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Tag: Cancer Center Featured Story 2

  • MD Anderson and C-Biomex sign collaborative research agreement to co-develop CBT-001 radioligand therapy

    MD Anderson and C-Biomex sign collaborative research agreement to co-develop CBT-001 radioligand therapy


    Newswise — HOUSTON & POHANG, South Korea – The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and C-Biomex Ltd. today announced a strategic research collaboration agreement to co-develop CBT-001, a radioligand targeting the CA9 cancer biomarker. 

    This collaboration brings together MD Anderson’s expertise in translational radiopharmaceutical research with C-Biomex’s differentiated radioligand. The principal investigator for this project is H. Charles Manning, Ph.D., professor of Cancer Systems Imaging and director of the Cyclotron Radiochemistry Facility at MD Anderson. Under the agreement, MD Anderson and C-Biomex plan to conduct preclinical studies of CBT-001 to evaluate its potential for translation into early-phase clinical studies and to support an anticipated Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

    “With our global expertise in the design and discovery of differentiated peptide-ligands, Dr. Manning and the team at MD Anderson provide a perfect complement to advance the preclinical and clinical development of CBT-001,” said Cha JunHoe, Ph.D., chief executive officer of C-Biomex. “We hope this collaborative research allows us to move swiftly toward an FDA IND application and, ultimately, to an approved treatment that can benefit patients with a variety of cancers.”

    CBT-001 is a radiolabeled isotope (Lutetium-177) attached to a proprietary peptide-ligand targeting CA9 (carbonic anhydrase 9), a biomarker overexpressed in various cancers, including renal, breast and lung cancers. CBT-001’s differentiated early-stage data, generated by C-Biomex in collaboration with the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, represents a strong foundation for this collaborative research.

    The key to success with this type of molecule is specific delivery to the tumor and rapid clearance, with minimal accumulation in healthy cells. Through this research, the collaborators will evaluate systemic and tumor-specific uptake of CBT-001 as well as antitumor efficacy and toxicology in preclinical models.

    C-Biomex, leveraging its unique CUSTM peptide discovery platform technology, is developing CBT-001 and several next-generation radioligand therapies with optimal characteristics. The collaborators anticipate this research will help to inform future preclinical and early-stage clinical investigations of these next-generation therapies.

    “We are pleased to align our broadly engaged theranostics research team at MD Anderson with our colleagues at C-Biomex to advance the development of CBT-001,” Manning said. “We have seen encouraging early data with this radioligand, and we look forward to collaborative work as we seek to bring impactful new treatment options to our patients in need.”

    Under the terms of the agreement, C-Biomex will provide research support funding, and MD Anderson is eligible to receive certain royalties and payments based on a range of future development milestones.

    Read this press release in the MD Anderson Newsroom.

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    About C-Biomex

    C-Biomex, a private preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2017, is focused on developing innovative radioligand therapies with its proprietary platform technology, CUSTM (Chemistry-based Ultra-Sensitive peptide discovery). C-Biomex’s peptides have demonstrated exceptional tumor binding and selectivity with fast clearance through the renal system. The company is innovating peptides to bring better radioligand therapies to patients with cancer.

    About MD Anderson

    The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston ranks as one of the world’s most respected centers focused on cancer patient care, research, education and prevention. The institution’s sole mission is to end cancer for patients and their families around the world, and, in 1971, it became one of the nation’s first National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers. MD Anderson is No. 1 for cancer in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals” rankings and has been named one of the nation’s top two hospitals for cancer since the rankings began in 1990. MD Anderson receives a cancer center support grant from the NCI of the National Institutes of Health (P30 CA016672).





    University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

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  • Subcutaneous Nivolumab as Effective as IV for Renal Cell Carcinoma — With Much Faster Treatment Time

    Subcutaneous Nivolumab as Effective as IV for Renal Cell Carcinoma — With Much Faster Treatment Time


    • Subcutaneous formula slashes treatment time to under 5 minutes
    • Broad impact seen for greater access to and experience with treatment
    • Study has implications for treatment of many cancer types

    Newswise — SAN FRANCISCO — Subcutaneous injection of the immunotherapy nivolumab (brand name Opdivo) is noninferior to intravenous delivery and dramatically reduces treatment time in patients with renal cell carcinoma, as seen in the results of a large phase 3 clinical trial reported today at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, California. Saby George, MD, FACP, Professor of Oncology and Medicine and Director of Network Clinical Trials at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, will deliver an oral abstract summarizing the findings of “A Study of Subcutaneous Nivolumab Versus Intravenous Nivolumab in Participants with Previously Treated Clear Cell Renal Carcinoma That Is Advanced or Has Spread (CheckMate-67T)” (NCT04810078).

     “The burden of treatment felt by cancer patients is tremendous. If nivolumab can be given as a subcutaneous injection instead of an intravenous infusion, their treatment experience will be significantly improved,” says Dr. George, who is the presenting author, a member of the clinical trial steering committee and site principal investigator at Roswell Park. “Instead of one hour in an infusion chair, they will get the injection done in five minutes.”

    He points to the high demand for infusion chair appointments at most cancer centers, which can result in treatment delays of a week or more.

    “If nivolumab becomes available subcutaneously, we can administer it in the clinic instead of sending patients to infusion centers,” he says. That outcome could simultaneously speed treatment time for patients receiving nivolumab and shorten wait times for patients who still need to receive treatment in an infusion center.

    The availability of injectable nivolumab could also reduce health disparities. “One of the major problems is access to treatment,” says Dr. George, noting that some patients live a long distance from an infusion center and do not have a way to get there. “Patients who don’t live near an infusion center could get treatment closer to home, at a clinic, and that could improve access and help reduce disparities.”

    Sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb, the drug’s manufacturer, the clinical trial began in May 2021, randomizing 495 patients at 73 centers in 17 countries. Roswell Park was one of only three participating sites in the U.S. and the only one in New York State.

    Patients in the study had advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma, had received no more than two prior treatments with systemic therapies and no prior immunotherapy. They were randomized 1:1 to receive nivolumab either subcutaneously or intravenously. Nivolumab is FDA-approved and the standard-of-care treatment for those patients.

    The study’s primary objective was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of subcutaneous vs. intravenous delivery — how the body interacted with the nivolumab, including whether blood levels of the drug were comparable in the two groups over time. Those measures included the daily average concentration of the drug in the blood over 28 days (Cavgd28) and the concentration of the drug at the end of the dosing cycle (Cminss). Both measures were noninferior to intravenous nivolumab, as evidenced in pharmacokinetic measures and overall response rate.

    The objective response rate for the subcutaneous group — the percentage of patients who achieved a complete or partial response, measured by blinded independent central review — proved noninferior to the intravenous group, at 24.2% vs. 18.2%, respectively. Median progression-free survival stood at 7.23 months for the subcutaneous group vs. 5.65 months for the IV group. The safety profile was similar for both groups.

    More than 80,000 new cases of renal cell carcinoma are diagnosed in the U.S. each year.

    Because nivolumab is already FDA-approved for more than 20 indications across multiple malignancies, CheckMate-67T will likely serve as a gateway to additional studies evaluating the effectiveness of the subcutaneous formula in other patient populations.

    “This is a groundbreaking achievement for patients and physicians, and will definitely make treatment easier for patients,” says Dr. George.

    ASCO GU Presentation Details

    Abstract LBA360: “Subcutaneous nivolumab (NIVO SC) vs. intravenous nivolumab (NIVO IV) in patients with previously treated advanced or metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC): Pharmacokinetics (PK), efficacy, and safety results from CheckMate 67T.”

    Time/date: Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, 8:47 a.m. PST, Moscone West, Level 3, Ballroom

    ###

    From the world’s first chemotherapy research to the PSA prostate cancer biomarker, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center generates innovations that shape how cancer is detected, treated and prevented worldwide. Driven to eliminate cancer’s grip on humanity, the Roswell Park team of 4,000 makes compassionate, patient-centered cancer care and services accessible across New York State and beyond. Founded in 1898, Roswell Park was among the first three cancer centers nationwide to become a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and is the only one to hold this designation in Upstate New York. To learn more about Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Roswell Park Care Network, visit www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email [email protected].





    Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

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  • Patients Less Likely to Experience Death at Academic and High-Volume Hospitals When Treated with Immunotherapy for Metastatic Cancers

    Patients Less Likely to Experience Death at Academic and High-Volume Hospitals When Treated with Immunotherapy for Metastatic Cancers

    Newswise — A new study led by Yale Cancer Center researchers at Yale School of Medicine revealed a significant increase in patients starting immunotherapy within one month of death. Using a national clinical database, the researchers focused on patients with metastatic melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). They were treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors from the point of FDA approval, through to 2019. The melanoma cohort began treatment in 2012 and the RCC and NSCLC cohorts in 2016.

    The findings were published in JAMA Oncology on January 4.

    “Immunotherapy has revolutionized the field of oncology over the last decade,” said Sajid Khan, MD, senior author of the study and section chief of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) and Mixed Tumors at Yale School of Medicine. “Because survival is substantially improved for many patients treated with these drugs, it’s application has increased across the United States. In our study, we focused on immunotherapy initiation at the end of a patient’s life with cancer metastasis.”

    Because the therapy is relatively new, the study aimed to “offer insights into national prescribing patterns and serve as a harbinger of shifts in the clinical approach to patients with advanced cancer.”

