Founded: 1991
Full Time: 115
Part Time: 0
Budget: 11,200,000
Director: Jonathan Glass, M.D.
Carroll W. Feist Professor Cancer Research and Professor of
Medicine
1501 Kings Highway, P. O. Box 33932
Shreveport, LA 71130
Telephone: (318) 675-4756 FAX: (318) 675-4969 E-Mail:JGlass@lsuhsc.edu
Research Areas:
The Feist-Weiller Cancer Center (FWCC) was originally known as the Center of Excellence in Cancer Research, Treatment and Education, a name generated by our mission statement to 1) stimulate multidisciplinary cancer research, promulgating new knowledge both in basic cancer research, detection and treatment, directing research efforts at those cancers that particularly afflict Louisiana residents; 2) bring to patients at LSUHSC and make available to all physicians in the region and their patients newer treatment methods including access to cancer clinical trials; and 3) educate health care providers and the people of the region in the prevention, treatment, and science of cancer. To fulfill our mission statement we have developed three Divisions within the FWCC each with multiple programs with a research focus. These divisions and their research programs are as follows:
To support the functioning of these research programs the FWCC has developed several infrastructures including a Research Core Facility, Data Management Service, Tissue Repository, Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, and Biostatistics.
Areas of Expertise:
Through the various research programs the FWCC is contributing to basic and clinical research in a variety of cancers with faculty working to identify the causes of cancers and to develop effective therapies for these cancers. The overall thrust of the FWCC research programs is to organize the faculty into multidisciplinary groups of scientists, clinician-scientists, and clinicians so that the latest advancements in diagnosis and treatment are provided through the Center's clinical services. The Center provides a cohesive framework that facilitates communication between scientists, clinician-scientists, and clinicians that leads to a high level of extramural funding, major programs in translational cancer research bringing laboratory solutions to bedside problems, and extremely active clinical cancer research. Particular attention is being paid to those cancers that are particularly relevant to our population: prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, and the hematologic malignancies. Several of the research programs noted above have international reputations for expertise. Within the Division of Basic Cancer Research this is particularly true for the Viral Oncology and Translation Control Programs. The Viral Oncology Program has a focus on infectious agents that cause cancer, including the role of the Epstein Barr virus in epithelial cancers, Helicobacter pylori in gastric cancers, Herpes viruses in Kaposi's sarcoma, and CMV in glioblastomas. The Translation Control Program reflects a truly unique area of scientist and clinician working together to explore the aberrant expression of translation factors in several cancers and to devise both pharmacologic and gene therapy approaches to alter the function of translation factors for adjuvant and therapeutic use in breast and head and neck cancers. The Tissue Invasion and Metastases Program is investigation in manner cancer types the basic mechanisms involved in the spread of cancer cells from a primary tumor to other sites in the body. The Transcription Program is investigating various aberrations of gene transcription and chromatin structure in the etiology of leukemias and prostate cancers.
The programs within the Clinical Cancer Research Division emphasize clinical trials with much of the clinical research funded through the National Cancer Institute. To facilitate this clinical cancer research the FWCC has pioneered the use of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans to facilitate the staging, diagnosis, and treatment of lung cancer and lymphomas. Programs have been initiated that allow residents throughout north Louisiana to participate in major National Cancer Institute-funded chemoprevention trials for colon cancer and prostate cancer. Patient enrollment has peen fostered by pioneering use of the first telemedicine tumor board in Louisiana. This tumor board brings to rural residents all the benefits of a multidisciplinary, subspecialty consultation without leaving their area. The FWCC is a (if not the) leading enroller of minority patients onto clinical research studies in the country and a major enroller of patients onto studies for breast cancer and prostate cancer. An active Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit has piloted the use of mini-transplants for the treatment of indolent lymphomas.
The three programs within the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control bring unique areas of expertise to Louisiana. The Partners in Wellness Program targets individuals who are either underserved or who are not in any health care system and educates these individuals to participate in an ongoing cancer and cardiovascular screening program. PIW is present at both the EA Conway (where it originated) and LSUHSC campuses as well as at various outreach sites and covers well over 15,000 people. The Education Program has a national reputation for devising approaches to various barriers to health care especially those barriers posed by low literacy. The Molecular Epidemiology Program has diverse approaches to population based studies examining the molecular bases for various cancers including the role of insulin like growth factor 1 in prostate cancer, mutations in HFE in lung cancer, and various molecular targets in skin and bladder cancers.
Special Capabilities and Facilities:
The FWCC is about to open a new 60,000 square foot multidisciplinary out patient building where all cancer patients will be seen and that will house surgical and endoscopy suites, the Breast Imaging Center, radiation therapy, a diagnostic radiology suite including computerized tomography. The Basic Cancer Research Division includes a Research Core Facility with genomics, proteomics, flow cytometry, confocal and immunofluorescence microscopy, and real time PCR.
Research Equipment:
The Feist-Weiller Cancer Center has developed a variety of core facilities in addition to the Research Core Facility that includes a tissue bank and histopathology core, a small animal imaging center with PET and CT equipment, and a molecular diagnostic laboratory.
Keywords:
0715035 Cancer Carcinogenesis
0785140 Oncology
0745003 Chemoprevention
0710137 Cancer Biology
0745005 Chemotherapy
0730085 Health Care Cost Containment
0710095 Nutrition/Dietetics
0730097 Minority Health Services
0730090 Health of Underserved Populations