University of California Minority Patient-Derived Xenograft Development and Trial Center (UCaMP) to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities

 The overall goal of this U54 M-PDTC (Minority PDX Development and Trial Centers) application is to establish and characterize at least 200 patient-derived cancer xenografts (PDXs), to utilize these PDXs in preclinical testing of single agents and drug combinations to guide precision cancer medicine decision-making with a focus upon the predominant racial/ethnic minority populations residing in California, namely, Hispanic/Latino Americans [HLAs] (39%), Asian American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander [AANHPIs] (15%), and African American [AAs] (7%) of the 39.3 million Californian residents (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/CA). 

Our particular focus is on gastric and liver cancers that disproportionately affect HLAs and AANHPIs as well as all populations of color (Research Project 1), and lung and bladder cancers that have smoking as a common risk factor and share common genetic alterations (Research Project 2). Achievement of our overall goal will contribute to (a) evaluating potentially efficacious targeted treatments and drug combinations that should be subsequently tested in clinical trials with patients primarily from racial/ethnic minority populations; (b) assessing biological determinants of cancer health disparities; and (c) advancing the ideals of cancer precision medicine. 

To achieve this goal, four University of California NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers have joined effort to form the UCaMP (abbreviation for University of California M-PDTC). Led by UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCDCCC), a center with extensive expertise both in PDX modeling and disparities research, and including UC Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCLA), UC Irvine Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (UC Irvine), and UC San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCSF), UCaMP will draw upon their considerable record of nationally prominent accomplishments in PDX/precision cancer medicine including the establishment of more than 650 PDXs from over 20 different primary sites with 15 PDX-related peer-reviewed articles by the contact PI and many members of this application (1-15), NCI-Center for Reducing Cancer Health Disparities funded consortium with their achievements in advancing cancer health disparities (16-47), and access to a minimum of 350 tumors from racial/ethnically diverse Californians. In addition, the contact PI Dr. Pan has already translated PDX studies into the IND (Investigational New Drug) stage and clinical trials through the UCaMP sites using the UC-wide central IRB system (called Reliance) as well as the clinical trial infrastructure.

Funding provided by Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (U24)