Cleveland Clinic received a $7.9 million five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute to establish the Radiation Oncology-Biology Integration Network.
The ROBIN clinic, headed by Timothy Chan, MD, PhD, will investigate the molecular mechanisms and biology of radiation therapy for cancers of the bladder, head and neck, Cleveland Clinic said in a Sept. 22 news release.
"Radiation therapy is a bedrock of cancer treatment, with about two out of every three patients with cancer receiving it," Dr. Chan said in the release. "Yet, despite its widespread use, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms and biology of response to radiation remains poor. The ROBIN center will enable us to develop more effective radiation and immunotherapy combinations and better understand how these approaches work."
Cleveland Clinic will partner with Emory University in Atlanta with the aim to develop new cancer treatment approaches. The team will study radiotherapy in combination with antibody-drug conjugates and immune checkpoint inhibitors.