News at USC Norris - USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

June 22, 2022May 3, 2023

32nd Festival of Life

USC Norris Celebrates the Strength of Cancer Survivors at 32nd Annual Festival of Life

By Hinde Kast

The spirited sounds of the USC Trojan Marching Band reverberating through Pappas Quad at the Health Sciences Campus kicked off the 32nd Festival of Life – the first one in-person since June 2019.

Hosted by USC Norris on June 4, this event celebrated the strength, resilience, and tenacity of cancer survivors. The morning was filled with uplifting words of survivorship, inspirational speeches from cancer survivors, and a breathtaking dove release.

The event included opening remarks by Steven Grossman, MD, PhD, deputy director for Cancer Services at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Joi Torrence-Hill, MHA, chief of hospital operations for the USC Norris Cancer Hospital. Cancer survivors, including Mars Robles, a sarcoma cancer survivor, and Debbie Sierra Wilhelm, an acute myeloid leukemia cancer survivor, shared their experiences and talked about their hopes for the future. Moreover, Chaplain Symeon Yee led an invocation and blessing for the event.

“Never lose hope,” said Ms.Wilhelm. “Don’t let your thoughts consume you. Stay focused. There are people out there that genuinely want to help you. The doctors, nurses, and support staff at USC Norris are here for us. They are and will continue to be my guiding light. I can’t begin to thank everyone at USC Norris for being there during my darkest hours.”

Judy Stark, a 21-year cancer survivor and volunteer at USC Norris, led the tradition of inviting cancer survivors to stand amid applause during the Festival of Life in a show of celebration and support. Cancer survivors ranging from 20 years or more to those who are just beginning in their survivorship were honored and received a roaring round of applause by all in attendance.

The event concluded with the release of the doves, a tradition of this annual celebration. Doves are symbols of hope. In releasing the doves that day, we not only celebrated cancer survivors and patients who battle their cancer every day, but also remembered those we’ve lost along the way.

“Hope is not a cliché,” said Dr. Grossman. “Hope is possibly the most potent weapon we hold in our cancer treatment arsenal.”

At the event, a tree of life was available for individuals to honor loved ones that have survived, are currently battling, or have lost their lives to cancer. Additionally, a gratitude board was available for patients and caregivers to share notes of appreciation to those who have helped them or a loved one on their cancer journey. Both the tree of life and the gratitude board are currently on display in the lobby of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The 33rd annual USC Norris Festival of Life will take place on Saturday, June 3, 2023.

June 2, 2022May 3, 2023

Swing Against Cancer 2022

8th Annual Swing Against Cancer Event

Register today for the 8th Annual Swing Against Cancer Event which supports lifesaving cancer research at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. This event will be held in person at the Rancho La Quinta Country Club in La Quinta, California, on Friday, November 18, 2022. To register for the event, click the button above.

For more information or to register, please contact:

Hannah Padilla
USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
1441 Eastlake Avenue, Suite 8302
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Phone: 619.820.1290
Email: Hannah.Padilla@med.usc.edu

May 9, 2022May 3, 2023

New Study Demonstrates Feasibility of Non-invasive Profiling of Advanced Prostate Cancer by Combining Liquid Biopsies with Radiomic Analysis of CT Scans

By Hinde Kast

May 9, 2022

Cancer can evolve and adapt during therapy, leading to resistance and progression. New non-invasive technologies can track these changes in real-time, but to date, these approaches have been developed in isolation, which only allows physicians to obtain a partial idea of what is happening with a patient’s tumor.

Now, a new study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences has demonstrated the feasibility of using a single tube of blood and computerized tomography (CT) scans to construct a complex cellular, molecular, and image profile of metastatic prostate cancer in real-time. Such a comprehensive cancer profile may help clinicians predict treatment response, disease progression and overall survival, leading to the development of better treatments.

