爱荷华大学获NCI 1070万美元资助用于研究神经内分泌癌症

  近日，来自爱荷华大学Holden癌症研究中心获得NCI 1070万美元的资助，用于研究神经内分泌瘤（NETs）的遗传和分子组成，同时利用相关的研究成果来帮助开发诊断和治疗该疾病的新方法。
  这项资助由NCI优秀专科研究项目（Specialized  Programs of Research Excellence，SPORE）提供，该研究项目是用来支持先进的研究者进行相关的转化医学研究的，其或将帮助有效改善器官特异性癌症的预防、早期检测、诊断及疗法的实施。
  爱荷华大学的研究者指出，这是SPORE项目首次资助用来进行神经内分泌瘤的研究，上个月，耶鲁大学的研究者获得SPORE项目1100万资助用于研究肺癌发病机制及个体化疗法的开发。爱荷华大学儿童医院教授Sue O’Dorisio在一项声明中表示，在过去30年里，神经内分泌瘤的发病率上升了5倍，但很多患者直到癌症发生转移时才被诊断出疾病；尽管癌症患者的生存期略有改善，但深入理解NETs的发病机制或可帮助开发新型的早期诊断技术及治愈性的疗法。
  研究者最后表示，对肿瘤基因表达特性的分析或可以帮助鉴别出更多重要的突变以及代谢改变，这或可促进癌症患者的临床治疗进展。（转化医学网360zhyx.com）
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University of Iowa Team Awarded $10.7M NCI Grant to Study Neuroendocrine Cancer

A team of University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers has received a five-year, $10.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study the genetic and molecular composition of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), and to use this information to develop new approaches to diagnosing and treating the disease.

The funding is being provided as a Specialized Programs of Research Excellence, or SPORE, grant, which are designed to "support state-of-the-art investigator-initiated translational research that will contribute to improved prevention, early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of an organ-specific cancer," according to the NCI.

The University of Iowa noted that this is the first SPORE grant awarded for research into neuroendocrine tumors. Last month, a Yale University group received an $11 million SPORE grant to study the biology of lung cancer with the goal of developing personalized treatments for the disease.

Sue O’Dorisio, a professor of pediatrics at the Univesity of Iowa Children's Hospital, and the principal investigator of the grant project, said in a statement that during the past three decades, the incidence of neuroendocrine tumors has shot up five-fold, but many patients aren't diagnosed until the tumors have metastasized.  “Although patients with these tumors may have prolonged survival despite advanced stage, further understanding of the molecular biology of NETs holds the promise for earlier diagnosis and curative therapy," she said.

"Our grant is based on the hypothesis that analyzing the gene expression profiles of these tumors will allow us to identify important mutations and metabolic changes that will facilitate clinical advances for patients with these tumors," she added.