Created in 2007, Ride Cincinnati’s objective is to become the leading grassroots organization funding cancer research and care in Greater Cincinnati. 100% of every rider-raised dollar goes directly to life-saving cancer research and care at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center. To date, Ride Cincinnati has raised over $6.5 million and funded nearly 70 research grants for the Cancer Center.

One of the projects that has been supported by funding from Ride Cincinnati is the REDEL Trial: REDuced ELective Nodal Dose for Anal Cancer Toxicity Mitigation study led by Dr. Kharofa.

“The funding received from Ride Cincinnati was crucial, and it allowed us to receive a second external award through NRG Oncology to support a clinical trial that includes three sites for patients with anal cancer,” he said. “This would not have been possible without the funding provided by Ride Cincinnati.”

Jordan R. Kharofa, MD Member, Experimental Therapeutics Research Program Senior Advisor, Scientific Executive Committee University of Cincinnati Cancer Center Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

The REDEL Trial: REDuced ELective Nodal Dose for Anal Cancer Toxicity Mitigation study aims to assess whether reduced elective nodal radiation in anal cancer patients receiving chemoradiation can decrease toxicity compared to standard nodal radiation.

According to the American Cancer Society, it is estimated that there will be 10,540 new cases of and 2,190 deaths from anal cancer in the United States alone. While anal cancer is fairly rare, the number of new anal cancer cases has been rising for many years. The risk of being diagnosed with anal cancer is approximately 1 in 500. However, the risk is higher in individuals with certain risk factors.

“The treatment for anal cancer includes radiation and chemotherapy, which is a challenging treatment with much toxicity,” said Dr. Kharofa. “The focus of the clinical trial is to evaluate a different approach that treats the tumor regions to the standard dose of radiation but lowers the dose to surrounding organs to assess whether the approach reduces both short- and long-term toxicity.”

For anal cancer, the standard treatment is chemoradiotherapy (CRT) – a cancer treatment that uses both chemotherapy and radiation therapy, also called radiotherapy. More specifically, the standard treatment is mitomycin C (MMC) with either capecitabine or fluorouracil (5-FU) – the most common chemotherapy drug combinations – and 50.4-54 Gy – the total amount of radiation that the patient is exposed to. In this trial, Dr. Kharofa is observing the effects of using a reduced dose of 30.6 Gy.

“In addition, we are incorporating several advanced correlatives as part of the trial, such as monitoring circulating tumor DNA in the bloodstream and understanding how bacteria in the bowel (microbiome) may influence GI toxicity,” shared Dr. Kharofa. “The results of the primary trial and the correlative research will inform future national trial designs in this disease.”

Minimizing toxicity and improving outcomes for cancer has truly been a joint effort, from Ride to REDEL. As like-minded partners in the community join forces to foster a collaborative environment with the goal of making Cincinnati the smartest city in the world for cancer research, education, and treatment, professionals like Dr. Kharofa are working together to turn this vision into reality.

“We have a very collaborative group of clinicians and researchers with a long history of evaluating clinical trials to improve management for patients with anal cancer,” he said. “We participate in several national clinical trials, and we have developed our own studies seeking to minimize toxicity and improve outcomes for this disease.”

Ride Cincinnati is more than just a fundraiser – it is a driving force that empowers researchers to pursue innovative treatments, ensuring that progress continues even in the face of financial constraints. Through its efforts, the initiative fosters hope, demonstrating that the commitment to defeating cancer remains strong and unwavering.

“As a recipient of a portion of the funding from Ride Cincinnati, I feel even more strongly now about how important this effort is to support local cancer research,” expressed Dr. Kharofa. “In this era of limited funding mechanisms nationally, grant support through Ride Cincinnati is even more critical to support early-stage research ideas.”

(Drs. Kharofa, Sohal and Ahmad at Ride Cincinnati. Left to right. 2023.)

“Completing a 100-mile ride is something I had on my bucket list for a while, so I decided to check that off the first year I joined the initiative,” he shared. “Now, I’ve participated in the event for years, and I just cannot express how important this whole initiative is.”