“Having a more comprehensive picture of tumor biology provides a better understanding of disease progression and resistance mechanisms, which can lead to better therapies,” says study author Dr. Amir Goldkorn, Associate Director for Translational Research at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Having developed these capabilities, we are now excited to clinically validate the feasibility of this new approach in a large, national phase III trial for men with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer, where these techniques will help us to track cancer progression and predict clinical outcomes.”

The two non-invasive technologies used in this study were liquid biopsy and radiomic analysis. Liquid biopsy detects rare material shed by tumors into the bloodstream, known as circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and cell-free DNA (cfDNA). Radiomic analysis uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to analyze image features in a CT scan. For this study, Dr. Goldkorn and his colleagues at USC Norris, Drs. Vinay Duddalwar and Tim Triche, combined cellular and molecular analysis of CTCs and cfDNA in blood samples with radiomic analysis of CT scans from 22 men with metastatic prostate cancer. They found that the radiomic CT scan analysis correlated with the liquid biopsy analysis. For example, some CT scan features were correlated with higher numbers of CTCs and DNA in the blood. Integration of data from the two complementary tests could provide a more comprehensive, non-invasive way to profile cancer and predict how the disease will respond to treatment.

The research team is now further testing the predictive value of this combined non-invasive approach to cancer profiling by correlating the results with clinical outcomes such as disease progression and overall survival in a multi-center phase III clinical trial for patients with advanced prostate cancer. Their studies are funded by a newly-awarded NCI R01 grant.

About this study:

In addition to Drs. Amir Goldkorn, Vinay Duddalwar, and Tim Triche, other contributors from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Keck School of Medicine include Drs. Jonathan Buckley, Steven Cen, David Quinn, Yi-Tsung “John” Lu, and Bino Varghese. Other major contributions were made by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and RareCyte, Inc.

The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (1R01CA257610-01) and the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center (P30CA014089). Drs. Goldkorn and Triche have received in-kind reagent contributions from RareCyte and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Dr. Duddalwar received research grants from Samsung Healthcare.

March 7, 2022May 3, 2023

New Data Suggests Entinostat Decreases Immune Suppression and Promotes Antitumor Responses against HER2+ Breast Tumors

March 7, 2022

By Hinde Kast

Evanthia Roussos Torres MD, PhD, member of the Tumor Microenvironment Program at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

Therapeutic combinations to alter the immunosuppressive, solid tumor microenvironment (TME), such as in breast cancer, are essential to improve responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), a new form of cancer immunotherapy. Entinostat, an oral histone deacetylase inhibitor, has been shown to improve responses to ICIs in various tumor models with an immunosuppressive TME. However, the precise alterations to the TME induced by entinostat remained unknown.

Now, a new study published in Cancer Immunology Research suggests that entinostat induced changes to multiple myeloid cell types, reduced immunosuppression, increased antitumor immune responses, and improved sensitivity to ICIs.

“We are excited to share our paper describing our work showing breast tumor sensitization to immune checkpoint inhibition using epigenetic modulation” says Evanthia Roussos Torres, MD, PhD, member of the USC Norris Tumor Microenvironment Program and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine. “This work will aid in the development of novel strategies to improve response rates to immunotherapy of breast cancer.”

For this study Dr. Roussos Torres employed single-cell RNA sequencing on HER2-overexpressing breast tumors from mice treated with entinostat and ICIs to fully characterize changes across multiple cell types within the TME. This analysis demonstrated that treatment with entinostat induced a shift from a protumor to an antitumor TME signature, characterized predominantly by changes in myeloid cells in which suppressive signaling pathways were altered. In addition, tumor- associated macrophages were epigenetically reprogrammed from a protumor phenotype towards an antitumor phenotype. The study concluded that the use of entinostat could ultimately broaden the population of breast cancer patients that could benefit from ICIs.

