as a community can make a difference. 


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date December 28, 2020
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Research    Blood Cancer    Leukemia    Magazine

CU Cancer Center Leukemia Researcher Receives NCI Outstanding Investigator Award

Craig Jordan, PhD, has spent more than 20 years developing better treatments for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a rapidly progressing cancer of the blood and bone marrow that can spread to other parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, liver, spleen and central nervous system.


Author Greg Glasgow | Publish Date November 23, 2020
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Research    Magazine

Reducing Cancer Disparities in Colorado

The CU Cancer Center has launched five studies that are focused on addressing disparities in care and outcomes for Black and Hispanic communities in Colorado.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date November 19, 2020
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Research    Blood Cancer    Leukemia    Magazine

CU Cancer Center study leads to FDA approval of new treatment for AML

Thanks in large part to early work by investigators at the CU Cancer Center, patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have a new treatment option that has fewer side effects and has been shown to increase longevity.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date November 10, 2020
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Research    Publications    Pancreatic Cancer    Surgical Oncology

Simple blood test may help identify patients most likely to benefit from surgery for pancreatic cancer

In the 1860s, French physician Armand Trousseau noticed that patients with a certain form of abnormal blood clotting often went on to be diagnosed with pancreas or gastric cancers. Unfortunately, at age 66 he noticed these same symptoms in himself and died of gastric cancer only a few months later.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date October 20, 2020
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Research    Head and Neck Cancer

Black Lives Also Matter in Cancer Care

Studies have long reported that Black cancer patients have poorer outcomes than their white counterparts. But two University of Colorado Cancer Center researchers decided to investigate the data further and figure out why. What they found was that the outcome disparity was caused not by biology, but simply by differences in access to health care.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date October 01, 2020
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Research    Gynecologic Cancer    Ovarian Cancer

CU Researchers Come Together to Better Understand Ovarian Cancer Tumors and Treatment Outcomes

After nearly four years of work, a group of researchers and clinicians from the University of Colorado (CU) published a paper this week in the Clinical Cancer Research that shares findings from research looking at how the composition of ovarian cancer tumors changes during chemotherapy and contributes to therapeutic response.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date September 15, 2020
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Research    Gynecologic Cancer   

American Cancer Society Releases Simplified Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines

Last month the American Cancer Society (ACS) released updated guidelines for cervical cancer screening. The most notable change in guidelines is the changes in the age to begin screening. Per the new guidelines, it is recommended that cervical cancer screening begin at age 25. Previously, the starting age for screening was 21.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date August 18, 2020
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Research    Blood Cancer

CU Cancer Center Effort to Link Underrepresented Patients with Leukemia with Cutting Edge Treatments

A key component in treating newly diagnosed leukemia is genetic and molecular testing. With this knowledge, physicians can better determine which treatment options are best suited for patients based on genetic mutations, fusions and other biologic features. 


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date August 05, 2020
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Research    Brain and Spinal Cancer    Cancer

Multi-organizational study aims to improve outcomes of minority children with brain and central nervous system tumors

Black and Hispanic children diagnosed with brain and central nervous system (CNS) cancers have worse outcomes than their white counterparts in the United States. The reasons behind this are unclear but may include socioeconomic factors and/or limited access to quality care. Now, researchers at the University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center and Children’s Hospital Colorado on the Anschutz Medical Campus are collaborating to better understand these disparities, as well as develop ways to reduce the burden of disease in these populations.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date August 04, 2020
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Research    Pediatric Cancer

St. Baldrick’s Grant Aims to Better Understand Aggressive Pediatric Cancer Type

University of Colorado Cancer Center member and associate professor of Pathology Paul Jedlicka, MD, PhD, has received the St. Baldrick’s Research Grant with generous support from Marlee’s Smile. His research will focus on better understanding the mechanisms behind rhabdomyosarcoma, a common and aggressive cancer type in children. The goal of the research is to identify new approaches to interfering with disease progression.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date July 29, 2020
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Research

