Hormone Related Cancers Program

11.0 Abstract: Hormone Related Cancers (HRC) Program The overarching goal of the HRC Program at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC) is to reduce the morbidity and mortality of cancers that arise from hormone-related tissues. To achieve this mission, the program focuses on three specific aims: Aim 1: Identify targets in hormone-related cancers that mediate innate and acquired resistance improves the understanding of how cancers resist hormonal therapies or develop resistance during recurrence; Aim 2: Target mechanisms that regulate cancer stem cells and promote metastasis, with a focus on defining and therapeutically targeting mechanisms of cancer recurrence; and Aim 3: Develop strategies to improve diagnosis, inform treatment, and evaluate treatment response to apply new technologies that advance cancer imaging and accelerate analysis of tumor drug response for precision medicine. To achieve these three aims, HRC members are supported by collaborators and resources throughout other UMGCCC programs as well as exceptional shared services. The HRC Program has 46 members, including 30 full members and 16 associate members, who conduct basic, translational, and clinical research chiefly in breast, prostate, and ovarian cancer with $8.7 million direct annual funding ($11.0 million total), including $3.4 million (39%) from NCI and $2.6 million from other peer-reviewed sources. HRC Program members receive $2.7 million annually from non–peer-reviewed funding sources. During this funding period, HRC members authored 506 cancer-related publications, of which 17% resulted from intraprogrammatic, 28% from interprogrammatic, 6% from intra and interprogrammatic collaborations; and 60% of publications include collaborations with external investigators, reflecting the high national impact of the HRC Program. HRC Program members manage numerous clinical trials. During this grant period, the HRC Program enrolled 1,412 patients on clinical trials, including 213 on interventional trials (200 therapeutic interventional), and 1,199 patients on non-interventional trials. The research programs of HRC members utilize all of the UMGCCC shared services. The HRC Program collaborates with the other four UMGCCC Research Programs and engages community outreach and engagement to identify and address the cancer research priorities of the catchment area.