About this study:

In addition to Dr. Evanthia Roussos Torres, other contributors from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Keck School of Medicine include Drs. Julie K. Jang, Soﬁ Castanon, Aaron G. Baugh, Edgar Gonzalez, Valerie H. Narumi, Sathish Kumar Ganesan, and Min Yu. Other major contributions were made from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, College of Medicine and Health at the University College Cork, University of Maryland Medical Center, and the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center.

January 28, 2022May 3, 2023

Cancer Moonshot funds will help USC researchers reduce health disparities in cancer research

January 28, 2022 | Originally posted on: Keck Medicine of USC News

$18.5 million in funding from the Cancer Moonshot will help researchers at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center close the gap in our understanding of colorectal cancer in Hispanic patients

By Sarah Nightingale

iStock

Medical trials lead to important innovations that save lives. But some racial and ethnic groups are woefully underrepresented in such research studies, leaving unanswered questions about how diseases and treatments affect these populations.

“A major reason for this is that we have not done enough to understand how to engage with patients and communities to reveal the barriers and concerns and to create approaches that are sensitive and culturally appropriate,” said John Carpten, PhD, professor and chair of translational genomics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, director of the Institute of Translational Genomics, associate director of basic sciences at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Royce and Mary Trotter Chair in Cancer Research.

With support from a five-year, $18.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), as part of the Cancer Moonshot, researchers at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center are working to address these gaps. Carpten and Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, FACP, professor of medicine, associate director of clinical research at USC Norris cancer center and J. Terrence Lanni Chair in Gastrointestinal Cancer Research, will lead these efforts under a new center, the University of Southern California Center for Optimization of Participant Engagement for Cancer Characterization (USC COPECC).

“Each cancer patient is unique, but what we learn from one helps others,” said David Wesley Craig, PhD, professor of translational genomics and co-director of the Institute of Translational Genomics. “Studying diverse populations is the next opportunity to new therapies, new approaches, and better diagnostics across the board.”

Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act in December 2016, authorizing $1.8 billion in funding for the Cancer Moonshot over 7 years. USC COPECC is among five Research Centers and a Coordinating Center within the Cancer Moonshot Participant Engagement and Cancer Genome Sequencing (PE-CGS) Network. The USC team will focus on improving our understanding of colorectal cancer in Hispanic patients by identifying new ways to engage patients in genomic research—the study of our genes and the role they play in diseases like cancer.

“There is a significant disparity in the knowledge that we have about the tumor landscape of colorectal cancer among Hispanics,” said Mariana Stern, PhD, professor of clinical population and public health sciences and urology, associate director of population science at USC Norris cancer center and the Ira Goodman Chair in Cancer Research. “This has implications for the development of new therapies that may specifically benefit Hispanic patients. Our study will help close this gap of knowledge in a significant way.”

Partnering with community-based health organizations, the researchers will develop and share culturally relevant educational materials that aim to empower patients and community members to make informed decisions about their health and become savvy consumers of the opportunities available to them.

Los Angeles, the source of most of the patients at USC Norris cancer center, has the largest Hispanic population of all U.S. cities. According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is both the second most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in this population group. Lenz said the study will help the researchers understand why this population is particularly at-risk.

“Hispanics develop colon cancer early which we still don’t understand,” said Lenz, who is also co-director of the USC Norris Center for Cancer Drug Development. “With this grant we will be able to show for the first time comprehensive characterization of colon cancer in Hispanics and, based on this, not only understand early onset of colon cancer but also develop more effective therapeutic options for our Hispanic patients.”

“I’m thrilled to be part of the USC Norris Moonshot team,” said Caryn Lerman, PhD, director of the USC Norris cancer center, H. Leslie Hoffman and Elaine S. Hoffman Chair in Cancer Research and associate dean for cancer programs. “This research will have a transformative impact in our diverse catchment area and beyond.”

