Symposium Showcases Promising Research Aimed at Reducing Cancer Therapy Side Effects

By Marty Trieschmann

Ask any patient treated with chemotherapy, and the answer may be the treatment. Common side effects of chemotherapy include pain, fatigue, hair loss, mouth sores, bowel issues as well as nerve, muscle, cell and organ damage.

And that’s just chemotherapy. Conventional X-ray radiation, a treatment needed by half of all cancer patients, can cause scarring of the lungs and other injuries to any organ in the radiation field.

“Cancer treatments are much better than they used to be, and patients are living longer,” said Marjan Boerma, Ph.D., director of the Center for Studies of Host Response to Cancer Therapy at UAMS. “But patients and survivors can still experience physical suffering, both during and sometimes years after treatment.”

Symposium Showcases Promising Research Aimed at Reducing Cancer Therapy Side Effects

UAMS cancer researcher, Amanda Stolarz, Ph.D., discusses her lymphedema study with colleagues at the UAMS Showcase of Medical Discoveries

UAMS Awarded $11.48 Million Federal Grant to Establish Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer

By Marty Trieschmann

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute received a five-year, $11.48 million federal grant to create the Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer (CMIC).

The grant was awarded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) program. COBRE grants are awarded to establish centers of research excellence around a specific scientific theme that will ultimately become self-sustaining.

The UAMS Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer and its researchers will study the molecular features and properties of biomolecules that drive cancer using structural biology and high-resolution imaging with precise, quantitative analysis.

UAMS Awarded $11.48 Million Federal Grant to Establish Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer

THE MAN BEHIND THE MOLECULES: Robert Eoff, Ph.D., is the driving force behind the creation of the UAMS Center for Molecular Interactions in Cancer. Image by Evan Lewis

104 and Cancer Free

By Marty Trieschmann

Feb. 3, 2023 | UAMS patient treated by James Suen, M.D., is one of the oldest living cancer survivors in Arkansas  

A favorite pillow in Maddie Upton’s Camden, Arkansas, home reads, ‘I’m so far up the hill, I’ve started up the next one.’

At 104, there is no old age joke she hasn’t heard, and she shows no sign of being tired of them. The same positive attitude and grit that saw her through two world wars and the Great Depression has been her go-to in other battles, including cancer.

https://news.uams.edu/2023/02/03/104-and-cancer-free/

Maddie Upton, 104, with her oncologist of 50 years, Dr. James Suen.

Cyclotron for State’s First Proton Center Arrives at UAMS

By Marty Trieschmann

Completion of a $65 million expanded University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Radiation Oncology Center that will house Arkansas’ first Proton Center marked an important milestone Oct. 20 with the arrival and installation of the Proton Center’s cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator that serves as a key piece of equipment.

“UAMS is proud to partner with Arkansas Children’s, Baptist Health and Proton International to bring this groundbreaking technology to Arkansas,” said UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA. “Arkansans will no longer need to travel out of state to receive this innovative treatment.”

Under construction at 3900 W. Capitol Ave., the Proton Center of Arkansas will offer an advanced form of radiation treatment that uses precisely focused protons to target tumors, rather than photons used in standard X-ray radiation.

https://news.uams.edu/2022/10/20/cyclotron-for-states-first-proton-center-arrives-at-uams/

Workers from Kinco Construction and Proton International carefully position the 55-ton cyclotron before lowering it into an underground vault. When installed, the cyclotron will power the proton energy beam that will deliver highly targeted proton radiation to cancerous tumors. Image by C.M. Smith Aerial Media

AUDIO: New Blood Test Detects More Than 50 Types of Cancer

By Matthew Moore KUAF

A new blood test has received FDA breakthrough status approval that can detect more than 50 different kinds of cancer in a patient. Mercy Hospitals in Rogers and Fort Smith are among the earliest health systems to offer the test.

https://www.kuaf.com/show/ozarks-at-large/2022-07-25/new-blood-test-detects-more-than-50-types-of-cancer

