-
- Posted Wednesday May 27, 2009
$18 million awarded to TGen and University of Pennsylvania for pancreatic cancer research from Stand Up to Cancer
Scottsdale Healthcare at Shea Medical Center a primary clinical
site
PHOENIX, Ariz. - May 27, 2009 - The Translational Genomics Research
Institute (TGen) and the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) will
receive $18 million to research pancreatic cancer, Stand Up to
Cancer (SU2C) announced today.
Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, TGen's Physician-In-Chief, and Dr. Craig B.
Thompson, Director of the Abramson Cancer Center at Penn, are
co-leaders of SU2C pancreatic cancer "Dream Team," which will lead
a three-year investigation into new approaches to treating
pancreatic cancer, the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the
United States.
"We want to do something dramatic. It is going to take a tremendous
amount of real thinking power to make that difference, so it is a
dream come true to be able to put this team together to work
towards this goal," said Dr. Von Hoff, who also is Chief Scientific
Officer for TGen Clinical Research Services (TCRS) at Scottsdale
Healthcare, a primary clinical research site for TGen and the SU2C
grant.
The $18 million to TGen and Penn was the largest single grant among
five awards, totaling $74 million, announced by SU2C, a
philanthropic group created by cancer scientists and members of the
entertainment industry a year ago today to quickly turn scientific
discoveries into ways to care for cancer patients.
The goal of the pancreatic cancer Dream Team research project -
"Cutting Off the Fuel Supply" - is to develop tests, using advanced
imaging techniques, to determine what nutrients pancreatic cancer
cells require to fuel their growth and survival. Understanding the
cell's fuel supply will help scientists develop more individualized
treatments with fewer side effects.
TGen and its clinical partner at TCRS will launch a series of
innovative clinical trials in advanced pancreatic cancer. These
clinical trials will be designed to deprive pancreatic tumors of
crucial nutrients, thereby cutting off the fuel supply.
TCRS is located at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at
Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center in Scottsdale. Other
clinical sites in the study are at Penn in Philadelphia and at John
Hopkins University in Baltimore.
The TGen-Penn team will combine translational methods developed at
the University of Pennsylvania with individualized-therapies
emphasized by TGen to rapidly move laboratory findings to bedside
treatments, benefiting pancreatic cancer patients as quickly as
possible. They will test the drugs in combination with existing
standard chemotherapy, with the hope of improving quality of life
while increasing the percentage of patients surviving beyond one
year.
Since its inception in 2002, TGen has pioneered cutting-edge
research in genomic medicine, enabling physicians to design
targeted and individualized therapies for patients suffering from
cancer and other debilitating diseases.
About Dr. Daniel Von Hoff
In addition to his positions at TGen and Scottsdale Healthcare, Dr.
Von Hoff is Chief Scientific Officer for US Oncology, and Clinical
Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona. His major
interest is in the development of new anticancer agents. Dr. Von
Hoff's work focuses on the development of molecularly targeted
therapies for patients with pancreatic and other advanced cancers.
He is serving a six-year term on the National Cancer Advisory Board
and has served on the FDA's Oncology Advisory Committee. Dr. Von
Hoff is a past president of the American Association for Cancer
Research, was on the AACR and the American Society of Clinical
Oncology's Board of Directors, and is a fellow of the American
College of Physicians.
About Dr. Craig Thompson
In addition to his position at the Abramson Cancer Center, Dr.
Thompson is the Associate Vice President for Cancer Services at the
University of Pennsylvania Heath System, director of the Abramson
Family Cancer Research Institute and the John H. Glick professor of
medicine and cancer biology at the university's School of Medicine.
His research focuses on how alterations in the control of cell
metabolism contribute to cancer cell development and survival. He
has contributed to the development of new treatments for autoimmune
diseases and leukemia.
About pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in
the United States, and it remains one of the most deadly forms of
cancer. Nearly 75 percent of patients die within the first year of
diagnosis. Recent advancements have had little impact, and a new
approach is desperately needed.
Using modern tumor imaging, it is possible to monitor a tumor's
glucose utilization and such tests are now routinely used in
clinical practice. In most cases, the more glucose a tumor is
using, the more advanced the tumor and the greater likelihood of
spread. Similarly, if a tumor is using less glucose as a response
to chemotherapy, then it is a good indication that the tumor is
responding to treatment.
Pancreatic cancer presents a unique challenge because it is
addicted to another molecule, glutamine, rather than glucose.
Glutamine is an amino acid that helps build muscle mass and is used
by some cells for energy. When cancer feeds or metabolizes excess
amounts of gluatamine, it can lead to extreme weight loss by
robbing other cells of this important nutrient, a condition from
which many pancreatic cancer patients suffer. In addition, the
waste that is a by-product of this process generates an intense
reaction from surrounding normal cells, which then secrete growth
factors that help tumor cells grow. Cancers that use excess
glutamine are often resistant to standard forms of chemotherapy,
another characteristic of pancreatic cancer.