Q&A: A Conversation with Cecilia Caino, PhD

Cecilia Caino, PhD, has been researching cancer cell biology at University of Colorado Cancer Center since 2017. Cecilia earned her PhD in Cellular Biology from the University of Buenos Aires with her research component performed at the University of Pennsylvania, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at The Wistar Institute. We spoke with Dr. Caino about her research on how cancer cells use energy and how their unique energy strategies could help cancer cells spread.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date July 16, 2020
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Research   

Cancer Research in the Time of COVID-19

January 2020 was unseasonably warm and dry, so pleasant that students on the Anschutz Medical Campus ate lunch at picnic tables and scientists emerged confused and squinting from hibernation in the campus research buildings. One person who was not there was Deguang Kong, visiting graduate student in the lab of Heide Ford, PhD, University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center Associate Director for Basic Research. With his PhD work wrapping up, Deguang had taken a quick leave to interview for jobs near his home…in Wuhan, China.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date July 16, 2020
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Research

CU Cancer Center Research May Explain Why Some COVID-19 Patients Take Months to Recover

Many patients diagnosed with COVID-19 have symptoms such as a persistent dry cough, shortness of breath, and in some cases, incredibly low oxygen levels in their blood. Additionally, many patients report having long-lasting side effects, for example decreased lung capacity, even after they recover from the virus.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date July 13, 2020
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Research    Sarcoma    Cancer    Bone Cancer

What is Sarcoma?

Video Transcript:

Good morning, I’m Dr. Breelyn Wilky from the sarcoma program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date July 01, 2020
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Research    Head and Neck Cancer    Cancer    Clinical Trials

CU Cancer Center Study Aims to Increase Access to Head and Neck Cancer Clinical Trials in Hispanic Population

Nearly two thousand people living in Colorado will be diagnosed with head and neck cancer (HNC) in 2020. Generally, a very aggressive disease, head and neck cancer require expert care that is not widely available in community cancer clinics. However, patients that are not well-represented in clinical studies, especially Hispanic patients, are less likely to get care from centers that specialize in the disease, such as the University of Colorado Cancer Center.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date June 29, 2020
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Research    Lung Cancer    Cancer

CU Cancer Center study tackles racial and socioeconomic disparities in patients with lung cancer

Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the United States. In Colorado more than 2,500 people will be diagnosed with the disease and more than 1,400 will die of it in 2020. While advances in lung cancer treatment have gifted many patients with more time, the benefit of these treatments is limited by the racial and socioeconomic status of some patients in Colorado. A new study at the University of Colorado Cancer Center focuses on reducing disparities in lung cancer patients with diverse backgrounds.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date June 24, 2020
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Research    Honors    Sarcoma

Two New Grants Help CU Researchers Test New Sarcoma Treatments

While many cancer types have added new treatments including genetically targeted drugs and immunotherapies, treatment for the rare types of cancer known as sarcomas have remained largely the same for about two decades. Now, two grants to University of Colorado Cancer Center researchers from the Sarcoma Foundation of America hope to change this.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date June 22, 2020
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Research    Blood Cancer    Cancer

CU Cancer Center Researcher Named Pew-Stewart Scholar Aims to Improve Early Cancer Detection

University of Colorado (CU) researcher Srinivas Ramachandran, PhD, was named one of the five 2020 Pew-Stewart Scholars. These researchers are selected to spearhead innovations in cancer research.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date June 15, 2020
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Research    Lung Cancer    Cancer

Chad Rusthoven, MD, awarded Coltman Fellowship to support small-cell lung cancer research

University of Colorado radiation oncologist Chad Rusthoven, MD, was recently awarded the prestigious Dr. Charles A. Coltman Jr. research fellowship award from the Hope Foundation for Cancer Research. The award provides two years of salary support to engage early career investigators from Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) affiliated institutions in clinical trial research.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date June 08, 2020
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Research    Blood Cancer    Cancer

Cord blood as source for stem cell transplant may outperform accepted “gold standard” of matched sibling donors

