February 19, 2016
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Dr. Stan GersonStan Gerson, MD
Director, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
[email protected]
 
NCI Cancer Moonshot - Budget Information and Justification 
The world is moving fast. The President's budget request for the NCI has been released.

Please look carefully at this extensive document. It is your opportunity to lock in your research to the identified priorities and to augment the scope with your area of interest.
 
We can all benefit, but only if we start now with the strategic research efforts that lead to competitive applications.
 
The leadership of the Cancer Center is here to help and to review ideas, support pilot projects, and to encourage collaborative projects. We will also be planning to encourage projects where we see opportunities for you to align with one of the identified initiatives. As we have done with the provocative questions initiative we will also hold Research in Progress seminars around these topics.

Glad to hear your feedback, your great ideas, and ways we can help.
 
Stan
CASE CCC IN THE NEWS
New York Times - Feb 18, 2016
By Mikkael Sekeres, MD, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, director of the leukemia program at the Cleveland Clinic. We joked that she had nine lives. And like a cat, over the years, no matter the adversity - the extreme toxicities that resulted from her many rounds of chemotherapy, the bowel perforation that left her with an ostomy, the trips to the intensive care unit - she always landed on her feet, the wattage of her personality undimmed.
Trib Live - Feb 15, 2016
Nikiforova's panel tests for 30 brain tumor mutations by bundling individual tests. She said it is cheaper, more efficient and requires smaller tissue samples than the individual tests. She published a paper in December in the journal Neuro-Oncology showing the panel is just as accurate as the individual tests. UPMC sequences the genes of every brain tumor patient, returning results in about two weeks, she said. Since the paper's publication, Nikiforova said she has been getting calls from doctors interested in using the panel at other medical centers. The panel caught the attention of pathologists at Cleveland Clinic because of its efficiency and accuracy, said Dr. Jeremy Rich, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, chairman of the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the Clinic's Lerner Research Institute. Cleveland Clinic runs genetic tests for most brain cancer patients and is moving toward broader use, Rich said. 
High Tech Ultrasound saves time, lives and money
WKYC - Feb 15, 2016
Any woman who's had a mammogram and was called back for an ultrasound knows how stressful that can be. But new technology is helping doctors not only find cancers earlier, but also save time and money Aixplorer�, a state-of-the-art ultrasound system, allows doctors to immediately identify cancer or diseases through a non-invasive approach. The device has been used at UH Case Medical Center Seidman Cancer Center since it was FDA approved in 2011. Dr. Donna Plecha, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, radiologist and Director of UH's Breast Imaging Center,  recently completed a study on the technology and says they found 29 percent more cancers with the tool than without, and were able to do biopsies with ultrasound guidance, which is easier on patients compared to MRI guidance. The device is also less expensive and less time consuming.
STAT - Feb 12, 2016
Only a small number of Americans have undergone genetic testing to detect their or their future children's disease risks, according to a new STAT-Harvard poll, but a majority say they would be interested in one day taking a genetic test that showed their risk of developing Alzheimer's or cancer...While that might seem as if physicians are stuck in the 20th century, in fact, experts on genomics agree that skepticism is appropriate. "Family health history and clinical red flags, such as early age of onset of a breast cancer, is the best way to figure out if there might be a likelihood of heritable cancer, for example," Dr. Charis Eng, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, chair of the Genomic Medicine Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, told STAT.
Oncology Times - Feb 12, 2016
The benefit of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy with erlotinib beyond disease progression for patients with EGFR-mutated NSCLC has been unclear. But new data supports previous findings that there is no clinical benefit as well as increased toxicity with such treatment for these patients, according to the study published in The Oncologist (2015:20:1298-1303). "Based on our trial, we concluded that there is no reason to continue erlotinib when making the decision to switch to chemotherapy in patients who have previously benefitted from erlotinib (predominantly EGFR mutation-positive [non-small cell] lung cancer)," study author Nathan Pennell, MD, PhD, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Director of the Lung Cancer Medical Oncology Program in the Cleveland Clinic Department of Hematology/Oncology, said in an email.
Oncology Times - Feb 12, 2016
So, in 2014 the American Joint Committee on Cancer-the group that developed and maintains the cancer staging system-formed a committee of experts, the Precision Medicine Core (PMC), to develop new criteria to evaluate cancer risk calculators to enhance the current staging system and to determine which ones should be endorsed by the AJCC. Last month that committee published guidelines containing these new criteria, which they say will promote more accurate and individualized cancer predictions, guide more precise treatments, and improve patient survival rates and outcomes. The guidelines are published in a paper online ahead of print in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (DOI: 10.3322/caac.21339). The next step will be the various cancer disease management teams of the AJCC reviewing the statistical prediction models that have been created and published in the literature in their respective areas-and making recommendations to the PMC. The PMC will make the final decisions on which models will be endorsed. In an email interview, PMC member and lead author of the guidelines Michael Kattan, PhD, MBA, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chair of the Department of Quantitative Health Sciences at Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, elaborated on why these guidelines are important and why the current staging system needs revamping.
Healthline News - Feb 11, 2016
Researchers in England say a new diagnostic test shows promise in being able to detect urology-related cancers by "smelling" the diseases in urine samples.
The researchers said the new procedure could eliminate the need for the painful probes now given to older men as well as the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) exam, which has recently fallen out of favor. It isn't as crazy as it sounds. The test is based in science. Dr. Eric Klein, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, a urologist at the Cleveland Clinic and chairman of the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, said "liquid biopsies" such as this urine test could be a standard treatment for all sorts of cancers in a decade or so. "It isn't as crazy as it sounds," Klein told Healthline. "The test is based in science."
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
CME: GvHD National Symposium 2016
Registration is open for the 2016 Graft vs. Host Disease (GvHD) National Symposium, Friday, May 13 at UPMC Shadyside in Pittsburgh, PA.  This unique conference, which focuses on cutting edge research and new treatments, consists of two tracks: one designed for physicians and other health care professionals, and one for bone marrow transplant (BMT) survivors, their families and their caregivers. 