    The study included 20,415 stage IV melanoma patients, 197,331 stage IV NSCLC patients, and 24,625 stage IV RCC patients. Researchers considered each patient’s age, sex, race, and ethnicity as well as the location of metastases and the medical facility where treatment was given.

    “We were interested in gauging how frequently immunotherapy is initiated within the last 30 days of life,” said Khan, a member of Yale Cancer Center and the co-director of Team Science at Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. “Our study found that the initiation of immunotherapy in the last month of a patient’s life has significantly increased in the last 10 years, accounting for one in 14 immunotherapy treatments overall.”

    For patients with metastatic melanoma, the increase was from 0.8% to 4.3%, for NSCLC 0.9% to 3.2%, and for RCC 0.5% to 2.6%. In 2019, these end-of-life-initiated (EOL-I) treatments represented 7.3% of all immunotherapy treatments, indicating a growing application of EOL-I immunotherapy.

    Where patients were treated with immunotherapy mattered. “There were improved survival outcomes when the therapy was administered at academic and high-volume facilities,” said Khan. While patients treated at non-academic or low-volume hospitals had higher odds of receiving EOL-I immunotherapy, patients were less likely to experience death at academic and high-volume hospitals when given immunotherapy for metastatic cancers.

    “Another noteworthy finding was that the outcome for patients receiving immunotherapy towards the end of their life was different depending on the burden of metastasis. Patients with more than three sites of distant metastases are more likely to die within one month of immunotherapy initiation than those with only distant lymph node metastasis.”

    The researchers note that immunotherapy provides a strong overall survival benefit and can salvage patients with metastasis, even those in high-risk sub-groups. The study findings highlight the need for further investigation into the implications of EOL-I immunotherapy with the hope of refining treatment guidelines for the benefit of patients facing metastatic cancer.

    Daniel Kerekes from Yale School of Medicine and Yale Department of Surgery was the study’s first author. Alexander Frey, Elizabeth Prsic, Thuy Tran, James Clune, Mario Sznol, Harriet Kluger, Howard Forman, Robert Becher, and Kelly Olino were Yale co-authors.

    Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital

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  • ASH: Novel combination therapy significantly reduces spleen volume in patients with myelofibrosis

    ASH: Novel combination therapy significantly reduces spleen volume in patients with myelofibrosis

    Newswise — SAN DIEGO ― Combining the JAK inhibitor ruxolitinib with the BCL-xL inhibitor navitoclax was twice as effective in reducing enlarged spleens – a major indicator of clinical improvement – compared with standard-of-care ruxolitinib monotherapy for adult patients with intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis, a rare bone marrow cancer, according to results of the Phase III TRANSFORM-1 trial reported by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

    Data from the global, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial were presented today at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting by Naveen Pemmaraju, M.D.,  professor of Leukemia. At the time of data cut-off, 63.2% of patients who received ruxolitinib and navitoclax achieved a spleen volume reduction of at least 35% within 24 weeks, compared to 31.5% of patients receiving ruxolitinib plus placebo, meeting the study’s primary endpoint.

    “By adding a second drug to an approved therapy, we were able to improve spleen volume reduction compared to the current standard of care. This is an important measurement of the clinical benefits of this novel drug combination because treatments can be less effective when the spleen remains enlarged,” Pemmaraju said. “If we can treat myelofibrosis earlier on in the disease course, we may have an opportunity to impact overall disease modificationimprove patient outcomes and reduce symptom burden.”

    Currently, there are few Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs for the treatment of myelofibrosis. Available options provide patients with spleen and symptom improvement, but a substantial unmet need remains for therapies that provide durable spleen size reduction and other longer-term clinical. Allogenic stem cell transplants are an effective treatment option, but not all patients qualify.

    This international trial enrolled 252 patients with intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis and measurable spleen enlargement who had not received prior JAK inhibitor treatment. The trial randomized 125 patients to receive the navitoclax and ruxolitinib combination and 127 patients to receive ruxolitinib plus placebo. Most patients were male (57%) and the median age was 69.

    The trial met its primary endpoint of spleen volume reduction at 24 weeks. Spleen volume reduction at any time was achieved by 77% of patients on the combination arm and 42% of patients on the control arm. The median time to first spleen volume reduction response was 12.3 weeks with the combination and 12.4 weeks with monotherapy. At 24 weeks, there were no significant differences between the groups in a myeloproliferative neoplasm symptom assessment, a secondary endpoint of the study.

    Patients treated with the combination therapy, patients experienced side effects that were manageable and consistent with previous trials. The most common treatment-related side effects were thrombocytopenia, anemia, diarrhea and neutropenia. Serious adverse events were experienced by 26% of patients on the combination arm and 32% on the control arm.

    “This study marks a notable achievement in the field of myelofibrosis, as one of the first reported global Phase III frontline randomized combination clinical trials in our field,” Pemmaraju said. “This dataset now opens the door for additional research and investigation into combination therapies to treat myelofibrosis and, importantly, highlights a potential new era of investigating disease modification for patients. Additional data from the TRANSFORM-1 study is being evaluated.”

    The trial was funded by AbbVie. Pemmaraju receives research support from AbbVie. A full list of co-authors and their disclosures may be found here.

    Read this press release in the MD Anderson Newsroom.

    University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

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  • ASH: Targeted oral therapy reduced disease burden and improved symptoms for patients with rare blood disorder

    ASH: Targeted oral therapy reduced disease burden and improved symptoms for patients with rare blood disorder

     Newswise — SAN DIEGO ― The targeted therapy bezuclastinib was safe and rapidly reduced markers of disease burden while also improving symptoms for patients with a rare blood disorder called nonadvanced system mastocytosis, according to results of the Phase II SUMMIT trial reported by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

    The findings, presented today at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, demonstrate that all participants treated with bezuclastinib achieved at least a 50% reduction in markers of disease burden and 63% reported their disease symptoms eased within 12 weeks. That number increased to 78% after an additional eight weeks of treatment, at which time all patients also reported an improvement in pain symptoms.

    “The era of targeted therapy offers hope, not just for alleviating symptoms but for getting to the root of the condition,” said principal investigator Prithviraj Bose, M.D., professor of Leukemia. “Bezuclastinib provides precision targeting without the typical central nervous system or bleeding side effects often associated with similar drugs.”

    Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is a rare disease marked by the buildup of malignant mast cells in the bone marrow and other tissues. These high levels of abnormal mast cells can lead to a multitude of symptoms due to the release of chemicals called mediators. SM can range from non-advanced (NonAdvSM) to advanced disease (AdvSM), with symptoms that can include brain fog and skin rashes to gut issues and life-threatening anaphylaxis.

    In up to 95% of patients, SM is driven by the KIT D816V gene mutation. Treatments targeting this mutated kinase have been used for AdvSM variants, but they are known to have off-target activity that can cause toxicities that restrict dosing and, therefore, limit efficacy.

    There are two variants within NonAdvSM: indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM) and smoldering systemic mastocytosis (SSM). ISM, which affects the majority of patients with SM, is characterized mostly by symptoms related to mast cell degranulation and mediator release. SSM is identified by a higher mast cell burden, marked by high levels of blood enzymes like serum tryptase, but without resulting organ damage.

    Bezuclastinib is a potent type-1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor that blocks mutant KIT D816V activity while sparing other kinases, minimizing the potential for off-target side effects. In a separate, prior studies, the drug demonstrated minimal brain penetration in animals and no central nervous system toxicities in patients with AdvSM.

    The first part of the SUMMIT trial followed 20 patients with NonAdvSM for a median duration of seven months. The majority were female (75%) with a median age of 50. Seventy-five percent of patients had the KIT D816V mutation, and all had moderate-severe symptoms. Patients were treated with either 100 or 200 mg of bezuclastinib or with placebo. All patients continued to receive their baseline anti-mediator treatments throughout the trial.

    Researchers evaluated the efficacy of bezuclastinib through multiple patient-reported outcome measures and changes in markers of disease burden, such as serum tryptase, bone marrow mast cell percentage and KIT D816V mutation allele burden.

    Patients who received the 100 mg dose experienced a median reduction in symptoms of 48.5% after 12 weeks. During this period, none of the patients in the placebo group reported significant improvement in their overall symptoms. However, after transitioning those patients to bezuclastinib treatment, 67% reported an improvement in their symptoms after four weeks. 

    After 20 weeks, more patients observed greater improvements in dermatological symptoms (78%), gastrointestinal symptoms (33%) and cognitive symptoms (33%) compared to the 12-week mark.

    Adverse events generally were mild and reversible, with the most frequent being a change in hair color, nausea and peripheral edema. No serious adverse events related to bezuclastinib were reported in the 100 mg or 200 mg cohorts.

    “This drug may offer great promise in the treatment of non-advanced systemic mastocytosis,” Bose said. “As we move forward, our aspiration is to optimize the dosage while maintaining a robust safety profile.”

    To futher assess the drug’s efficacy in patients with NonAdvSM, next steps for the SUMMIT trial include comparing bezuclastinib against placebo once the optimal dose is determined. Part Ib of the trial will investigate 100mg and 150 mg daily doses that use a different formulation of the drug, and those results are expected in 2024, Bose explained.

    The SUMMIT trial was sponsored by Cogent Biosciences. Bose reports relationships with Cogent Biosciences, GSK, Novartis, Karyopharm, AbbVie, PharmaEssentia, Jubilant, Morphic, Kartos, Telios, Disc, Jassen, Geron, Ionis, Incyte, Bristol Myers Squibb, Sobi, MorphoSys, Blueprint and Sumitomo. A full list of co-authors and disclosures can be found with the abstract.

