Patients with this disease often face significant pain and disfigurement, not only from the cancer, but also from treatment-related side effects. Now, the University of Pittsburgh has the opportunity to develop innovative therapies that may curtail treatment-related side effects and improve the cure rate for this disease, which will strike nearly 30,000 people in the United States this year and cause more than 8,000 deaths. It will be an independent facility entirely focused on multidisciplinary approaches to improving therapy for and understanding the biology of oral cancer. Clearly we need to improve therapies, and we've dedicated many resources to this endeavor. We also aim to increase awareness of the problem so that we can detect oral cancers in early, more curable stages.
Translational research is absolutely essential to make any progress.
Within the basic science component, Susanne Gollin, Ph.D., research director for the Pittsburgh Cytogenetics Facility and associate professor of human genetics, pathology and otolaryngology, will lead the Molecular Carcinogenesis and Cell Biology Program. Olivera Finn, Ph.D., professor of molecular genetics and biochemistry and director of UPCI's Immunology program, will direct the Oral Immunology Program. One ongoing project within this component is exploring how oral cancer evades control by a patient's immune system. The study, under the direction of Nikola Vujanovic, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology, may lead to new ways to determine the mechanisms responsible for tumor escape and explore strategies for increasing the sensitivity of oral cancer to immune interventions. The prevention and control component is led by Andrew Baum, Ph.D., professor of psychology, UPCI's deputy director for cancer control, and director of UPCI's behavioral medicine and oncology program.