Newswise — TAMPA, GAINESVILLE and MIAMI, Fla. (May 1, 2018) – The Florida Department of Health’s James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program has armed Moffitt Cancer Center, University of Florida (UF) Health Cancer Center – Gainesville, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami and numerous collaborating centers with $1.36 million to address cancer disparities and improve outcomes and care for individuals affected by pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is currently the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States and is projected to become the second leading cause around 2020. It also has the lowest five-year survival rate of any leading cancer at only 9 percent.
“This award is significant and timely because pancreatic cancer is a malignancy desperately in need of funding to foster advancements in its prevention, earlier diagnosis and treatment,” said co-principal investigator Jennifer B. Permuth, Ph.D., M.S., a molecular epidemiologist and assistant member in the Departments of Cancer Epidemiology and Gastrointestinal Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center. “The burden of pancreatic cancer is particularly high in Florida, a racially and ethnically diverse state that is expected to continue to rank second in the number of lives lost to pancreatic cancer this year.”
“We also know that the incidence and deaths rates related to pancreatic cancer are higher in the African American population as compared to other racial and ethnic groups,” said co-principal investigator Jose G. Trevino, M.D., assistant professor of surgery at the UF Health Cancer Center-Gainesville. “We need to better understand why these disparities exist and we believe the answers to these questions might be in our personal biology.”
Due to these grim statistics, Permuth and Trevino co-founded the Florida Pancreas Collaborative in 2015 with Nipun Merchant, M.D., chief surgical officer and director of the Surgical Oncology Research Program at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and Mokenge Malafa, M.D., senior member of Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Moffitt, using funds awarded by the Florida Academic Cancer Center Alliance. The collaborative between Moffitt, UF and Sylvester initially focused efforts on developing novel early detection and prevention strategies, and is now able to tackle other important areas, including health disparities, with new academic and community partners throughout the state.
Over the next three years, pancreatic cancer researchers and clinicians with expertise in many areas including oncology, radiology, surgery, epidemiology, nutrition, genetics, molecular biology and pathology will be working with patient advocates to recruit patients from different racial and ethnic groups newly-diagnosed with and treated for pancreatic cancer at one of approximately 17 participating Florida centers to build the first state-wide ‘biobank’ dedicated to minimizing disparities and personalizing care for individuals affected by pancreatic cancer. A biobank is a valuable resource that involves collection, processing and storage of blood and tissue obtained during biopsy and surgery to improve our understanding of health and disease. When combined with clinical data and medical images, the Florida Pancreas Collaborative will be able to investigate biological processes that may underlie disparities and poor outcomes and target them with more effective therapeutic strategies tailored to the individual.
“Our team is extremely excited about this opportunity that’s been given to us by the state of Florida,” Trevino said. “We believe that this grant is absolutely critical to us having a better understanding of pancreatic cancer in different patient populations.”
“Collaborative, multi-institutional cancer disparities research of this kind has been lacking. Together, we have an important opportunity to make a difference in the lives of thousands of patients with pancreatic cancer in our state and beyond,” said Permuth. “Our long-term goal is to minimize disparities, improve quality of life, increase survival, and provide hope for individuals and families affected by pancreatic cancer.”
About Moffitt Cancer Center
Moffitt is dedicated to one lifesaving mission: to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer. The Tampa-based facility is one of only 49 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt’s scientific excellence, multidisciplinary research, and robust training and education. Moffitt is a Top 10 cancer hospital and has been nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report since 1999. Moffitt devotes more than 2 million square feet to research and patient care. Moffitt’s expert nursing staff is recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center with Magnet® status, its highest distinction. With more than 5,700 team members, Moffitt has an economic impact in the state of $2.1 billion. For more information, call 1-888-MOFFITT (1-888-663-3488), visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the momentum on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About UF Health Cancer Center
The University of Florida Health Cancer Center stands alone in the state of Florida in its unique ability to blend comprehensive patient care and innovative research in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment. It boasts a membership of more than 230 researchers and clinicians from across the University of Florida, a top 10 public university, and UF Health, the Southeast’s most comprehensive academic health center. The UF Health Cancer Center’s clinical enterprise uses a comprehensive care model, with multidisciplinary cancer programs offering advanced treatment options, such as minimally invasive and robotic surgery, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy — as well as access to clinical trials with limited availability elsewhere. The UF Health Cancer Center is a state-designated Center of Excellence, along with its partners — the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute in Jacksonville and the Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center. For more information, visit cancer.ufl.edu, or visit Facebook and Twitter.
About Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of UHealth – the University of Miami Health System and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is among the nation’s leading cancer centers and South Florida's only Cancer Center of Excellence. A 2015 study by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that cancer patients treated at Sylvester have a 10 percent higher chance of survival than those treated at nearly any other cancer center in the nation. With the combined strength of more than 120 cancer researchers and 130 cancer specialists, Sylvester discovers, develops and delivers more targeted therapies, providing the next generation of cancer clinical care – precision cancer medicine – to each patient. Our comprehensive diagnostics, coupled with teams of scientific and clinical experts who specialize in just one type of cancer, enable us to better understand each patient’s individual cancer and develop treatments that target the cells and genes driving the cancer's growth and survival, leading to better outcomes. At Sylvester, patients have access to more treatment options and more cancer clinical trials than most hospitals in the southeastern United States. To better serve current and future patients, Sylvester has a network of conveniently located outpatient treatment facilities in Miami, Kendall, Hollywood, Plantation, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs and Coral Gables. For more information, visit www.sylvester.org.
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