The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has renewed a five-year, $10.9 million grant to the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) Cancer Institute (UPCI) to continue its research on head and neck cancer, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
"Building on our past research, we are excited to continue our work into novel treatments to attack cancer-promoting proteins that have been resistant to drug intervention and an exciting immunotherapy strategy to counteract inhibitory immune cells in HNSCC," stated co-principal investigator Robert Ferris, MD, PhD, associate director for translational research and co-leader of UPCI, in a press release. "We've also added a new project looking at chemoprevention to reverse oral cancer development, which is a promising area of study."
The grant is part of NCI's competitive specialized program of research excellence and will fund four study projects. Three of the projects focus on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and one will study differentiated thyroid cancer.