When a blood cancer patient needs a bone marrow transplant, there are four common donor sources: A matched related donor (sibling), a matched unrelated donor (from a donor database), a half-matched donor, or umbilical cord blood. Of course, there are plusses and minuses to each approach, but consensus has generally ranked a matched sibling first, followed by a matched unrelated donor, with cord blood and half-matched donors reserved for patients without either of the first two options. Now a University of Colorado Cancer Center study based on a decade of research and treatment may reshuffle this list. In fact, the comparison of 190 patients receiving cord-blood transplants with 123 patients receiving transplants from the “gold standard” of matched sibling donors showed no difference in survival outcomes between these two approaches, with significantly fewer complications due to chronic graft-versus-host disease in patients receiving transplants from cord blood.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date June 08, 2020
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Research    Blood Cancer    Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Phase III clinical trial results support rituximab as new standard-of-care in pediatric Burkitt lymphoma

Results of the phase III Inter-B-NHL-ritux 2010 clinical trial reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine show 95 percent three-year survival for pediatric patients with advanced B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma treated with the addition of anti-cancer immunotherapy rituximab to standard chemotherapy. The trial represents a major international collaboration between the European Intergroup for Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (EICNHL) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), and was led in the United States by Thomas Gross, MD, PhD, University of Colorado Cancer Center investigator and pediatric oncologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, and in Europe by Véronique Minard-Colin, MD and Catherine Patte, MD, both pediatric oncologists at the Gustave Roussy Department of Child and Adolescent Oncology in Paris, France. The addition of rituximab decreased treatment failures by 70 percent resulting in a 10 percent increase in the three-year survival rate seen with chemotherapy alone (LMB protocol).


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date June 03, 2020
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Research    COVID-19

CU Cell Technologies Shared Resource makes COVID-19 proteins for research, antibody testing

In mid-March, the University of Colorado Cancer Center Cell Technologies Shared Resource shut down along with almost all the other labs and technologies on the Anschutz Medical Campus. Then shared resource director, Steve Anderson, PhD, got an email from a colleague asking if the facility could make COVID-19 proteins. They could: The shared resource has been making proteins for over 15 years.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date May 29, 2020
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Research    Blood Cancer    Cancer

Colorado tool, My-DST, may pick best multiple myeloma treatment

In 1844, multiple myeloma was first treated with a rhubarb pill and an infusion of orange peel. Since then, more than 15 drugs have earned FDA approval to treat multiple myeloma and with so many options, a major question has become what cocktail and sequence is best?


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date May 28, 2020
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Research

CU Human Immune Monitoring Shared Resource banks COVID-19 samples for research

You’ve heard of the Human Genome Project. Now the University of Colorado Cancer Center Human Immune Monitoring Shared Resource (HIMSR) is partnering with the Cancer Center Tissue Biobanking and Histology Shared Resource to store COVID-19 samples for individual research efforts and for a major project known as the COVID-ome. 


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date May 22, 2020
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Research    Cancer    Clinical Research

Variation in how side effects are reported leaves first impressions of new anti-cancer drugs open to manipulation

An important goal of early-phase clinical trials is to discover a drug’s possible side effects. But despite FDA guidelines seeking to standardize this reporting, a University of Colorado Cancer Center study finds significant variation in how drug side effects are reported, potentially making some drugs seem safer or less safe than they really are. 


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date April 28, 2020
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Research    Innovation

Colorado study overturns ‘snapshot’ model of cell cycle in use since 1974

Cells have a big decision: Should they replicate or sleep? Healthy cells can go either way. Cancer cells’ replication switches are stuck in the ‘on’ position. Now a study by University of Colorado Cancer Center researchers working at CU Boulder’s BioFrontiers Institute and published today in the journal Science overturns the conventional wisdom of how these switches work – a model accepted since 1974 and included in current textbooks. 


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date April 02, 2020
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Research    Women's Health    Ovarian Cancer

Experimental medication to prevent heart disease may treat chemo-resistant ovarian cancer

Most ovarian cancer starts in fallopian tubes. Then it sloughs from its site of origin and floats around in fluid until finding new sites of attachment. It’s not easy for cancer cells to survive away from their moorings. Observations by ovarian cancer doctors at University of Colorado Cancer Center and elsewhere hint at how they might do it: These doctors have seen that ovarian cancer cells often collect in tissues with high fat content. Could these cells be somehow using fat to survive the journey from their point of origin to their sites of growth? 


