The internationally known multiple myeloma program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will receive $19.5 million over five years to continue work that has already developed new treatments for this cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell present in the bone marrow.
In 2004, Bart Barlogie, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UAMS Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy (MIRT), was awarded $17.9 million from the from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to fund an ongoing comprehensive research program, entitled "Growth Control of Multiple Myeloma." That grant was distributed over five years, concluding in June.
The $19.5 million NCI grant is the fourth five-year renewal of continuous funding from the NCI, which supports much of the ongoing research at the Myeloma Institute. Barlogie's work has led to a median survival rate of more than eight years today for Myeloma Institute patients, compared to a 34 percent five-year survival rate for multiple myeloma patients, as documented by the NCI between 1995-2001.
Myeloma Institute scientists have analyzed the genetic and cellular mechanisms of multiple myeloma, leading to new treatments for patients who come to UAMS from every state and more than 50 countries. With a genetic analysis tool developed at UAMS, a patient's disease can now be identified as a more aggressive (high-risk) or less aggressive (low-risk) form of multiple myeloma.
Clinical trials under way are among the first for multiple myeloma or any other cancer to involve risk-specific treatment plans based on the genetic makeup of the tumor.
"Thanks to the basic science, clinical research and patient care efforts funded by this grant over the years, the landscape for myeloma outcomes has changed drastically," said Barlogie, a professor in the UAMS College of Medicine.