    Read this press release in the MD Anderson Newsroom.

    University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

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  • ASH: Novel menin inhibitors show promise for patients with advanced acute myeloid leukemias

    ASH: Novel menin inhibitors show promise for patients with advanced acute myeloid leukemias

    Newswise — Two clinical trials led by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center demonstrated early positive results from novel therapies targeting menin for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute leukemias with specific genetic alterations. Results from the studies were shared today in oral presentations at the 2023 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. More information on all ASH Annual Meeting content from MD Anderson can be found at MDAnderson.org/ASH.

    Menin inhibitor monotherapy reduces disease burden in majority of relapsed or refractory acute leukemia patients (Abstract 57) According to data from a Phase I trial led by Elias Jabbour, M.D., professor of Leukemia, the menin inhibitor JNJ-75276617 showed early clinical activity in patients with relapsed or refractory acute leukemias and genetic alterations in KMT2A or NPM1, which are associated with poor clinical outcomes.

    Among 66 patients able to be evaluated after one month of treatment, JNJ-75276617 monotherapy reduced bone marrow disease burden in 71%, and 33 of those patients had a decrease in bone marrow blasts of more than 50%. Median time to first response was less than two months. Similar response rates were observed across patient groups with both genetic alterations.  

    “Patients with relapsed or refractory leukemias and KMT2A or NPM1 alterations often do poorly on currently available therapies, so there is a need to advance more effective options,” Jabbour said. “We are encouraged by the antileukemic activity of this monotherapy, which mimics what we saw in the preclinical setting.”

    In the multi-center clinical trial, researchers took a stepwise approach in evaluating the safety and efficacy of JNJ-75276617, a potent and selective inhibitor of the interaction between the scaffolding protein menin and the methyltransferase KMT2A. Eighty-six patients who had acute leukemias with NPM1 & KTM2A genetic alterations were included in the trial.

    Patients received the therapy orally on a 28-day cycle. Fifty-six percent of evaluable patients had AML with KMT2A alterations and 43% of evaluable patients had NPM1 alterations. The median age of trial participants was 63 years, while the median number of prior therapies was two.

    Differentiation syndrome was the most common side effect in patients, but was overcome with step-up dosing. The trial is ongoing to determine the recommended Phase II dose.

    The trial is sponsored by Janssen Pharmaceuticals. A complete list of collaborating authors and their disclosures can be found with the abstract.

    Oral therapy combination shows promising results for advanced acute leukemias (Abstract 58) The Phase I/II SAVE trial, led by Ghayas Issa, M.D., assistant professor of Leukemia, combined the menin inhibitor revumenib with venetoclax and hypomethylating agent ASTX727, yielding encouraging responses in adult and pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory advanced acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with KMT2A or NUP98 rearrangements or NPM1 mutations.

    The overall response rate among nine evaluable patients was 100%. Three patients achieved complete remission, one patient achieved complete remission with partial hematologic recovery, and three patients had complete remission with incomplete platelet count recovery. In addition, one patient had a partial response and one had a morphologic leukemia-free state. Measurable residual disease was undetectable in six of the patients. 

    “These advanced and acute leukemias often are very difficult to treat and currently have no approved targeted therapies. We believe these early results suggest this treatment will be highly effective in advanced leukemias,” Issa said. “This is our first look at an entirely oral combination therapy using menin inhibitors, and the results are very encouraging. If sustained in further trials, this could lead to a change in the standard of care for this patient population, with great potential to improve their quality of life.”

    Revumenib is a potent, oral, selective inhibitor of the menin-KMT2A interaction. To date, nine patients aged 12 years and older have been enrolled in the trial. Of those, five patients had KMT2A rearrangements, three had NUP98 rearrangements and one had mutant NPM1. On average, patients had received three prior lines of therapy.

    Side effects were manageable and consistent with previous studies. The trial is ongoing, with plans to establish the recommended Phase II dose and optimize delivery of the combination before enrolling patients in the Phase II cohort.

    This investigator-initiated study was supported by Syndax and Astex. A complete list of collaborating authors and their disclosures can be found with the abstract.

    Read this press release in the MD Anderson Newsroom.

    University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

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  • MD Anderson announces Institute for Data Science in Oncology to advance mission to end cancer

    MD Anderson announces Institute for Data Science in Oncology to advance mission to end cancer

    Newswise — HOUSTON ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced the launch of its Institute for Data Science in Oncology (IDSO), which integrates the most advanced computational and data science approaches with the institution’s extensive scientific and clinical expertise to significantly improve patient’s lives by transforming cancer care and research.

    Bringing top data scientists from a variety of fields together with clinicians and cancer scientists, the institute builds on MD Anderson’s culture of collaboration and connectivity to tackle the field’s most pressing needs in new and innovative ways. IDSO’s efforts have been catalyzed by philanthropic and institutional support of more than $61 million, representing significant progress toward an initial fundraising goal of $100 million.

    “The answers to overcoming cancer are within our reach, and we owe it to our patients and their families to move beyond traditional approaches to find those answers quickly,” said David Jaffray, Ph.D., director of IDSO and chief technology and digital officer at MD Anderson. “The institute is changing the way we work, incorporating the next generation of computational approaches and team data science across MD Anderson. By making data part of every decision, we will ensure progress for our patients and their families at the pace needed to address the urgent problem of cancer.”

    MD Anderson generates an immense amount of data annually, including complex clinical information and expansive laboratory datasets. Building on the most advanced data and computational scientific methods available, IDSO is revolutionizing how the institution leverages data to fuel new discoveries, optimize the patient experience and personalize cancer care.

    “At MD Anderson, we are intimately familiar with the urgent needs and challenges facing our patients, and we will find the best solutions possible by unlocking the full power of the growing and increasingly complex data,” said Caroline Chung, M.D., director of Data Science Development and Implementation for IDSO and chief data officer at MD Anderson. “The institutional commitment to this effort enables us to build an unmatched oncology data ecosystem that fuels effective collaborations across MD Anderson and around the world.”

    Through its work, IDSO not only allows for better analysis of existing data but also changes how MD Anderson generates, collects and manages data. This comprehensive approach enables research and clinical teams to derive new and deeper insights that can be applied to accelerate drug discovery and development, to improve scheduling and access for patients, to enhance the safety and quality of care, and to allow for personalized treatment decisions based on results and predictions from diagnostic tests.

    “The Institute for Data Science in Oncology positions MD Anderson as a leader in data science for cancer care, discovery and clinical operations. Its innovative programs will be, in many cases, the first generation of data science applied to the challenge of ending cancer,” said Peter WT Pisters, M.D., president of MD Anderson. “The institute is a critical element of our institutional strategy, and it will transform how MD Anderson uses data to advance discoveries and make the greatest impact on humanity.”

    Teaming up on focused areas of opportunity

    The institute unites MD Anderson’s clinical and research communities in transformative data efforts, offering new opportunities for collaborations across the institution and with external researchers and industry colleagues. Located in the Texas Medical Center’s Helix Park and housed in the TMC3 Collaborative Building, IDSO brings together experts in medicine, science, academia and industry.

    Led by Jaffray and Chung, IDSO is engaging top data science experts to direct established focus areas. Current co-leads who already have joined IDSO include Bissan Al-Lazikani, Ph.D., professor of Genomic Medicine; Heiko Enderling, Ph.D., professor of Radiation Oncology; Jeffrey Siewerdsen, Ph.D., professor of Imaging Physics; and Yinyin Yuan, Ph.D., professor of Translational Molecular Pathology.

    IDSO is focused on five initial priority areas, selected based on alignment with clinical practice and the existing technology required for meaningful progress. These include:

    • Quantitative Analysis and Insights from Pathology and Medical Imaging
      Led by Chung and Yuan, this focus area is advancing automated tools and AI algorithms to tap into the information within medical imaging data, including radiology and pathology, creating tools to more rapidly diagnose and characterize cancer and to provide effective, predictive measures of treatment response to guide personalized treatments.
    • Multi-Cell Interactions Informed Through Single Cell Analytics and Data Science
      Aligning with MD Anderson’s strong basic science and bioinformatics community, IDSO is driving a deeper fundamental understanding of cancer biology to uncover new therapeutic opportunities. IDSO is collaborating with the James P. Allison Institute to strengthen data science capabilities in order to extract insights from the explosion of single cell and spatial transcriptomics data.
    • Computational Modeling for Discovery, Development and Optimization of Precision Medicine
      Led by Al-Lazikani and Enderling, this focus area is applying advanced computer modeling, novel AI techniques and digital twin approaches to discover, design and advance novel therapeutics and regimens. These efforts integrate with canSAR, the world’s largest public cancer drug discovery resource, now hosted at MD Anderson to benefit the research community worldwide.
    • Equitable Decision Analytics for the Health of the Person and Society
      IDSO is advancing data-driven, computationally informed approaches to support personal and societal decision making. By developing a more complete understanding of the multi-dimensional impact of cancer — personal, economic, and societal — we can explore innovations across the continuum of health to identify those with the greatest potential for impact.
    • Development of Automated Approaches to Increase Access, Safety and Quality
      Under the leadership of Siewerdsen, this focus area is building data-science expertise to optimize the patient experience for those seeking care at MD Anderson. Efforts include improving patient access, optimizing the quality of care, and maximizing the safety of our treatment environments.

