Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare is Site of Stand Up to Cancer 'Dream Team' Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trials

Broadcast, cable television networks plan star-studded fundraising telethon on Sept. 10

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare announced today it is participating in the Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) Dream Team pancreatic cancer research project as a primary clinical research site.

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"Cutting Off the Fuel Supply, A New Approach to the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer,'' seeks ways to deprive pancreatic tumors of crucial nutrients, increasing the percentage of patients surviving beyond one year and improving quality of life.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer, the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Most patients with advanced pancreatic cancer die within one year of diagnosis.

Daniel Von Hoff, MD, chief scientific officer at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare and physician-in-chief at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), is co-leader of the Stand Up to Cancer pancreatic cancer Dream Team. Ramesh Ramanathan, MD is the principal investigator on the clinical trials at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center.

Cancer patients travel from across Arizona, the United States and beyond for treatment at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare.

Research studies at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center are conducted in collaboration with TGen and the Scottsdale Healthcare Research Institute, allowing molecular and genomic discoveries to reach the patient bedside as quickly as possible through clinical trials of therapies directed at specific targets in a patient's tumor.

The SU2C pancreatic cancer project includes the following goals:

• Developing tests using advanced imaging techniques to determine what nutrients fuel the growth and survival of pancreatic cancer cells, helping scientists develop more precise treatments with fewer side effects.
• Launch clinical trials designed to deprive pancreatic tumors of crucial nutrients, testing drugs in combination with standard chemotherapy.

Clinical trials include:

• Using a drug to break through the tough coating surrounding the cancer so a second drug can kill the cancer cells. This combination is showing positive preliminary results in actually shrinking tumors.
• Another effort is examining a tumor's molecular profile using state-of-the art molecular profiling techniques to personalize treatment for individual patients.

In addition to the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center, other clinical research sites in the study are the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The project is funded by an $18 million grant from Stand Up to Cancer, an initiative of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, to quickly translate scientific discoveries into care for cancer patients. The American Association for Cancer Research is the sole scientific partner to SU2C. It is responsible for grants administration and management, and provides ongoing scientific oversight in conjunction with the SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee.

Stand Up to Cancer holds its second fundraising telethon on Friday, Sept. 10 at 8 p.m. The one-hour program  will be broadcast commercial-free on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Bio, Discovery Health, E!, G4, HBO, HBO Latino, MLB Network, mun2, Showtime, Smithsonian Channel, The Style Network, TV One and VH1.

The Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare opened in 2001 as the first major cancer center in greater Phoenix to offer comprehensive cancer research, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and support services in a single location. The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons has awarded Accreditation with Commendation to the Scottsdale Healthcare cancer program.

For more information about research at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare, contact cancer care coordinator Joyce Schaffer, RN, at 480-323-1339, toll free at 1-877-273-3713 or via email at [email protected].

SOURCE Scottsdale Healthcare