Cancer Center receives $2.6 million Grant

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Contact: Mary Lawson, Cancer Center, 612.624.6165
              Molly Portz, Academic Health Center, 612.625.2640

U OF M CANCER CENTER RESEARCHER RECEIVES $2.6 MILLION GRANT TO STUDY RARE LIVER CANCER IN CHILDREN

MINNEAPOLIS/ST.PAUL (Mar. 16, 2005) -- University of Minnesota Cancer Center researcher Logan Spector, Ph.D., has received a $2.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to lead an investigation on the causes of a rare liver cancer – hepatoblastoma (HB) – that affects only about 100 young children per year in the United States.

This study will be the largest and most comprehensive national investigation of HB to date, comparing the health histories of 600 children diagnosed with the cancer between 2000 and 2008 to a control group of 700 children. The grant is among more than two dozen grants for children’s cancer research that the University of Minnesota holds as an international leader in the research and treatment of childhood cancers.

Hepatoblastoma occurs most often in infancy and early childhood, and accounts for more than 65 percent of all liver cancer diagnosed in children under 15 years of age. The incidence rate for HB in the U.S. has doubled between 1975 and 1999 to the current number of about 100 infants and young children diagnosed annually. Besides being rare, HB also is among the least treatable childhood cancers.

“Our primary goal is to help prevent HB in future births,” says Spector, assistant professor of pediatrics. “We also think our findings may contribute to knowledge about prematurity, since infants born prematurely seem to be most at risk for HB, and historically, the study of rare cancers has contributed to the overall understanding of cancer causes.”

Certain genetic abnormalities are the only known cause of HB. Recent evidence suggests increased risk of HB in premature infants with low and especially with very low birth weights of between three – five pounds and less than three pounds respectively, who often require neonatal intensive care. There are also suspected links with maternal smoking while pregnant and parental occupational exposures.

“We will sort through the few, small studies that have been done, as well as collect data from the 1,300 young children we plan to enroll in our study, to find more definitive causes for HB,” Spector says. Working with Spector will be other researchers at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center and at cancer centers in California and Texas.

The Academic Health Center is home to the University of Minnesota’s six health professional schools and colleges as well as several health-related centers and institutes. Founded in 1851, the University is one of the oldest and largest land grant institutions in the country. The AHC prepares the new health professionals who improve the health of communities, discover and deliver new treatments and cures, and strengthen the health economy.

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