UNC’s Lineberger Cancer Center Awarded $28 Million for New Clinical Trial

The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center has been awarded $28 million by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The money will be used to develop a new clinical trial for breast cancer which has spread to other part of the body.

The trial, “Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium Evolutionary Clinical Trial for Novel Biomarker-Driven Therapies,” which researchers have shortened to “EVOLVE,” will adapt treatment plans in near real-time by analyzing changes in a patient’s cancer and matching it to the most promising therapy.

“This has the potential to be practice-changing,” said Bill Schaller, the Lineberger Center’s director of communications. “This trial could pave the way for a new, more dynamic approach to treatment.”

“Despite progress in treating breast cancer during the past 30 years, we still lack curative therapies for metastatic disease,” said Dr. Lisa Carey, the deputy director of clinical sciences at the Lineberger Center and the study’s lead investigator. “EVOLVE takes a different approach to clinical research by using real-time biomarker data to adapt treatment as a tumor changes.”

Up to 700 patients with metastatic breast cancer will be enrolled in the study.

Metastatic breast cancer is currently incurable. Between 15 and 20 percent of early-stage breast cancer cases will become metastatic, and only one in three people with metastatic breast cancer survive beyond five years.

“This trial will let us act earlier, modify treatment when resistance begins – not just when symptoms return,” Carey said, “and ultimately give patients more time, and better quality of life.”

EVOLVE is part of a $142 million ARPA-H program, known as the Advanced Analysis for Precision Cancer Therapy (ADAPT). The Lineberger trial is one of 10 projects which received funding through ADAPT.

Featured image via UNC Lineberger Cancer Center

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.

‹

Mack Brown Back in Texas and At Peace After the Hall of Fame Coach's North Carolina Departure

Mack Brown is back to living in Austin, Texas, and spoke with the Associated Press about his departure from UNC and new chapter of life.

UNC Pickleball Club Wins 2022 Collegiate Title in Texas

Many Tar Heel Sports fans fondly call UNC the “University of National Champions,” and for good reason. The varsity athletics programs have won 58 total team and individual national titles. But the university’s club level of athletics is strong too, with programs that regularly compete for, and win, championship trophies. Last week, another […]

UNC Schools, Morehead Planetarium Make Medical Supply Donations

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services says it requested 500,000 each of N95 masks, gowns, gloves, face shields and coveralls from the federal stockpile to help health care workers be properly protected while treating patients. As of Sunday, all amounts of that PPE, or personal protective equipment, are less than requested. That’s […]

UNC Graduate Programs for Pharmacy, Nursing Earn Top National Rankings

Many UNC graduate programs earned high marks in the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” list, including some taking the top rankings. The list’s latest results were shared by the university in a release on Tuesday, revealing the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as the top graduate program in pharmacy for the second straight […]

UNC School of Pharmacy's New Dean Begins Tenure

UNC’s Eshelman School of Pharmacy held a celebration on Tuesday to welcome its new dean to her job, as Angela Kashuba became the school’s eleventh dean. Kashuba was selected in May to take over as leader of the top pharmacy school in the nation. The permanent role had been vacant since Bob Blouin was hired as […]

UNC Names New Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has named Robert “Bob” Blouin to serve as Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor of the University effective September 18. Blouin has been the dean of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy since 2003, but was recommended for the position by Chancellor Carol Folt. “When I thought about […]

UNC Catalyst to Provide Tools to Fight Rare Diseases

There are more than 6,800 rare diseases in existence. These diseases are usually genetic, and include conditions like muscular dystrophy or cystic fibrosis. Doctors are learning more about how to identify rare or orphan diseases in the United States, but not so much about how to treat them. That’s why UNC created the UNC Catalyst […]

UNC Researchers: Removing a Brain Tumor Makes Cancer More Aggressive

Researchers at the University of North Carolina are working to perfect stem-cell research after a discovery made regarding glioblastoma, a cancerous brain tumor. The research team from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy has found that surgically removing these brain tumors causes cancer to grow 75 percent faster than before surgery. Treatment of glioblastoma is […]

UNC Celebrates School of Pharmacy No. 1 Ranking

Leaders from around the UNC campus gathered on Wednesday to honor students and faculty at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, after the school was named the top pharmacy school in the country by US News and World Report. The School of Pharmacy was one of several graduate programs to receive high marks. Dean Bob Blouin […]

UNC's Lineberger Cancer Center Awarded $28 Million for New Clinical Trial

The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center has been awarded $28 million by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The money will be used to develop a new clinical trial for breast cancer which has spread to other part of the body. The trial, “Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium Evolutionary Clinical Trial for Novel […]

›