For Immediate Release
May 16, 2005

Roswell Park Announces Research Grants Totaling Nearly a Half Million Dollars

BUFFALO, NY – The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has awarded three grants totaling $498,798 to researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). 

 The grants, open only to NCCN investigators, focus on the evaluation of capecitabine, a chemotherapy drug used for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancers. The awards received peer-review by an NCCN Scientific Review Committee. Out of nine grants funded this year, RPCI received three. To date, NCCN has awarded $1.71 million in research grants to NCCN investigators through a $2.5 million research collaboration with Roche.
RPCI grant recipients are:

• Milind Javle, MD was awarded $200,000 for the study of “Capecitabine in Combination with Oxaliplatin and Radiation: A Phase II, Neoadjuvant Study for Esophageal Cancer.”
• Lakshmi Pendyala, PhD received $100,000 to investigate “Gene Expression Profiling of Esophageal Cancer in Patients Receiving Oxaliplatin, Capecitabine and Radiation, Exploring Correlations to Response/Survival.”
• Renuka Iyer, MD, was funded with $198,798 for an “Open Label Study of Capecitabine, Gemcitabine and Bevacizumab in Pancreatic Cancer: A Phase II Study with Biologic Correlates.”

“I am delighted to announce the successful funding of three independent peer-reviewed grants from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) to Roswell Park faculty,” said Youcef M. Rustum, PhD, Senior Vice President for Science Administration. “The scientific rationale for these research grants builds and sustains translational scientific efforts and faculty collaborations that enable us to pursue more effective treatment options for patients.”

  “The NCCN Clinical Trials Network, a program devoted to facilitating the development and evaluation of promising therapeutics to improve patient outcomes, is very pleased to award research funding to support important investigator-initiated studies,” noted William T. McGivney, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. “Our research collaborations will provide new knowledge and hopefully new options for cancer treatment. Roswell Park Cancer Institute, as a premier center of groundbreaking research in cancer care, continues to receive awards with substantial funding for innovative, outstanding concepts as so judged by their peers in oncology.”

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI  (1-877-275-7724) or e-mail askrpci@roswellpark.org.
      
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