I have been an oncologist for more than 30 years and have never seen more collective optimism than when GHS hosted a regional cancer summit this month as part of the national Cancer Moonshot initiative spearheaded by Vice President Joe Biden.
Thanks to innovative treatments, we are already seeing patients survive from previously “unsurvivable” cancers.
But the best is yet to come.
Researchers from universities, teaching hospitals and pharmaceutical innovators are partnering like never before thanks to intensified governmental and private support. Thanks to innovative immunotherapies — some of which are being trialed at GHS’ Institute for Translational Oncology Research — we are on the cusp of finding the keys to unlock the notoriously tough defenses of the cancer cell.
A key part of the initiative will be the creation of large databases of information about individual cancers, the genetic mutations they contain, the symptoms they cause and their response to treatment. Already, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is nearing completion of the Genomic Data Commons, which will be able to hold data from as many as 50,000 patients and clinical trial participants. The American Society of Clinical Oncology is also creating a large database of information about individual cancers that will allow cancer researchers to identify effective treatments for the thousands of different kinds and variations of cancers.
It is ironic that cancer is experienced and treated one person at a time, but the future of cancer research is studying large groups of cancer patients one database at a time. Part of the explanation is the uniqueness of each person and of each cancer. Careful study of common cancers like lung, breast and colon cancer has led to the identification of subtypes, which have nearly unfathomable names but refer to a specific biochemical process. In recent years, many specific new “targeted” cancer therapies have been developed for some of these new cancer subtypes, such as EGFR mutated lung cancer, Her2 overexpressed breast cancer and K-ras wild type colon cancer. Similarly, careful study of rare tumors has identified specific mutations and targets that have guided research into new cancer drugs and treatments for many types of cancer.
From the study of large numbers of cancer cases come treatments that help individuals with cancer.
In Greenville, we have been working closely with the NCI and contributing to NCI research and databases since the 1980s. It has been especially rewarding for us to see how research studies done over the past three decades continue to lead to improvements in cancer prevention and treatment today. In 2014, the National Cancer Institute named the GHS Cancer Institute as one of only 34 National Community Oncology Research Program sites and the only directly recognized and funded one in S.C. This has considerably elevated the degree and sophistication of our collaboration with the NCI and has positioned us to better contribute to the “big data” of cancer research and bring cutting-edge treatments to people living with cancer in the Carolinas.
Through that multimillion grant, we are leading research into cancer prevention, control and post-treatment surveillance while simultaneously investigating factors that affect access to and quality of care.
Community generosity has also helped make the GHS Cancer Institute a regional leader. Additional expansions at GHS includes its rare tumor center, adolescent and young adult cancer program and the McCrary Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit, the first in the Upstate to provide donor-match options for high-risk patients.
While we hope that the moonshot to cure cancer pays off, we recognize that there will remain many people on Earth and in our community living with the symptoms and challenges of cancer. Here, too, the NCI is conducting research into cancer care delivery, symptom control and quality of life — and Greenville is involved. The GHS Cancer Institute, through its Center for Integrated Oncology & Survivorship program, is conducting research to help reduce the side effects of therapy, relieve the fatigue that so commonly occurs with cancer and improve quality of life of cancer survivors. Our research includes innovative drugs and treatments, as well as integrative approaches such as mindfulness meditation, heart rate variability biofeedback and acupuncture. This research is also connected to the larger efforts and databases of the NCI and is part of the broader moonshot efforts to cure cancer here on Earth.
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For more information on GHS’s cancer treatments, trials and community outreach, visit ghs.org/cancer. To learn about the national moonshot initiative, visit cancer.gov.
