Research in the NYU Division of Medical Oncology includes wide-ranging preclinical programs in the areas of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, brain, lung, and prostate cancers, and melanoma. These studies evaluate the sequence effects of combination chemotherapy involving external beam radiation as well as radiation delivered via radioimmuno-conjugates — antibodies with radioactive 'warheads.' The most promising combinations are translated to in vivo murine xenograft models that can then provide the rationale for clinical protocol development.
Other active areas of research include the development of imaging reagents using Technetium-99m to follow tumors with high angiogenic potential. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy is being used in the optimal dosing of gemcitabine therapy in pancreatic cancer; in vivo murine models serve as one basis for extrapolation to similar studies in patients with pancreatic cancer.
Division faculty play a significant role in Cancer Center programs with translational components. Faculty members are active in clinical trials spanning investigator-initiated research (particularly in Phase I and II studies of new anticancer drugs and in breast, gynecologic, and gastrointestinal cancers).
Dr. Nina Bhardwaj's laboratory specializes in the immunobiology of antigen-presenting dendritic cells (DCs). Clinical trials are planned to test the adjuvant nature of DCs, first in subjects with melanoma and eventually with breast cancer patients.
Dr. Leonard Liebes's laboratory is an NYU Cancer Institute core clinical laboratory dedicated to providing laboratory support to the institute's new and ongoing Phase I and II clinical studies. The laboratory prepares blood and tissue samples for the conduct of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic investigations. Laboratory findings are correlated with clinical observations of toxicity and/or responses. The resulting pharmacodynamic data are essential for the rational development of drugs for the treatment of specific cancers.
Clinical therapeutic trials are available to patients in the division's clinical services at Tisch, Bellevue, and Veterans Affairs Hospital and in the office practices of division members.
Faculty also participate in institutional review functions, such as the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) Executive Advisory Committee, the Protocol Review and Monitoring Committee of the Cancer Center, the Data Safety and Monitoring Board, and the Institutional Board of Review Associates.