Additional members of the USC COPECC research team include Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, PhD, professor of population and public health sciences, associate dean for community initiatives and associate director for community outreach and engagement; Julie Culver, MS, instructor of clinical medicine and genetic counselor; Charite Ricker, MS, instructor of clinical medicine and genetic counselor; Bodour Salhia, PhD, associate professor of translational genomics and co-leader of the genomic and epigenomic program at USC Norris cancer center; Juan Pablo Lewinger, PhD. assistant professor of population and public health sciences; Jim Gauderman, PhD, professor of population and public health sciences and Chair of Biostatistics Division; Sue Ellen Martin, MD, associate professor of pathology, associate chief of anatomic pathology at Keck Medical Center of USC and USC Norris Cancer Center Hospital and associate director of AP quality and operations at LAC+USC Medical Center

October 26, 2021May 3, 2023

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center launches global clinical trial testing potential therapy for aggressive type of breast cancer

October 11, 2021 | Originally posted on: Keck Medicine of USC News

The therapy combines a monoclonal antibody and anti-cancer medication to deliver targeted doses directly to the tumor cells

LOS ANGELES — USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Keck Medicine of USC, has launched a global registration, phase 2 clinical trial investigating the efficacy of a potential new breast cancer therapy called ARX788.

The trial is currently recruiting breast cancer patients whose cancer has metastasized (spread to other areas of the body) and whose tumors show increased levels of a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Participants must also have experienced resistance or disease progression while on treatment plans containing T-DM1, and/or T-DXd, and/or tucatinib, which are typically prescribed for HER2-positive breast cancer patients.

About 20% of breast cancers are HER2 positive. The HER2 protein promotes cancer cell growth, which can make HER2-positive breast cancer more aggressive and difficult to treat, despite the availability of therapeutic options specific to this type of cancer.

Chemotherapy may be used in combination with targeted therapies, but can cause difficult side effects because the drug is administered throughout the body rather than just to the areas affected by cancer.

“At USC Norris, we treat a large volume of patients with HER2-positive, metastatic breast cancer and we’ve found that resistance to existing therapies is a major issue,” said Janice Lu, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist with Keck Medicine, medical director of the USC comprehensive breast oncology program and global lead principal investigator of the trial. “We are excited to lead this effort in assessing a possible alternative solution for breast cancer patients, and hope to expand our ability to provide effective personalized care.”

Michael Press, MD, PhD, a pathologist with Keck Medicine, member of USC Norris and the director of the Breast Cancer Analysis Lab at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, will lead the study’s pathological evaluation.

ARX788 is an antibody drug conjugate, which is a type of therapy that combines a monoclonal antibody with a potent dose of medication, allowing for precise, targeted drug delivery that could potentially lessen side effects. ARX788 is designed with an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody that identifies HER2-positive tumor cells to deliver a powerful dose of Amberstatin269, which destroys cancer cells and prevents new cells from forming.

Results from two phase 1 clinical trials demonstrated promising anti-tumor activity in patients who had previously received aggressive treatment plans, showing an overall response rate of 74% and a disease control rate of up to 100%, depending on dosing. ARX788 was well-tolerated, with most adverse events being mild or moderate.

“If this drug is effective, it could provide a hopeful alternative to patients with a difficult prognosis and help them maintain a quality of life in ways that chemotherapy cannot,” said Lu, who is also a member of USC Norris.

The trial is currently recruiting participants at more than 20 sites across the United States and Australia, with plans to open 150 sites worldwide, including Europe and Asia.

Those interested in enrolling at the USC Norris site can contact (323) 865-BRST (323-865-2778). To learn more about USC Norris breast cancer research, treatment and prevention please visit the USC Breast Center.

The trial is sponsored by Ambrx, which manufactures ARX788. Those wishing to learn more about the trial can email breast03trialinquiry@ambrx.com.

This study will be presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on Dec. 7-10, 2021 as an ongoing trial.

