Monday, September 14, 2015
Researchers at the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center have received the first-ever Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant to study neuroendocrine tumors. SPORE grants are funded through the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health.
The five-year, $10.67 million grant is the only SPORE grant funding research on neuroendocrine tumors.
Sue O’Dorisio, professor of pediatrics in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics and the UI Children’s Hospital, is the principal investigator on the SPORE grant.
Neuroendocrine tumors are slow-growing cancers that occur primarily in adults but could also occur in children. They develop where the nervous and endocrine systems interact and are most commonly found in the small intestine, lungs, and pancreas. They are related to medulloblastomas and neuroblastomas that are most commonly found in children, and also will be studied in the SPORE.