The Arizona Cancer Center has received a $21.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to continue its Chemoprevention of Colon Cancer Program.

The grant, which is the largest single program project grant in the center's history, will be used to build on research that has been ongoing since 1987. It will involve three projects and six institutions: the Arizona Cancer Center; the University of Colorado; Baylor University Medical Center; University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Mayo Clinic; and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

The first project will use clinical trials to investigate the role of selenium, a nutritional supplement, and celecoxib, an anti-inflammatory drug, on adenoma recurrence in 1,600 participants. Adenoma is a tumor of glandular tissue.

The second project will focus on epidemiologic factors, as well as molecular and biological changes in tissue that can be used as biomarkers to evaluate an individual's risk for the most dangerous types of colorectal adenomas.

The third project will determine whether lifestyle and dietary factors associated with obesity and abnormally high blood insulin levels are associated with the recurrence of adenomas and the occurrence of colorectal cancer.

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Arizona Health Sciences Center News Release, 08/23/2005