MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (October 23, 2008)—Kim Robien, Ph.D., assistant professor and cancer epidemiologist with the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Center and School of Public Health, has been awarded a $339,750 grant from the National Cancer Institute. She will use the grant to conduct the first comprehensive investigation of how the genetic makeup of some patients affects the way they metabolize vitamin D and consequently, respond to bone marrow transplantation.

Bone marrow transplantation is one of the most significant advances in the past 40 years for treatment of patients diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, and other cancers of the blood and bone marrow. More than 40,000 children and adults worldwide each year receive bone marrow transplantations, and the University's Masonic Cancer Center is one of the world's leading research sites on bone marrow transplantation.

This lifesaving treatment is strenuous to undergo and not without risks. It is associated with about a 25 percent death rate, prolonged hospitalizations, and long-term health problems.

Researchers think that maintaining adequate vitamin D levels throughout the treatment course may decrease some of the problems associated with bone marrow transplantation and improve patients' survival. However, little is known about vitamin D affects during the bone marrow transplantation treatment course.

"Our investigation will determine the extent to which genetic variation in vitamin D metabolism is associated with the outcome of treatment in bone marrow transplantation patients," says Robien. "If we find that a particular genetic profile is linked with an adverse outcome, then it would be possible to identify patients who are at that higher risk for bone marrow transplantation and follow them closely to monitor their vitamin D levels."

Treatment data and biospecimens from 750 patients who received a bone marrow transplantation at the University of Minnesota between 1995 and 2005, and their donors, will be used for this investigation.

Working with Robien will be a team of Masonic Cancer Center researchers including DeAnn Lazovich, Ph.D.; Julie Ross, Ph.D.; K. Scott Baker, M.D.; and Sarah Cooley, M.D.; and staff members Lori Strayer, Todd DeFor, and Erica Langer.

The Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota is part of the University's Academic Health Center. It is designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center for cancer research, treatment, and education. For more information, visit www.cancer.umn.edu.

Media contacts:

Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota: Mary Lawson, Public Relations Director, 612-624-6165, 612-203-0819 (cell), mlawson@umn.edu

Academic Health Center: Sara E. Buss, 612-626-7037