Sandy Hutchens Cancer Prevention

WOW!!! More on the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, Sandy Hutchens

Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2007 establishing the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) and authorizing the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund groundbreaking cancer research and prevention programs and services in Texas. CPRIT’s goal is to expedite innovation and commercialization in the area of cancer research and to enhance access to evidence-based prevention programs and services throughout the state. CPRIT accepts applications and awards grants for a wide variety of cancer-related research and for the delivery of cancer prevention programs and services by public and private entities located in Texas. More information about CPRIT and the funded proposals is available at its website, www.cprit.state.tx.us.

Here is who got funding!

January 20, 2010 CPRIT Research Awards

High Impact/High Risk: Short term projects that are developmental or exploratory in nature targeting new avenues of cancer research that, if successful, will contribute to major new insights into the etiology, diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of cancers.

Total monies awarded: $ 2,596,950
Recipients:
Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor University
InGeneron, Inc.
Rice University
Texas A&M University
The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

Individual Investigator: Innovative research proposals directed by a single investigator addressing critically important questions that will significantly advance knowledge of the causes, preventions and/or treatment of cancer.

Total monies awarded: $ 56,311,597
Recipients:
Baylor College of Medicine
Rice University
Texas A&M University System Health Science Center
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
The Methodist Hospital Research Institute
The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Dallas
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Visualase, Inc.

Recruitment (First Time, Tenure Track, Rising Stars and Superstars) Awards tailored to the career stage of the targeted recruits for relocation to Texas.

Total monies awarded: $ 2,000,000
Recipients:
The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio

Cancer Research Institute Activities

THANK YOU to Texas based Cancer Prevention and Research Institute!!! – Sandy Hutchens

The funding announced today is part of $3 billion that will be invested in cancer research projects during the next 10 years.

The Austin-based organization awarded 66 projects funding, which were chosen from about 900 proposals. A team of 100 experts reviewed applications and chose projects that study causes and treatments for brain, breast, blood, cervical, colon, liver, lung, ovarian, and prostate cancer.

At the same time, the institute awarded the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio the second CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research. The facility will use the donation to recruit new staff.

Texas voters passed a constitutional amendment that created the organization in 2007. The state garnered $3 billion in bonds for research that aims to expedite innovation and commercialization in cancer research.

The University of Texas was among the winners.

The use of screening test for cervical cancer

As it turns out BBC News has reported the use of screening tests other than smears may prevent of more deaths caused by cervical cancer. This is so for women who are over 35.

Italian researchers headed by Dr. Guglielmo Ronco of the Turin Centre for Cancer Prevention studied data on over 90,000 women over three and a half years. The findings were that women who have been tested for the human papillomavirus (HPV) suffered less cancers than women who were tested using the more common smear technique.

Testing for HPV can pick up early pre-cancerous alterations to cervical cells, which means that the correct treatment can be started at an early stage. The director of information at the Cancer Research UK,, Dr. Leslie Walker state that “we might be able to spot the warning signs even earlier and it might, in future, mean that women go for screening less often.”

The good news according to the research is that HPV testing does not require the same amount of testing. Once every five years will do whereas smears need to be done once every three years.

Good for women under the age of 35

Unfortunately this type of testing is not the best one for all women. Since HPV testing is generally more sensitive, it also tends to find problems that, when discovered in younger women, often correct themselves over time and are truly better left untreated. Therefore, the testing is not best suited for women under the age of 35 in order to avoid being over-treated.

We encourage you to read more on this.

Doctor Speaks About Cervical Cancer Screenings

Dr. Bernadine Healy speaks about ACOG’s new recommendations for less frequent pap smears to detect cervical cancer in this video.