The Moores Cancer Center at UCSD and San Diego State University began collaboration last month on a project aimed at examining disparities among cancer occurrences in various races. The project is being funded by a $15 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, one of three such grants awarded nationwide last year.
According to NCI reports, there are significant differences in the rates at which certain types of cancers affect individuals of different races, as well as the mortality rate among these individuals. For instance, the institute has reported that while Caucasian women have a higher chance of developing breast cancer, black women are more likely to die from the disease.’
Dr. John Carethers, a co-principal investigator on the project and chief of the gastroenterology division at the UCSD Medical Center and the Moores Cancer Center, is comparing the occurrence of colon cancer among blacks and Caucasians. Through the study of colorectal tumors, he hopes to determine why blacks are at greater risk for the disease. Other researchers will examine the effects of chemical derivatives with possible anticancer agents as well as nanotechnology-based vaccines for colon cancer.
Carethers said that these personalized studies could help provide new approaches to treating cancer over the next several decades.
‘We will be able to take your genetic material and be able to optimize the best treatment based on your genetic background,’ he said.
Carethers added that the development of this new medicine will be similar to the development of therapies for diabetes or AIDS, during which researchers found effective treatments for diseases that were previously considered unmanageable.
Under the conditions of the NCI grant, the project also stresses community outreach to better serve all San Diegans. Dr. Elizabeth Klonoff, psychology professor and co-principal investigator for the project at SDSU, said the project aims to facilitate a better understanding of cancer research among medically underserved minorities. The grant will also assist in producing medical-consent forms in multiple languages to serve a wider spectrum of patients.
The partnership study is projected to last five years, while individual projects for studying specific cancers will last two to three years. After this period, new projects related to the study may be developed if the initial projects yield significant results.
Carethers said that one of the project’s most daunting challenges lies in training researchers. Students selected to participate in the project have the opportunity to receive a certificate in cancer research through SDSU as part of a training program offered by the grant.
‘There is definitely a shortage of people doing cancer-disparities research,’ Carethers said. ‘That’s a challenge, especially in a five-year time period.’
Koloff added that the project will greatly increase the number of faculty and students participating in new cancer research efforts at both universities.
The SDSU-UCSD Cancer Center Partnership is the only partnership in California funded by the NCI. According to Koloff, each university will receive roughly $7.5 million. The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York received funding last year for similar research.
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