    The institute continues to recruit top scientists from around the world and is training the next generation of pioneers in the field, creating a diverse and inclusive environment that facilitates seamless engagement with MD Anderson’s clinicians and researchers. The IDSO Fellows program, led by Christopher Gibbons, Ph.D., associate professor of Symptom Research, is designed to offer postdoctoral training opportunities for junior clinicians and researchers that will empower them to become leaders in data science for oncology.

    Together with Dan Shoenthal, chief innovation officer at MD Anderson, IDSO is engaging with leaders in the field to establish relationships that can advance priority initiatives, including ongoing initiatives with industry collaborators as well as The University of Texas at Austin Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences and the Texas Advanced Computing Center, Rice University and Break Through Cancer. 

    Philanthropic support accelerates the impact of data science

    Generous support from dedicated donors across the nation is accelerating the far-reaching, long-term possibilities of IDSO. Philanthropic investments enable the institute to hire and train exceptional talent and to rapidly build the necessary infrastructure to carry out its work, resulting in meaningful improvements for patients and their families.

    IDSO has received significant commitments from the Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research, Lyda Hill Philanthropies, the Hackett Family, the Laura and John Arnold Endowment and more, including an anonymous donor. Matching funds are expected from multiple organizations, including the Commonwealth Foundation.

    “The inspired actions of our donors speak volumes about the potential of this institute to make meaningful impacts on the next era of cancer research and care,” Jaffray said. “We are grateful for their boundless generosity and their dedication to our mission to end cancer.”

    Read this press release in the MD Anderson Newsroom.

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    University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

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  • Cancer Research Institute to Honor Dr. Ananda Goldrath with 2023 Alt Award

    Cancer Research Institute to Honor Dr. Ananda Goldrath with 2023 Alt Award

    Newswise — New York, October 27, 2023

    The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to harnessing the immune system’s power to control and potentially cure all cancers, will honor Dr. Ananda Goldrath, Executive Vice President and Director, Allen Institute for Immunology with the Frederick W. Alt Award for New Discoveries in Immunology. Dr. Goldrath will receive the award at the 2023 CRI Annual Awards Dinner on Monday, November 6, in New York City.

    The Frederick W. Alt award is designated specifically for former CRI postdoctoral fellows to honor their contribution towards research that has had an outsized impact in the field of immunology, either in academia or industry.

    The award is named after CRI Scientific Advisory Council member Frederick W. Alt, PhD (Boston Children’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School). Dr. Alt has empowered many emerging, promising scientists in his career, and has made several monumental contributions within the field of immunology.

    “The Cancer Research Institute has been supporting the training of young scientists and nurturing careers for decades,” says Dr. Goldrath. “CRI funded my training and research as a fellow and then again when I started my own lab. CRI funds helped us carry out some of our earliest experiments that led to key insights into how to induce ‘memory’ T cells that provide protective immunity and kill tumor cells. To receive the CRI 2023 Frederick W. Alt award for New Discoveries in Immunology is a thrilling honor and reflects the hard work and creativity of many brilliant trainees I have had the privilege of working with over the course of my career.”

    Dr. Goldrath has made many critical contributions to the field of immunology. Notably, her lab has revealed a mechanistic understanding of the creation and maintenance of long-lived protective immunity. She is extremely active in the larger science and immunology space, as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Pew Scholar, a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Fellow, and a member of the Immunological Genome Project.

    Additionally, Dr. Goldrath recently joined the Allen Institute for Immunology after nearly two decades at the University of California San Diego where she was a Tata Chancellor’s Professor in the School of Biological Sciences in the Molecular Biology Department and Co-Director of the Program in Immunology.

    “Dr. Goldrath’s contributions to the field of immunology epitomize the sort of scientific excellence that CRI seeks in its most exceptional scientists,” says CRI CEO and Director of Scientific Affairs Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, PhD. “Her research on memory T cells has provided valuable insight on how to manipulate the immune system to deliver long lasting immunity against infection and cancer. Such discoveries are not only significant for the immunology field, but they benefit us all.”

    CRI is proud to honor Dr. Goldrath with the 2023 Fredrick W. Alt award for New Discoveries in Immunology. The discoveries she has made, and the knowledge she has passed on to scientists that have worked in her lab, go directly towards our goal of creating a world immune to cancer.

    About the Cancer Research Institute

    The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), established in 1953, is the preeminent U.S. nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to saving more lives by fueling the discovery and development of powerful immunotherapies for all cancers. Guided by a world-renowned Scientific Advisory Council that includes four Nobel laureates and 33 members of the National Academy of Sciences, CRI has invested over $517 million in support of research conducted by immunologists and tumor immunologists at the world’s leading medical centers and universities and has contributed to many of the key scientific advances that demonstrate the potential for immunotherapy to change the face of cancer treatment. To learn more, go to cancerresearch.org.

    Cancer Research Institute

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  • Dual-action drug produces positive results in patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors, trial finds

    Dual-action drug produces positive results in patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors, trial finds

    Newswise — Boston – A drug that simultaneously strikes cancer cells’ growth circuits and pipeline to the bloodstream produced encouraging results in a clinical trial involving patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors, according to a study led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators.

    Jennifer Chan, MD, MPH, director of the Program in Carcinoid and Neuroendocrine Tumors at Dana-Farber, will present the findings of the CABINET trial at the annual European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress on October 22, 2023, in Madrid, Spain. Chan is first author on the study. Jeffrey Meyerhardt, MD, MPH, co-director of the Colon and Rectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber, is senior author.

    Patients treated with the drug, cabozantinib, survived significantly longer with no worsening of their disease than patients who received a placebo. The results suggest cabozantinib, which has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for some patients with renal cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, or thyroid cancer, can benefit patients with neuroendocrine tumors that continue to grow and spread after previous treatment, researchers say.

    More than 12,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor each year. The tumors begin in neuroendocrine cells – which have characteristics of nerve and hormone-producing cells – and can arise in multiple sites in the body, most often in the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, and pancreas. Treatments may include surgery, targeted therapy, peptide receptor radionuclide therapy, chemotherapy, or other local treatment approaches depending on the location and stage of the cancer. For patients whose cancer continues to grow and spread after these treatments, better options are urgently needed.

    “Although advances have been made in recent years, there remains a critical need for new and effective therapies for patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors, particularly patients whose cancer has progressed on currently available options,” said Chan. “Targeting angiogenesis and other growth factor pathways with cabozantinib represents a novel treatment strategy.”

    Cabozantinib undermines tumor cells in multiple ways. It blocks the receptor for VEGF, a protein used to tap into the body’s blood supply, as well as other receptors including c-MET, AXL, and RET that are key to tumor cell survival and metastasis.

    The study enrolled 197 patients with advanced extra-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (which arise outside the pancreas) and 93 patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Patients were enrolled at sites within the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). Two-thirds of the participants were randomly assigned take a 60 mg cabozantinib pill daily, and the others were given a placebo, or inert pill.

    Researchers measured progression-free survival (PFS) – how long patients lived before their disease worsened – for all participants. At a median follow-up of 13.9 months, the PFS for patients with extra-pancreatic tumors who took cabozantinib was 8.3 months, compared to 3.2 for those who took a placebo. At a median follow-up of 16.7 months, patients with pancreatic tumors who took cabozantinib had a PFS of 11.4 months, compared to 3.0 months for those who took a placebo.

    Side effects of cabozantinib were similar to those found in other studies of the drug. These include hypertension, fatigue, diarrhea, and skin rash.        

    “The results of the CABINET trial are very encouraging,” said Chan. “Cabozantinib significantly improved outcomes in patients with previously treated extra-pancreatic and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and may become a new treatment option for patients.”

    The CABINET trial was sponsored by the NCI, part of the National Institutes of Health (U10CA180821, U10CA180882), and was led and conducted by the NCI-funded Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology with participation from the NCTN as part of Exelixis’ collaboration with the NCI’s Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (NCI-CTEP); https://acknowledgments.alliancefound.org.

    ESMO Session Details

    LBA 53: Alliance A021602: Phase III, Double-Blinded Study of Cabozantinib Versus Placebo for Advanced Neuroendocrine Tumors (NET) After Progression on Prior Therapy (CABINET) on Sunday, October 22, 2023, at 2:40 am ET (8:40 CEST) Jennifer Chan, MD, MPH/First Author

    For all ESMO-related media inquiries, call or email Victoria Warren, 617-939-5531, [email protected]. Follow the meeting live on X (Twitter) using the hashtag #ESMO23 and follow Dana-Farber News on X (Twitter) at @DanaFarberNews.

    About Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 

    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is one of the world’s leading centers of cancer research and treatment. Dana-Farber’s mission is to reduce the burden of cancer through scientific inquiry, clinical care, education, community engagement, and advocacy. Dana-Farber is a federally designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

    We provide the latest treatments in cancer for adults through Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center and for children through Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Dana-Farber is the only hospital nationwide with a top 5 U.S. News & World Report Best Cancer Hospital ranking in both adult and pediatric care.

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    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

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  • ESMO: Pre- and post-surgical immunotherapy improves outcomes for patients with operable lung cancer

    ESMO: Pre- and post-surgical immunotherapy improves outcomes for patients with operable lung cancer

    Newswise — MADRID ― Compared with pre-surgical (neoadjuvant) chemotherapy alone, adding perioperative immunotherapy – given before and after surgery – significantly improved event-free survival (EFS) in patients with resectable early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Results from the Phase III CheckMate 77T study were presented today at the 2023 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

    At a median follow-up of 25.4 months, the median EFS with chemotherapy alone was 18.4 months, while the median had not yet been reached for patients receiving perioperative nivolumab, meaning EFS was prolonged significantly over the control group. These results correspond to a 42% reduction in risk of disease progression, recurrence, or death for those receiving the perioperative combination.

