Markey Gets SPORE Grant for GI Cancer Research

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 28, 2009) -- The National Cancer Institute has awarded the University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center a SPORE (Specialized Program in Research Excellence) grant in gastrointestinal cancers. The three-year grant is for $1.5 million. The Markey Cancer Center has one of six GI SPOREs in the nation.

Gastrointestinal cancers include tumors of the liver, colon, rectum, esophagus, stomach and pancreas.

The SPORE is led by Dr. B. Mark Evers, director of the Markey Cancer Center, professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Surgery and physician-in-chief for the oncology service line.

"The SPORE designation will help the Markey Cancer Center's gastrointestinal cancer research program stand out as one of the most accomplished in the country," Evers said. "In turn, this will help us as we continue to recruit some of the most capable and talented researchers in this area. As both a gastrointestinal surgeon and a cancer researcher myself, I am honored and very pleased by the recognition this grant represents."

Projects on the UK SPORE focus on colon and liver cancer. The goal of one SPORE project is to develop more selected therapies for colorectal cancer progression and metastasis based on a systematic analysis of colorectal cancers, tumor stroma and surrounding mucosa for expression of certain components associated with the growth and progression of colorectal cancer.

Another SPORE project, performed in collaboration with investigators at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston and led by Dr. Stanley Lemon from UTMB, seeks to better understand the link between the Hepatitis C (HCV) virus and liver cancer. Liver cancer is one of the most rapidly increasing types of cancer in the United States. This increase is associated with the growing prevalence of people with chronic HCV. This project will determine how HCV proteins react to cell proliferation regulators, and the role that interaction plays in liver cancer caused by HCV infection.

About SPORE Grants 

SPOREs are funded through specialized center grants that promote interdisciplinary research and move basic research findings from the laboratory to clinical settings, involving both cancer patients and populations at risk of cancer. The outcome of interdisciplinary research is a bidirectional approach to translational research, moving laboratory discoveries to clinical settings or clinical observations to the laboratory environment. Laboratory and clinical scientists share the common goal of bringing novel ideas to clinical care settings that have the potential to reduce cancer incidence and mortality as well as improve survival and the quality of life. In order to achieve these goals, SPORE investigators work collaboratively to plan, design and implement research programs that may impact cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment. Additionally, SPOREs approach these goals through collaborative efforts within the individual multidisciplinary SPORE teams, inter-SPORE collaborations, partnerships with other NCI/NIH programs, and public-private partnerships with industry and non-profit organizations. 

(Source: National Institutes of Health)