UT researchers receive more than $8M for cancer prevention and more
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Cancer patients across Texas may soon have better access to detection screening and potential new therapies.
This comes after the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) gave grants totaling $8.3 million to UT Austin research teams, according to a news release from the University of Texas Austin.
Breast cancer early detection program
According to UT, $2 million will go towards helping people facing socioeconomic challenges get screened for breast cancer. Furthermore, the money will expand services in nine counties and low-income communities. Funding will also increase mobile mammography screening and add 24 new testing sites, according to UT.
HPV screening study among Latina women
Funds will also go toward a new study called “Unidos Contra El VPH, which is a human papillomavirus (HPV) self-collection study aimed to help reduce the number of cervical cancer cases. The self-screening program will be implemented at Project Vida Health Center in El Paso, where cervical cancer screening rates are low among Latina women due to cost, language barriers and cultural values, the release said.
Smoking cessation and lung cancer screening programs
$2 million was awarded to expand a smoking cessation and lung cancer screening program, which will help a partnership with CommUnityCare, UT Health Austin and the clinic practice of Dell Med according to UT.
Furthermore, the funding will help expand those services to Lone Star Circle of Care as a way to increase access to lung cancer screening patients who are considered high risk, the release said.
Exploring therapies for pediatric cancer
CPRIT awarded $1.4 million in funding to help find innovative therapies for pediatric cancers. It specifically targets a form of the most common pediatric cancer called T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), according to UT.
Doctors said chemo does help with this type of cancer, but side effects are long term This is a more effective way to target cancer cells, the release said.
Investigating role of iron in cancer therapies
Research will be conducted using more than $1 million in CPRIT funding to find a link between cancer drugs in development and iron in the body, according to UT. There is a process called ferroptosis, which involves iron, lipids and oxygen.
A research team will use a DNA-based sensor that is used to track variations in iron and oxygen levels in ferroptosis, the release said.
This research could lead to more “more targeted drugs for cancer therapy” and could unlock “the full potential of ferroptosis in fighting cancer.”
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