University of Iowa cancer researchers push for funding bill

IOWA CITY — Today former president Jimmy Carter revealed in an announcement that metastatic melanoma has spread to his brain. The treatment for that cancer, in part, includes infusions of one of the newest drugs available for that type of cancer.

Research trials — like those occurring daily in the University of Iowa's Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center — are responsible for the expanding array of new therapies and treatments like the one Carter is using, said George Weiner, director of the UI cancer center.

'We are doing quite a few research trials on melanoma,' Weiner said.

The UI cancer center is not directly involved in Carter's therapy, but Weiner said the university does have about 200 researchers from six colleges and 26 departments conducting cancer-related research annually.

The researchers are focused on figuring out how the various types of cancers function and attempting to personalize therapy to each individual patient, according to Weiner.

'It's so important,' he said. 'We just don't want to lose that momentum.'

Maintaining intensive research of this type requires federal support, Weiner told U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack during his visit to the UI cancer center. Loebsack has been pushing for passage of the 21st Century Cures Act that aims to accelerate 'the discovery, development, and delivery of life saving and life improving therapies,' in part, by increasing funding to the National Institutes of Health by nearly $8.75 billion over five years.

The legislation has made it out of the House and is on the Senate floor, and UI officials said passage of the bill could free up billions in federal support for research projects — like those driving advancements in cancer therapy.

'We are on the verge,' Weiner said. 'And the more funding we have, the faster progress is going to happen.'

The National Institutes of Health is the biggest supporter of biomedical research globally, but sequestration in 2013 cut its funding by $1.5 billion, resulting in 700 fewer grants that year. Congress returned about $1 billion of the funding in the 2014 budget year, but competition for research grants remains fierce.

The NIH funded only about 18 percent of 51,000 grant applications in 2014 — down from 31.5 percent in 2000.

For the University of Iowa, the Department of Health and Human Services continued to provide the brunt of its public research support in the 2015 budget year — $169.1 million, including $146.7 million from the NIH. But that was down from $186.5 million in 2014.

Weiner told Loebsack one of the hardest parts of his job involves working with researches who have 'great ideas' but were passed over for NIH funding.

'These are really outstanding ideas,' he said.

Daniel Reed, vice president for UI research and economic development, said federal funding on the whole supports the work of about 4,000 UI researchers annually — many of whom collaborate on medical research that, for example, might start in a diabetes lab but ends up producing insight into potential cancer therapy.

John Britt, 62, of Johnston, said he's a benefactor of the research-driven advancements, having been diagnosed in February with a rare form of soft-cell sarcoma — a type of cancer that can develop from soft tissues like fat, muscle, nerves, or blood vessels.

When Britt underwent surgery Feb. 16, doctors removed a basketball-size tumor from his abdomen and conferred on the best way forward. They referred Britt to the UI Hospitals and Clinics, where he's now participating in a treatment trial that began June 12 and involves five other patients.

It's the first time doctors have used a specific combination of oral and infusion therapies, and Britt said his doctor is encouraged by the results so far.

Had he been diagnosed with the disease three years ago, Britt said he would have died by now, but research opened the door for the therapy he's receiving.

Britt said he's glad to be a part of that research going forward.

'If there's any way this will help someone else in the future, I'm all for it,' he said.

'Someone else was the pioneer and got us to this point,' his wife, Donna Britt, said. 'Because someone else did that, we are optimistic we can beat this.'