About the Dream Teams
The five Dream Teams - culled from 237 submissions - are comprised
of seven leaders, four co-leaders and 27 principal researchers from
more than 20 leading institutions, with more than 300 individuals
participating:
- "Cutting off the Fuel Supply: A New Approach to the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer" - $18 million - Leaders: Craig B. Thompson, M.D., Director, Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., Senior Investigator and Physician in Chief at the Translational Research Genomics Institute (TGen).
- "An Integrated Approach to Targeting Molecular Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Their "Resistance" Phenotypes" - $16.5 million - Leaders: Joe W. Gray, Ph.D., Life Sciences Division Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Dennis J. Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Clinical/Translational Research at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
- "Targeting the PI3K Pathway in Women's Cancers" - $15 million - Leader: Lewis C. Cantley, Ph.D., Chief of the Division of Signal Transduction at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Co-Leaders: Charles L. Sawyers, M.D., Director of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Gordon B. Mills, M.D., Ph.D., Chair, Department of Systems Biology, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
- "Bioengineering and Clinical Applications of Circulating Tumor Cells Chip" - $15 million - Leader: Daniel A. Haber, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center; Co-Leader: Mehmet Toner, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Harvard Medical School.
- "Bringing Epigenetic Therapy to the Forefront of Cancer Management" - $9.12 million - Leader: Stephen B. Baylin, M.D., Deputy Director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins; Co-Leader: Peter A. Jones, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Urology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Southern California.
Collectively, the research that will be done through the Dream Team
projects could impact the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range
of cancers in adults and children across ethnicities including, but
not limited to pancreatic, breast, ovarian, cervical, uterine,
brain, lung, prostate, rectal and colon. These represent two-thirds
of all U.S. cancer deaths; 562,340 people are expected to die of
cancer this year in the U.S., where on average 1 in 3 women and 1
in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes.
Worldwide, cancer annually kills nearly almost 8 million.
"(S)cientists need more money for research and easier ways to work
together; and the entertainment industry has unique resources that
can be called upon to help make every American aware that each and
every one of us has a role to play in advancing cancer research,"
said Sherry Lansing, Board Chair of the Entertainment Industry
Foundation and a member of the SU2C Executive Leadership Council.
"From the person who can give five dollars to the philanthropist
who can give millions, we are all connected to the devastation that
cancer causes in our families, and together, we can Stand Up to end
it."
On behalf of Stand Up To Cancer, the 28,000-member American
Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will be responsible for
administering the grants.
Major donors
Major League Baseball was the first major donor to contribute to
Stand Up To Cancer. Other major SU2C supporters include: Jones
Apparel Group Inc. founder Sidney Kimmel, Amgen, AARP, Bloomberg
Philanthropies, GlaxoSmithKline, Revlon, Inter-American Development
Bank (IDB), Wallis Annenberg & The Annenberg Foundation,
Alliance for Global Good, New York Giants, Milken Family
Foundation, Philips Electronics, Steve Tisch, and The Island Def
Jam Music Group.
*
About Stand Up To Cancer
The Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) movement raises funds to hasten the
pace of groundbreaking translational research that can get new
therapies to patients quickly and save lives. In 2007, a group of
women whose lives have all been affected by cancer in profound ways
began working together to marshal the resources of the media and
entertainment industries in the fight against the disease. For more
information about Stand Up To Cancer, please visit
www.su2c.org.
*
About the American Association for Cancer Research
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the oldest
and largest scientific organization in the world focusing on every
aspect of high-quality, innovative cancer research from the bench
to the bedside. Lauded internationally for its scientific breadth,
innovation and spread of new knowledge about cancer, the AACR is on
the front lines in the quest for the prevention and cure of
cancer.
* About the Entertainment Industry Foundation
The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), as a leading
charitable organization of the entertainment industry, has
distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support programs
addressing critical health, education and social issues.
*
About Scottsdale Healthcare:
Scottsdale Healthcare (www.shc.org) is the not-for-profit parent
organization of Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center,
Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center, Scottsdale Healthcare
Thompson Peak Hospital, Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center, Scottsdale
Clinical Research Institute, TGen Clinical Research Services at
Scottsdale Healthcare, Scottsdale Healthcare Home Health Services,
Scottsdale Healthcare Community Health Services, NOAH Clinics and
Scottsdale Healthcare Foundation. Scottsdale Healthcare ER wait
times are updated every three minutes at www.fastERtimes.org.
Media Contact:
Alice Giedraitis
Public Relations Coordinator
Scottsdale Healthcare
480-882-4915
[email protected]
Clinical Drug Trials Contact:
Joyce Ingold, RN MSN OCN; patient care coordinator
TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare
480-323-1339
[email protected]
*
About TGen
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix,
Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting
groundbreaking research with life changing results. Research at
TGen is focused on helping patients with diseases such as cancer,
neurological disorders and diabetes. TGen is on the cutting edge of
translational research where investigators are able to unravel the
genetic components of common and complex diseases. Working with
collaborators in the scientific and medical communities, TGen
believes it can make a substantial contribution to the efficiency
and effectiveness of the translational process. TGen is affiliated
with the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
For more information, visit: www.tgen.org.
Press Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
[email protected]
# # #