Newswise — FORT WASHINGTON, PA — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) Oncology Research Program (ORP) has been awarded a $2.2-million grant from Astellas Pharma, Inc. and Medivation, Inc. to develop a program to scientifically evaluate and define the clinical effectiveness of enzalutamide in solid tumors, including bladder, breast, endometrial, hepatocellular, ovarian, and prostate cancers.

“This grant from Astellas and Medivation gives investigators at NCCN Member Institutions a remarkable opportunity to study the effectiveness of enzalutamide in six cancer types,” said Diane E. Paul, MS, RN, Vice President, NCCN ORP. “NCCN is grateful to collaborate with Astellas and Medivation on this research initiative that has the potential to positively affect the treatment of people with cancer.”

The first phase of the program will involve the establishment of an NCCN Enzalutamide Request for Proposals Development Team to evaluate existing data and to discuss and define the data and type of studies necessary to further characterize the clinical effectiveness of enzalutamide in bladder, breast, endometrial, hepatocellular, ovarian, and prostate cancers.

Enzalutamide is an androgen receptor inhibitor that acts on different steps in the androgen receptor signaling pathway. Enzalutamide has been shown to competitively inhibit androgen binding to androgen receptors and inhibit androgen receptor nuclear translocation and interaction with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). [i]

The NCCN ORP draws on the expertise of investigators at NCCN Member Institutions and the NCCN Affiliate Research Consortium (ARC) to facilitate all phases of clinical research. This research is made possible by collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in order to advance therapeutic options for patients with cancer. The NCCN ORP will utilize the grant from Astellas Pharma, Inc. and Medivation, Inc. to support investigator-initiated clinical and correlative studies at NCCN Member Institutions and their affiliate community hospitals for enzalutamide. To date, this successful research model has received more than $44 million in research grants and supported 116 studies that have produced a number of publications in peer-reviewed journals.

To learn more about the NCCN ORP and ongoing clinical trials, visit NCCN.org.

[i] U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Highlights of prescribing information: 12: Clinical pharmacology: 12.1 Mechanism of action. Available here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2012/203415lbl.pdf. Last accessed March 31, 2014.

###

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), a not-for-profit alliance of 25 of the world’s leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education, is dedicated to improving the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care so that patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers.

The NCCN Member Institutions are: Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center at The Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE; City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA; Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center | Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA; Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, NC; Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA; Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, WA; The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ, Jacksonville, FL, and Rochester, MN; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL; The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, OH; Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY; Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital/The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN; Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford, CA; University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL; UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA; UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, CO; University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN; and Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital, New Haven, CT.

Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit NCCN.org/patients.

Other Link: NCCN Oncology Research Program