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- Posted Tuesday April 3, 2018
Colleen’s Dream funds TGen ovarian cancer clinical trial
Scottsdale-based nonprofit grants $450,000 to Phoenix research institute, TGen
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — April 3, 2018 — Colleen’s Dream Foundation, a Scottsdale-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting ovarian cancer research, recently awarded Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) $450,000 to fund a clinical trial for a newly developed ovarian cancer drug treatment.
Colleen’s Dream celebrated its fifth annual fundraising event, the Evening of Dreams Gala in late February. This year’s gala was record-breaking for the foundation, with more than 650 attendees and $200,000 raised from the live auction and paddle raise portion of the evening alone. Combined with prior Colleen’s Dream donations to TGen, this support will fully enable the clinical trial.
“The research being done at TGen is some of the most exciting we’ve ever seen,” said Nicole Cundiff, CEO of Colleen’s Dream Foundation. “Whether the drug they developed leads to another amazing discovery, or it becomes a first line ovarian cancer treatment, we truly believe what they’re doing will move the needle and we couldn’t be more proud to support an institute located here in Arizona.”
TGen, based in Phoenix, alongside an international team of collaborators, discovered a mutation in a gene known as SMARCA4, which drives a specific type of extremely aggressive ovarian cancer known as Small Cell Carcinoma of the Ovary, Hypercalcemic Type (SCCOHT).
SMARCA4 is known as an “epigenetic” gene that broadly controls how other genes are regulated in the genome. When SMARCA4 is mutated, it is broken and cancer can develop through sweeping epigenetic imbalances. From this discovery, TGen evaluated experimental drugs that can restore epigenetic balance. One such drug, seclidemstat, has shown promising preclinical results in ovarian cancers and also is currently being clinically evaluated in other cancers driven by epigenetic imbalances.
Seclidemstat was developed by Salarius Pharmaceuticals of Houston, which was established with the help of Dr. Sunil Sharma, TGen Deputy Director of Clinical Sciences and Director of TGen’s Applied Cancer Research and Drug Discovery Program.
“Our partnership with Colleen's Dream has been critical for driving our translational research toward clinical,” said Dr. Will Hendricks, an Assistant Professor in TGen’s Integrated Cancer Genomics Division. “We look forward to building on preclinical studies of epigenetic anti-cancer drugs that have identified seclidemstat as a promising lead for ovarian cancer treatment.”
Colleen’s Dream Foundation raises funding to support research that will lead to improved treatment and reliable early-detection of ovarian cancer. No such test currently exists, which is a leading factor as to why ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecological cancer. Of all women diagnosed, 25 percent die in the first year, largely because diagnosis occurs in the later stages of the cancer.
Since its inception, Colleen’s Dream awarded 48 research grants to 27 institutions totaling more than $1.2 million. Past recipients of Colleen’s Dream funding include, the University of Arizona Cancer Center, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, Duke Cancer Institute and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, among others.
Colleen’s Dream first awarded TGen a $30,000 grant in February 2017, which supported the institute’s understanding of the epigenetic events of the SMARCA4 mutations in SCCOHT and led to the most recent clinical trial.
To learn more about ovarian cancer, Colleen’s Dream Foundation or how you can help, visit www.colleensdream.org.
To learn more about this clinical trial, including when it will start and who might be eligible, please contact Callie Hammersland, TGen Clinical Research Manager, at 602-343-8653 or [email protected].
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About Colleen’s Dream Foundation
Colleen’s Dream is a qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2012 by Nicole Cundiff and her husband, Billy, a 12-year veteran kicker in the NFL. Colleen’s Dream is dedicated to funding investigational scientific research with the primary goal of developing and establishing an accurate and accessible early detection test for ovarian cancer. For more information about Colleen’s Dream Foundation, or to donate call (480) 269-2266 or visit www.colleensdream.org.
Media Contact:
Keller Perry
The James Agency
[email protected]
(480) 248-6710
About TGen
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix, Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen is focused on helping patients with neurological disorders, cancer, diabetes, and infectious diseases, through cutting edge translational research (the process of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children. Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical communities literally worldwide, TGen makes a substantial contribution to help our patients through efficiency and effectiveness of the translational process. TGen is affiliated with City of Hope, a world-renowned independent research and cancer and diabetes treatment center: www.cityofhope.org. This precision medicine affiliation enables both institutes to complement each other in research and patient care, with City of Hope providing a significant clinical setting to advance scientific discoveries made by TGen. For more information, visit: www.tgen.org. Follow TGen on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter @TGen.
TGen Media Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
[email protected]