    Patients who received the perioperative nivolumab-based regimen also saw significantly higher rates of pathological complete response (pCR), defined as no tumor remaining at surgery, compared with those who received chemotherapy alone (25.3% vs. 4.7%). Rates of major pathological response (MPR), less than or equal to 10% of viable tumor cells remaining at time of surgery, were also higher in patients who received perioperative immunotherapy (35.4% vs. 12.1%).

    “This study builds on the standard-of-care neoadjuvant treatment and supports perioperative nivolumab as an effective approach that reduces the risk of lung cancer relapse,” said principal investigator Tina Cascone, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Thoracic/Head & Neck Medical Oncology. “These findings add to evidence that the perioperative immunotherapy path gives patients with operable lung cancer an opportunity to live longer without their cancer returning.”

    Roughly 30% of patients diagnosed with NSCLC have operable disease, meaning their tumor can be removed by a surgical operation. While many of these patients can be potentially cured by surgery, more than half will experience cancer recurrence without additional therapy. Chemotherapy given either before or after surgery provides only a minimal survival benefit.

    The randomized, double-blind CheckMate 77T trial, which began in 2019, included more than 450 NSCLC patients over the age of 18 from around the globe. Participants were randomized to treatment with either neoadjuvant nivolumab with chemotherapy followed by surgery and adjuvant nivolumab, or neoadjuvant chemotherapy and placebo followed by surgery and adjuvant placebo

    The data showed no new safety signals with the perioperative nivolumab regimen and is consistent with the known safety profiles of individual agents. Grade 3-4 treatment-related side effects were observed in 32% and 25% of patients receiving the perioperative combination or control therapy, respectively. Surgery-related adverse events occurred in 12% of patients in both treatment arms.

    These findings add to recent success seen with neoadjuvant nivolumab plus chemotherapy in NSCLC. In March 2022, the Phase III CheckMate 816 study led to FDA approval of nivolumab combined with platinum-based chemotherapy.

    “I am enthusiastic about the initial findings of the study,” Cascone said. “Looking ahead, it will be critical to identify patient and disease characteristics that will tell us who can potentially be cured with neoadjuvant immunotherapy only and who will benefit from more intensified treatment strategies.”

    The CheckMate 77T study was sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb. A full list of co-authors and author disclosures can be found here.

    Read this press release on the MD Anderson Newsroom. 

    University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

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  • Kidney cancer study shows improved outcomes for patients with advanced disease when treated with belzutifan over everolimus

    Kidney cancer study shows improved outcomes for patients with advanced disease when treated with belzutifan over everolimus

    Newswise — Boston – Belzutifan significantly reduced the risk of progression of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the most common type of kidney cancer, in patients previously treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors and anti-angiogenic therapies compared with everolimus in a phase 3 clinical trial. The trial, led by Toni K. Choueiri, MD, Director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Cancer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, showed the risk of progression was reduced by 25-26%.

    The results were presented at the annual European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress on October 21, 2023, in Madrid, Spain.

    “This is real progress for patients and could lead to approval of this drug for this patient group,” says Choueiri, senior author on the presentation in Madrid.

    Belzutifan, a HIF-2α inhibitor, is currently approved for patients with Von Hippel-Landau (VHL) disease-associated renal cell carcinoma, a form of kidney cancer. The drug was originally investigated and approved for kidney cancer patients with VHL disease because they have inherited a mutation that inactivates the VHL gene, which results in an overabundance of HIF-2α in cells.

    When overabundant in cells, HIF-2α is associated with increased cancer-driving activity, such as cell proliferation, immune evasion, low oxygen levels (called hypoxia), and blood vessel formation (called angiogenesis). Dana-Farber’s William G. Kaelin, Jr., MD, was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2019 for the discovery of the role HIF-2α in cancer and other diseases.

    “The knowledge we have about hypoxia and angiogenesis in kidney cancer stemmed from this essential pre-clinical research at Dana-Farber,” says Choueiri. “Bringing this knowledge forward to benefit patients is very gratifying.”

    While the mutation that causes VHL disease is inherited, spontaneous mutations that inactivate VHL occur in over 90% of ccRCC tumors, suggesting that a HIF-2α inhibitor might also benefit patients with ccRCC.

    This trial, called LITESPARK-005, enrolled 746 patients with metastatic ccRCC who had progressed after treatment with both an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI), such as a PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor, and an anti-angiogenic therapy. ICIs and anti-angiogenic medicines have become a standard part of first- and second-line therapies for metastatic ccRCC, though most patients eventually experience disease progression and need additional treatment options.

    Patients were randomized to receive treatment with either belzutifan or everolimus. At the second interim analysis, after a median of 25.7 months, patients taking belzutifan were 26% less likely to have progressed compared with those taking everolimus.

    The overall response rate was also higher with belzutifan, at 22% versus 3.5%, and 13 patients experienced a complete response with belzutifan compared to none with everolimus. Patients taking belzutifan were also less likely to discontinue therapy due to side effects.

    “Importantly, quality of life favored belzutifan,” says Choueiri.

    There was an improvement in overall survival with belzutifan though it was not statistically significant.

    This investigation of monotherapy with belzutifan is part of a broader strategy to learn more about the efficacy and safety of HIF-2α inhibition in RCC. The strategy involves multiple LITESPARK trials examining beluzutifan alone and in combination with other therapies in treatment-naive and pre-treated disease settings. Choueiri also presented updated findings from the phase 2 LITESPARK-003 at the ESMO Congress that showed belzutifan plus cabozantinib showed durable antitumor activity and a safety profile consistent with prior observation previously published in The Lancet Oncology.

    Both trials are sponsored by Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC.

    ESMO Session Details

    LBA 87: Phase 2 LITESPARK-003 Study of belzutifan in combination with cabozantinib for advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) will be presented in Proffered Paper Session 2 – Genitourinary tumors, non-prostate on Saturday, October 21, 2023, at 8:45am ET (14:45 CEST) Toni K. Choueiri, MD/First Author

    LBA 88: Belzutifan versus everolimus in participants (pts) with previously treated advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC): randomized open-label phase 3 LITESPARK-005 study will be presented in Proffered Paper Session 2- Genitourinary tumors, non-prostate on Saturday, October 21, 2023, at 8:55am ET (14:55 CEST) Toni K. Choueiri, MD/Senior Author

    About Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 

    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is one of the world’s leading centers of cancer research and treatment. Dana-Farber’s mission is to reduce the burden of cancer through scientific inquiry, clinical care, education, community engagement, and advocacy. Dana-Farber is a federally designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

    We provide the latest treatments in cancer for adults through Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center and for children through Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Dana-Farber is the only hospital nationwide with a top 5 U.S. News & World Report Best Cancer Hospital ranking in both adult and pediatric care.

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    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

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  • Intensity-modulated radiation therapy provides long-term benefits to patients with locally advanced lung cancer

    Intensity-modulated radiation therapy provides long-term benefits to patients with locally advanced lung cancer

    Newswise — SINGAPORE ― Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) should be the preferred choice when treating patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as it reduces radiation exposure to the heart and lungs, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.  

    Results from a long-term secondary analysis of the NRG Oncology-RTOG 0617 Phase III study, with a median follow-up of 5.2 years, revealed that patients receiving IMRT had a more than two-fold reduction in severe lung inflammation (pneumonitis) compared to those who received 3D-conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT), 3.5% versus 8.2%.  

    The findings were presented today at the at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer by Stephen Chun, M.D., associate professor of Radiation Oncology.  

    “IMRT spared more normal tissue than 3D-CRT, which translated into a clinically meaningful benefit to patients,” Chun said. “Despite historical concerns of IMRT generating a low-dose radiation bath to a large area of normal lung tissue, we found no excess cancers, increased adverse events or survival detriment over the long term related to this approach.” 

    For decades, 3D-CRT has been the standard of care for locally advanced lung cancer when surgery is not an option. However, it is less precise than IMRT, which sculpts and molds radiation beams to tumor targets, reducing radiation exposure to certain organs.  

    The NRG Oncology-RTOG 0617 study enrolled 482 NSCLC patients from 2007 to 2011 and compared a high dose of radiation (74 Gy) to a standard dose (60 Gy). All patients underwent concurrent chemotherapy (carboplatin/paclitaxel, with or without cetuximab) and either 3D-CRT (53%) or IMRT (47%). 

    Although patients treated with both techniques had similar survival rates, closer inspection of the data demonstrated a correlation between survival and radiation exposure to the heart. IMRT treatment plans achieved significantly lower cardiac radiation doses.  

    Both the 3D-CRT and IMRT groups had similar rates of new cancer development over time. Scientists also saw no evidence that age impacted survival, meaning that age is no reason to exclude elderly patients from curative-intent chemoradiation for locally advanced NSCLC.  

    “The data from our study makes a compelling argument that we should use IMRT for locally advanced lung cancer. As a randomized clinical trial comparing 3D-CRT and IMRT is unlikely to be performed, this study represents the strongest prospective evidence we will ever have in support of IMRT,” Chun said. 

