NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Researchers at Mayo Clinic and the University of Iowa have received an $11.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to fund translational and clinical projects focused on lymphoma, including genomics-based research.
The five-year renewal grant to Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and the University of Iowa's Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center extends funding for the partners' Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) for lymphoma research, Mayo said today.
The SPORE team is engaged in a range of projects, including efforts to discover gene mutations in cell-signaling pathways that contribute to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, studies of biomarkers that could be used to manage lymphoma treatment, treatments that stimulate the immune system to treat lymphoma, and clinical trials that target lymphoma.
The SPORE at the Iowa and Mayo centers so far have worked with more than 6,000 patient volunteers to study how genetic makeup and other factors are involved in the outcomes of lymphoma and lymphoid leukemia.
The NCI funding will be used to support four major research projects, four shared research cores, clinical trials, early pilot projects, and new investigators focused on lymphoma studies at both cancer centers.
The Iowa and Mayo center was initially funded with $19.6 million in 2002 and was renewed in 2007 with $11.9 million.
NCI's SPORE program was created to fund collaborative, interdisciplinary translational cancer research and to support basic and clinical research projects to detect, prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer. Each SPORE is tasked with focusing on either a specific organ site or cancer type. Currently, there are 62 active SPORE centers spread throughout 23 states.