October 21, 2021May 4, 2023

Data Reveals Promising New First-Line Treatment for Newly Diagnosed Colon Cancer

October 20, 2021

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide with a poor 5-year survival rate in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated with first-line standard-of-care chemotherapy have shown to have poor outcomes.

Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, associate director for clinical research at USC Norris

Now, results from a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology reveal that a combination of Nivolumab plus low-dose ipilimumab, two immune therapeutic agents approved in refractory microsatellite high cancers, were used for the first time in newly diagnosed MSI H metastatic colorectal cancer and demonstrated robust and durable clinical benefit and was very well tolerated as a first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer.

“The data suggests that Nivolumab plus low dose ipilimumab combination has very promising activity in newly diagnosed colon cancer which are characterized with microsatellite instability,” says study author Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz, associate director for clinical research at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center (USC Norris). “As a result of this study, this regimen is being included into the NCCN guidelines as a new treatment option for colon cancer.”

Patients were enrolled in this phase II clinical trial between December 2016 through October 2017. At data cutoff, which occurred in October 2019, 45 patients with microsatellite instability-high/mismatch repair-deﬁcient metastatic colorectal cancer who had not received prior therapy for metastatic disease were treated. Among 43 response-evaluable patients, 84% had a reduction in tumor burden and 13% had complete remission of their disease. Most of these patients experienced a deepening of response with a longer follow-up of 29 months. While off treatment, further tumor shrinkage was observed in some patients.

Ryan D’Cunha (left) and Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz

Ryan D’Cunha, a colon cancer survivor and trial participant, was one of the trial participants that had complete resolution of his cancer when it was removed with curative surgery. After receiving a diagnosis of stage four colon cancer, Ryan’s pathology results came back indicating that his cancer was MSI-High, qualifying him for enrollment into the trial with immunotherapy instead of chemotherapy for newly diagnosed metastatic colon cancer. Following 6 months of treatment, the tumor was shrinking allowing Ryan to undergo surgery to remove his cancer in the colon and liver. He did tolerate the immunotherapy very well which has much fewer side effects than chemotherapy. At his post-operative appointment, Dr. Lenz informed Ryan that all tumors had disappeared in the colon and liver demonstrating a complete response to the treatment. He has now been cancer free for four years.

“Cancer has exposed us to the harsh realities of battling a life-threatening illness,” said Ryan D’Cunha. “We are truly blessed to be in the hands of one of the best medical teams in the world. We are also very grateful for the medical advances made possible by dedicated cancer researchers around the world giving us HOPE for the future, instead of fear.”

This combination represents a novel first-line treatment option for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

About this study:

In addition to Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz, other authors include Eric Van Cutsem MD, PhD, University Hospitals Gasthuisberg/Leuven and KU Leuven; Maria Luisa Limon MD, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio; Ka Yeung Mark Wong PhD, Westmead Hospital; Alain Hendlisz MD, PhD, Institut Jules Bordet; Massimo Aglietta MD, PhD, University of Torino and Candiolo Cancer Center; Pilar García-Alfonso MD, Hospital Gral Universitario Gregorio Marañon; Bart Neyns MD, PhD, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel; Gabriele Luppi MD, University Hospital of Modena; Dana B. Cardin MD, Ingram Cancer Center; Tomislav Dragovich MD, PhD, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center; Usman Shah MD, Lehigh Valley Cancer Institute; Sandzhar Abdullaev MD, PhD, Bristol Myers Squibb; Joseph Gricar MS, Bristol Myers Squibb; Jean-Marie Ledeine MS, Bristol Myers Squibb; Michael James Overman MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; and Sara Lonardi MD, Istituto Oncologico Veneto IOV-IRCSS.

About USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

At the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, more than 250 dedicated physicians and scientists are leading the fight to make cancer a disease of the past. As one of the eight original National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States, USC Norris has revolutionized cancer research, treatment, and prevention for nearly 50 years. Multidisciplinary teams provide the latest evidence-based care at USC Norris Cancer Hospital, a 60-bed hospital, as well as outpatient clinics throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties.

