The Cancer Cell Biology Program seeks to enable new approaches to cancer pathogenesis and therapy by catalyzing interactions between DF/HCC scientists and clinicians. The overarching goal is to facilitate """"""""""""""""bench-to-bedside"""""""" collaborations, bringing basic discoveries into the clinic, and """"""""bedside-to-bench"""""""" collaborations, when a deep knowledge of the clinical features of a particular disease helps drive fundamental discovery of pathogenesis mechanisms, ultimately leading to new treatment strategies.
The specific aims of the Cancer Cell Biology Program are to: 1) exploit emerging technologies to elucidate the cellular mechanisms that underlie tumorigenesis;and 2) leverage basic science discoveries to inspire pre-clinical and clinical development of novel therapeutics. The 99 members of this Program are unified through their use of molecular, biochemical, and cell biological approaches to delineate and alter cancer cell behavior. They represent all DF/HCC institutions. In 2009, members received more than a total of $79.3 million in overall grant funding (TC), of which $22.1 million was from NCI and $42.5 million was from other peer-review sponsors. Members published 1,546 publications during the current project period (2006 to 2010), of which 5% were intra-programmatic, 26% were inter-programmatic, and 20% were inter-institutional. Inter- and intra-programmatic collaborations have not only led to the development of novel therapeutics, but have also inspired complementary avenues of basic scientific investigation. In the 2005 CCSG renewal, the program received an outstanding merit score. It is poised to continue that trajectory in the next project period.
New technologies will accelerate the discovery of the mechanisms of tumorigenesis. The coordination of discovery-oriented basic cancer research with efforts to identify and test new cancer drugs will continue to have significant impact on the care of cancer patients. With these interdisciplinary approaches in place, the results of clinical trials can, in turn, refine basic cell biology discovery efforts;ultimately leading to more targeted and individualized therapies.
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