The NCI recently awarded more than $7.9 million to support a new Radiation Oncology-Biology Integration Network (ROBIN) center at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and the Cleveland Clinic.
Research is an integral part of Emory, from the sciences to the humanities. Read a sample of recent grant awards across campus along with newly published research findings.
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Boston, Mass. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common form of cancer of the kidney. In 2018, there were an estimated 403,000 new cases of RCC and 175,000 deaths due to kidney cancer worldwide. Currently, the 5-year survival rate for patients with metastatic RCC is only about 12 percent. Current treatments include inhibitors of the VEGF and PD-1 pathways. However, resistance to therapy occurs in most patients and new combination treatments are still needed to enhance the efficacy of these current approaches.
Now, investigators have demonstrated that ACE2 expression is a good prognostic factor in RCC, that loss of ACE2 mediates resistance to classical treatments, and that in preclinical models, treatment with a drug that is downstream of ACE2 can improve tumor responses in RCC and significantly prolong survival. The team, led by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center s (BIDMC) Rupal Bhatt, MD, PhD, and University College Cork, Ireland s Thomas Walther, PhD, published