LOS ANGELES, Nov. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pancreatic
Cancer Collective, the strategic partnership of the Lustgarten
Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), has awarded a total of
$7 million in first-round "New
Therapies Challenge" grants to seven teams of top cancer
researchers to explore new pancreatic cancer treatments, the
American Association for Cancer Research, the Scientific Partner of
SU2C, announced today. Each team will receive up to
$1 million in initial funding, with
$4 million per team for clinical
studies awaiting the most successful projects in the second
round.
These teams are the first projects funded under the Pancreatic
Cancer Collective launched this spring to accelerate pancreatic
cancer research and improve patient outcomes for pancreatic cancer,
which is one of the deadliest cancers, with a five-year survival
rate of only 8 percent, according to the National Cancer
Institute.
"New and effective treatments are urgently needed for cancer of
the pancreas," said Phillip A.
Sharp, PhD, the Nobel laureate who is chair of SU2C
Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and scientific co-leader of the
Collective. "The two-step process created by the Pancreatic Cancer
Collective is an innovative and flexible approach that will speed
up the research process, help us have a real impact on pancreatic
cancer, and bring new hope to patients and their families."
The seven teams given funding in this first round of the
Collective's New Therapies Challenge will conduct their research
for the next 14 months, reporting their results to the Collective
and the Joint Scientific Advisory Committee (JSAC) which selected
these teams. The second round of funding of $4 million per team will support clinical studies
of the most promising teams from the first round.
"Pancreatic cancer research is moving faster than ever before,"
said Kerri Kaplan, Lustgarten's
president and chief executive officer. "Now is the time for
innovation and acceleration towards improved treatment for the
patients who so desperately need and deserve better options."
"We are in a very exciting place right now for pancreatic cancer
research," said David A. Tuveson,
MD, PhD, Lustgarten's Chief Scientist and director of the cancer
center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, co-scientific leader of
the Collective. "We're bringing together insights from immunology,
targeted therapy, genomics, modeling, and other fields, and we're
going to find out what should go forward to clinical studies. We
are very optimistic that we can make some real progress."
"We launched this joint Collective to create a network of grants
and researchers to accelerate the translation of research findings
into treatments, through innovative and flexible models," said
Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, president and
CEO of Stand Up To Cancer. "We believe this New Therapies Challenge
will help spur breakthroughs, and the potential for additional
funding will spur even more breakthroughs."
The Pancreatic Cancer Collective's New Therapies Challenge
Research Teams are:
Adoptive Transfer of TGF-β Resistant TIL to
Defeat Immunosuppressive PDAC: Team leader: Patrick Hwu, MD, University
of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; co-leaders: Chantale Bernatchez, PhD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and
Cliona M. Rooney, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine. The team will create
tumor-specific killer T cells (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, or
TILs) that are resistant to transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β)
(a protein that can counteract the immune system), and use the TILs
to attack pancreatic cancer.
Combined Targeting of MEK1/MEK2 and Autophagy for
Pancreatic Cancer Therapy: Team leader: Martin McMahon, PhD, Huntsman Cancer Institute
at the University of Utah; co-leader:
Eric Collisson, MD, University of California San Francisco. The team
will test combined blockade of intracellular signaling via the RAS
pathway, and autophagic recycling of the cells' interior
contents.
Exploiting DNA Repair Gene Mutations in Pancreatic
Cancer: Team leader: Alan D. D'Andrea, MD,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; co-leader: James M. Cleary, MD,
PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The team's goal is to evaluate
DNA repair inhibitors in pancreatic cancer. It will seek to improve
PARP inhibitor monotherapy by developing strategies that will
combine different targeted therapies and have activity in patients
with PARP inhibitor resistance.
Immunotherapy Targeting Mutant KRAS: Team leader:
Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil,
Abramson Cancer Center at the University of
Pennsylvania; co-leaders: Elizabeth
M. Jaffee, MD, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at
Johns Hopkins, and Beatriz M. Carreno, PhD, Abramson Cancer Center
at the University of Pennsylvania. The
team's goal is to develop a cellular therapy that exploits novel
cell engineering that can be used to manufacture highly selective,
anti-cancer T cells on a per-patient basis.
Molecularly Targeted Radionuclide Therapy via the Integrin
AlphaVBeta6: Team leader: Julie L.
Sutcliffe, PhD, University of
California Davis; co-leader, Richard
L. Bold, MD, University of California
Davis. The team will develop a peptide receptor radionuclide
therapy (PRRT) to attack a protein called integrin αvβ6 that is
significantly upregulated in pancreatic cancer.