The Meredith A. Cowden Foundation in collaboration with the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, and Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, created the National GvHD Health Symposium in 2010 to raise awareness about GvHD, to promote research to further our understanding of its cause, and to review cutting edge approaches to prevention and treatment. Over 1,200 people have attended this event, which provides an opportunity for attendees to interact with some of the world's leading authorities on GvHD, a complication that affects over 60% of bone marrow transplant patients. Click here view the conference site and to register
Save the Date: 2016 Annual Scientific Retreat
We are in the process of planning the Case CCC Annual Scientific Retreat, which will be held July 7-8, 2016. Cancer Center members, fellows, students and trainees are encouraged to attend. Registration will open soon. Watch the newsletter for updates! 
VeloSano 2016
Registration is now open for VeloSano 2016, July 29-31, 2016!  

Visit our team page and register to join us for this year's ride.  We will cover the registration costs for the first 50 riders to register and join our team in 2016. Just contact team captain Caroline El Sanadi at [email protected] for the registration code. 

We hope you will invite your friends and colleagues to participate - the free registration offer applies to them too as long as they join our team. 
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Request for Proposals for Case CCC Funding for Pilot/Phase I Clinical Trials
The Case CCC is encouraging investigators to submit Letters of Intent (LOI) for Early Phase Clinical Research Support (EPCRS) funding. These in-house funds are available for the conduct of early phase clinical trials of relatively short duration. Priority will be given to trials which are developed jointly between UH and CCF with planned accrual at both institutions.

The proposals are being accepted on a rolling basis subject to availability of funds. 

Please direct any questions and/or submit LOIs to Katarzyna Karelus, Case CCC Clinical Research Office, [email protected]216.844.4176.
Cancer Center Summer Training for Medical Students
The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center is looking for medical students interested in summer research opportunities.

There are 8 openings available, with 4 supported by the Brian Werbel Memorial Fund sponsored through University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and 4 by the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Details:
  • Completed application and reference letter due by: Friday, Feb 26
  • Awardees must be conducting cancer research with a Case Comprehensive Cancer Center member. View list of members.
  • Those receiving the Brian Werbel Memorial Fund awards must attend the Annual golf outing the summer of 2016.
Contact Damian Junk at [email protected] with any questions.
NIH BULLETIN - Notices and Funding Opportunities

Notice of Correction to the Award Budget for PAR-16-084 "Feasibility Studies to Build Collaborative Partnerships in Cancer Research (P20)"(NOT-CA-16-022)

Notice of Clarification for PA-15-354 "SBIR Technology Transfer (R43/R44)"

Basic Biopsychosocial Mechanisms and Processes in the Management of Chronic Conditions (R21)
IN THIS ISSUE
EVENTS
Fri, Feb 19
Cancer Center Seminar Series
Eli Bar, PhD
Assistant Professor, Neurological Surgery 
CWRU/UH
"Studying and Targeting Glioma Cancer Stem Cells: Therapeutic implications and challenges"
12p BRB 105

Radiation Oncology Grand Rounds
Jason Chao Ye, MD
Chief Resident
New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College/New York Hospital Queen . "Breast Radiotherapy and Cardiac Toxicity"
12p Lerner B-151

Cancer Center Research in Progress Seminar
Keman Zhang, PhD
Research Associate, 
Bedogni Lab, Biochemistry
CWRU
"The Involvement of MT1-MMP in DNA
Damage Response in Breast Cancer Cells"
4p WRB 3-136
Mon, Feb 22
GMI Seminar
Charis Eng, MD, PhD
Chair, Genomic Medicine Institute
Cleveland Clinic
"PTEN Hamartoma Tumour Syndrome as Case Study in Genomic Medicine"
12:30p NE1-205 Cleveland Clinic

Cancer Center Research Chalk Talk 
Youwei Zhang, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pharmacology
CWRU
1p WRB 3-136
Tues, Feb 23
Radiology Grand Rounds
Christiane Kuhl, MD Professor and Chair, Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Aachen RWTH 
Director, Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Aachen, UKA 
"Screening for Breast Cancer: New Ways of Thinking"
8a Lerner Kulas Auditorium (Lakeside 5th Fl.)

