MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, SC State win landmark grant

NIH/NCI grant among first in nation to include Sea IslandAfrican Americans to explore cancer disparities and expand personalizedmedicine frontier
 
CHARLESTON, SC – December 14, 2011 – South Carolina’s Sea Island blackpopulation may hold answers to why African Americans in the US developand die from certain cancers at a higher rate than Caucasians.      

A landmark grant awarded recently by the National Institutes ofHealth (NIH) and the NIH’s National Cancer Institute to the HollingsCancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) andSouth Carolina State University is among the first of its kind in thecountry to support cancer disparities research that includes Sea Islandresidents

The grant, exceeding $800,000, establishes the South Carolina CancerDisparities Research Center (SC CaDRe) which will have as its missioninvestigating cancer disparities and training future researchers in thefield. Researchers from both institutions will collaborate on bothaspects

“The more we know about how genetic makeup contributes to canceronset and progression, the better we will be able to develop drugstargeted toward each person’s genetic make-up, which will give usgreater ammunition in our cancer-fighting arsenal,” said principalinvestigator Marvella Ford, PhD, associate director of cancerdisparities at the Hollings Cancer Center

Judith Salley, PhD, chair of the Department of Biological Sciences atSouth Carolina State University and co-principal investigator on thegrant, said, “In addition to conducting research that could lead toimproved cancer treatment, the grant will also develop the careers ofthe next generation of cancer disparities researchers by trainingundergraduate students from SCSU, graduate students from MUSC, andjunior faculty from both institutions.”                     
      
Grant and Research Highlights:

• African Americans from the Sea Islands are the most homogeneousblack population in the US. They are direct descendants of Africansremoved by force from West Africa, primarily from Sierra Leone.
• The genetic distance between the Sea Island populations and those inSierra Leone is shorter than between Sea Island populations and AfricanAmerican populations in the US.
• Other ethnic groups included in the research will be AfricanAmericans who do not have Sea Island ancestry and Caucasians who havebeen diagnosed with cancer.
• Another unique element of the grant is the formation of an advisorygroup, including Sea Island community advocates, which will help selectresearch projects conducted.
• Research will initially focus on breast and prostate cancers, twotypes of cancer that affect African Americans and Caucasians at markedlydisproportionate rates. Studies will explore whether geneticdifferences play a role in disparities.

About Hollings Cancer Center
Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of SouthCarolina is a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center and thelargest academic-based cancer program in South Carolina. The cancercenter has more than $35 million in cancer research funding and morethan 200 people are currently participating on a cancer clinical trialat Hollings Cancer Center. Hollings offers state-of-the-art diagnosticcapabilities, therapies and surgical techniques and hasmultidisciplinary clinics that include surgeons, medical oncologists,radiation therapists, radiologists, pathologists, psychologists and manyother specialists seeing patients under one roof. Multidisciplinarycare is provided for most adult and pediatric cancers. For moreinformation please visit www.hcc.musc.edu.                              

About MUSC
Founded in 1824 in Charleston, The Medical University of SouthCarolina is the oldest medical school in the South. Today, MUSCcontinues the tradition of excellence in education, research, andpatient care. MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students andresidents, and has nearly 13,000 employees, including approximately1,500 faculty members. As the largest non-federal employer inCharleston, the university and its affiliates have collective annualbudgets in excess of $1.7 billion. MUSC operates a 700-bed medicalcenter, which includes a nationally recognized Children’s Hospital, theAshley River Tower (cardiovascular, digestive disease, and surgicaloncology), and a leading Institute of Psychiatry. For more informationon academic information or clinical services, visit www.musc.edu. For more information on hospital patient services, visit www.muschealth.com.