Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — The National Cancer Institute has renewed a multi-million dollar grant for ongoing cancer research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the university announced today.
UAMS’ multiple myeloma program will receive $19.5 million over five years to continue work that already has developed new treatments for the cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell present in the bone marrow.
In 2004, Dr. Bart Barlogie, director of the UAMS Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, was awarded $17.9 million from the NCI to fund an ongoing comprehensive research program entitled “Growth Control of Multiple Myeloma.” That grant was distributed over five years, concluding in June.
The newly announced $19.5 million NCI grant is the fourth five-year renewal of continuous funding for the institute, which supports much of the research at Myeloma Institute, a part of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.
Barlogie’s work has led to a median survival rate of more than eight years today for Myeloma Institute patients, compared to a 34 percent five-year survival rate for multiple myeloma patients, as documented by the NCI between 1995-2001.
UAMS scientists have analyzed the genetic and cellular mechanisms of multiple myeloma, leading to new treatments for patients who come to the university from every state and more than 50 countries.
The institute, the only center in the world devoted exclusively to research and clinical care related to multiple myeloma and related disorders, will mark its 20th anniversary at UAMS this year. Founded by Barlogie, the UAMS multiple myeloma program has seen more than 9,000 patients from every state in the United States and more than 50 foreign countries.