T32 Cancer Biology Training Program
Candidate Seminar
Xiaolin Hu, PhD
Research Scientist
Gopath Laboratories
"Function of TNF Death Receptor in Apoptosis and Cancer Immune Surveillance"
10a WRB 5-136

Pharmacology Seminar
David G Nicholls, PhD
Buck Institute
"The Bioenergetics of the Pancreatic Beta Cell" 
12p W331/ Webster Conference Room

THOR Seminar
Jianjun Zhao
Cancer Biology
Cleveland Clinic
1p R3-027 Cleveland Clinic

Cancer Biology Assistant Staff Candidate Seminar
Zihua Gong, MD, PhD
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
"Protein-protein Interaction in DNA Damage Response and Tumorigenesis"
2p NC1-202 Cleveland Clinic
Wed, Feb 24
Hem/Onc Div Res Conf
8a Lerner B-151

Immunology Invited Speaker Seminar Series
Brian Cobb, PhD 
Associate Professor, Pathology
CWRU 
12p NC1-202 Cleveland Clinic
Thurs, Feb 25
Molecular Biology & Microbiology Seminar 
Jennifer Cenker & Ryan Stultz
McDonald lab, Molecular Biology & Microbiology
CWRU 
1p Rottman Seminar Room W203 

Radiation Oncology Grand Rounds
Joshua David Palmer, MD
Radiation Oncology Resident
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
"Glioblastoma: Contemporary Treatment Outcomes and Future Directions"
2p Lerner B-151
Fri, Feb 26
Hem/Onc Fellows
8a Breen Conf Rm

Taussig Cancer Institute Grand Rounds
Manmeet Ahluwalia, MD
Associate Professor, Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center, Hematology and Oncology
CWRU/Cleveland Clinic
"Brain Metastases: Past, Present and Future"

World Health Interest Group (WHIG) Seminar
Chris Flask, PhD
Associate Director for Shared Resources, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
Associate Professor, Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Pediatrics
CWRU
9a BRB 433

Cancer Center Seminar Series
Robert B. Jenkins, MD, PhD
Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Professor of Individualized Medicine Research
Professor of Laboratory Medicine
Co-Director Mayo Clinic Brain Tumor SPORE
Co-Director Mayo Clinic Cytogenetics Laboratory
"Germline and Acquired Genetic Alterations and the Pathogenesis of Adult Gliomas"
12p BRB 105

Cancer Center Research in Progress Seminar
4p WRB 3-136
Mon, Feb 29
Biochemistry Seminar 
Hsi-Ju Wei 
Letterio lab, Div of Hem/Onc
CWRU/UH 
12p SOM W428

GMI Seminar
Lynn Berkis, PhD
Assistant Staff, Genomic Medicine Institute
Cleveland Clinic
12:30p NE1-205 Cleveland Clinic

Cancer Center Research Chalk Talk 
Stan Gerson, MD
Director, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
CWRU/UH
1p WRB 3-136
Tues, Mar 1
Pharmacology Seminar
Sanford Markowitz MD, PhD
Professor, Div Hem/Onc
CWRU/UH
"15-PGDH: A Druggable Stem Cell Switch - Toggleable Between Neoplasia Prevention and Tissue Repair"
12p W331/ Webster Conf Rm

THOR Seminar
Ulrich Steidl, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine 
1p R3-027 Cleveland Clinic
Wed, Mar 2
Hem/Onc Div Res Conf
8a Lerner B-151
Fri, Mar 4
Hem/Onc Fellow
8a Breen Conf Rm.

TCI Grand Rounds
8a R3/002-003 Cleveland Clinic

Cancer Center Seminar Series
Jame Abraham, MD
Director, Breast Oncology Program
Cleveland Clinic
Taussig Cancer Institute
Professor of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
"Breast Cancer Clinical Trials in 2016: What is promising?"
12p BRB 105

Cancer Center Research In Progress Seminar
Dheepa Balasubramanian, PhD
Research Associate, Pathology
and 
Lindsay Stetson, PhD
Post Doctoral Scholar, Wald lab, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
"Single Cell Transcriptomic Profiling of Cancer Stem cells: Understanding Acute Myeloid Leukemia Relapse"
4p WRB 3-136

Case CCC Calendar

 

LRI Calendar

 

ADDITIONAL UPCOMING SYMPOSIUMS & EVENTS

2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Update
Mar 11-12
Pelican Grand Beach Resort
Fort Lauderdale, FL
2016 Cleveland Breast Cancer Summit: Collaborating For A Cure
Mar 17-18
InterContinental Hotel & Bank of America Conference Center
Details & Registration 

GvHD National Symposium 2016
May 13

Case CCC Annual Scientific Retreat
Jul 7-8 

Great Lakes Breast Cancer Symposium 2016
Sep 8-9
Pittsburgh, PA
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED OPPORTUNITIES
Deadline: Feb 19



Deadline: Feb 29


Deadline: Mar 15


Deadline: Mar 18




Case Comprehensive Cancer Center 
11100 Euclid Avenue, Wearn152
Cleveland, OH 44106-5065