Targeting SHP2 in Pancreatic
Cancer: Team leader: René Bernards, DPhil, Netherlands
Cancer Institute; co-leaders, Emile E.
Voest, MD, PhD, Netherlands Cancer Institute, and Hana
Algül, MD, MPH, Technical University of Munich. The team will test a combination of
drugs to more effectively kill pancreatic tumors that have a
mutation in the KRAS gene.
Targeting Stem Cell Signals in Pancreatic Cancer:
Team leader: Tannishtha Reya, PhD, University
of California San Diego School of Medicine; co-leaders:
Andrew M. Lowy, MD, UC San Diego
Moores Cancer Center, and Margaret A.
Tempero, MD, University of California
San Francisco. The team will test whether certain drugs can
reduce growth of pancreatic cancer by inhibiting a hormone receptor
that is believed to be a key regulator of pancreatic cancer stem
cells.
The Lustgarten Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer have
collaborated closely since 2012, jointly funding more than 209
investigators from 31 leading research centers in the United States and the United Kingdom. These efforts include four
Dream Teams and five Research Teams, including two Convergence
Teams bringing together computational experts with clinical
oncologists. Cancer Interception, research supporting the earliest
diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, even before the cancer may have
fully formed, is the focus of one of the Dream Teams and one of the
Research Teams. All told, these collaborative teams have planned,
started, or completed 25 clinical trials. The Pancreatic Cancer
Collective is building on this momentum to push the boundaries of
what can be accomplished even further.
ABOUT THE PANCREATIC CANCER COLLECTIVE
The Pancreatic
Cancer Collective is an initiative of the Lustgarten Foundation and
Stand Up To Cancer to improve pancreatic cancer patient outcomes.
Together, these leading cancer research organizations will attract
new collaborators; improve diagnosis of pancreatic cancer using big
data; find new treatments for pancreatic cancer; and support the
next generation of pancreatic cancer investigators. Engaging
thought leaders, researchers, institutions, and companies, the
Collective will innovate and accelerate research on the edge of
science. For more information, visit
www.PancreaticCancerCollective.org
ABOUT THE LUSTGARTEN FOUNDATION
The Lustgarten
Foundation is America's largest private funder of pancreatic cancer
research. Based in Woodbury, N.Y.,
the Foundation supports research to find a cure for pancreatic
cancer, facilitates dialogue within the medical and scientific
community, and educates the public about the disease through
awareness campaigns and fundraising events. Since its inception,
the Lustgarten Foundation has directed $165
million to research and assembled the best scientific minds
with the hope that one day, a cure can be found. Thanks to separate
funding to support administrative expenses, 100% of your donation
goes directly to pancreatic cancer research. For more information,
visit www.Lustgarten.org.
ABOUT STAND UP TO CANCER
STAND UP TO CANCER (SU2C)
raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new
therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C was
established in 2008 by media and entertainment leaders who utilize
these communities' resources to engage the public in supporting a
new, collaborative model of cancer research, to increase awareness
about cancer prevention, and to highlight progress being made in
the fight against the disease. As of April
2018, more than 1,500 scientists representing more than 180
institutions are involved in SU2C-funded research projects.
Under the direction of our Scientific Advisory Committee, led by
Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp,
PhD, staff at SU2C and our Scientific Partner, the American
Association for Cancer Research, SU2C operates rigorous competitive
review processes to identify the best research proposals to
recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and ensure
collaboration across research programs.
Current members of the SU2C Council of Founders and Advisors
(CFA) include Katie Couric,
Sherry Lansing, Kathleen Lobb, Lisa
Paulsen, Rusty Robertson,
Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, and Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin and the late Noreen Fraser are also co-founders. Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, serves as SU2C's
president and CEO.
Stand Up To Cancer and SU2C are trademarks or registered
trademarks of the Entertainment Industry Foundation in the United States and several other countries
throughout the world. SU2C is a division of the Entertainment
Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For
more information on Stand Up To Cancer, visit
StandUpToCancer.org.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER
RESEARCH
Founded in 1907, the American Association for
Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's first and largest
professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research
and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership
includes more than 40,000 laboratory, translational, and clinical
researchers; population scientists; other health care
professionals; and patient advocates residing in 120 countries. The
AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer
community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology,
diagnosis, and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than
30 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is
the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 22,500 attendees. In
addition, the AACR publishes eight prestigious, peer-reviewed
scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients,
and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly
as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As
the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides
expert peer review, grants administration, and scientific oversight
of team science and individual investigator grants in cancer
research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The
AACR actively communicates with legislators and other policymakers
about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science
in saving lives from cancer. For more information about the AACR,
visit www.AACR.org.
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