    This trial was funded by the National Cancer Institute (R50CA275822, U10CA21661, U10CA180868, and U10CA180822), Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly and Company. Chun reports financial relationships with Curio Science, Norton Healthcare, AstraZeneca, Binaytara Foundation, Henry Ford Health, Hong Kong Precision Oncology, ViewRay, the American Board of Radiology and the Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology. A full list of collaborating authors can be found with the abstract here.  

    University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

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  • AI more accurately identifies patients with advanced lung cancer that respond to immunotherapy and helps doctors select treatments

    AI more accurately identifies patients with advanced lung cancer that respond to immunotherapy and helps doctors select treatments

    Newswise — Treatment planning for lung cancer can often be complex due to variations in assessing immune biomarkers. In a new study, Yale Cancer Center researchers at Yale School of Medicine used artificial intelligence (AI) tools and digital pathology to improve the accuracy of this process.

    Researchers compared AI-powered digital scoring with traditional manual scoring of the PD-L1 immune biomarker to determine if a new immunotherapy treatment, atezolizumab, could benefit patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. PD–L1 expression is considered the best biomarker to predict responsiveness to immune-checkpoint inhibitors.

    Roy S. Herbst, lead study author and deputy director of Yale Cancer Center, will present the new findings at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Singapore on Sept. 11.

    “Our study suggests that artificial intelligence has the ability to improve the identification of PD-L1 positive patients by providing a predictive accuracy that was better than manual scoring,” said Herbst, who is also the assistant dean of translational research at Yale School of Medicine. “The research underscores the potential of digital pathology and AI tools in enhancing PD-L1 scoring accuracy for both clinical practice and clinical trials.”

    To conduct this study, researchers used data from the phase III trial IMpower 110, which tested the effectiveness of atezolizumab compared to chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Using both manual and AI-powered tumor cell scoring, researchers found that the AI model was able to identify more patients as PD-L1 positive compared to the conventional manual scoring.

    The study also demonstrated that both manual and digital scoring methods were equally adept at predicting patient outcomes, including overall survival and progression-free survival. The AI model also helped conclude that among patients with squamous histology (a specific subtype of NSCLC), the presence of PD-L1+ lymphocytes correlated with improved progression-free survival when treatment included atezolizumab.

    “The insights gained with AI and digital scoring could make diagnosing and choosing the right treatment easier,” said Herbst. “Our data shows that this AI technology can help refine strategies for treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer.”

    Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital

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  • New immunotherapy treatment brings hope to patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

    New immunotherapy treatment brings hope to patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

    Newswise — Although immunotherapies have shown promise in treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), many patients still do not respond well, and those who do may eventually develop resistance. In a new study, Yale Cancer Center researchers at Yale School of Medicine tested a new immunotherapy, NC318, in combination with the targeted immunotherapy, pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA). The study’s findings suggest that NC318, both alone and in combination with pembrolizumab, improved response rates and clinical outcomes for some patients with NSCLC.

    The researchers will present their findings at the IASLC 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer in Singapore on Sept. 12. The research team partnered with the developer of NC318, NextCure, on this phase II trial.

    “Our goal is to offer patients with non-small cell lung cancer more effective options, especially when other treatments may fall short,” said the study’s senior author Roy S. Herbst, deputy director of Yale Cancer Center and assistant dean of translational research at Yale School of Medicine. “The fact that NC318, in combination with pembrolizumab, is well-tolerated in patients who had previously been treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors is encouraging. It provides another treatment for patients in need of therapeutic options for advanced lung cancer.”

    In the trial, researchers administered NC318 either alone or in combination with pembrolizumab to patients with advanced NSCLC that had progressed after receiving checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Among the 11 patients who received NC318 alone, one patient had a partial response, two had stable disease (tumor size did not grow or shrink), and eight patients had progressive disease (at least a 20% growth in tumor size).

    Among the 18 patients who received the NC318-pembrolizumab combination treatment, three patients had a partial response (one after initial pseudo-progression), six patients had stable disease, and nine patients had progressive disease. Two of the patients with stable disease had ongoing stability at 21.6 months and 7.6 months, respectively.

    Some patients experienced treatment-related adverse events, but researchers say the overall tolerability was good, similar to standard immunotherapy.

    “Although the data is promising, these are preliminary findings and further research is ongoing with a focus on optimizing treatment dose and schedule, and evaluating predictive biomarkers,” said the study’s first author Scott Gettinger, chief of thoracic medical oncology at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital.

    Gettinger and Herbst were joined by Yale co-authors Sarah Goldberg, Anne Chiang, Frederick Wilson, So Yeon Kim, Elin Rowan, Heather Gerrish, Emily Duffield, Marianne Davies, Vanna Dest, Roliya Jackson, Jennifer Pope, Wei Cheng, David Rimm, and Lei Chen.

    Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital

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  • MD Anderson and Panacea launch Manaolana Oncology to develop antibody-based therapies for cancer

    MD Anderson and Panacea launch Manaolana Oncology to develop antibody-based therapies for cancer

    Newswise — HOUSTON and SAN MATEO, Calif. ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Panacea Venture today announced the launch of Manaolana Oncology Inc., a new company created to develop and advance antibody-based therapies against novel cancer antigens.

    Manaolana Oncology seeks to build upon the innovative antibody production capabilities and intellectual property of MD Anderson to research and develop novel monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and other antibody-based therapies for a variety of cancer types, with the goal of advancing promising therapies into clinical studies at MD Anderson.

    The company will be headquartered in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and will be led by an executive team with more than 100 years of combined experience in product development and strategic partnering. Panacea will fund start-up expenses for Manaolana Oncology and will support the recruitment of additional experienced executives to shape the company.

    “By developing therapies targeting new tumor antigens, Manaolana Oncology aims to address a critical need for patients with cancer. Manaolana is the Hawaiian word for hope, and it is our intent to offer patients renewed hope against this disease,” said Winson Tang, M.D., co-founder of Manaolana Oncology. “Manaolana Oncology brings together MD Anderson’s expert scientists and clinicians with Panacea’s experienced biotechnology team to create a focused organization working to develop a novel portfolio of monoclonal antibodies.”

    Monoclonal antibody therapies have emerged as important treatment options for many types of cancer. They are designed to recognize and bind to specific targets, or antigens, on cancer cells in order to manipulate certain signaling pathways or recruit immune cells to the tumor.

    The laboratory of Samir Hanash, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Clinical Cancer Prevention at MD Anderson, has conducted an extensive characterization of the cancer surfaceome, resulting in a comprehensive catalogue of proteins found specifically on the surface of cancer cells across tumor types.

    “By combing through petabytes of proteomic data, our team has uncovered many cancer-restricted antigens that may offer prime targets for monoclonal antibody therapies,” Hanash said. “We look forward to collaborating with Manaolana Oncology to develop novel antibody-based therapeutics that offer patients impactful new treatment options.”

    Kevin McBride, Ph.D., associate professor of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis at MD Anderson, has pioneered a high-throughput platform to clone and produce mAbs from isolated B cells, enabling  the development of highly specific antibodies against a particular cell surface target to create novel therapeutic mAbs.

    “This is an important evolution because current approaches to creating high-quality monoclonal antibodies require lengthy and intensive production protocols, which can be costly and are not always successful,” McBride said. “We look forward to working with Manaolana Oncology to build on these techniques and rapidly bring forward innovative therapies for clinical evaluation.”

    Manaolana Oncology intends to optimize the techniques developed at MD Anderson in order to improve the speed and efficiency in of producing antibodies against promising candidate antigens.

    Read this press release in the MD Anderson Newsroom.

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    Disclosure

    MD Anderson has an institutional conflict of interest (COI) with Panacea and Manaolana Oncology due to MD Anderson’s ownership interest in Manaolana and the future research to be conducted at MD Anderson. These relationships will be managed according to an MD Anderson Institutional COI Management and Monitoring Plan.

    About Panacea Venture

    Panacea Venture is a life sciences venture capital firm with global vision and presence across three continents. The firm was founded in 2017 and is currently managing four funds investing in early-stage companies through public investments. Panacea incubates early-stage companies with breakthrough technologies and discoveries that can potentially address unmet medical needs to enhance quality of life on a global scale. The investment team has more than 100 years of combined investing experience and, along with venture partners and advisors, provides broad coverage across emerging and established biotech, diagnostic and medtech sectors. In addition, Panacea’s highly experienced team has a strong track record navigating portfolio companies to success. 

    About MD Anderson

    The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston ranks as one of the world’s most respected centers focused on cancer patient care, research, education and prevention. The institution’s sole mission is to end cancer for patients and their families around the world, and, in 1971, it became one of the nation’s first National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers. MD Anderson is No. 1 for cancer in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals” rankings and has been named one of the nation’s top two hospitals for cancer since the rankings began in 1990. MD Anderson receives a cancer center support grant from the NCI of the National Institutes of Health (P30 CA016672).

     

    University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

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  • Software developed at UC Davis analyzes calcium ‘sparks’ that can contribute to arrhythmia

    Software developed at UC Davis analyzes calcium ‘sparks’ that can contribute to arrhythmia

    The image on the left shows raw data, and the image on the right shows how SparkMaster 2 detects calcium sparks, miniwaves and waves.

    (SACRAMENTO) A team of UC Davis and University of Oxford researchers have developed an innovative tool: SparkMaster 2. The open-source software allows scientists to analyze normal and abnormal calcium signals in cells automatically.

    Calcium is a key signaling molecule in all cells, including muscles like the heart. The new software enables the automatic analysis of distinct patterns of calcium release in cells. This includes calcium “sparks,” microscopic releases of calcium within cardiac cells associated with irregular heartbeats, also known as arrhythmia.

