The Experimental Therapeutics (ET) Program’s research has a strong clinical and translational orientation, aligned along two main research themes:
Drug discovery and delivery
Clinical research
Within those themes, the program has these specific aims:
Providing new approaches to individualized cancer treatment such as targeted drug delivery systems, novel chemotherapeutics, improved imaging and image-guided techniques, and the most up-to-date clinical treatments via clinical trials
Fostering translation of discoveries between the laboratory and clinic through collaborations and scientific synergy among HCI members
Promoting specialized initiatives in quantitative, molecular, and pre-clinical imaging
Developing and executing investigator-initiated therapeutic, imaging, and imaging-guided clinical trials to establish new treatments for patients
Program Membership
HCI Cancer Center members enjoy a variety of benefits, including eligibility for leadership roles in the Center, institutional funding opportunities, and scientific/administrative support.
Martin McMahon, PhD, and his research group study the genetic mutations that contribute to lung cancer. About 30% of lung cancers can now be treated based on the disease’s specific genetics. McMahon is hopeful that each subset of lung cancer will soon have its own precision treatment.... Read More
Samuel Cheshier, MD, PhD, and the Neurologic Cancers Center team at Huntsman Cancer Institute are working to find better treatments for brain cancer, particularly pediatric brain cancer. Many primary brain tumors are incurable from the start, and currently, none are curable once they recur. The need for novel, effective therapies is critical. In 2020, the Engelstad Foundation funded a $100,000 grant at HCI to study a potential immunotherapy treatment for pediatric brain tumors.... Read More
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer for men in the United States. About one man in nine will be diagnosed with the disease at some point in his life. A study recently published in The Lancet’s EBioMedicine Journal describes new insights into how unique genetic traits of metastatic prostate tumors that are shed into the blood of cancer patients can be used for applying to the care of and potential molecularly targeted treatments in individual patients. ... Read More
Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah discovered in laboratory studies that an experimental drug called selinexor may block a crucial survival pathway exploited by myelofibrosis cells.... Read More
Today the New England Journal of Medicine published the first results of a phase III international clinical study called TITAN, which evaluated the effectiveness and safety of a new drug, apalutamide, to treat advanced prostate cancers. ... Read More
In the largest study of its kind, more than half of patients with advanced prostate cancers appear to be strong candidates for targeted cancer therapies... Read More