Last week, The American Lung Association released its 19th annual “State of Tobacco Control” report, which reviews state and federal policies that prevent and reduce tobacco use. ALA reviewed state tobacco control efforts in the following areas: (1) funding for state tobacco prevention programs; (2) strength of smokefree workplace laws; (3) level of state tobacco taxes; (4) coverage and access to services to quit tobacco; (5) ending the sale of all flavored tobacco products. Ohio received only one “A” grade for smokefree workplace laws; Ohio’s Smoke Free Workplace Act has been in effect since 2006. The report concluded that Ohio has several opportunities to encourage elected officials to enact evidence-based tobacco control policy. Ohio received three “F” grades for funding state tobacco prevention programs, level of state taxes, and ending the sale of all flavored tobacco products.

Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

Examination of federal efforts yielded only slightly better evaluations; a single “F” for federal tobacco taxes, a “D” for federal government regulation of tobacco products, and two “A” grades for mass media campaigns and increasing the federal minimum age of sale for tobacco products to 21 (T21). While many local and state governments began implementing T21 policies over the past several years, former President Trump signed legislation in December 2019 amending the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and raising the federal minimum age of sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years. It is now illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product—including cigarettes, cigars and e-cigarettes—to anyone under 21. The City of Cleveland implemented its T21 policy in 2016, and since that time, our research has shown that rates of past 30-day combustible tobacco use (cigarettes and cigar products) dropped from 26% in 2015 to 11.9% in 2019; rates of past 30-day e-cigarette use dropped from 15.5% in 2015 to 7.2% in 2019. Importantly, these declines were strong and consistent across racial/ethnic groups and gender.

In a follow-up to his November NCI Bottom Line blog post, National Cancer Institute Director Ned Sharpless, MD provides an update on the opportunities created by NCI’s $120 million budget increase for FY 2021 for Established and Early-Stage Investigators, including a 35% payline increase for R01 awards over 2019. Additionally, Dr. Sharpless addresses the recent “15-by-25” goal of raising the payline for R01 applications by one percentile per year, reaching the 15th percentile by FY 2025 and how the NCI remains committed to the sustained progress of cancer research.

Glioblastoma, recognized as the most aggressive primary brain cancer in adults is also known to be among the most immunosuppressive of tumors. A Phase 2 clinical trial of PVSRIPO, a revolutionary viral immunotherapy for cancer treatment, in combination with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is underway across the United States. University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center is one of the trial's study sites and recently delivered the first patient dose in the trial.

Andrew E. Sloan, MD, is director of the Brain Tumor & Neuro-Oncology Center at the University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and a member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. "This trial combines the polio vaccine — which modifies the immunosuppressive milieu in tumor to prime the anti-tumor immune response in the brain—and a checkpoint inhibitor that 'takes the brakes off' the systemic immune system which allows the peripheral immune system to send cells from bone marrow and circulation to help combat the brain tumor," explains Sloan.

The study aims primarily to determine the percentage of patients responding to the therapy, as well as its safety and tolerability. Researchers will also examine the effects of treatment on patients’ survival and disease progression.

Research into stopping tumor growth was recently featured in BBC Science Focus Magazine as one of the world's "20 moments in 2020 to be excited about." A compound that activates an enzyme capable of suppressing tumors was discovered by a cross-institutional team from the University of Michigan and Case Western Reserve University.

The team designed a molecule that could attach to a PP2A enzyme and used a special type of microscope in order to “see precisely how different parts of the protein were brought together and stabilized by the compound,” said the study’s co-senior author Derek Taylor, PhD an associate professor at Case Western Reserve and member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The work was spearheaded by two first-authors from Dr. Taylor's group, Daniel Leonard, a Medical Scientist Training Program (MTSP) student and Research Scientist Wei Huang, PhD.

From Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute: Standard-of-care treatment for many cancers includes chemotherapy drug cisplatin which prevents the spread of cancer cells by interrupting DNA replication and damaging the genetic material in rapidly dividing tumor cells. Unfortunately, the drug can cause unintended kidney damage in some patients, calling for a lowered dose or discontinuing the cancer-fighting treatment.

A team led by Lerner Research Institute's Jianjun Zhao, MD, PhD has shown that targeting a protein known as APE2 may help prevent the acute kidney injury associated with cisplatin treatment.

The lab of Stephanie Schmit, PhD, MPH in the Genomic Medicine Institute of the Lerner Research Institute is seeking a research coordinator who demonstrates exceptional coordination and compliance of the implementation and conduct of human subject research projects typically with a high workload and high complexity. The coordinator will assist with research study design and protocol development as applicable. Dr. Schmit’s research combines wet and dry lab approaches to better understand the roles of genetic susceptibility, host immunity, and lifestyle/environmental factors in the development and outcomes of colorectal cancer.

Recent security measures across the Cleveland Clinic network made the Case CCC Marketing and Communications Request Form inaccessible to members of our community.

A new submission form is now available for use. There is a lot of important work and exciting accomplishments occurring throughout and related to the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center - and we want to know all about it! As a large center that spans three institutions, our team is making an effort to streamline distribution and project requests in order to best serve our membership and community.

As a reminder, this form may be used to submit any of the following requests:

Let our team know what you think about the form - we're happy to help out and hear your suggestions! Reach out to Case CCC marketing and communications anytime at cancer@case.edu.

LUNGevity Foundation is pleased to offer five lung cancer translational research award programs in 2021:

The Career Development Award of $100,000 per year for 3 years, was created to support future research leaders who will keep the field of lung cancer research vibrant with new ideas.

The Early Detection Award for $200,000-$300,000 per year over two years supports the development of strategies for the early detection and/or diagnosis of lung cancer.

The Veterans Affairs Research Scholar Award of $50,000 per year for two years supports fellows or junior faculty interested in lung cancer research within the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is a mentored award.

The Health Equity and Inclusiveness Junior Investigator Award of $100,000 per year for 2 years. supports physician-scientists interested in conducting lung cancer clinical research and bridging health disparities by engaging underserved communities or underrepresented minorities.

The Health Equity and Inclusiveness Research Fellow Award of $50,000 per year for 2 years supports fellows interested in translational lung cancer research who belong to underrepresented minorities in STEM.

The Distinguished Scientist Award (DSA) seeks to provide career and research support to early-career scientists who demonstrate outstanding promise for making scientific and medical breakthroughs in the field of brain cancer research.

Recipients of the award are inspired individuals with projects that show potential to generate new knowledge relating to causes, cure or treatment of primary brain tumors/brain cancer. Applicants are carefully considered and selected by The Sontag Foundation and its independent Scientific Advisory Board based on the scientific merit of the proposed project, career trajectory, peer and mentor references and an onsite research facility visit. In determining the overall scientific merit of an application, the Scientific Advisory Board scores applications based on the NIH review criteria of: significance, investigator, innovation, approach, and environment.

The award provides $600,000 in funding over a four-year period. Over that time, recipients also receive additional support from the Foundation through its vast network of scientists in the field primarily through the Foundation's annual Scientific Retreat.