Clinical Research

The Clinical Research Program at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center has recruited and organized an accomplished group of academic clinical oncologists and faculty from related disciplines in order to foster the translation of basic science into clinical and laboratory based investigations.

These efforts are directed toward advancing the state of clinical cancer care both through local trials and those sponsored by the NCI Cooperative Groups. Our goals include the integration of pharmacologic, molecular, or epidemiologic research into clinical studies that cover a wide array of diseases.

Our Program is organized around seven clinical foci:

• Breast
• GI
• Thoracic
• Prostate
• Imaging
• Biostatistics/Bioinformatics, and
• Developmental Therapeutics.

The Program consists of 63 members from ten different departments and schools. Program direct cost funding in 2003 was $14.7 million, including $5.4 million in NCI funding. In 2002, the total number of publications was 177; 18% of the publications were intraprogrammatic and 20% were interprogrammatic.

Program highlights include:

• the contribution of UNC LCCC to the development of bortezomib, a proteosome inhibitor that was studied in the labs of Al Baldwin and Robert Orlowski and which underwent phase I testing here prior to it approval by the FDA in May 2003
• our successful Breast SPORE and our SPORE application in GI cancer which was rated #1 in this past round of competition, and
• our multi-center DOD grant in prostate cancer.

The Program adds value to the UNC LCCC by providing the infrastructure to promote the interdisciplinary collaborations required for complex programs such as drug development, Program Project, and SPORE grants. Program Co-Leaders are: Thomas C. Shea, Professor of Medicine, head of the UNC bone marrow transplant program, and CALGB PI at UNC; and Richard Goldberg, Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology, UNC LCCC Associate Director for Clinical Research and former head of the GI Committee in the North Central CTG. Future plans for the Program include further growth in developmental therapeutics and translational studies.