For more information, visit https://uscnorriscancer.usc.edu.

October 19, 2021May 10, 2023

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Announces New Breast Cancer Survivorship Program

October 19, 2021

There are currently more than 3.8 million breast cancer survivors living in the U.S., yet three out of 10 women with invasive breast cancer will develop metastasis in their lifetime, meaning cancer that has spread to other organs. This is a source of worry for both patients and families. However, breast cancers that are not fully cured after treatment are often too small to be detected by mammograms or ultrasounds but pose a significant risk.

To address this challenge, the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at Keck Medicine of USC is launching a major new initiative – The Eileen McGeever Breast Cancer Survivorship Program. Led, by USC Norris scientists and clinicians, Drs. Bodour Salhia, Irene Kang, and Caryn Lerman, this exciting new program is developing a novel blood test to detect the presence of micro-metastatic residual breast cancer at the end of therapy and develop a recurrence risk classifier that also incorporates additional clinical, environmental, and lifestyle risk factors.

“Approximately 90% of breast cancer deaths are due to metastasis,” says Dr. Caryn Lerman, director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, associate dean for cancer programs, and the H. Leslie and Elaine S. Hoffman Chair in Cancer Research at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “The Multi-Ethnic Breast Cancer Survivorship Program at USC Norris will develop the vital tools and resources needed to detect residual disease before it spreads to other organs when the cancer may be more treatable, giving the patients a better chance at survival.”

Integrating research and survivorship care, this multi-ethnic Breast Cancer Survivorship Program will further the development of a potential liquid biopsy – a blood-based test for detecting circulating tumor DNA – that could spur cancer’s recurrence and spread. Using next generation sequencing and artificial intelligence, the research team will validate this novel blood test in a cohort of 1,000 women. With the assistance of the USC Norris Population Research Core and the USC Norris Data Science Core, the multi-ethnic Breast Cancer Survivorship Program will leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches to incorporate environmental exposures, neighborhood data, and social determinants of health. This recurrence risk classifier will be utilized to develop an AI-based tool for determining a breast cancer survivor’s risk of recurrence.

Women who participate in this program will also receive educational resources, supportive care, and surveillance to detect the possible return of cancer earlier, when it may be more treatable.

For more information about this exciting program, please join us for the virtual launch on November 9^th at 6 PM PST. To register for the event, please go to https://bit.ly/2YOPnbo.

About USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

To donate to this program, please contact Minhaal Nathani, Senior Director of Development, at Minhaal.Nathani@med.usc.edu for more information.

September 27, 2021September 27, 2021

$3 Million Grant to Fund Studies Investigating How Stress Contributes to Higher Rates of Lung Cancer in the Black Community

September 27, 2021

Chanita Hughes-Halbert. (Photo provided by Chanita Hughes-Halbert)

LOS ANGELES, CA – Lung cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among racial/ethnic minorities and individuals from other medically underserved groups. To combat these racial inequalities in lung cancer, Dr. Chanita Hughes-Halbert, associate director for cancer equity at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, will collaborate with Dr. Robert Winn, director and Lipman Chair in Oncology at the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center (VCU Massey), and other scientific leaders at the Medical University of South Carolina Hollings Cancer Center(MUSC Hollings) and the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center to address lung cancer racial disparities through precision medicine, targeted smoking cessation programs, and community outreach. The studies will be funded by the National Cancer Institute through a Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant.

“Biological Pathways in Stress Reactivity and Nicotine Addiction among African American/Black and White Smokers,” led by Dr. Hughes-Halbert, is one of the research projects funded by the SPORE grant. Dr. Hughes-Halbert will be the first to investigate how cortisol – the body’s main stress hormone – relates to racial differences in smoking behaviors and overall lung cancer risk. These findings could lead to more tailored approaches to smoking cessation as well as medications that reduce the lung cancer burden on the Black community by counteracting stress.

