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Principal Investigator: Ajay Bansal
Organization: UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $172,197
Funding agency: National Cancer Institute
ABSTRACT
The central goal of this R50 Clinician Scientist Award application is to establish and refine processes that
facilitate clinical trials in cancer interception at The University of Kansas Cancer Center (KUCC), a unique
goal that is different from the majority of R50 applicants which focus on cancer treatment trials. Cancer
prevention⎯renamed cancer interception, i.e., active rather than passive cancer prevention to disrupt cancer
pathways early⎯is an NCI priority. The KUCC NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center is the regional
leader for oncology care and its Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) research program reorganized in 2019
has already had tremendous success; 69% of CPC members are principal investigators on funded cancer-
related research grants, including 29% funded by the NCI. CPC members published 309 articles in 2022. I am a
gastroenterologist and a physician-scientist with a focus on cancer prevention/interception. I joined KUCC in
2017 to build our gastrointestinal (GI) cancer prevention program, a major regional need, from ground up. The
program has grown exponentially and now also serves as a conduit for accrual into cancer prevention, biomarker,
and imaging trials. One such example is the 14-center NCI trial, “A Phase II Clinical Trial of the Multitargeted
Recombinant Adenovirus 5 (CEA/MUC1/Brachyury) Vaccine (Tri-Ad5) in Lynch Syndrome (NCT05419011)”
where I serve as the Lead PI and Study Chair. The KUCC Clinical Trials Office (CTO) has successfully supported
cancer treatment trials, however many of the CTO’s processes for cancer interception trials can still be improved.
Cancer interception trials have different challenges compared with cancer treatment trials because the patient
population does not have active cancer and therefore does not interact directly with the cancer centers. Unlike
treatment trials, these cancer prevention participants may not experience immediate benefits. Hence, the
recruitment and retention strategy will need to be embedded within the clinical care structure which provides
immediate value: the central idea behind my GI cancer prevention program. I propose to improve the KUCC
CTO’s processes by: i) hiring project navigators to facilitate study approvals for the PIs in non-oncology
departments, outside KUCC; ii) training research coordinators in prevention trials; iii) establishing processes for
resource sharing between KUCC and non-oncology departments; iv) streamlining analysis of translational
endpoints; v) improving minority recruitment via Juntos, a homegrown center to promote Latino health; and, vi)
expanding the existing, “The Kansas Patients and Providers Engaged in Prevention Research (KPPEPR)
Network” to improve access of underserved rural populations to cancer prevention trials. I will use my active
participation in two NCI-supported Early Phase Clinical Cancer Prevention Consortia (Northwestern University
and University of Michigan) to bring cancer prevention trials to KUCC and train junior faculty members to sustain
the growth of this program. I have established relationships with leading investigators in the field to develop new
research capabilities such as messenger RNA cancer vaccines for cancer interception.
Terms: <Antineoplastic Vaccine><Award><Biological Markers><Brachyury><Brachyury protein><Cancer Center><Cancer Control><Cancer Control Research Program><Cancer Control Science><Cancer Prevention Trial><Cancer Treatment><Cancer Vaccines><Cancers><Caring><Clinical><Clinical Trials><Comprehensive Cancer Center><Faculty><Familial Nonpolyposis Colon Cancer><Funding><GI cancers><GI malignancies><GI tract cancers><Gastroenterologist><Gastrointestinal Cancer><Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer><Generalized Growth><Goals><Growth><HNPCC><Health><Hereditary Colo-rectal Endometrial Cancer Syndrome><Hereditary Colorectal Endometrial Cancer Syndrome><Hereditary Defective Mismatch Repair Syndrome><Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colon Cancer><Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colo-rectal Cancer><Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colo-rectal Neoplasms><Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colon Cancer><Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer><Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Neoplasms><Home><Image><Improve Access><Investigators><Kansas><LS/HNPCC><Latino><Lead><Lynch Syndrome><MUC-1><MUC1><MUC1 gene product><Malignant Gastrointestinal Neoplasm><Malignant Neoplasm Therapy><Malignant Neoplasm Treatment><Malignant Neoplasms><Malignant Tumor><Malignant neoplasm of gastrointestinal tract><Messenger RNA><Michigan><Minority Recruitment><Muc1 Mucin><Mucin 1><Mucin 1 protein><Names><Neoplasm Vaccines><Oncology><Oncology Cancer><Participant><Pathway interactions><Patients><Pb element><Phase><Phase 2 Clinical Trials><Phase II Clinical Trials><Physicians><Prevention Research><Prevention program><Prevention trial><Principal Investigator><Process><Provider><Publishing><R-Series Research Projects><R01 Mechanism><R01 Program><Research><Research Grants><Research Personnel><Research Project Grants><Research Projects><Research Training><Researchers><Resource Sharing><Rural Population><Rural group><Rural people><Scientist><Structure><T Brachyury protein><Tissue Growth><Training><Translational Research><Translational Science><Tumor Vaccines><Universities><Vaccines><anti-cancer therapy><anti-tumor vaccine><bio-markers><biologic marker><biomarker><cancer prevention><cancer therapy><cancer-directed therapy><clinical care><gastrointestinal malignancies><heavy metal Pb><heavy metal lead><hereditary non-polyposis colo-rectal cancer><hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer><high risk group><high risk individual><high risk people><high risk population><homes><imaging><improved><mRNA><malignancy><member><name><named><naming><neoplasm/cancer><ontogeny><pathway><patient population><phase II protocol><process improvement><programs><recombinant adenovirus><recruit><recruiting minorities><retention rate><retention strategy><rural individual><rural under served><rural underserved><success><translation research><translational investigation><treatment trial><vaccine for cancer>