Dr. Huang to serve on the NCI’s Pediatric and Adolescent Solid Tumor Steering Committee

University Hospitals has another seat at the table in setting the course of pediatric and adolescent cancer research nationwide.

Alex Huang, MD, PhD, Director of the Pediatric Immunotherapy Center at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and Theresia G. and Stuart F. Kline Family Foundation Chair in Pediatric Oncology, has been elected to one of the 16 steering committees formed by the National Cancer Institute to evaluate large clinical trials submitted for its approval. These committees ultimately make important decisions about which trials show the most promise and should receive priority treatment.

Dr. Huang will serve on the NCI’s Pediatric and Adolescent Solid Tumor Steering Committee, which handles all pediatric and adolescent solid tumors except for brain tumors. His appointment starts July 1 and will span three years.

Dr. Huang has a special research interest in therapy-resistant osteosarcoma and other sarcomas affecting children, adolescents and young adults.

“The outcomes for metastatic or refractory sarcomas are pretty abysmal,” he says. “There is a great need to think out of the box, and we at UH Rainbow believe strongly that immunotherapy and other combination therapies are the answer.”

He and a team of colleagues in the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Clinical Trials Unit at UH Rainbow have launched a new clinical trial for these patients – the culmination of years of pre-clinical work in Dr. Huang’s lab. The trial, which is attracting patients to UH Rainbow from around the world, tests an off-label immunotherapy agent for children, adolescents and young adults with unresectable recurrent, refractory or progressive pulmonary metastatic osteosarcoma.

Dr. Huang says his participation on the NCI’s Pediatric and Adolescent Solid Tumors Steering Committee will only sharpen his skills as a scientist for this and other trials — and help him bring more promising ideas to his patients in Northeast Ohio.

“I am humbled and honored to serve our medical and scientific community through NCI’s Pediatric and Adolescent Solid Tumor Steering Committee, and to help to shepherd in the most promising, effective and safe treatments for solid tumors affecting our most precious population – our kids, teenagers and young adults,” he says.

Congratulations, Dr. Huang!

Source: University Hospitals / LinkedIn