ACCRU Transformative Research

Medical Neuro-Oncologist Dr. Jian L. Campian on Brain Cancer Research and Her Current Phase II Study in Patients with Recurrent Glioblastoma

In this episode, ACCRU podcast host Dr. Ciara O'Sullivan interviews Dr. Jian L. Campian a medical neuro-oncologist with longstanding research in the development of novel immunotherapeutic approaches to treating brain tumors. She has been the principal investigator or co-investigator of numerous trials involving primary brain tumors and metastatic brain tumors. In this episode, Dr. Campian shares her experience in brain cancer research. She also offers wisdom to early-career investigators. She discusses the evolving path doctors often take when selecting their field of focus, the value of mentorship, and the importance of persistence and staying motivated. Her current study in development is a randomized open label Phase II study in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. It has broad eligibility and will enroll 134 patients across eight to ten ACCRU sites.

Dr. Shebli Atrash on the Challenges in High-Risk Myeloma Research

High-risk myeloma is a moving target. Myeloma plasma cells always learn to fight back. The key to treating myeloma is to fight multiple targets, understand the biology, and find out why myeloma is becoming more aggressive.  In this episode, ACCRU podcast host Dr. Kristen Ciombor interviews Dr. Shebli Atrash, who specializes in hematology and oncology at the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, N.C. He is also a Community Member of the ACCRU Board of Directors. Dr. Atrash discusses what drew him to hematology oncology and shares what needs to be improved in high-risk myeloma research. His current myeloma study with ACCRU will enroll approximately 42 patients across 7 centers.  Dr. Atrash also shares his advice for junior investigators getting started in their field of research.  

Dr. Daniel Flora on Exploring AI to Solve Research Challenges and an ACCRU Study on a Novel SERM

Staffing shortages frustrate leaders at many research centers, both academic and community settings. In this episode, Dr. Daniel Flora discusses the many challenges of conducting research and his team's exploration of AI and outsourcing solutions to help screen cancer patients for trials. A Medical Oncologist at St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Kentucky, Dr. Flora also leads an ACCRU Phase 2 study to test a novel SERM in premenopausal, ER Positive breast cancer patients. With a background in pharmacology, Dr. Flora has a special interest in “personalized medicine,” in which each individual’s treatment plan is developed to minimize toxicity.

Mayo Clinic Researcher Dr. Matthew Goetz discusses the ACCRU Neoadjuvant Breast Cancer Trial (EVANGELINE)

Outcomes in cancer treatment depend on the most basic question: Did the patient take the drug? In a recent National Cancer Database analysis of breast cancer patients with hormone receptor breast cancer who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, Dr. Matthew Goetz, and his team discovered that upwards of 40% of patients never started endocrine therapy. Those who didn't take their adjuvant endocrine therapy had a 60 to 70% higher risk of death. In this episode with Dr. Goetz, who directs the Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) and co-leads the Women's Cancer Program at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, he also discusses an innovative ACCRU neoadjuvant endocrine trial for premenopausal women with hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative breast cancer that recently activated. Podcast host Dr. Kristen Ciombor and Dr. Goetz also highlight the importance of community physicians in trial development and patient outcomes.

Genitourinary Oncologist Dr. Toni K. Choueiri on the METEOR Study and Advances in GU Therapies

Investigators are only as productive and strong as the members of their team. That is only one of many nuggets of wisdom from Dr. Toni K. Choueiri in this lively ACCRU podcast episode. Dr. Choueiri is the Director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary (GU) Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), co-leader of the Kidney Cancer Program at Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, and the Jerome and Nancy Kohlberg Chair and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also a member of the ACCRU Board of Directors. Dr. Choueiri also discusses the success of the phase 3 METEOR trial and what excites him about the progress in GU oncology. His insights on the work itself of an investigator are invaluable: the importance of facing the truth that success is not serendipity but the result of hard work and knowledge over time.

Part 2 with Dr. Fang-Shu Ou: Statistical Pitfalls in Designing and Analyzing Clinical Trials

The collaboration between biostatistician and investigator is essential to conducting studies that transform patient care. In this second part of a two-part series with Dr. Fang-Shu Ou, she identifies some of the common pitfalls in designing and analyzing clinical trials. She discusses "p-value hacking" and a few of the challenges of interim analysis, specifically changing the enrollment criteria in the middle of a study. She also argues for the importance of biostatisticians to understand the science and to ask good questions at the start of the study. Dr. Ou is a Mayo Clinic biostatistician and the group statistician for ACCRU (the sponsor of this podcast).

Biostatistician Dr. Fang-She Ou on Statistical Design for Clinical Trials

Every successful clinical trial is a dynamic collaboration between the scientist and the biostatistician. In this episode with Dr. Fang-Shu Ou, she explains the role that a biostatistician plays in the life of a study. Dr. Ou is a Mayo Clinic biostatistician and the faculty statistician for the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, leading several gastrointestinal phase 3 clinical trials that aim to improve patient care. Dr. Ou is also the group statistician for ACCRU (the sponsor of this podcast), the cancer research network. Her research interest is in survival analysis, with the goal of developing new statistical methods for clinical trial design and analysis and assimilating these new methods into practice.

GI Investigator Dr. John Strickler on the Ground Breaking MOUNTAINEER Trial

At the 2022 ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer, Dr. John Strickler presented the results of a groundbreaking trial for colon cancer. The phase 2 study examined the safety and efficacy of tucatinib in combination with trastuzumab or tucatinib alone in patients with HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer. This targeted therapy has the potential to change the trajectory and quality of the lives of patients. In this episode, Dr. Strickler discusses the initial challenge of enrolling patients for the trial and how he secured funding to pay for their participation, since many traveled from other parts of the U.S. for the study. Dr. Strickler is a medical oncologist at Duke Health and member of the Duke Cancer Center. ACCRU assisted Dr. Strickler in the initial phase of the trial, helping to enroll patients and manage the study.

ACCRU Founders on the Vision to Transform Patient Care with Innovative Clinical Trials

The heart of ACCRU is its three-way partnership with investigators, community doctors, and industry partners. In this episode, podcast host, Dr. Ciara O'Sullivan interviews three ACCRU founders: Dr. Steven Alberts, Dr. Jan Buckner, and Dr. Charles Loprinzi. They discuss the genesis of ACCRU, how it originated out of another entity, and the "why" behind the vision to develop a platform to conduct innovative clinical trials.

Dr. Saranya Chumsri and Dr. Kathryn J. Ruddy on Vaccine Trials for Breast Cancer.

Vaccines are one of the promising frontiers in breast cancer research. In this episode, ACCRU podcast host Dr. Ciara O'Sullivan interviews two breast cancer researchers who are collaborating on vaccine trials for breast cancer. Dr. Kathryn J. Ruddy is Professor of Medical Oncology at Mayo Clinic and studies long-term and late effects of cancer treatments, and how to best care for cancer survivors to enhance their quality of life and reduce symptoms. Dr. Saranya Chumsri is Associate Professor of Oncology at Mayo Clinic Florida. Her extensive research focuses on genomics, immunologic, epigenetics, breast cancer stem cells, endocrine resistance, as well as an aggressive form of breast cancer lacking estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2, termed triple negative breast cancer.