Mercy Health Systems providing new blood test to detect cancer

KUAR | By Alexandria Brown

A new blood test being offered at Mercy Health Systems in Arkansas can be used to detect early signs of cancer. The Galleri test can indicate early signs of more than 50 types of cancers, including aggressive types like pancreatic, ovarian, and esophageal, which oftentimes have no warning signs

The Galleri, which is a multi-cancer early detection (MCED) blood test, was created by a California-based health care company called GRAIL. Dr. John Mohart, president of Mercy communities, said the test uses advanced sequencing to look for tumor DNA in the bloodstream.

“In general, we only screen for about four to five cancers in the U.S.—the most common ones,” Mohart said in an interview with KUAR News. “But the deep-seated cancers like pancreatic, ovarian, and esophageal, we don’t have any screening. And so, about 71% of cancer deaths are actually from cancers that we don't screen at all for. So with this test, it’s not a replacement for the normal screening that you would get with your physicians, but this is a supplement of deeper cancers that we don’t screen for at all.”

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2022-07-19/mercy-health-systems-providing-new-blood-test-to-detect-cancer

Mercy/Mercy Health Systems

Mercy Health Systems is offering a test that identifies early signs of cancer.

Danyelle Musselman to Emcee UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute’s ‘Be a Part of the Cure’ Walk on April 30

Danyelle Musselman serves on the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Board of Advisors.

By Marty Trieschmann

The first lady of Arkansas Razorback Men’s Basketball, Danyelle Musselman, will emcee the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute’s “Be a Part of the Cure” Walk honoring all Arkansas cancer patients.

“Like many of us, I have lost friends and family members to cancer,” said Musselman, who serves on the Cancer Institute’s board of advisors. “Not one to sit on the bench, I’m lacing up my shoes and going on a walk to raise money to fight cancer of all kinds and help patients battling the disease right here in the Natural State.”

The walk is set for 8 a.m., Saturday, April 30, at War Memorial Stadium and outdoor course and will honor cancer patients, cancer survivors and those who have lost their battle with cancer, as well as raise funds for research programs at the Cancer Institute.

https://news.uams.edu/2022/02/28/danyelle-musselman-to-emcee-uams-winthrop-p-rockefeller-cancer-institutes-be-a-part-of-the-cure-walk-on-april-30/

UAMS, Baptist Health Partner on New Cancer Care Initiative

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences announced to employees on Tuesday (June 1) that it is collaborating on a new cancer care initiative with Little Rock-based Baptist Health.

“Building on our longstanding relationship, UAMS and Baptist Health are taking steps to expand the innovative and unique oncological care found at our Cancer Institute, starting with the opening in the near future of the UAMS Baptist Health Cancer Center on Baptist’s North Little Rock campus,” UAMS Chancellor Dr. Cam Patterson revealed in a memo to employees.

Patterson said locations for additional new UAMS Baptist Health cancer centers are not final yet, but Baptist’s statewide footprint stretches from Fort Smith through central Arkansas and ranges from north central Arkansas into south Arkansas.

https://talkbusiness.net/2021/06/uams-baptist-health-partner-on-new-cancer-care-initiative/

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences announced Tuesday it is partnering with Baptist Health on a new cancer-care initiative.

CREDIT UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES

UA, UAMS Researchers Awarded $10.8 Million Grant to Establish Metabolic Research Center

by Talk Business & Politics staff

A $10.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will enable an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Arkansas and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to address the role of cell and tissue metabolism in rare and common diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity and mitochondrial disorders.

The five-year award, funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, establishes the Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center as an NIH-designated Center of Biomedical Research Excellence. The award recognizes the university’s combination of expertise in advanced imaging techniques, bioenergetics and data science.

https://talkbusiness.net/2021/04/ua-uams-researchers-awarded-10-8-million-grant-to-establish-metabolic-research-center/