NCI funds $10.9 million for retrovirus models of cancer

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A team of researchers from Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) and the University's College of Veterinary Medicine have received a $10.9 million, five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to further their studies of retrovirus-associated cancer.

Principal investigator Michael Lairmore, DVM, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Veterinary Biosciences, associate director for basic research at the OSUCCC, and a member of the OSUCCC's Viral Oncogenesis Program, leads the team.

The new grant follows a previous five-year, $8.9 million NCI grant received in 2003 for studies investigating how some retroviruses cause white blood cells, called lymphocytes, to proliferate, leading to cancer. Retroviruses include the human T-lymphotropic virus type I and II (HTLV-1 and HTLV-2), which have been linked to adult T-cell leukemia and lymphoma, and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of AIDS.

The study comprises five interactive projects and three cores. Besides Lairmore, other project or core leaders include: Patrick Green, PhD; Kathleen Boris-Lawrie, PhD; Thomas Rosol, DVM, PhD; Lawrence Mathes, PhD; and Stefan Niewiesk, DVM, PhD. Drs. Green, Boris-Lawrie, Mathes and Niewiesk are in the OSUCCC's Viral Oncogenesis Program, of which Dr. Green is co-leader. Dr. Rosol is in the OSUCCC's Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program.

These scientists are joined by colleagues Fred Cope, PhD, OSUCCC assistant director for research; Mamuka Kvaratskhelia, PhD, of the College of Pharmacy and the OSUCCC's Experimental Therapeutics Program; Soledad Fernandez, PhD, MSc, of the Ohio State Center for Biostatistics; and collaborators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (Katherine Weilbaecher, PhD, and Lee Ratner, PhD).

"Each laboratory has interrelated goals to define critical biological events that control the alteration of lymphocytes," Lairmore says. "These findings will help us further discover therapeutic targets against retroviral-induced lymphoma and its lethal side effects syndromes, such as hypercalcemia."

Additional information: The Department of Veterinary Biosciences  or contact Dr. Michael Lairmore: (614) 292-4489