    A research article demonstrating the capabilities of SparkMaster 2 was published in Circulation Research.

    Jakub Tomek, the first author of the research article, is a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellow in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at the University of Oxford. He spent his fellowship year at UC Davis, working with Distinguished Professor Donald M. Bers. 

    “It was great to present SparkMaster 2 at recent conferences and see the enthusiastic response. I felt it would be an outlier and that few people would care. But many people were excited about having a new analysis tool that overcomes many of the limitations they have experienced with prior tools,” Tomek said.

    A man wearing a blue shirt and black pants stands in front of a building with the word “PHYSIOLOGY” over an entrance with glass doors.
    Jakub Tomek, the first author of the research article, is a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellow at the University of Oxford.

    Fellowship at UC Davis leads to updated tool

    Problems with how and when calcium is released by cells can have an impact on a range of diseases, including arrhythmia and hypertension. To understand the mechanisms behind these diseases, researchers use fluorescent calcium indicators and microscopic imaging that can measure the calcium changes at the cellular level.

    However, the resulting data files are large and challenging to analyze by hand, so customized software analysis tools are essential.

    At the Bers Lab at UC Davis, Tomek discussed analysis tools with Christopher Y. Ko, an assistant project scientist. They identified the need for better, more user-friendly software, which led to the development of SparkMaster 2.

    The new tool builds upon the success of SparkMaster, which was released in 2007 by Bers and Eckard Picht. Picht is a physician-scientist who worked with Bers, first at Loyola University Chicago and then for a few years at UC Davis. At the time, there was no user-friendly free software that could analyze calcium sparks — a crucial part of their research — so they developed one. 

    To create the new software, SparkMaster 2, Tomek worked with Bers, Ko, Manuel F. Navedo and Madeline Nieves-Cintron in the Department of Pharmacology at the UC Davis School of Medicine.

    Although much of the new interface resembles the original SparkMaster, they started from scratch for the programming. Using Python, an open-source programming language that has grown in popularity, they were able to utilize many existing tools and libraries to create the unique features they wanted.

    A man sits at a desk in front of a computer monitor with three people standing behind him.
    The UC Davis team: Donald M. Bers (sitting), Manuel F. Navedo (standing left), Christopher Y. Ko (standing middle), Madeline Nieves-Cintron (right).

    They ended up with software that can analyze calcium sparks recorded using different microscopy approaches and from cells from different tissues and genetically modified mice. Some key features of the new version include:

    • improved user interface
    • higher accuracy at identifying calcium release events than previous tools
    • ability to identify multiple types of calcium-release events
    • ability to accurately split and analyze individual sparks within spark clusters 

    “SparkMaster 2 is even easier to use and is much more powerful in the variety of event types it can analyze quantitatively — sparks, waves, mini-waves and latencies. And it has higher accuracy and sensitivity, resulting in fewer missed events and fewer erroneous positives,” Bers said.

    Bers anticipates the primary users of the software will be scientists who study calcium in muscle. “But it may be useful for researchers who study other cell types, such as neurons, that exhibit local calcium events that are important in regulating cellular function,” Bers said.

    Ko, who is a co-developer of the new tool, is also interested in the broader research applications for the new software.

    “I’m particularly excited about the new scientific questions that SparkMaster 2 will enable the biomedical research community to answer and, in turn, the ability to more completely and accurately understand the biology that underlies human physiology in health and disease,” Ko said.

    Additional authors on the paper include Nieves-Cintron and Navedo from UC Davis. They were instrumental in demonstrating how the software can be used outside cardiac research, and across distinct cell types, showing its wide range of possible uses.

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  • Pancreatic cancer research in vaccines, immune-based therapies and KRAS inhibition funded by The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

    Pancreatic cancer research in vaccines, immune-based therapies and KRAS inhibition funded by The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

    Newswise — Boston – The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), a leading non-profit in the fight against pancreatic cancer, has awarded Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers William Freed-Pastor, MD, PhD, and Julien Dilly, MS, research grants of $250,000 and $150,000, respectively over a 2-year period, to support their crucial work in the field of pancreatic cancer research. 

    As the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and with a five-year survival rate of just 12%, pancreatic cancer demands urgent action to save lives. There is currently no standard early detection test for pancreatic cancer and few effective treatments are available, making the ongoing funding of innovative research crucial to solving this challenging disease. 

    Freed-Pastor is a medical oncologist and physician-scientist at Dana-Farber and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He specializes in gastrointestinal oncology and immuno-oncology and is an investigator within the Division of Molecular and Cellular Oncology and the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research. His laboratory focuses on developing improved pre-clinical models for pancreatic cancer, with a particular emphasis on understanding immune escape and tumor-immune crosstalk. The PanCAN Career Development Award will be used to accelerate efforts by Freed-Pastor and his team to discover new and clinically relevant pieces of proteins in pancreatic cancer cells that can be leveraged for cancer vaccines and immune-based therapies. 

    Dilly is a PhD student at Harvard University conducting his graduate work in the laboratory of Andrew Aguirre, MD, PhD, at Dana-Farber and the Broad Institute. His research aims to understand mechanisms of response and resistance to KRAS inhibition in pancreatic cancer by leveraging multi-omics approaches on patient specimens and preclinical models. With the funds awarded, Julien and colleagues will explore and characterize the features of response and resistance to KRAS inhibitors in pancreatic cancer to improve understanding of the tumor and its microenvironment. The team will look for biological clues and combination therapy strategies to guide utilization of KRAS inhibitors in a clinical setting. 

    These prestigious grants are awarded to medical professionals who have demonstrated innovative approaches to researching and developing treatments to fight pancreatic cancer and improve patient outcomes. Freed-Pastor and Dilly join fellow Dana-Farber researchers Andrew Aguirre, MD, PhD, and Sapna Syngal, MD, MPH, who were also awarded grants in previous years. 

    About Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 

    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is one of the world’s leading centers of cancer research and treatment. Dana-Farber’s mission is to reduce the burden of cancer through scientific inquiry, clinical care, education, community engagement, and advocacy. Dana-Farber is a federally designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

    We provide the latest treatments in cancer for adults through Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center and for children through Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Dana-Farber is the only hospital nationwide with a top 5 U.S. News & World Report Best Cancer Hospital ranking in both adult and pediatric care.

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    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

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  • UC Davis Eye Center tests experimental gene therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

    UC Davis Eye Center tests experimental gene therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

    Newswise — (SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Ophthalmologists at UC Davis Health used an experimental gene therapy last month to treat a patient with wet age-related macular degeneration, or wet AMD. It was the first time the UC Davis Eye Center had used gene therapy.

    The treatment was part of a randomized, partially masked, controlled, phase 3 clinical study evaluating the efficacy and safety of an experimental therapy, ABBV-RGX-314, for wet AMD. UC Davis Health is one of 93 sites in the U.S. participating in the clinical trial.

    This investigational treatment is not FDA approved, and the efficacy and safety have not been established.

    Wet AMD affects approximately 2 million people in the United States, Europe and Japan. It is a leading cause of vision loss among older adults.

    “The current treatments for wet AMD may be life-long, and injections can be as frequent as every month,” said Glenn Yiu, professor of ophthalmology at UC Davis Health and principal investigator for the new clinical trial. “If approved, a gene therapy solution has the potential to maintain vision while reducing the number of injections, by allowing the eye to continuously produce the medicine on its own,” Yiu said.

    In AMD, the macula, an area of the eye’s lining that helps you see, becomes damaged. This can blur the central part of your vision, making it hard to drive or read. An early symptom of wet AMD is that straight lines look distorted and wavy.

    In wet, or neovascular AMD, abnormal blood vessels grow underneath the retina. These vessels lead to bleeding or fluid leakage in the back of your eye, causing vision loss. This process, known as “neovascularization,” is largely driven by a growth factor called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

    Treatments for wet AMD rely on repeated injections of drugs that block VEGF in the diseased eye.

    An illustration of a normal retina compared to a retina with wet AMD. The normal retina shows a flat layer of cells lining the eye and the wet AMD retina shows a branching blood vessel extending into and pushing up the cell layer.
    In wet or neovascular AMD, abnormal blood vessels grow underneath the retina, leading to bleeding or fluid leakage in the eye.

    Gene therapy may offer different approach

    Unlike stem cell therapies used to treat eye diseases — which involve injecting cells with regenerative or restorative capabilities into the eye — gene therapy generally uses an empty viral envelope (a vector) to deliver a gene with specific genetic instructions for making protein.

    ABBV-RGX-314 contains genetic instructions for making anti-VEGF proteins. After a single injection of ABBV-RGX-314 gene therapy, the eye can start to make the medicine on its own.

    Yiu performed the first experimental gene therapy eye surgery at UC Davis Health in July. The procedure is more complex than administering a monthly injection. It includes a vitrectomy, where the viscous gel in the eye is removed and replaced with a saline infusion. The experimental treatment with its gene delivery vector is then injected underneath the retina.

    Yiu will monitor whether the participant will continue to need monthly anti-VEGF injections in the coming months.

    Paul Sieving is the former director of the National Eye Institute and is now a professor of ophthalmology at UC Davis Health. He established the Center for Ocular Regenerative Therapy (CORT) for pursuing cell and gene therapies.

    “It is noteworthy for patients in Northern California that UC Davis Health is doing experimental ocular gene therapy studies in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences. What excites me most about this is the potential of Dr. Yiu’s work to reduce the repeated eye injections currently required for wet age-related macular degeneration,” Sieving said.

