Led by Michael Caligiuri, MD, the Cancer Signature Program is embodied in the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC), one of only 41 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers in the nation. The patientcare component of the OSUCCC is Ohio State's Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (The James).
The OSUCCC, also directed by Caligiuri, is a network of seven interdisciplinary cancer-related research programs that collectively comprise more than 265 faculty investigators representing 14 colleges at Ohio State. Their overall goal is to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality through basic, clinical, prevention and population scientific research that translates to improved patient care, thus advancing the Cancer Signature Program’s mission of becoming a world-class healthcare enterprise focused on improving quality of life for patients with cancer in Ohio and beyond.
Cancer Signature Program highlights of 2006:
- The OSUCCC realized an increase in NCI funding for cancer research to $39.6 million, up 12.5 percent from $35.2 million in 2005. Total external grant funding for cancer research exceeds $100 million.
- Twenty cancer researchers were recruited to the OSUCCC-James.
- The NCI awarded a five-year, $11.84 million program project grant to principal investigator Samson Jacob, PhD, co-leader of the OSUCCC’s Experimental Therapeutics Program, to study chronic lymphocytic leukemia and translate basic research findings into clinical trials.
- The NCI awarded the OSUCCC a $3 million contract to conduct phase II clinical trials to determine the effectiveness of anticancer drugs under development. The contract adds to the range of novel cancer therapies available to patients at the OSUCCC-James, which is one of only five institutions in the nation with NCI contracts for conducting both phase I and phase II clinical trials. Miguel Villalona, MD, is principal investigator for the new phase II contract.
- The American Cancer Society awarded a $960,000 grant for a four-year study to determine whether freeze-dried black raspberry lozenges can slow or stop the return of oral cancer, which has one of the highest recurrence rates. Christopher Weghorst, PhD, of the OSUCCC’s Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program, is principal investigator.
- In conjunction with Ohio State’s Department of Radiology, the OSUCCC received a three-year, $738,813 NCI grant to develop noninvasive imaging assessment methodologies that reveal early biologic response to cancer treatment. Michael Knopp, MD, PhD, chair of Radiology and a member of the OSUCCC’s Experimental Therapeutics Program, is project leader. The OSUCCC is one of only eight cancer centers nationwide to receive this grant.
- Nearly 240 clinical trials are open on new cancer therapies and prevention strategies, some of which are available nowhere else.
- U.S.News & World Report ranked The James 19th among “America’s Best Hospitals” for cancer care in 2008.
