Mission

To provide comprehensive care to our patients and their families while supporting research, education and service programs that address the cancer health disparities unique to West Virginia and Appalachia.

Resources

• Provide state-of-the-art care through early detection, diagnostic and genomic testing and advanced multi-modality care
• Comprehensive access to research studies using multidisciplinary tumor boards 
• Range of treatment options to customize patient care, including immuno-oncologic, targeted therapies, CAR-T, blood and marrow transplantation, gamma knife, intra-operative radiation, minimally invasive surgeries, Moh’s surgery and robotic surgical techniques 
• Extensive clinical trials network with pharmaceutical company and investigator-initiated trials 
• PDX animal models from primary patient samples 
• Access to patient tissue and blood samples with corresponding patient data, including treatment regime and outcomes 
• Biomarker assessment through the Cancer Institute Tissue Bank 
• Novel imaging techniques through the Center for Advanced Imaging 
• Access to seven clinical sites distributed across the northern half of West Virginia for patient data and enrolling patients on coordinated clinical trials

Areas of Focus

• Discovery and validation of novel drug targets for cancer treatment and understanding the mechanisms of resistance
• Multi-investigator group focused on studying the tumor micro-environment (TME) with a focus on identification, validation and exploitation of TME targets that contribute to metastasis, drug resistance, and tumor cell dormancy
• Peptide based target strategies for delivery of immune activators
• Computational system biology approach to understand the influence of, and interplay between, the TME and tumors

External Partnership Opportunities

The WVU Cancer Institute is interested in collaborating with industry and academic partners to develop novel pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and treatment strategies. Of particular interest are rst-in-man single agent and combination studies supported through the Experimental Therapeutics group and the Cancer Clinical Trials Unit. The Cancer Institute also has a long history of collaboration with the adjacent National Institute of Health and Safety to complement Cancer Institute Initiatives.