UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center SPORE in Melanoma

描述(由申请人提供)： 得克萨斯大学安德森癌症孢子治疗皮肤癌中心的总体目标是促进黑色素瘤预防、检测和治疗方面的创新研究，从而消除这种疾病。这个孢子将通过召集一群有才华的临床和实验室科学家来实现这一目标，他们致力于将黑色素瘤的特定发现从实验室转化到临床，以及从临床转化到实验室。德克萨斯大学M.D.安德森癌症中心将消除黑色素瘤作为其优先事项之一，将其作为健康风险，为此，1998年建立了黑色素瘤多学科研究计划，以支持跨越传统行政边界的培训和研究，以促进黑色素瘤患者的治疗。在这种支持下，我们成功地组织了一个高效和多产的基础设施，这是这个孢子应用程序的框架。我们现在准备利用我们在分子和细胞水平上对黑色素瘤的理解的快速增长。 通过皮肤癌的这一孢子，我们将加强从黑色素瘤生物学和流行病学研究中收集的见解转化为更有效的预防、检测和治疗方法。皮肤癌的这个孢子提出了五个翻译研究项目、三个职业发展职位和至少四个发展研究奖项，所有这些都由三个核心(行政、信息学、组织资源和病理学以及生物统计学)提供服务。这五个项目涉及：MHC-II呈现的黑色素瘤多肽，其设计可获得最佳的免疫原性，从而激活CD4细胞(Wang项目)；DNA修复酶功能、遗传学和风险的分子流行病学(Wershenwald项目)；对诱导型一氧化氮合酶作为生存预后因素的评估以及对治疗信号级联反应的探索(Grimm项目)；作为治疗方法的IL-8和MUC18/MCAM的调节(Bar-Eli项目)；以及作为生存预后因素的特定II类HLA等位基因的评估，以及相关细胞因子在疾病进展中的作用的评估(Lee项目)。通过这项研究计划，并在德克萨斯大学安德森癌症中心的全力支持下，我们将对恶性黑色素瘤过程的预防和检测以及黑色素瘤患者的治疗产生重大影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center SPORE in Skin Cancer is to facilitate innovative research in the prevention, detection and treatment of melanoma leading to the elimination of this disease. This SPORE will achieve this goal by assembling a talented group of clinical and laboratory scientists who are committed to the translation of findings specific for melanoma from the lab to the clinic as well as from the clinic to the laboratory. The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has made as one of its priorities the elimination of melanomas as a health risk, and to this end, established in 1998 a Multidisciplinary Research Program in Melanoma to support training and research across traditional administrative boundaries in order to advance treatment of patients with melanoma. With this support, we have successfully organized an efficient and productive infrastructure that is the framework for this SPORE application. We are now poised to take advantage of the rapid increases in our understanding of melanoma at the molecular and cellular levels. Through this SPORE in Skin Cancer, we will enhance the translation of insights gleaned from research in melanoma biology and epidemiology to more effective prevention, detection and treatment approaches. This SPORE in Skin Cancer proposes five translational research projects, three career development positions and at least four developmental research awards all being served by three cores (Administrative; Informatics, Tissue Resource, and Pathology; and Biostatistics). The five projects address MHC-II-presented melanoma peptides engineered for optimal immunogenicity for CD4 cell activation (Project by Wang); molecular epidemiology of DNA repair enzyme function, genetics, and risk (Project by Wershenwald); evaluation of inducible nitric oxide synthase as a prognostic factor for survival and exploration of signaling cascades for therapy (Project by Grimm); regulation of IL-8 and MUC18/MCAM in combination with conventional chemotherapy as therapeutic approaches (Project by Bar-Eli); and evaluation of specific class II HLA alleles as prognostic factors for survival and evaluation of the role of associated cytokines in disease progression (Project by Lee). Through this research program and with the full support of the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, we will make significant impact toward the prevention and detection of malignant melanoma processes, and treatment of patients with melanoma.