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Higgins: $400,000 grant for Roswell Park to study pancreatic cancer

by jmaloni

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Thu, Apr 10th 2014 03:20 pm

Congressman Brian Higgins announced Roswell Park Cancer Institute has been awarded $406,247 in grant funding from the National Cancer Institute. The two-year federal grant will provide $221,589 toward the project in the first year, and $184,658 the following year.

"We know that cancer research saves lives," said Higgins, a member of the House Cancer Caucus. "The certainty of continued funding from sources like the National Cancer Institute that allows researchers to explore a wide range of treatment options is critical to the goal of finding a cure."

The grant will allow Roswell Park researchers to study an innovative new treatment, anticancer agent FL118, for pancreatic cancer - the most aggressive of all human cancers. While overall cancer incidences have been on the decline in the past decade, pancreatic cancer continues to have a poor survival rate and no notable improvement in patient outcomes. Estimated new U.S. cases of pancreatic cancer have risen 20 percent over the past six years, from 37,680 in 2008 to 45,220 in 2013.

"We're eager to move ahead with this project, as we believe that the agent may prove to be an attractive option for treating pancreatic cancers, and may also help us to identify other strategies for conquering this deadly disease," said Dr. Li, an associate professor of oncology in the department of pharmacology and therapeutics at Roswell Park.

Higgins has long been a vocal advocate for increased national funding for cancer research. He has spoken out on the devastating impacts of federal spending cuts that would affect medical research.

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