    UC Davis Health has enrolled three patients in the clinical trial and plans to enroll more. Individuals aged 50 to 88 with wet AMD who have had prior anti-VEGF injections may be eligible to participate.

    For more information, visit the study page, or email Denise Macias, clinical research supervisor, at [email protected].

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  • Rutgers Researchers Identify Lipid Vascular ‘ZIP code’

    Rutgers Researchers Identify Lipid Vascular ‘ZIP code’

    Newswise — New Brunswick, N.J., August 14, 2023 – Researchers at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), together with other collaborating groups, have discovered the first lipid vascular ‘ZIP code’ in the lungs. Getting a drug to where it is needed in the human body is critical for successfully treating diseases including cancer and avoiding toxic side-effects, but it remains a major challenge. One creative option has been to identify the unique protein receptors that are present on the surface of blood vessels at specific sites in the body that act like vascular ZIP codes. These ZIP codes can be physically paired with a ligand such as a small protein or antibody that can be harnessed to guide and deliver a package such as a drug or a diagnostic imaging agent to their specific molecular addresses. Some of these ligand-receptor pairs are already undergoing testing in clinical trials with anti-cancer and anti-obesity drugs. 

    Prior to the researcher’s findings, all vascular ZIP codes have been proteins. Their discovery uncovers a previously unrecognized lipid network of ZIP codes in blood vessels and opens up a new world of possibilities for improved diagnostics and treatments, including patients with severe human respiratory diseases such as emphysema, COVID-19, COPD and lung cancer. 

    In 2008, the researchers discovered a ligand peptide that bound to the surface of lung vascular endothelial cells and could deliver a cell death notice directly to the lungs in mice. However, their usual biochemical and genetic methods failed to identify the corresponding lung vascular ZIP code that the ligand was binding to. “The problem was that we had been looking for a protein,” said Wadih Arap, MD, PhD, director of Rutgers Cancer Institute at University Hospital Newark, professor and chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Rutgers NJMS and a co-lead author. “Our long series of frustrating failures led us to consider that the elusive target might be another type of molecule, perhaps a lipid; that was a eureka moment.”

    The lipid ZIP code that they discovered on lung blood vessels is called C16-ceramide (also known as palmitoyl ceramide). It belongs to a family of closely related lipid molecules that perform many important cellular functions. These include helping viruses like Ebola and SARS-CoV-2 get into cells, and also triggering cell death. Increased levels of ceramides have long been known to be associated with many lung diseases. Thus, C16-ceramide represents an unexplored avenue for many different diagnostic or therapeutic applications. As Renata Pasqualini, PhD, a resident member of Rutgers Cancer Institute and chief of the Division of Cancer Biology, Department of Radiation Oncology at NJMS another co-lead author remarked, “imaging plays such an essential role in evaluating the lungs—both, anatomically and functionally—that we felt it was an opportunity to make a clinical difference. Whether it is for pulmonary screening, establishing a diagnosis, or monitoring disease severity, our approach and findings will hopefully represent an advance in this area.” 

    To solidify their discovery of a new lipid vascular ZIP code and ligand pair, they tested their hypothesis in genetically engineered ceramide-deficient mice and showed that the ligand was no longer able to target the lungs. To begin to demonstrate what this might mean for patients, they tested two candidate medical applications. First, they showed that it could potentially be used for early diagnosis and monitoring of certain lung diseases by attaching the ligand to gold nanoparticles, which specifically lit up the lungs by using optical and molecular imaging techniques. Finally, given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they showed that the ligand could also deliver a novel vaccine directly to the lungs and stimulate a local immune response, which could be more protective than currently existing vaccines that are injected into the arm.

    Daniela Staquicini, PhD, resident member of Rutgers Cancer Institute and assistant professor of the Division of Cancer Biology, Department of Radiation Oncology at Rutgers NJMS said, “this body of work actually encompasses an ensemble of three recently published manuscripts—including this one—on targeting different ZIP codes in the lung for multiple potential applications including non-invasive imaging and vaccine delivery, in which I had the privilege to serve as a co-first-author on behalf of several large teams of investigators.”

    Next, the team plans to focus on discovering more lipid vascular ZIP codes in the blood vessels that serve other organs and particularly tumors as a way to better target anti-cancer drugs and will work to further translate these discoveries into true clinical applications for patients.

    This work was recently published in the scientific journal, PNAS (10.1073/pnas.2220269120)

    A complete list of co-authors, funding, and disclosures is included in the paper here.

    About Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey  As New Jersey’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Rutgers Cancer Institute, together with RWJBarnabas Health, offers the most advanced cancer treatment options including bone marrow transplantation, proton therapy, CAR T-cell therapy and complex surgical procedures.  Along with clinical trials and novel therapeutics such as precision medicine and immunotherapy – many of which are not widely available – patients have access to these cutting-edge therapies at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey at University Hospital in Newark, as well as through RWJBarnabas Health facilities. To make a tax-deductible gift to support the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, call 848-932-8013 or visit www.cinj.org/giving. 

    Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey

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  • NCCN Announces Research Funding for Biomarker-Directed Therapy in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer, in Collaboration with Fight CRC and Pfizer

    NCCN Announces Research Funding for Biomarker-Directed Therapy in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer, in Collaboration with Fight CRC and Pfizer

    Newswise — PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA [August 9, 2023] — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) Oncology Research Program (ORP) today announced new grants awarded to improve quality initiatives focused on optimizing biomarker-directed therapy in metastatic colorectal cancer. Fight Colorectal Cancer (Fight CRC) collaborated with NCCN and Pfizer, Inc in the grant process; Pfizer will provide funding and oversee the projects. 

    Metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is a complex, heterogeneous disease characterized by multiple gene alterations that can significantly impact a patient’s prognosis and treatment option profile. Biomarker testing has transformed the landscape of mCRC care and is critical to ensuring a patient receives appropriate, evidence-based care. The goal of this project is to optimize biomarker-directed therapy based on established clinical practice guidelines in mCRC.

    “Biomarker testing to determine optimal therapy in metastatic colorectal cancer can be complex, cumbersome, and prolonged, which leads to delays in appropriate patient care. These barriers exist throughout the biomarker testing continuum and include provider ordering, patient education, insurance coverage, tissue acquisition, data interpretation, and treatment implications” explained Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, FACP, Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer, NCCN. “These investigators will hopefully provide research that leads to improving a key component of delivering guideline-concordant care.”

    The selected projects are:

    • Stacey A. Cohen, MD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
      • Implementation of a Rapid Assessment of Molecular Profiling of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer by Liquid Biopsy in Multi-Institutional Setting
    • Amit Mahipal, MD, MPH and Melissa Lumish, MD, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center
      • Biomarker-driven and Evidence-Based Therapy for metastatic ColoRectal Cancer (BEAT-CRC): A System-Wide Initiative to Increase Access to Biomarker-Driven Therapy in a Large Practice
    • Vanessa Wookey, MD, Fox Chase Cancer Center
      • Improving Biomarker Testing in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer through Patient Education

    “At Pfizer, we’re committed to raising awareness of both the importance of biomarker testing in mCRC as well as optimizing clinical implementation,” said Faisal Mehmud, MD, Precision Medicine & Early Pipeline Lead at Pfizer. “Improving access to biomarker testing as well as increasing our knowledge about testing methods are key to help improve outcomes for patients living with this type of devastating cancer. We are excited to partner with NCCN and Fight CRC on this project and are pleased to support three outstanding projects that have the potential to make a significant contribution in this important initiative.”

    “Envisioning a future where metastatic colorectal cancer patients receive optimal and personalized treatment without unnecessary hurdles is at the heart of Fight CRC’s mission,” stated Anjee Davis, MPPA, President of Fight Colorectal Cancer (Fight CRC). “In partnership with Pfizer and NCCN, we are thrilled to reveal these transformative grants designed to dismantle barriers throughout the biomarker testing journey. Through a proactive approach in addressing patients’ challenges and expanding access to biomarker testing, we forge a path towards conquering this complex disease, all while empowering patients to become their own advocates in their fight for better outcomes.”

    Proposals were peer reviewed by a Scientific Review Committee, which consisted of leading expert oncologists from NCCN Member Institutions. The selected projects are set to be completed within two years. Nearly $750,000 in funding will be provided across all grants.

    The NCCN ORP fosters innovation and knowledge discovery that improve the lives of people with cancer and supports preclinical, translational, clinical research, and quality improvement projects in oncology at NCCN Member Institutions. In an effort to improve collaboration in cancer research, the NCCN ORP also maintains a shared resources website, an informed consent database, and points to consider on the best practices for biorepositories, registries, and databases. For more information, visit NCCN.org/orp.

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    About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

    The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) is a not-for-profit alliance of leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education. NCCN is dedicated to improving and facilitating quality, effective, equitable, and accessible cancer care so all patients can live better lives. The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) provide transparent, evidence-based, expert consensus recommendations for cancer treatment, prevention, and supportive services; they are the recognized standard for clinical direction and policy in cancer management and the most thorough and frequently-updated clinical practice guidelines available in any area of medicine. The NCCN Guidelines for Patients® provide expert cancer treatment information to inform and empower patients and caregivers, through support from the NCCN Foundation®. NCCN also advances continuing education, global initiatives, policy, and research collaboration and publication in oncology. Visit NCCN.org for more information.

    National Comprehensive Cancer Network(r) (NCCN(r))

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