Happy New Year! Global Oncology’s Updates from 2020

Launch of SARS-CoV-2 Testing

Since the spring of 2020, Global Oncology and the Uganda Cancer Institute worked closely to establish SARS-CoV-2 testing RNA by polymerase chain reaction at the UCI-Fred Hutch Cancer Centre. The Ministry of Health of Uganda and the World Health Organization gave approval for testing after conducting site audits and inspections. The Ministry of Health ranked our facility as the top laboratory out of 12 laboratories participating in the national program. Testing commenced in November 2020, and the team has conducted over 555 tests and is averaging <12 hours to turnaround results.

Hutchinson Centre Research Institute of Uganda (HCRI-Uganda) laboratory team together outside of the UCI-Fred Hutch Cancer Centre in Kampala.

Risk Management Plans established to safely resume research in Uganda

Early in the pandemic, the Government of Uganda suspended all research in the country that did not provide immediate benefit to participants. Our team developed Risk Management Plans to promote the safety of research participants and their families, clinicians, and staff at the UCI-Fred Hutch Cancer Centre. After approval from the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, we resumed research in September. Mitigation measures include daily symptom/temperature screening, masking, hand hygiene, physical distancing, and isolation of suspected cases. As cases continue to increase in Kampala, our highest priority is the safety of patients, participants, and staff, and accessibility to testing to ensure that critical and beneficial cancer and infectious disease research can continue.

Hutchinson Centre Research Institute of Uganda (HCRI-Uganda) and UCI colleagues working together to finalize risk management plans to safely resume research at the UCI-Fred Hutch Cancer Centre.

Opening of the ground-level facility at UCI-Fred Hutch Cancer Centre

In November 2020, the UCI-Fred Hutch Collaboration completed the construction of the new ground-level at the UCI-Fred Hutch Cancer Centre in Uganda. It adds over 2,600 sq. ft. to the 16,000 sq. ft. 3-story research, training, and clinical care facility that opened in 2015. The new space will house a remarkable biorepository — with more than 150,000 biospecimens from a wide range of viral infections, host immunity, and cancers, as well as the research records archive. It will finally bring together all of the Fred Hutch/Hutchinson Centre Research Institute of Uganda staff into one facility.

These photos offer a view of the new functionality added by the expansion. We look forward to officially celebrating the opening of the ground floor in-person once it is safe post-pandemic.

(Left) Administrative touchdown space measuring 226 square feet to accommodate up to eight staff members. (Middle) Team informal meeting or huddle space measuring 250 square feet that can also be used as a waiting area. (Right) A skylight was cut into the courtyard floor to allow light to penetrate into the ground level space through the huddle area. Light is distributed to other internal offices by internal windows situated higher on the walls to maintain privacy.

New Funding Award

Edus H. Warren and Warren Phipps were awarded a supplement off of the National Institutes of Health P30 CCSG Grant entitled, “Antigen-Specific T Cell Therapy for Kaposi Sarcoma” in September 2020. The award is $250,000 over two years.

New Research

The UCI and Fred Hutch teams also opened a new study in 2020, “Exploring the Molecular Spectrum of Colorectal Cancer in Uganda”, which is investigating the molecular phenotypes of colorectal cancer in Uganda by accessing archived tumor samples at the Kampala Cancer Registry. The aim is to characterize the prevalence of specific DNA alterations in colorectal cancer cases in Uganda, with focus on mutations of BRAF and KRAS genes, hypermethylation, and microsatellite instability (MSI). The study is led by Principal Investigators Amanda Phipps, MPH, PhD (Fred Hutch), Victoria Walusansa, MD (UCI) and co-investigators Thomas Uldrick, MS, MD (Fred Hutch), Scott Adams, MPH, PhD (Fred Hutch), Robert Lukande, MB ChB, MMed (Makerere University).

Select Recent GO Faculty Publications

Menon MP, Niyonzima N*, Gralow JG, Orem JO*. Breast cancer clinical trials: the landscape at the Uganda Cancer Institute and lessons learned.

van Rhee F, Oksenhendler E, Srkalovic G, Voorhees P, Lim M, Dispenzieri A, Ide M, Parente S, Schey S, Streetly M, Wong R, Wu D, Maillard I, Brandstadter J, Munshi N, Bowne W, Elenitoba-Johnson KS, Fssa A, Lechowicz MJ, Chandrakasan S, Pierson SK, Greenway A, Nasta S, Yoshizaki K, Kurzrock R, Uldrick TS, Casper C, Chadburn A, Fajgenbaum DC. International evidence-based consensus diagnostic and treatment guidelines for unicentric Castleman disease.

Strope JD, Lochrin SE, Sissung TM, Kem R, Chandrasekaran P, Sharon E, Price DK, Uldrick TS, Yarchoan R, Figg WD. Drug-drug interactions in patients with HIV and cancer in sub-Saharan Africa.

Lin LL, Lakomy DS, Chiao EY, Strother RM, Wirth M, Cesarman E, Borok M, Busakhala N, Chibwesha CJ, Chinula L, Ndlovu N, Orem J*, Phipps W, Sewram V, Vogt SL, Sparano JA, Mitsuyasu RT, Krown SE, Gopal S. Clinical trials for treatment and prevention of HIV-associated malignancies in Sub-Saharan Africa: building capacity and overcoming barriers.

Ddungu H*, Krantz EM, Kajja I, Naluzze S, Nabbanja H, Nalubwama F, Phipps W, Orem J*, Wald A, Kiwanuka N. Transfusion challenges in patients with hematological malignancies in sub-Saharan Africa: a prospective observational study from the Uganda Cancer Institute.

GO Communications and News

New UCI-Fred Hutch Collaboration website

Fred Hutch Global Oncology and HCRI-Ug teams launched a new website in December dedicated to the UCI-Fred Hutch Collaboration. The website is most relevant to our team and UCI collaborators in Uganda, in addition to potential research collaborators or partners interested in learning more about our team and initiatives in Uganda.

Preview of UCI-Fred Hutch Collaboration website.

FY20 Annual Report

Read highlights of our program’s accomplishments during the fiscal year 2020 including the collaborative launch of clinical trials focused on breast cancer and lymphoma, and the inaugural cohort of the Adult Hematology-Oncology Fellowship who completed their first year. Plus learn about our ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Global Oncology Lecture Series went virtual

The long-standing, monthly Global Oncology Lecture Series is now held virtually on the fourth Monday of each month at 8:00 AM Pacific. This year, we will host several distinguished speakers from institutions such as Fred Hutch, Uganda Cancer Institute, University of North Carolina, PhenoPath Laboratories, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and East Africa IeDEA. If you would like to be added to our listserv for email announcements, please send an email with the subject “subscribe” to golectureseries-join@lists.fhcrc.org and check out recordings of past seminars on Global Oncology’s website.

Heart of the Hutch

Enjoy these stories about a few of our dedicated and essential colleagues who have been working tirelessly during the pandemic.

Andrea Towlerton is a project manager in the Warren Lab and Acting Lab Director for the UCI-Fred Hutch Collaboration, who has been working relentlessly throughout the pandemic as an essential worker of Fred Hutch, including playing an integral role in setting up SARS-CoV-2 testing at the UCI-Fred Hutch Cancer Centre. Read her story.

Isma Lubega is the driver for the HCRI-Uganda staff and UCI-Fred Hutch Collaboration, and his role is vital in helping researchers and study participants get to and from the UCI campus and other regional clinics to work on cancer and infectious disease-related projects and receive treatments. Read his story.

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