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date March 26, 2020
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Research    Cancer

What Patients Should Know About Anti-Cancer Immunotherapy Side Effects

Immunotherapies have revolutionized the treatment of many cancers. The most common anti-cancer immunotherapies are called checkpoint inhibitors, which block a handshake between the protein PD-L1 on tumor cells and the protein PD-1 on immune system T cells. Checkpoint inhibitors including pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and nivolumab (Opdivo) block the action of PD-1 and atezolizumab (Tecentriq) blocks the action of PD-L1, but the result is largely the same: When this tumor-to-T-cell handshake can’t take place, the immune system attacks the cancer.


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date March 17, 2020
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Research    Philanthropy    Cancer

Community climbing competition raises funds for CU Cancer Center research

When you think about what defines Colorado’s Front Range, adventure sports including rock climbing are near the top of the list. More and more, biosciences and medical innovation including cancer research are high on the list, too. Now a fun event at the Denver Bouldering Club combines the two. On February 29, the 7th annual Heart & Soul Climbing Competition will raise money and awareness for research at University of Colorado Cancer Center.

“Cancer is something that has affected every member of our staff personally – you could go through the crowd at Heart and Soul and every person would have their own cancer story.

Climbing is a selfish pursuit to some extent, and this is our way to step outside our own bubble and say there’s something else going on in the world,” says John Gass, the gym’s climbing services manager.

The fun event is appropriate for all ages and ability levels, from beginners who can rent climbing shoes at the gym, to pros who will compete for $4,000 in cash prizes in the Open division. Since the inaugural event in 2014, the Heart and Soul Climbing Competition has raised just over $70,000 for cancer research through ticket sales, day-of donations, and online fundraising (if you can’t make it to the event, click to donate!). 

“We’ve gotten bigger and better every year,” Gass says. “This year, we’re hoping to push the bar even higher and make it to that $100,000 mark for cancer research. If we can knock it out of the park, we can make it happen!”

CU Cancer Center researcher James Costello, PhD, promises to keep his welcome speech to 5 minutes, tops, before the 7pm finals. And you may even catch a few of his postdocs climbing earlier in the day – if you see folks in blue CU Cancer Center tee shirts, encourage your kids to ask them about their research! Pointing the flow of the climbing/research collaboration in the other direction, Denver Bouldering Club staff recently had the opportunity to tour labs at CU Cancer Center to see their money at work.

“A couple years ago, one of our employees was going through chemo at the same time he was helping with the event. It was really empowering for him and showed us all why we do what we’re doing,” Gass says.

Tickets are $55 until Feb 28 and $65 at the door. Registration includes free food and door prizes donated by event sponsors including Friction Labs, Milestone Homes, Organic Climbing, Groove Toyota Scion, Stone Brewing, Metolius, X-Cult, Escape, Rhino Skin Solutions, Honey Stinger, Brazos Wine Imports, and more.

Really, don’t be shy: “Heart and Soul takes that stress you feel at most climbing comps and replaces it with a community feel where we’re all supporting each other and supporting cancer research,” Gass says.

See you there for this truly only-in-Colorado event!


Author Cancer Center | Publish Date February 17, 2020
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CU Cancer Center In the News

Medscape

Cannabis Use Improved Sleep and Pain in Cancer Patients

news outletMedscape
Publish DateMay 04, 2023

Cannabis use among patients with cancer helped relieve pain and improve sleep quality as well as subjective cognitive function, a new study suggests.

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Science News

Women Who’ve Had Breast Cancer Can Safely Pause Treatment for Pregnancy

news outletScience News
Publish DateMay 03, 2023

For women who’ve had breast cancer and want to have a child, taking a break from a common treatment to try for a pregnancy appears safe in the short term.

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The Colorado Sun

Colorado Clinics Could Soon Be Reimbursed for Linking Patients to Healthy Food, Housing Services

news outletThe Colorado Sun
Publish DateApril 27, 2023

Colorado lawmakers approved a plan that could lead to a program to fund community health work that bolsters traditional medical care. 

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CBS News

Cigarette Smoking Rate Hits All-Time Low Among American Adults

news outletCBS News
Publish DateApril 27, 2023

U.S. cigarette smoking dropped to another all-time low last year, with 1 in 9 adults saying they were current smokers.

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