MPOP Brings Advanced Research on Ovarian Cancer to Lincoln

$500,000 will be invested in phase one of this national personalized medicine initiative

LINCOLN – The Lincoln-based Midwest Personalized Oncology Program (MPOP) will be participating in an advanced research initiative for ovarian cancer.

MPOP asks cancer patients to donate surgically removed tumor tissue to scientific programs that examine how genetic material in the cancer affects treatment results. It connects local patients and healthcare providers with national researchers. The federally funded program is supported by 50 Lincoln-area physicians and has recruited more than 250 cancer patients into the project since it began running in 2008.

“We are very pleased that our local research capabilities are addressing the need for improved medical options for patients with ovarian cancer,” said Donna Behlen, president of the Nebraska Chapter of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. “It shows that if we all work together, we can look at important new ideas to improve cancer care.”

“When we introduced MPOP,” added Mark D. Carlson, MD, of Lincoln, “a key goal was to bring in cutting-edge research so patients here could benefit from the latest advances. National researchers wish to match trials of exciting new drug options with patients who join programs like MPOP, which gives patients more medical options. This ovarian cancer research study is an important step in this direction.”

The NFGC is funding a clinical trial that is the first in the world to use the molecular data from an individual woman’s ovarian cancer to select her chemotherapy. The trial, run by Johnathan Lancaster, director of women’s oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center, and his colleague Dr. Robert Wenham, uses a “personalized medicine” approach that is a new frontier in cancer treatment.

The ovarian cancer project also will examine how cancer genes are activated and express themselves, look at how tumor cells resist common treatment, and study how the cells interact with the immune system.

MPOP is affiliated with the National Functional Genomics Center, which is funded by the U.S. Army Medical Research & Materiel Command (USAMRMC) and the Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC). This center will direct the multi-institutional collaborative project in ovarian cancer.

“There is a huge amount of scientific expertise and knowledge being brought to this project,” said Dr. John Parker, Major General, U.S. Army (retired) and NFGC board chair.

The participants who will be sharing data include Jack Pledger, Ph.D., and Johnathan Lancaster, M.D., Ph.D. (Moffitt Cancer Center); Max S. Wicha, M.D., and Weiping Zou, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Medical School); Stephen P. Ethier, Ph.D. (Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute); Ryan Miller, M.D., Ph.D., and Chaoying Yin, Ph.D. (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill); Mark D. Carlson, M.D., and Tracy Christianson (Southeast Nebraska Cancer Center); and Tak Sugimura, Ph.D. (Hawaii Institute for Molecular Sciences).

“Consortia such as these will greatly accelerate our pace of discovery, such that genomic medicine may become a reality in the near term. We will take advantage of specialized expertise and unique resources at multiple centers to rapidly translate basic scientific findings into clinically useful tools that may help women with ovarian cancer as soon as possible,” said Lancaster, who is leading the NFGC ovarian cancer consortium.

About the Midwest Personalized Oncology Program
MPOP is a coalition of area patients, medical providers, researchers and health advocates working together to lay a foundation for more personalized cancer therapy. MPOP participants envision a day when physicians can tailor cancer treatment to the unique set of factors involved in an individual’s cancer. For more information visit www.save-your-tumor.com.


About the National Functional Genomics Center
The NFGC was established to bridge the gap between pure science and patient care and is accelerating applied, translational research by bringing together partners from government, industry, and academia. The NFGC is using this network to develop strategic alliances that will produce benefits that directly apply to the future military healthcare effectiveness and efficiencies, while aggressively advancing the war on cancer – a disease that causes the death of more than half a million Americans a year. NFGC research is discovering molecular signatures of cancer that will allow military and civilian personnel anywhere in the world to be quickly and accurately diagnosed and treated based on each individual’s genetic profile.
The mission of the NFGC is to validate the concept that molecular signatures in tumors predict cancer risk, diagnosis, prognosis, and response to therapy, as well as to identify new molecular targets for the development of more effective cancer prevention and personalized therapeutic care.

Contacts:
Jamie Bishop, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , (402) 420-0909
Tracy Christianson, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , (402) 327-7363
Michelle Foley, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , (813) 745-1505