“We are excited to be a part of this collaboration that will lead to novel discoveries and advance the science for lung cancer equity through a multi-institutional collaboration,” said Dr. Hughes-Halbert, who also serves as vice chair for research and professor for the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine.

Although the racial gap in lung cancer cases appears to be closing, likely due to the success of anti-smoking campaigns, Black men still have a higher risk of developing lung cancer compared to white men, even though they tend to smoke less – an effect referred to as the “Black smoking paradox.” Black patients are also more likely than white patients to be diagnosed at later stages and to receive no treatment at all for their cancer.

The grant will establish the Translational Research Center in Lung Cancer Disparities – TRACER for short – based at VCU Massey, in partnership with MUSC Hollings and City of Hope. TRACER will engage a host of community groups, including local health departments, community health centers, marginalized populations, civic activists, educational institutions, faith-based groups, and cancer survivors.

After the three-year funding period of this initial award, which is considered a P20 exploratory grant, the infrastructure will be in place to apply for a larger, five-year P50 SPORE award that will establish a more permanent research program devoted to ending racial inequities in lung cancer.

About USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

For more information, visit https://uscnorriscancer.usc.edu

September 21, 2021May 3, 2023

Casino Night: An Evening in Monte Carlo

Join us for ” Casino Night: An Evening in Monte Carlo:” which supports life-saving pancreatic cancer research at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. This event will be held in person at the San Gabriel Country Club in San Gabriel, California, on Saturday, October 23, 2021, at 5 PM. To register for the event, click above or call 323.855.0048.

Featuring a special presentation by Dr. Caryn Lerman, Director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Drs. Steven Grossman and Wendy Setiawan, two leading scientists in pancreatic cancer research at USC Norris.

For more information, please contact:

Lupe Tovar
USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
1441 Eastlake Avenue, Suite 8302
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Phone: 323.865.0700
Email: Lupe.Tovar@med.usc.edu

An NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center

Tag: News at USC Norris

32nd Festival of Life

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USC Norris Celebrates the Strength of Cancer Survivors at 32nd Annual Festival of Life

Swing Against Cancer 2022

8th Annual Swing Against Cancer Event

New Study Demonstrates Feasibility of Non-invasive Profiling of Advanced Prostate Cancer by Combining Liquid Biopsies with Radiomic Analysis of CT Scans

Recent Posts

New Study Demonstrates Feasibility of Non-invasive Profiling of Advanced Prostate Cancer by Combining Liquid Biopsies with Radiomic Analysis of CT Scans

New Data Suggests Entinostat Decreases Immune Suppression and Promotes Antitumor Responses against HER2+ Breast Tumors

Recent Posts

New Data Suggests Entinostat Decreases Immune Suppression and Promotes Antitumor Responses against HER2+ Breast Tumors

Cancer Moonshot funds will help USC researchers reduce health disparities in cancer research

Recent Posts

Cancer Moonshot funds will help USC researchers reduce health disparities in cancer research

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center launches global clinical trial testing potential therapy for aggressive type of breast cancer

Recent Posts

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center launches global clinical trial testing potential therapy for aggressive type of breast cancer

Data Reveals Promising New First-Line Treatment for Newly Diagnosed Colon Cancer

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Data Reveals Promising New First-Line Treatment for Newly Diagnosed Colon Cancer

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Announces New Breast Cancer Survivorship Program

Recent Posts

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Announces New Breast Cancer Survivorship Program

$3 Million Grant to Fund Studies Investigating How Stress Contributes to Higher Rates of Lung Cancer in the Black Community

Recent Posts

$3 Million Grant to Fund Studies Investigating How Stress Contributes to Higher Rates of Lung Cancer in the Black Community

Casino Night: An Evening in Monte Carlo

Casino Night: An Evening in Monte Carlo

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

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