The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas awarded a $1.4 million grant to Dr. Erin Barr, a clinician of pediatric hematology/oncology and researcher in the School of Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
Barr’s research, “Enhancing access to pediatric oncology clinical trials in West Texas,” received funding under the Recruitment or Retention of Clinical Trialists Award.
Each year, an estimated 15,000 children will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States, and 1,800 of these children live in Texas, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Barr said treatment for pediatric cancers requires specialized teams and access to pediatric-specific clinical trials, which often are not readily available outside large urban centers.
“There is a dire need for specially trained pediatric oncologists with expertise in running and conducting clinical trials in more rural areas of Texas to allow families to access care closer to home,” Barr said. “This project aims to retain such a pediatric oncologist in West Texas who brings access to new pediatric oncology clinical trials as well as works to build and maintain key local pediatric cancer excellence through the world’s largest pediatric cancer consortium, the Children’s Oncology Group (COG).”
CPRIT approved more than $103 million in 69 new cancer research and innovation grants for institutions and companies across Texas this May.
The grants expand rural clinical trials, support core facilities, fund childhood and adolescent cancer survivorship research and help recruit and train the next generation of Texas scientists.
Lance McMahon, Ph.D., TTUHSC executive vice president for research and innovation, said TTUHSC researchers are leading nationally recognized cancer research in the communities they serve.
“Meaningful progress in cancer care depends on strong discovery and clinical research,” McMahon said. “Our university’s priority is to expand cancer research which addresses the unique needs of West Texans. We are thrilled that CPRIT has recognized the critical importance of Dr. Barr’s groundbreaking research that advances pediatric cancer care for children and families in our region.”
Barr began early phase clinical trials in West Texas as the co-chair of SPOC-2012-001 (South Plains Oncology Consortium) and the study chair for a national COG phase 1 pediatric clinical trial PEPN2415. PEPN2415 is a first-in-child clinical trial of AZD1390, an experimental drug being studied to help make radiation therapy work better against cancer.
The drug is designed to block cancer cells from repairing themselves after being damaged by radiation, which may help improve treatment effectiveness, particularly for brain tumors and other hard-to-treat cancers.
SPOC-2012-001 is a Phase 1 pediatric clinical trial by the South Plains Oncology Consortium.
The study is testing a combination of two cancer drugs to determine whether they can better treat children and young adults ages 12 to 21 whose solid tumors have returned or have not responded to previous treatments.
With this CPRIT grant, Barr said she plans to expand on these clinical trials and develop new phase 1 trials for childhood cancers of novel drugs currently being studied in the TTUHSC lab of Dr. C. Patrick Reyolds, Ph.D.
“An ultimate goal of biomedical research is to bring new therapies to patients,” Reynolds said. “Phase 1 pediatric clinical trials, such as those led by Dr. Barr, provide the first access to novel therapies for children with cancer. Childhood cancer patients in our region are fortunate that Dr. Barr is at TTUHSC and that CPRIT has made funding research on childhood cancer across Texas a priority.”
Barr stressed by supporting clinical trial leadership and pediatric oncology expertise in West Texas, more families will have access to novel therapies while being able to stay within their local support networks.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: CPRIT awards TTUHSC researcher $1.4M cancer grant for rural project
Reporting by Special for the Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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