With a new five-year, $11.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), researchers at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals hope to learn what causes—and how to reduce and treat—esophagus cancers, an increasingly common and deadly disease.
Cancer of the esophagus, especially esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), is highly lethal, with 80% of patients dying from the disease within five years of diagnosis, according to Kishore Guda, an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. And patients with Barrett’s esophagus (BE), marked by a change in normal cells lining the esophagus, are at high risk of developing EAC.
Guda is leading the NCI-funded research with Amitabh Chak, a professor at the School of Medicine, physician at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and the Brenda and Marshall B. Brown Master Clinician in Innovation and Discovery. Both are also members of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and have been studying this form of cancer for two decades.
“This program,” Chak said, “is a culmination of decades of collaborative research between clinical investigators and basic cancer researchers.”
With this new round of funding, they will focus on how these types of cancers originate—specifically, the molecular and genetic factors that trigger why and how Barrett’s esophagus develops and progresses to esophageal cancer.
“The goal,” Guda said, “is to translate our discoveries into effective prevention and treatments for patients, which, in turn will reduce cancer mortalities from this lethal disease.”
Their five-year project will consist of three parts, each based on their previous research:
For more information, contact Bill Lubinger at william.lubinger@case.edu.
This article was originally published Oct. 4, 2023.
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